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diff --git a/41508-0.txt b/41508-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1ed1c76 --- /dev/null +++ b/41508-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14416 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41508 *** + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have + been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + + + + [Illustration: TOWERING PALMS OF RIO. + RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL. + See page 22.] + + + + + SEVEN LEGS + ACROSS THE SEAS + + _A PRINTER'S IMPRESSIONS + OF MANY LANDS_ + + BY + SAMUEL MURRAY + Author of "From Clime to Clime" + + NEW YORK + MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY + 1918 + + + + + Copyright, 1918, by + MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY + + _Published, February, 1918_ + + + + +INTRODUCTORY + + +I was early aboard the fastest ship that ever foamed the seas. Later, +a long, strong whistle blast blew--the signal for starting--and soon +she headed southward, the great vessel traveling through New York +harbor to Sandy Hook as noiselessly as a bobsleigh drawn through two +feet of unpacked snow. + +I had secured a second class ticket to Buenos Aires, Argentina, by way +of England, this marking the first of several legs of the world over +which I had planned to travel. Thirteen hundred and fifty dollars, +representing years of economical living, was the sum deemed as +necessary to accomplish what I had purposed doing. By trade I am a +printer and linotype operator. + +In earlier years money for traveling expenses was of little concern, +for the fascination that accompanies prowling about freight trains +seeking an empty box car, or the open end door of a loaded one in +which to steal a ride, or of turning one's back to the tender of a +locomotive to protect the eyes from hot cinders coming from a snorting +passenger engine while standing on the draughty platform of a "blind" +baggage car--one without end doors--the train at the same time +traveling at a speed of from 45 to 50 miles an hour--the "cinder days" +during the catch-as-catch-can periods of traveling through coastwise +tracts of country, across unbroken prairie stretches and over mountain +fastnesses, are pleasant ones to recall, not forgetting the hungry, +cold and wet spells that all men meet with who are enticed by the +gritty allurements to beat their way about the country on railroad +trains. + +Since Benjamin Franklin's day it has been a custom with printers to +travel from place to place, and, as some of the devotees of the "art +preservative of all arts" had covered large territories of the world +from time to time, I wished to be numbered among those at the top of +the list. A union printer has little trouble in getting work in the +United States, by reason of the large Sunday newspaper editions +requiring extra men during the latter part of the week, and by +vacancies taking place through the "moving spirit" of the workers, +which has always characterized the printing trade. + +This fascination, however, like other diversions of a rough nature, +lost its charm in time, as it proved more comfortable traveling by +passenger trains--inside the coach and sitting on a cushioned +seat--than riding on the platform of a car that was being constantly +pelted with red-hot cinders. I had graduated from the "free-ride" +school. + +On a trip through North America I had visited Yosemite Valley and +Mariposa Big Tree Grove, Yellowstone Park, the Grand Canyon of +Arizona, Mexico, Mammoth Cave, Niagara Falls, and the Thousand Islands +after I had enrolled in the "Cushion College." + +Later on, having saved $400, a trip to Europe was made, visiting in +that part of the world most of the chief points of interest. I had +gone as far East as Vienna, Austria, when my funds became so low that +two meals a day was all they would allow of, and I resorted to +traveling at night on railroad trains with one compulsory aim in +view--to save lodging money. After I had bought my steamship ticket in +Rome, Italy, for New York, two weeks before the ship was to sail from +Naples, the best I could figure out of the surplus money I would have +at the time of sailing--on a two meals a day basis--was four +francs--eighty cents. My savings for years, in short, had passed over +the office counters of railroad and steamship companies. + +As the major portion of my travel was by water, the nautical word Leg +has been chosen as a designating term for the different sections of +the world visited, embracing South American cities, South Africa, +Zululand, and Victoria Falls, in Rhodesia; Australia, New Zealand and +principal South Sea Island groups; then back to Africa and up the East +Coast to Zanzibar and Mombasa; next through British East Africa to and +across Victoria Nyanza into Uganda. Leaving Africa, we sailed over +the Indian Ocean to India, visiting, among other features in that +country, the Himalaya Mountains, and afterwards Ceylon. From Colombo +we traveled eastward to the Straits Settlements, Philippines, China +and Japan, concluding observations at the Hawaiian Islands. The +journey was from New York to New York over the territory briefly +outlined in the foregoing itinerary. + +From Sandy Hook we sail for England. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + Introductory iii-v + + + LEG ONE + + CHAPTER I + + Incidents of Ocean Travel--Sights and Scenes in England-- + London Railways and Traffic--Public Institutions Contrasted 3 + + CHAPTER II + + Off for South America--Storm in Bay of Biscay--Impressions + of Lisbon, Portugal--Madeira Island--Novel Public Hack-- + "Neptuning" Passengers--Crossing the Equator--Southern + Cross 10 + + CHAPTER III + + Brazilian Ports--Rio de Janeiro--Monroe Palace--Towering + Palms of Rio--Uruguay--The River Plate--Characteristics of + the People--Buenos Aires--Off for South Africa 19 + + + LEG TWO + + CHAPTER I + + A Tramp Ship at Sea--Wonderful Birds--Ashore in South Africa 37 + + CHAPTER II + + Durban--Its Mixed Population--Sanitary and Clean--The Christ + Thorn--Novel Ways of Trapping Monkeys--The Indian Coolie, a + Taxed Ulcer--"Spiking" a Hindu's Tongue--Horned Ricksha + Pullers--Labor in Politics--Harpooning and Cutting up Whales 43 + + CHAPTER III + + Trip to Zululand--Home Life of the Natives--Wives for Cows-- + Calling on an Old Printer 74 + + CHAPTER IV + + South African Railway Travel--Scenes of Massacres-- + Johannesburg--Transvaal Gold Mines 90 + + CHAPTER V + + Pretoria and the Boers--The Kruger Monument--Puzzling Names 109 + + CHAPTER VI + + On to Mafeking--Interesting Natives and Souvenirs--Sighting + Rhodes' Grave--Rhodesia--Bulawayo--Victoria Falls, a Mile of + Amber-Colored Lace--Falls Compared--Deadly African Fever 115 + + CHAPTER VII + + Kimberley, the Diamond City--Bloemfontein, the Convention + City--Crossing the Dry, Barren Karoo Country--The + Ostrich--Capetown--Climate the Best in South Africa--Table + Mountain 129 + + + LEG THREE + + CHAPTER I + + Leaving the Baltic Sea for Australia--A White Country--The + Gold Fields--Crossing the Great Australian Bight-- + Melbourne--Pensions for Aged--Immigration Encouraged 145 + + CHAPTER II + + Trip to Adelaide--Finest Homes in the World--Kangaroo Called + the Native--Visit to Ballarat 157 + + CHAPTER III + + The Heads--Sydney, Its Noted Harbor--Rural Education on + Wheels 162 + + CHAPTER IV + + Crossing Bass Straits--Tasmania--Hobart--Port Arthur and Its + Prison Walls and Memories 170 + + + LEG FOUR + + CHAPTER I + + Crossing the Tasman Sea--Last White Settlement--Dunedin, a + Scotch City--Christchurch--Wellington and Its Splendid + Harbor--Pelorus Jack, the Pilot Fish 179 + + CHAPTER II + + To Maoriland--Rotorua--Geyserland--The Maori--Nose-Rubbing-- + Auckland--Courteous, Prosperous People 190 + + CHAPTER III + + South Sea Islands--The Fijians--Free Railroad Travel--A + Vegetable Marvel 199 + + CHAPTER IV + + An Ocean Park--Natives of the Samoan Group--No Locked + Doors--The Samoan a Fatalist 208 + + CHAPTER V + + Friendly Islands--Pretty Harbor of Vavau--Customs--A + Striking, Strapping King--Sacred Animals 215 + + + LEG FIVE + + CHAPTER I + + A "Red Ticket" for South Africa--Eight Weeks' Travel for + Ninety Dollars--Portuguese East Africa--Inhambane, Where + Death Revels--Beira, the "Trolley Town" 225 + + CHAPTER II + + German East Africa--Women in Iron Yokes--Zanzibar--Old Slave + Mart--Cloves Thrive--Tanga 232 + + CHAPTER III + + Mombasa--A Three Years' Residence Limit--In the Big Game + Country--Nature's "Greatest Show on Earth"--Nairobi--Dead + Left to Wild Beasts 240 + + CHAPTER IV + + Naked Natives--Victoria Nyanza--Bubonic Flea--Uganda-- + African "Freight Train"--Sleeping Sickness--Deadly Tsetse + Fly--Beautiful Entebbe--The Rubber Country--Ant Eaters-- + Kampala--Jinja and Ripon Falls--River Nile 250 + + + LEG SIX + + CHAPTER I + + Off for India--Ship Doctor Hunting for Jiggers-- + Seychelles--Bombay--The Parsi--Towers of Silence-- + Handsomest Railway Station 265 + + CHAPTER II + + In Baroda--Sacred Monkeys--Ahmedabad--Birds, Animals and + Insects Worshiped--Agra--The Taj Mahal--Plural Wives--Delhi, + Rebuilding--Elephant "Rocks" the Cradle 278 + + CHAPTER III + + Aligarh--Novel Water Carrier--Cawnpore--The Massacre + Well--Lucknow--Benares--Hindu Gods--Monkey Temple--Bathing + Ghats--Sarnath and Its Temple Ruins 292 + + CHAPTER IV + + Himalayas--Magnificent Views--Kinchinjanga, the + Giant--Darjeeling--Mountain Tribes 306 + + CHAPTER V + + Calcutta--Memories of "The Black Hole"--Blood Offerings--A + Mecca for Hindu Widows Who Bathe--Madras--First + Christian Church in India 316 + + CHAPTER VI + + Colombo--Ceylon--Cinnamon Tree Industry--Trotting Bullocks + Afford Rapid Transit--Kandy--Buddha's Tooth--Elephants in + Trucking--Nutmeg Trees 327 + + + LEG SEVEN + + CHAPTER I + + Nine Weeks to the Orient--Singapore--Malay States Rubber + Mad--Straits Settlements--Hogs in Baskets--Chinamen in Motor + Cars--A "Dutch" Wife--Off to Hongkong--A Horseless + Town--Mountain Travel 335 + + CHAPTER II + + Canton--Chinese Pirates--Lost Within the City Walls--City of + the Dead--"Feeding" the Dead--Quaint Home Customs--Chinese + Industrious--No Waste Land 347 + + CHAPTER III + + Manila--Poor Water, Whisky Plentiful--Consumption--Squirrel + Nest Homes--Chinese Opium Smugglers--Evicting the Dead--No + Vault Rent, No Resting Place--The Manila Wall 354 + + CHAPTER IV + + Shanghai--Professional Weepers--Family Feeding by + Contract--Wheelbarrow Transit--The Bund--Leaving Wusung for + Japan--Japanese Girls Coaling Ship 362 + + CHAPTER V + + The Inland Sea--Kobe--The Jap's Home--Street Cars and + Rickshas in Competition--Men, Women and Children in + Harness--Income Tax on Labor--Kyoto Paper Houses--Kyoto + Temples--Yokohama--Kamakura--The Daibutsu Bronze Giant 371 + + CHAPTER VI + + Tokyo--Mikado's Palace--Asakusa Temple--Geisha Women-- + Hari-Kiri--Black Teeth--Nikko, Its Temples--Funeral + Festivals 383 + + CHAPTER VII + + To Honolulu, Hawaii--Recrossing the 180th Meridian--Cheap + Ice and Bananas--"Don't Spit" Signs--Sugar Cane--The Prize + "Black Maria" of the World--Education--Natives Seek Easy + Jobs--Home of the Last Queen--Hilo--To Kilauea Crater--The + Volcano in Action--An Appalling Scene 394 + + Itinerary 405 + + Map. + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + + + Towering Palms of Rio. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (See + page 22) _Frontispiece_ + + FACING PAGE + + Southern Cross. (See page 17.) 16 + + Plaza de Mayo (top) and Avenida de Mayo (bottom). + Buenos Aires, Argentine 30 + + Jim Fish Was the Swiftest Puller that Ever Wore a + Brace of Horns. Durban, South Africa. (See page + 61) 60 + + Zulus "Scoffing" Mealy Meal. Zululand, South Africa 78 + + Native Huts and Kafir Corn (top); African Transport + (bottom). South Africa 96 + + Victoria Falls, Rhodesia. (See page 122) 122 + + Parliament House, Melbourne (top), and Victoria Markets, + Sydney, Australia (bottom) 162 + + Maori Women Cooking by Boiling Springs (right). + (See page 193.) Maori Women's Salute--Rubbing + Noses and Shaking Hands (left). New Zealand. + (See page 195) 194 + + Interior of Samoan Home, Built of Breadfruit Tree, Secured + by Coir; No Nails Used. Samoa. (See page 213) 212 + + Vigil on the Veld (top), British East Africa; "Trolley" + Pushers (bottom), Beira, Portuguese East Africa. + (See page 230.) 248 + + Parsi (right), Bombay, India. (See page 271.) Bhisti + (Water-Carrier) (left). India. (See page 293.) 270 + + Types of Indian Soldiers. The Goorkha (right). (See + page 311.) The Sikh (left). (See page 311.) 290 + + Mount Kinchinjanga (Himalayas). Center Peak in + Circle, Mount Everest. Darjeeling, India. (Photo, + Burlington) 312 + + Small Colony of Half a Million Sampan Dwellers of + Pearl River; These Water Homes Save House Rent. + Canton, China. (See page 351.) 352 + + Panorama of Honolulu, Hawaii 398 + + + + +LEG ONE + + + + +SEVEN LEGS ACROSS THE SEAS + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +A puzzling phase of ocean travel soon becomes apparent during a +passenger ship's journey to one making his first voyage--sometimes +when a vessel has been at sea not more than a few hours. He is apt to +find himself at a loss to account for the absence of the many persons +who crowded the deck rails of the steamship--chatting, saying good-by +to friends and some bidding a final farewell to their country--before +and immediately after the vessel pulled away from her dock into the +harbor. After a few days, however, the mystery gradually unfolds. +Vacant chairs in the dining saloon become occupied from time to time +as the journey advances; more passengers are taking part in deck +amusements; new faces are seen in the social hall and smoking +saloon--the ship's "family" surely grows. On voyages of from two to +four weeks' duration this feature becomes even more interesting. +Frequently, when the ship has reached the end of the journey, before +which every one would seem to have become used to the sea, "strangers" +will be observed leaving the vessel. One cannot help thinking the ship +has stopped during the night hours and taken on passengers from the +main. This is explained by some voyagers keeping to their cabins from +the time of sailing. + +Seasickness is largely responsible for this perplexing phase of water +travel. Women are more affected than men, and the man who will +discover a remedy for seasickness will find his name immortalized. +Many women will travel for weeks on the water so sick they cannot +raise their heads, yet not a complaining word will be uttered by most +of them. This form of bravery seems to be the only comforting thing +that accompanies the sea wreaking out its vengeance on womankind. + +Six days after leaving Sandy Hook found us in Liverpool, England. +Passengers disembarked early in the forenoon, who, having heard so +much of England's dull atmosphere, were all surprised to find the sun +shining. The orb was of a vapory appearance, though, which suggested +that perhaps it had been on a sea voyage also, as there was a marked +resemblance between the appearance of the sun and some of the +passengers who had undergone a sick trip across. Most of us boarded a +train for London. + +Railway train service in England is fast, the speed on main lines +being from 45 to 50 miles an hour. The passenger coaches are of +compartment design, which are comfortable to ride in when only half +filled, or four persons to a compartment; but when from six to eight +passengers--the latter number being the full seating capacity--occupy +one compartment, travel proves very uncomfortable, as there is no room +to stretch one's legs in any direction, since the passengers sitting +on one side face those seated on the other side. It is a case of knees +to knees. Railroad fare is two and three cents a mile; a higher rate +is charged for hauling freight in England than that prevailing in +America. Food, however, is cheaper than on American trains. + +The locomotives are small--some of them not half the tonnage of the +American engine--but the driving wheels reach to the top of the +boiler, which accounts for the high speed schedules of the English +railroads. One misses the ringing of the locomotive bell, as there are +no bells on English engines. Another feature of the English railroads +that seems odd to an American is the small freight cars, which in some +instances are not one-third as large as some of the American cars and +trucks. Trains in England have not the solid appearance of the +American train, for the reason that their wheels are not like the +American wheel, but have spokes, like those of a wheelbarrow. The +convenience a union railway station affords the traveling public, +found in many cities of America, is much missed when visiting the +metropolis of England. Naturally, numerous railways center in London, +and the terminus of each seems to have been located as widely apart +from each other as the boundaries of the city will allow. None of the +stations seen here can favorably compare with those found in the +larger cities of the United States. + +The cleanliness of London's streets is the first impression one has of +the premier city of Europe. And how obliging the public conveyance +employees are; and the policemen, also. It is a pleasure to go about +in London, as every one seems willing to answer questions, to point +out to a stranger places of interest, and to make one comfortable in +every sense of the word. + +"London traffic," a feature of this city one often hears mentioned, is +accounted for, to a large degree, by the absence of surface car lines +or elevated railroads coursing the streets of London City proper, and +also to the narrowness of many of the main thoroughfares. With such an +immense population, one can infer the great demand placed upon 'buses, +public hacks, taxicabs and private vehicles, which at once suggests +light-tire traffic. Heavy trucks, loaded with all sorts of +merchandise, are not seen in corresponding sections of London as one +finds them in populous American centers. In the subways, or tubes, are +but two tracks, which prohibit, of course, fast travel. On the other +hand, sixteen underground railways intersect the city and suburbs. The +atmosphere of a subway is perhaps a more cosmopolitan phase than any +other of our industrial factors. Were a blind person--one familiar +with our underground railway odors--to sail from New York for Europe, +being ignorant of the presence of subways there, and later, in London +or Paris, find himself at the entrance of a "tube," he would at once +know he was at the approach of a subway by the presence of the smell, +as a similar atmosphere emanates from all of them. + +Street car fare is higher for long distances than in most American +cities. Though short distance rides are cheaper, some of the five cent +rides in America would cost fifteen cents in London. Motor 'buses, +which are numerous, go a certain distance for two cents, but the next +"stage" is another two-cent charge, and by the time eight or ten miles +are traveled one will have paid from 10 to 15 cents. Most public +conveyances are double decked. Electric trolley cars are operated +outside of London City proper, and the fare on these is similar to +that charged by the 'buses. One can ride a long distance in a cab for +25 cents, however. + +Newspapers here generally have not the attractive nor the prosperous +appearance of those in the United States. Until recently most of the +London dailies sold for two cents, and even more. Periodicals and +books also are more expensive in Great Britain, although the average +wages paid artisans in this industry is about half those paid in +America. Mechanics engaged in other trades received from $11 to $15 +weekly, and consequently the British mechanic in America doubles the +salary of his own country, plus other advantages. House rent, +generally paid weekly, runs from $3.50 to $5. Most of the working +people of London live in the suburbs, and are charged but half +price--about 8 cents--for return railway tickets if bought for trains +reaching the city before 8 o'clock in the morning. The government +collects an income tax on all yearly salaries of $600 and over. + +It looks strange to American visitors in London to see only boys +engaged in keeping the streets clean. One may not quite agree with the +practice of boys doing that sort of work--for the reason it looks as +if men should be engaged at such employment--but the fact remains the +streets are very clean. The sweepings are not put in cans, as is +customary in some American cities, where they might be tipped over by +mischievous boys, but iron bins are placed in the sidewalk close to +the curb, into which the refuse is emptied. This custom seems much +better than the American system. + +Seen drawn about the streets here, close to the curb, is what one +would call a street sprinkler. It is a sprinkler, but the liquid +running from the pipes is a disinfectant, a carbolic acid odor being +noticeable. + +The sale of matches by persons who seem to be in needy circumstances, +seen at almost every corner of the business sections of the city, +leads one to think that they must be used even for stove fuel. The +proportion of poorly dressed people is much larger than in American +cities. Any of the homeless who apply for shelter are provided with +sleeping accommodation by the authorities. + +The price of food in a similar class of restaurants seemed more +expensive in London than in New York. At a second class hotel where I +stopped the rate was $1.25 for room and breakfast, but heat was not +included. A fireplace in the room contained smoky, bituminous coal, +and to have this lighted cost 25 cents. So with the room, fire and +breakfast, the charge came to $1.50 a day. + +Chairs are scattered about the London parks, and an American naturally +thinks seats in public places are free, as in the United States; but +one is not sitting long before a man appears and asks for a "check." +The person resting then learns that it costs two cents to occupy a +chair in these places. The benches, however, are free, but these are +few compared to the number found in American parks. Similar conditions +will be met with in some of the parks of Berlin, and also in Paris, +but the resting places in the French capital are more liberally +supplied with free seats. + +Many men may be seen in London wearing a "plug" hat, a sack coat and +trousers turned up to the ankles. Those engaged at clerical employment +usually wear this sort of headgear to the office. Mechanics, also, +boast of a "stove-pipe" in their wardrobes. While the high hat may be +retained by some artisans as a memento of their wedding day, still +many may be seen worn by this class of breadwinner when attending +church services. + +No people spend less time in public eating and drinking places than +Americans. In Continental Europe they have their cafés, chairs and +tables inside the buildings and out on the sidewalks and streets, and +these are used to a large extent as offices by patrons, as proprietors +furnish writing paper and ink to customers. In England they have +their tea rooms, where men sit and sip tea and smoke their pipes for +hours. Cake or scones are usually served with tea, an additional +charge being made. + +To no people more than Americans have so many heirlooms of memory been +handed down by England. How the serious thought of one is aroused by a +visit to Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral; how youthful days +stand before one, so to speak, when a visit is made to London Bridge, +Hyde Park, the Tower, the great British Museum, or to historic places +in and about the city where great Englishmen lived and died. + +Hearing so much of the English Parliament building, one is led to +believe that he will see the best legislative structure in the world +when his eyes rest on this historical edifice. He may see in his +mind's eye an imposing structure of white marble or granite built on +an elevated plot of land, as most capitols are, rich with +ornamentation and strikingly imposing. But, on the contrary, the +building, located on the River Thames, is rather mediæval in +appearance. America is far behind some of the European countries in +art galleries, good roads, docks, and splendid cathedrals, but there +are features of the United States which neither Europe nor other +divisions of the world can equal. For instance, no capitol can compare +with the admirable appearance of the United States' legislative +building; in no country will one find such splendid municipal parks as +are found in some American cities. We have not seen Hagenbeck's Zoo in +Hamburg, Germany, but, apart from that city, Bronx Zoo in New York is +foremost of those seen in other cities; the Museum of Natural History +in Gotham is unexcelled; our great bridges are unequaled; the interior +of the Congressional Library in Washington, D. C., will stand +comparison with any, and the inspiring Washington Monument, also +located in the national capital, stands alone when dealing with +campaniles, towers, and pagodas. To the foregoing "prides" of the new +world may be added towering Mariposa Big Tree Grove, peerless Yosemite +Valley, wonderful Yellowstone Park and the marvelous Grand Canyon of +Arizona. + +After a short stay in London we boarded a "boat train"--an English +travel convenience--for Southampton, from which port the steamship on +which we had booked passage sailed for South America. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +On reaching the Bay of Biscay a storm was encountered, the decks being +vacated by passengers and the cabin berths made use of for some time. +During the night sounds were heard at intervals that reminded one of a +large tree falling. The piano in the social hall had been forced loose +from its fastening by the rolling and pitching of the ship, and while +in what might be termed its periods of tantrum the big musical +instrument seemed bent on smashing all the furniture "in the house." +Most of the passengers were awake, and a great many were inquiring if +the ship was breaking to pieces. + +Those starting on long journeys should provide themselves with a +passport. One may travel for years through certain sections of the +world and not be called upon to show his national voucher to verify +his identity; yet it is a good thing to have one in one's possession. +One may be taken into custody in some foreign city through mistaken +identity, or be detained in other ways, when a passport would clear +matters at once with small inconvenience and little delay, compared to +much uneasiness and considerable time lost, if one has neglected to +include in his traveling outfit this means of identification. Again, +when visiting a consulate, one will not have conversed with the +officials long before he will be asked, directly or indirectly, if he +has his passport with him. If the visitor should not have one, the +conversation is usually of a casual nature. On the other hand, if the +visitor has his government's credentials, an interesting chat will +often result, during which information may be gathered of the +character of the country he is traveling in that would not be +volunteered to an American who had failed to identify himself with the +standard voucher. When leaving the consulate, the person with a +passport is generally invited to "call any time while in the city." +Furthermore, if the assistance of a consul were needed in any +contingency, that government officer, if he should not care to offer a +helping hand, may evade a reasonable duty, and defend his actions +behind the fact that the "alleged" American did not have a passport. +If the person in need of official assistance had this means of +identification, that same officer, fearing he would be later called +upon by his government to explain why he neglected to do his duty, +would exert himself and lend aid to his countryman. An American with a +passport in foreign lands has a better standing with his government's +representatives than a citizen who has not provided himself with one. + +Being good for only two years, and not generally recognized after that +time, in order to keep in good standing with his country, one must, if +living in foreign parts, have his passport renewed or extended. Only +in exceptional circumstances is a consul allowed to issue passports; +these must come from Washington. A consul may extend one, however, for +an additional two years; but the passport cannot be extended more than +once. Application should be made to the Secretary of State, +Washington, D. C., when two blanks--native and naturalized--will be +sent to the applicant. If a native, he fills out the native blank and +will have the contents sworn to before a notary public. The verified +blank will then be sent to the Secretary of State, when a passport +will soon reach the applicant. The charge is one dollar, plus the +notary's fee. + +"I wish I had one of those fat, juicy beefsteaks that I was served +with while traveling across America," said a Portuguese woman +globe-trotter, as some of us, like chickens after rain, began to +appear on deck when the storm had subsided. "I never ate beefsteak in +any country that tasted as good as those I got in America," she added, +with a perceptible smacking of her lips. She wasn't the only one who +wished they had a succulent piece of American beefsteak. But the +commissary of the ship had little to do while traveling from Cape +Ushant to Cape Finistierre--the former marking the north and the +latter the south boundaries of the Bay of Biscay, 365 miles across. + +At Lisbon, Portugal, the chilling winds of the north and the raw +weather were succeeded by soft, south breezes and warm sunshine. +Entering the Tagus River on our way to the Portuguese capital, we +passed a commanding fort, the banks green with grass and vegetables. +Reaching the city, women in their bare feet and none too tidy, bearing +heavy burdens on their heads, mostly in baskets--fish, vegetables, +coal, flowers, and other marketable commodities--revealed a condition +in Southern Europe not pleasant to contemplate, and which is seen in +few countries of Continental Europe. The first suggestion of the +tropics was had at Lisbon, by reason of a great many of the people, +dark skinned, appearing in thin clothing and bare feet. Verdure was +growing on every side--it was the month of February. + +Travelers cannot fail to show a slight weakness for the small Latin +country, for Portugal was the home of Vasco da Gama, the explorer--a +really great traveler--whose daring achievements late in the fifteenth +century laid the foundation of an empire, and who discovered places +and countries we are to visit later. + +"Look!" said a man wearing the cloth of a church official, who was +showing a number of visitors around a Lisbon cathedral. We were in the +crypt, where, in expensive coffins, rested the remains of some of the +distinguished dead of Portugal. He had opened the lid of a casket and +invited his visitors to look inside. To our astonishment, in the +gruesome light, our eyes rested on the crumbling remains of a +personage who, the official said, had passed away a long time before. +More coffin lids were turned back, and in the boxes were seen, in the +murky light, the grim, long outline of a human being. We had never +known any one to go so far to obtain a fee. + +American-made street cars are in use in the Portuguese capital, and +were easily recognized from those manufactured in other countries, as +the American car is single, while those of other countries are mostly +of a double-decked pattern. + +Pavement of dark gray and white colored stone in that city looks odd, +laid at twisting angles. A plaza is paved entirely with this deceptive +stone, which sailors call "Rolling Motion Square." This square is +located close to the wharf, and sailors, having finished their shore +leave and returning to their ship, usually find trouble in getting off +"Rolling Motion Square." + +Egg soup is a delicacy made in Lisbon. When served, it resembles +consommé, with halves of a hard-boiled egg swimming in the dish. + +The business section of Lisbon is built between two high hills, which +necessitates using an elevator, in some instances, if one is going +from the center to the higher part of the city. The buildings are of +stone and brick, faced with cement. One of the most attractive avenues +in the world runs through the commercial district of the city. This +boulevard is unusually wide, the center comprising a broad park place, +with roadways of a good width on each side. Nearly half a million +people compose the population of this Latin capital. Portugal was a +Roman province as early as 200 B. C. + +Funchal, Madeira Island, located about 450 miles west of the Moroccan +coast, was next reached, being favored with a good sea from Lisbon, +the first since leaving Southampton. This place, with a population of +20,000, is the chief port of Madeira, and its attractiveness--flowers, +vines, spreading trees, climate and tidy appearance--proves a magnet +to many Europeans who seek rest and recreation. + +A strange and unusual public "hack" here arrests one's attention. This +vehicle, covered with canvas and drawn by oxen, is really a sleigh, +although it is doubtful if a flake of snow has ever fallen in this +section. The runners, as those of a snow sled, are shod with strips of +steel, which are pulled over streets paved with cobblestone. When +ready to start, the driver says a word to the oxen, and off they go, +the sleigh gliding over the paving nearly as smoothly as if drawn over +snow. The steel runners, passing over them for years, have worn the +stones quite smooth, even slippery in some instances, hence the +practicability of the sleigh-hack. + +Madeira Island, termed the Pearl of the Atlantic, a Portuguese +possession, has an area of 315 square miles, and is 35 miles long and +12 wide. It is very productive of fruit--oranges, lemons, figs, +pomegranates, pears, peaches and grapes. The island is more noted for +its good climate and wines, however, most of the inhabitants being +engaged in the grape growing industry. The United States came to the +fore in 1871 by saving the grapevines here, which were being destroyed +by a pest. The American grapevine stock was introduced and grafted to +the native stump, which withstood the attacks of phyloxera. + +Funchal is a sea junction, as most of the passenger steamships plying +between Europe and South American ports stop at this place. Passengers +coming north from South America and going to South Africa come to +Madeira, and those coming from South Africa and going to South America +also transship at this island. + +Getting a glimpse of the places mentioned in the foregoing will +account for one traveling from the United States to South America by +way of England. The fare was also cheaper for the same accommodation +than by going direct from New York. + +We regretfully return to our ship, there being no more stops for eight +days, as we are to recross the Atlantic Ocean diagonally. The big +vessel, with a crowded passenger list and loaded to the water line +with cargo, was headed toward the equatorial line, sailing on a +velvety sea. Sailors were busy stretching canvas over the decks to +make the hot weather soon to be encountered more bearable, while the +electric fans in the cabins were being put in order. Every one had +settled down for the sail to Pernambuco, Brazil, the next port. + +During the trip British third-class passengers enjoyed the benefits of +the good maritime laws of their country, while passengers from other +countries traveling in the same section of the ship did not fare so +well. Britishers were allowed privileges on a portion of the upper +deck, as provided by law, while third-class passengers who embarked at +ports south of Southampton remained on the third-class deck. + +It is surprising how time slips by during long voyages, and it is +interesting to note the national grouping of travelers. The French +passengers will be found assembled on a certain portion of the deck, +the Spaniards likewise, also Germans--each nationality generally +keeping to itself. Our breakfast was ready at 8 o'clock, and a light +lunch served two and a half hours later. Ship inspection usually takes +place at from 10 to 11 o'clock in the forenoon, the captain, the +purser, the doctor or the chief steward being the officers who form +this committee. Each deck is visited, when the dining saloons, +kitchens, berths, bedding and other furnishings of the cabins +generally receive the critical attention of the inspectors. Passengers +having complaints to make or suggestions to offer concerning ship +conditions may do so at this time. At half-past twelve dinner was +ready. In the second class section mealtimes are designated as +breakfast, dinner and supper; in the first-class, breakfast, luncheon +and dinner. When ready, these are generally announced by ringing a +bell, beating a gong, or by bugle call. Many passengers take a nap in +their cabins after dinner, and, if not in the cabin, one is pretty +sure to find them in the Land of Nod in their steamer chair on deck; +others read a great deal and divide the time with sleep. The sleepers +are sometimes hurriedly awakened from their slumbers, however, as what +is termed "fire practice" takes place several times a week on +well-conducted ships. Bells clang, without warning; the ship's whistle +blows shrill blasts; sailors, stewards and officers hurry to the +lifeboats to which they had been assigned before sailing, which are +soon raised from their davits, swung outward, and lowered at the sides +of the vessel; members of the crew may be seen wearing life-saving +devices, and the passengers generally give evidence of anxious concern +on such occasions until they learn it is but a "fire drill" that is +being enacted instead of the ship being really afire. Beef tea was +served in the cool climate and ices when the hot zones were reached +between noontime and supper. Light lunch--generally cheese and +crackers and tea--was served between the evening meal and bedtime. +Music was furnished twice a day by an orchestra. Religious +services--those of the Church of England--on British passenger +steamships are made obligatory by maritime law. On Sunday mornings +many of the passengers attended, which took place in the social hall +of the first-class section, the ritual being read by the captain or +purser. Most of the ship's crew must be present, some of whom +generally lead the singing and furnish the music. It often happens, +however, preachers are among the travelers, when one of them will be +invited to preach. First class passengers are expected to appear in +evening dress for dinner on vessels of some of the popular British +lines running to far Southern ports. + +So far as bird life is concerned, the sea is a graveyard when sailing +through the equatorial zone. All fowl leave the ship when the sun gets +hot and the breezes become warm. The only winged life appearing in +this hot section of the sea was flying fish, sometimes hundreds of +them rising from the water at the same time. These fish are from four +to ten inches in length, slender, and resemble young mackerel. They +spring from the sea by a quick stroke of the tail, and, with fins +outspread, are able to sustain and prolong their leap for a minute or +more. The fins measure several inches across and become transparent in +the sun, but do not flap like the wings of a bird. As the fish rise +only from six inches to a few feet from the water, their flight, in a +choppy or rough ocean, is generally not more than from two to twenty +feet, as they disappear on coming in contact with a wave. On a calm +sea, however, their isinglass-like "wings" will often remain +outstretched for a distance of a hundred yards or so, when the fish +will dart into the water as suddenly as they emerged from it. + + [Illustration: SOUTHERN CROSS.] + +"Neptune" is a "game" played only at sea, and the "sport" is generally +indulged in when a passenger steamship is sailing under the equator. A +canvas tank is fixed on deck and nearly filled with water. It is an +unvarying rule with some travelers that one who has not crossed the +equator must be "Neptuned." A "coaster," as one is termed who has +never crossed the equatorial line, is reminded by the Simon-pures +that, in order to be a full-fledged traveler, he must take a plunge in +the canvas tank. Most passengers who are not sick comply with the +request, but there are some who do not take kindly to the idea. In +such instances a half dozen, or a dozen passengers if necessary, bend +the will of the unwilling one to their idea of maintaining this +tradition of the sea by literally picking up the unbeliever and +pitching him into the canvas tank of water. He then has been +"Neptuned." Danger of taking cold from this outdoor plunge is slight, +as often the tar in the cracks between boards on deck of the ship is +bubbling from the intense rays of the sun. + +Having reached the southern division of the world, the heavenly bodies +forming the Southern Cross appear. The cross is not composed of a +thickly starred upright beam, neither is there a compact panel of +stars forming the crosspiece. Four stars located at certain sections +of the heavens form a distinct outline of a cross. The great crucifix +at times appears to be standing straight, but more often it will be +seen in the heavens in a reclining position, so to speak; again it +will be observed resting on its side, but never pointing downward. The +section of the sky in which the cross is to be found is the southeast. +At one season of the year it will rest near the center of the +firmament and in the "Milky Way "; at another period it will be seen +closer to the horizon. Lesser bodies appear in the zone embraced by +the four stars that compose the profile of the ensign of Christianity, +but these neither add to nor detract from the formation of the solemn +emblem of suffering that stands out so clearly among the millions of +orbs in the starry firmament. Two bright stars below, in direct line +with the bottom star of the cross, are called "the pointers." + +What a difference is at once apparent in the period of daylight north +of the equator and that south of the equatorial line. From a slow +setting sun and a lingering twilight north of the great line to a +rapidly setting sun and a comparatively short twilight south of the +equator is observed. Fifteen to twenty minutes after the sun sets +darkness will have settled. + +"Holy stoning a ship" is a nautical term that, when first heard by a +landsman, arouses his curiosity concerning the particular duty the +phrase suggests in a sailor's routine. A holy stone--somewhat larger +than two bricks placed together, of cream color and of a soft or +sandy material--is used to whiten the deck of a ship. Most persons +would conclude that a thorough washing of a deck with clear water +should satisfy one possessed of even super-neat exactions. But a +sailor's conception of the term "spick and span" does not end in this +matter with the merit of water alone. The holy stone is secured in an +iron frame similar to that of a house mop, with handle attached. It is +also pushed forward and pulled backward when used to clean a deck in +the same way that a mop is used to clean a floor. The deck is made wet +before "stoning," then sprinkled with fine white sand, and is next +thoroughly gone over with the "cleaner." When the sailor has finished +his hard "scrubbing" task the deck appears many shades brighter than +it would if only water had been used. The term "holy stone" is said to +have originated through the first stones used in bleaching ship decks +having been taken from the ruined walls of a church in Cornwall, +England. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Security of life in an Indian's bark canoe, even when going over river +rapids, would seem assured, compared to the chances against one being +able to keep his feet on a Brazilian catamaran sailing on the broad +ocean. Men stand on two logs tied together, these about a foot each in +diameter and from eight to ten feet in length, the upper side flat, +with a small pole fastened in one of the logs, to which is secured a +piece of canvas--as flimsy a sample of sea craft as one may see in a +lifetime. No provision being made for a seat on the shaky and risky +"boat"--no room for one, in fact--it seemed dangerous to sail it even +on a small lake; yet a number of these were seen skimming over the sea +several miles outside the harbor of Pernambuco, Brazil. + +We had reached South America at the beginning of March, which is +Northern August south of the equator. The winter season of the year in +the northern is the summer in the southern division of the world. + +Passengers leaving the vessel entered a large basket by a door. When +six persons had got inside, the winches on the ship began to revolve, +raising the basket high enough to clear the deck rail, and the +passengers were slowly lowered to a lighter below. Chug! They had +reached the bottom, and if any of the travelers had their tongue +between their teeth at that moment it would be safe to infer that that +member had suffered from the bump. This carrier was six feet deep, +made of reed or wicker, and was kept in shape and supported by +circular iron bands, like the hoops round a barrel, which, in this +case, were inside the basket. Passengers embark by the same means. +Crude and odd devices of this sort lend spice to travel. + +Bahia, the oldest city in Brazil, was the next stop. At this port no +basket was used for disembarking, passengers leaving the ship by a +side ladder and being taken ashore in launches. An unusual number of +men seemed to board the vessel, and later, when the gong sounded for +visitors to go ashore, most of them left with their pockets bulging +with goods bought aboard. Pertaining to this, an amusing feature came +to light--the custom officers, who had been stationed at the gangway +and other parts of the ship to prevent smuggling, seemingly not +noticing the difference in the girth of a man on leaving the vessel to +that when he boarded her. + +Sailing on the same smooth sea on which we had started from Madeira +Island ten days before, Rio de Janeiro, the capital and metropolis of +Brazil, was reached later. + +The harbor of this city is considered the finest in the world. The +noted haven is entered by a deep channel, three-quarters of a mile +wide, flanked by two imposing stone mountains, rising nearly 1,300 and +1,100 feet, respectively. Tropical vegetation grows luxuriantly on the +shores, and beyond a circle of high, evergreen mountains offer an +unusually fascinating foreground. The harbor is sixteen miles long and +from two to seven miles wide, this area being dotted with over a +hundred islands, also heavily verdured with a tropical growth. One +feature, however, robs Rio de Janeiro and her harbor of a scenic +climax. To the left, on which side of the bay the city stands, rise +low hills, which shut from view, until opposite the wharves, what +otherwise would reveal a panorama of the metropolis in keeping with +that of the fame of the harbor. One is at a loss to account for the +absence of docks here, considering this city has a population of +nearly a million inhabitants and is the commercial center of Brazil. + +Before, and also after, the ship anchored in the bay, where a large +number of passengers left, the deafening noise made by hack barkers +and hotel runners, shouting from boats below, exceeded anything of +this nature heard elsewhere. Here it was a medley of whistles on +yachts, launches and similar craft, together with blasts from horns, a +racket from other noise-making devices, and the raucous voices of +fruit vendors, crying their wares from rowboats. For a quarter of a +mile about the vessel hundreds of small craft were bumping into each +other, their owners cursing and shouting at those in approaching boats +who sought a more advantageous place where a fare might come their +way; in no place in the world, one would feel safe in saying, could +there be more turmoil and confusion under similar circumstances. No +one seemed to be in charge; every one was bending his every effort for +a fare. Evidently a great deal of revenue would be cut off from a +considerable number of the population of Rio were the government to +build docks. + +Having read of cholera in Rio years before would lead one to entertain +a belief that he is entering an unclean city, and the great number of +blacks and half-castes one sees before he gets off the ship suggests +nothing to the contrary. But, when in the city proper, what a surprise +one meets with. No place is better supplied with small parks than this +metropolis, and public conveniences and sanitation in general, which +are so essential to the physical welfare of a people, are creditable +features. To be sure, the old part is of Spanish style--brick and +cement houses, with narrow streets. The object in building narrow +streets is to foil the sun--to keep cool--as the narrower they are the +more shade is cast. One will soon notice the difference in comfort +when walking between narrow or wide streets in hot climates--the +narrow, shady ones will be given the preference. Only one vehicle can +travel in a street, and for this reason traffic passes through one and +returns by another. They are one-way streets. Two persons moving in +opposite directions can just manage to pass without one of them +stepping off the walk. Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in +South America, and good management of this tropical center was in +evidence. + +Looking down Avenue Central, one of the principal thoroughfares, +composed largely of business buildings, a scene of architectural +beauty is revealed rivaling any metropolis in the world. No street +cars run on this avenue, but brightly painted, well designed, small +motor 'buses are in use. The artistic effect reflected by the +arrangement of lights and trees is in keeping in every detail with +the admirable designs of the buildings on each side. A municipal +theater on this street, prominent by its striking exterior +ornamentation, together with handsome government buildings, add +greatly to the attractiveness of Avenue Central. To an American the +street view at the head not only equals the lower portion, but is +enhanced, for there stands the Monroe Palace, a memorial to James +Monroe, whose name is immortalized as the father of the Monroe +Doctrine, serving as a fitting cap-sheaf, and at the same time +infusing patriotic sentiment to the harmonious foreground and +attractive environments. From Monroe Palace, which is shaded by trees +growing in a beautiful park at the side, Avenue Central verges into a +long boulevard, built alongside the walled harbor, fringed in places +with rows of palm trees, fifty to sixty feet high; under tropical +verdured hills, with parks, flowers and shade trees bordering the +thoroughfare to the shore of the Atlantic Ocean. + +This palm tree of Rio is the highest we have seen either of +nut-bearing or non-nut-bearing species. The trunks are smooth, +straight and round, free of limbs, and gradually taper to their full +height, where a circle of fronds branch broadly from every side. +Standing between these tropical, sentinel-like columns, high above the +spectator will be seen an arch formed of long, broad leaves. As some +of these double rows of palms extend for considerable distances, this +light-green archway grows more enchanting as, down the pillared vista, +the fringed-frond arcade gradually lowers and contracts until the +trees converge into a narrow bower. The symmetrical finish to the +towering palms of Rio will remain in one's mind long after other of +Nature's masterpieces, of equal merit but differing in form, will have +been forgotten. + +American money and enterprise have added much to the modern public +utilities of Rio, for the street car and lighting systems are headed +by Americans. "Bond" is the name for street cars here. To raise +capital to construct the system bonds were issued, and as the word +bond was much used before construction began, the Brazilians, when the +cars started running, called them "bonds." + +The Portuguese language is used in the Brazilian republic. But what a +mixed population these Brazilians are! Most of them are dark-skinned +and the greater number are black. From observation, there seems to be +little or no distinction between the races. Yet this race possesses a +knowledge rarely displayed by others in erecting buildings suited in +every respect for business purposes, and in giving them an artistic +finish at the same time. Immigrants from many countries have settled +in this republic during the last decade. + +European customs are strongly in evidence, the most noticeable being +lounging about cafés. The habit of living on the sidewalk and in the +street outside of cafés is the same here as that which strikes one as +being strange on his first visit to Paris and other places in +Continental Europe. One often has to maneuver his way through little +iron-legged tables and chairs, used for refreshments. Some of the +patrons are seen sipping black coffee from cups no larger than half an +eggshell; others may be found drinking vari-colored liquids, of which +there is a great variety, and many will have cigarettes between their +lips or between their fingers. Still one cannot fail to note the +improvement these cafés are on the American saloon. There are no back +door entrances to these places; no front doors closed; no +curtains--everything open and above board. And, as with Europeans, +seldom is a person seen intoxicated or disorderly. Prosperity is +suggested by crowded cafés, for refreshments in Rio are expensive. + +Women seem to have an easy time in Brazil, in the capital, at least, +for men are seen looking after rooms in hotels, sweeping, +dusting--doing general housework. + +Two meals a day seem to be all the Brazilians desire. A cup of coffee +is taken early in the morning, as the regular time for breakfast is +from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Dinner is served from 5 to 7:30 o'clock in +the evening. + +Everything one buys in the Brazilian metropolis is expensive. +Manufactures are few--almost everything is imported, and the customs +duty is exorbitant. Street car fare, even, is double that charged in +most large cities. Small articles costing from ten to fifteen cents +in the United States cost a milrei in Rio. Very few things can be had +for less than 33 cents. Soda water and other soft drinks generally +cost from 9 to 12 cents. + +The Portuguese money system--reis and milreis--is that of Brazil. The +value of a milrei in American money is 33 cents, and a rei is equal to +one-thirtieth of a cent. In financial figures the dollar mark is used +to denote milreis, but is placed between the figures instead of in +front--thus: 10$000. Money is on the decimal system, 1,000 reis making +a milrei. + +One unaccustomed to Portuguese money is apt to feel perplexed when +presented with a bill for 50 cents. This is how a 50 cent dinner bill +would look: 1$500. The figure 1 represents a milrei--33 cents--and the +500 is 500 reis--half a milrei--16½ cents. One hundred reis is three +cents in American money. Only among the poorer class are coins of less +than 100 reis in use. Paper bills are used for a milrei and larger +sums. The coins are mostly of nickel. + +At São Paulo, over three hundred miles from Rio, woolen and cotton +mills have been established, and so far have proved a good investment. +English money is represented in this industry. American money and +machinery figure largely in the development of the ore mines of that +large country, so with English capital erecting mills and American +money opening and developing mines business development is assured. +Brazil produces three-quarters of the world's annual consumption of +coffee. Rubber is another staple product of this republic. + +The tropical scenery about Rio adds much to the attractiveness of the +capital of Brazil. High hills and mountains almost circle both the +harbor and city, and from these elevated points one looks down through +a dense growth of trees bearing flowers, large blooming vines, +wide-leaved palms, and clumps of high, swaying bamboo--an expansive +botanical garden--on to the thousands of gray houses, with their +red-tiled roofs. Similar scenes and objects, attractive when viewed +from less favored vistas, seen through a tropical foreground, assume +an enchanted charm. + +Though very little English printing is done here, a number of good +Portuguese daily newspapers are published, the offices being equipped +with linotype machines, web presses and stereotyping machinery. The +wages paid workers in this trade range from $25 to $30 a week. As +there is little manufacturing in Brazil, and the tariff is so +exorbitant on imports, together with high dwelling rentals, $30 a week +would not be considered good wages in America under such conditions. + +One seldom sees a Brazilian carrying bundles in his hands--such as +valises, etc. The people who make their living at that sort of work +carry a strap with them, which is thrown over the shoulder. If two +valises are to be borne, one is placed in front and the other at the +back, each fastened to the end of the strap. + +Church bells here, as in the City of Mexico, are ringing in most parts +of the city all the time. + +As a rule good photographs exaggerate and flatter objects, but when +looking at a picture associated with Rio de Janeiro, no matter how +pretty and artistic it may appear, one should not discount the picture +as being overdrawn, for Rio would very likely carry away the honors if +entered in a "beautiful city" exhibit. + +At Santos, another coffee mart of Brazil, enterprise was in evidence +when our ship drew up to a dock. This was the first dock the ship +pulled alongside of since leaving Southampton, England. Santos is also +the port for São Paulo. From this place we continue southward. + +Twelve hundred miles south of Rio, Montevideo, Uruguay, is located at +the delta of the River Plate. This city is the capital of Uruguay. +Most of the ships head for the River Plate, and a great many sailing +southward and through the Straits of Magellan stop at this port, +allowing passengers time to look about the city. The River Plate (La +Plata in Spanish) spreads out at this point to a width of a hundred +miles. A great number of vessels sail up the Plate from time to time, +and it ranks high in the list of waterways of the world. + +A glimpse of Montevideo revealed but little difference in architecture +to that of the Spanish style--brick and mortar. Most of the dwelling +houses are but one story in height, the outside steps and stairways, +however, being of white marble, which gives the building a strikingly +clean appearance. + +More than one night in this city is required to become used to the +noise made by mouth whistles before a light sleeper can rest. These +are blown by the police, who keep in touch with each other by this +means. + +A striking feature of Montevideo to one who has been in Brazil is the +large size of the Uruguayan. Deep-chested, broad-shouldered and of +good height, he appears to possess double the strength of the +Brazilian. While the people are of dark complexion, no blacks are +seen. + +The money unit of Uruguay is higher than that of any country in the +world. It is known as the dollar, and its value is $1.04. + +Uruguay is a republic, its principal industry being agriculture and +stock raising. Flattering inducements are offered by that government +to immigrants who intend to make their home there. These are in the +nature of giving land to homeseekers, the government even promising to +stock the farms with cattle. + +How little some of us who pay but passing attention to sea commerce +know of the tremendous volume of business carried over the world in +vessels, and the long runs made. At Rio de Janeiro I left the ship +that I sailed on from Southampton, England, and after several weeks' +stay in the Brazilian capital continued my journey southward by +another line, tickets being interchangeable. The ship from Rio that +landed Argentine passengers at Montevideo proceeded southward to and +through the Straits of Magellan, to Valparaiso, Chile; up the Pacific +coast as far as Callao, the port for Lima, Peru, stopping at several +places between, distributing passengers and cargo at each. From among +the passengers Brazil, Uruguay, Argentine, Chile, Paraguay, Bolivia +and Peru received its quota. From England to Callao six weeks' time +was required to make the voyage. The manner in which these merchantmen +slip in and out of bays, deep and shallow harbors, crawl up rivers and +down again--into commercial nooks of every character--reminds one of +the unexpected places to which the sun so often finds its way. +Passengers from Great Britain seemed to be in the majority of those +traveling south of the equator. A greater number of men than women are +always to be found, though almost every ship carries young women who +will be on their way to meet and marry their fiancés located in the +interior of the South American republics. + +Buenos Aires, capital of the Argentine republic, the New York of South +America, is located 124 miles up the River Plate. Many entertain the +opinion, gathered from newspaper accounts, that, 6,000 miles south of +New York, there is a good-sized city--Buenos Aires. But what a +difference there is between reading about something and seeing it! It +is said of a visitor that "a look at New York will knock his eye out," +and to travel through the busy waterway of the big harbor of this +South American metropolis, and look through the dense thicket of +masts, spars, shrouds, ropes, pennants, flags and many-colored funnels +from ships that stretch for miles about the outer and inner harbors, +will surely cause one's eye to bulge with astonishment. Such an influx +of merchantmen visit this city at certain periods of the year that, +for as long as three and four weeks, ships loll at anchor in the outer +harbor before dock room can be made for unloading their cargoes. The +dock system is good; and one may gather an idea of the harbor space +available when he learns the River Plate is thirty-five miles wide at +Buenos Aires. Up to the interior of South America ships ply for 1,000 +miles on the Plate to the Bolivian border, going up loaded and sailing +away to sundry parts of the world with cargoes submerging the vessels +to their water lines. It seemed that every ship sailing south of the +equator on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean was headed for the +River Plate or for other coast ports of the Argentine. + +A more intimate acquaintance with matters will reveal a Briton at the +helm of those ships of industry or the hidden power behind the scene. +Every passenger ship leaving a British port for the River Plate +carries brain and brawn from Great Britain. English money figures +prominently in the industrial advancement of the Argentine, upward of +a billion dollars having been expended in building railways and +developing the lands. The flower of Great Britain will be found +engaged at farming, connected with shipping, railroads, banking, or +other pursuits; and English advice on governmental legislation is +often sought. + +In Buenos Aires one finds a busy city of nearly a million and +three-quarters of people, largely of a cosmopolitan character. Sixteen +big, well-printed daily newspapers of evening and morning editions are +published in this commercial center. Besides the native, or Spanish +language, are those printed in the French, Italian, English, Swedish +and other languages. The wages paid artisans engaged in this industry +do not compare with those paid in the United States. The highest paid +for newspaper work is $3.50 a day, but $2.50 is the general daily +wage, paid monthly. Working time is seven and eight hours a day. On +the other hand, living expenses are higher than in American cities. +House rent is very high, and the price of food in ordinary restaurants +is as high, and generally higher, than that charged in similar grade +eating places in American cities. Anent cheap living in other +countries, about which one hears so much in the United States, I have +come to look upon such alleged facts as mythical, for, speaking +generally, I have yet to come across them, and my unsuccessful search +for these "much-cheaper" places has not been from lack of effort. + +The Argentine silver dollar is about the same value as the Mexican +dollar--44 cents. Another dollar is in use, however, pertaining to +shipping, customs charges and government tariff of a general nature, +known as the gold dollar, and is worth 96 cents. But it is the 44-cent +dollar that is in general use for retail purposes, wages, etc. + +The great number of street cars running through and about the city is +in keeping with the large number of ships seen in the harbor. There +are only two streets in the business district--and for a considerable +distance beyond--on which street cars do not run. Any one who has +lived in busy centers will naturally glance about when crossing +streets, to see if the way is clear. But in Buenos Aires one must be +on the alert for street cars even when walking along walks between +the crossings. The Spanish system of laying out a town--narrow +streets--is the rule in Buenos Aires, in the older section of the +city. To build street car lines in the center of the streets would +shut off vehicular traffic to a great extent, as there is not room for +a truck and car to pass between the car line and the curb at the same +time. The car tracks, therefore, are laid at the side of the street, +by which plan car and vehicular traffic have room to move together, +but only in one direction. To make matters worse, a "trailer," or two +cars, are in use on many of the lines. A sidewalk fender is secured to +the rear platform of the front car and to the forward platform of the +"trailer." This device is formed of strips of steel, bowed half-barrel +shape, which extends over the walk, and is attached to prevent +pedestrians from falling between the cars. The walks also are +proportionately narrow, affording room for only two persons to pass at +the same time. Were a person to become thoughtless or one's mind be +occupied with something foreign to street traffic, while walking at +the outer edge of the walk, or when stepping to one side to allow +another to pass, the half-barrel shaped steel-strip fender is apt to +scrape his leg. Being fearful of coming in contact with the fender at +any moment when walking the streets prompts one to frequently look +behind. + +Ten cents (Argentine money) is the fare, equaling four cents in +American money. That sum will carry a passenger from one end of a car +line to the other. By reason of the narrow streets, the two-car +system, and the great number of cars running on the different lines, +tie-ups, turmoil and confusion result. On boarding a car, there is no +telling when one will reach his destination. Improvements, however, +were in progress. + +Among the park squares of Buenos Aires (termed "plazas" in +Latin-speaking countries), Plaza de Mayo is perhaps the most popular, +and the first laid out in the Southern metropolis. This plaza is +located at one side of the business center of the city, with +government buildings, hotels, a cathedral, and business houses +fronting the four sides. Attractive palms adorn this pretty resting +place, together with trees, shrubbery, flowers all the year round, +lawns and good walks. Historical memories, dear to the Argentinian, +however, prove of greater interest to the populace than that wrought +by the landscape gardener, as in this section of the city in early +days a decisive battle was fought with Britishers. At one side of the +square stands a memorial shaft that marks the place of surrender to +native forces by the invaders early in the nineteenth century. Within +the city limits are six parks, a number of promenades, thirty-eight +squares, and many public gardens. + +Avenida de Mayo is the promenade and show section of Buenos Aires. +Starting at Plaza de Mayo, it extends for nearly a mile to Congreso, +or Congress Hall. The Avenida is one of the two streets on which cars +do not run, and is the only one of fair width in the busy center of +the city. It is paved with asphalt, most of the others being paved +with stone blocks. The best hotels line the Avenida, and the other +buildings are of attractive appearance. Prizes are offered by the city +for the best building designs, and the result of this municipal pride +is frequently observed. Through the Continental custom of blocking the +sidewalks in front of hotels and cafés with tables and chairs one +often finds difficulty in walking. The park system of the city is +creditable, and there are good boulevards in the suburbs. + +Here, too, as in Rio de Janeiro, one wonders what women do to occupy +their time, as men make the beds, do the dusting, look after rooms, +sweep the carpets, and do general household duties one is so +accustomed to seeing women perform in North America. Neither is there +any chance for a woman to earn her living working in eating places, as +men seem to have made that source of livelihood a "closed shop" to +women. + + [Illustration: PLAZA DE MAYO (top) and AVENIDA DE MAYO (bottom). + BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINE.] + +The clumsy way the Argentinian hitches horses to a cart strikes one as +odd. Carts, instead of trucks, are mostly in use. Often three or four +horses will be attached to a cart--one horse between the shafts, and +one hitched to the cart on each side of the shaft horse. The horse in +the lead will precede the second horse by a space of from three to +five feet, and the second horse will be in advance of the shaft +horse the same distance. How the animals can see is a puzzle, for a +heavy leather fringe reaches from the top of the horse's head to the +nose. + +To see men embracing each other, with radiant faces, strikes one from +the North as an unusual custom. While Americans greet with a +handshake, Argentinians embrace. + +A novel way to keep "park residents" from occupying seats in some of +the park squares is amusing. The park workers keep moving the seats +from shade to sun, and in the evening and on cloudy days the +"never-works" are told to "move on." But the idlers enjoy sweet +revenge from the fact that no one else has a chance to sit in the +shade in the daytime. + +It is hard on one who has been used to three meals a day to practice +the principle of the old adage, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do," +for only two meals a day are served. Of course, one gets coffee and +rolls for breakfast, but more than that brief menu is unknown to the +Argentinian. The noontime meal is called breakfast, and dinner is +served about 7 o'clock. + +Olives, potato chips, peanuts and cigarettes are accessories that go +with refreshments at the "sidewalk dining-rooms" in Buenos Aires. +People may be seen for hours taking sips of liquid from small glasses, +then a potato chip will be snapped in two parts; next a few puffs of a +cigarette; another sip; a peanut shell is then cracked and a kernel +eaten; another sip of liquid; next an olive; more cigarette puffs, and +so on. + +Churches and church holidays being numerous, banks are closed on these +occasions for four or five days. What is known as "the American +Church" attracts many of the English-speaking people of that city. + +In addition to the Argentine being a grain and cattle country, fruit +trees and grapevines bear heavy yields. Fig and peach trees, which are +numerous, yield abundant good fruit, and some bunches of grapes will +half fill a water bucket. + +Gentility is denoted in the Argentine by a long little fingernail. A +fingernail could not grow from one to two inches long on the hand of +one engaged in daily toil, for it would break off. Hence a man with a +long fingernail is included in the list of "retired" citizens. + +The dwelling houses and buildings of all sorts are substantially +built. Brick is generally used, and this is covered with several +inches of cement. A courtyard is a feature of all buildings, with a +veranda around, and more rooms open on the court than on the street. +Strong iron bars protect the windows in a great many instances, while +the street doors are very heavy and the locks big and strong. Most of +the dwelling houses are one and two stories in height, but some of the +hotel and business buildings are from three to seven stories high. The +higher buildings are of steel frame construction, which is known as +"the American system." + +One will find splendid stores, with goods attractively displayed in +large, wide windows. Church buildings are numerous, and some of the +government buildings large and imposing. Several of the newspapers are +large, newsy and well printed. Linotype machines, web presses--all the +modern machinery in use in the North--will be found in the emporium of +South America. + +Portuguese is the language of Brazil, Spanish of the Argentine, and +any one going to these countries to transact business without first +acquiring an inkling of these languages will find himself at a great +disadvantage. The foreigner who can speak both languages will succeed +much better than the person who sticks to his native tongue. + +The pickpocket of Buenos Aires is said to be as deft at his trade as +are his clever colleagues in the City of Mexico. The great number of +thieves here may be the reason for the presence of bars in front of +windows, heavy doors and strong locks on buildings. + +I had work offered to me at my trade in that city, but one who had +been used to receiving $5 a day does not relish working for $3 a day +for the same duties. Besides, just then the surface of my funds had +been scarcely scratched. + +I stopped at a boarding house, paying $2 a day for my keep, occupying +a small room next to the roof, with the only window a little larger +than the port hole of a ship. It behooved one to be promptly in his +seat at the table at mealtime, in order to prevent remonstrance that +would justifiably be made by the inner man until the next meal if the +rules of strict punctuality were not conformed to. + +One notices an improvement in the condition of the working people in +both Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires over that seen in Lisbon. Poverty +is not a feature of either city, more particularly in Buenos Aires. + +My fare from New York to Buenos Aires was $150, and the distance +traveled was 9,852 miles. From New York direct to Buenos Aires is some +6,000 miles, and the fare, third-class, $90, first-class, $240, there +being no second-class rate. Third-class travel is generally +unsatisfactory, and a first-class ticket would have cost more than I +cared to spend on the first leg of my journey. It was a 26-day sail +from Southampton to Buenos Aires. + +From Buenos Aires direct across to Capetown, South Africa, is 3,600 +miles; by way of Madeira 9,500 miles, and second-class fare $250. This +large sum of money for a ticket set me inquiring if there was no other +way to get to South Africa without traveling nearly half the distance +around the world. A tramp ship going to Asia and stopping at Durban, +South Africa, for bunker coal was one's only hope of avoiding the long +and tedious journey by way of Madeira and the big expense. Four +different captains who had received orders to sail to India did not +want to take a passenger with them, giving as their reason that "it +was against the Act" for tramp ships to carry travelers. The fifth +captain seen, however, agreed to take me across to Durban for $50. +Here was a saving of $200. + +That being my first introduction to tramp ship travel, I faced the +voyage with some mistrust, as merchantmen, as a rule, are slow, are +not equipped with wireless telegraphy appliances, and one does not +know what may happen when sailing on the high seas. But the captain +had a good face, which inspired me with confidence. + +"Meet me at the British Consul's office to-morrow morning at 10 +o'clock," the captain instructed, "for you'll have to ship as an 'A. +B.' (able-bodied seaman), as the 'Act' does not allow us to carry +passengers." "Aye, aye, sir," in sailor style, was my answer to his +instructions. + +"How much are you going to pay this man?" asked the consul. "Ten +shillings ($2.40) a month," answered the captain. "A pretty cheap 'A. +B.'" sagely remarked the consul. + +"The ship is the one with a red funnel, having a yellow circle around +it close to the top. _Bertha Clay_ is her name. Be aboard at 3 o'clock +at the latest, as we shall sail between 3 and 4," was the final +instruction by the captain. + +"You found her all right?" the skipper remarked, when he had come +aboard his ship. A cargo of coal had just been unloaded, and the dust +was an inch deep on the deck. + +Later a long blast from the whistle was blown, and in a short time a +rope from a tug had been fastened to the _Bertha Clay_, when she was +slowly drawn from the dock into the narrow channel, which was solidly +walled by ships. We had started for "Darkest Africa." + + + + +LEG TWO + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +The evening sun was sinking fast as we were being towed from the inner +harbor of the Argentine metropolis to the broad expanse of +gray-colored water of the River Plate. + +Berths were short on the _Bertha Clay_, as the skipper had informed me +before I had boarded his ship I would have to sleep in the chart room. +Charts and other navigating paraphernalia were kept in this room, and +the wheel house was on top of the chart room roof. "Sleep on the couch +to-night," instructed the captain, "and to-morrow I'll try to have a +berth put up for you, which will be more restful." + +Next morning found the tramp ship at sea, and behind, in the distance, +the panorama of Montevideo, built on a hillside, was kept in view till +lost to sight. "If you prefer land to sea view," the captain remarked +later, "take a good look yonder, for, with the exception of a small, +uninhabited island 1,200 miles to the east, it is the last land we +shall see until we reach the South African coast. That is Lobos +Island, off the Uruguayan coast, at which we are looking, on which +large numbers of seal assemble." + +For six days out from the Plate the weather was summer-like, and these +were pleasantly spent sailing over a smooth sea. Talent is generally +found among sailors, and during the evening some of the crew would +sing, others dance, or boxing bouts would take place; wrestling +matches also were listed among the means of entertainment. Then the +weather changed for the worse, and evening sports were discontinued. + +The captain had brought with him eight sheep and a couple of dozen +live chickens, as this ship carried no ice. A sheep was killed each +week, and we had chicken twice weekly, so, between the sheep and the +chickens, we had fresh meat three times a week. + +"Keep a look out for Gough Island," suggested the captain to his first +officer, "for it should be in sight by four o'clock." At 4:15 the +mate, opening the door, reported, "Land port abeam, sir!" The island +proved to be a small, rocky and uninhabited sea "oasis." "No more land +until we reach Africa," said the skipper. + +The weather had grown stormy, the sea rough, and the _Bertha Clay_ was +rolling badly. She pitched, tossed and rolled so much, in fact, that +the "A. B." had "callouses" on his hips through being slammed back and +forth against the sides of his bunk in the chart room. + +Masters of ships usually have an easy time at sea. After they have +left a port, the next few days are occupied in straightening their +accounts. From then on, if the weather be at all favorable, little +work is done save at noontime, when the sun is sighted, by which means +alone the course is maintained. Each officer has a sextant, and from +two to four of these are pointed sunward from ten to fifteen minutes +before the orb has reached the zenith. + +A captain of a tramp ship is generally sent from port to port by cable +from the owners to their agent. After the cargo has been unloaded, he +may remain in a port for days, or even weeks, waiting for orders to +sail; but sometimes he has little idea to what part of the world he +may be directed to go. The cable directions may read "Capetown." He +heads his ship for that port, but does not know whence he will be sent +until given instructions by the company's agent on arrival. + +The salary paid some sea captains is small, compared to the +responsibility assumed. English and other European shippers pay +masters of tramp ships from $100 to $130 a month, while captains of +American ships receive double that sum. Perquisites, however, may come +to a skipper in connection with his calling. Coal firms generally give +the master of a ship a commission on fuel supplied, and chandlers +maintain the same custom when furnishing stores. + +Sea charts with which captains are furnished are marvels of exactness +to a landsman, shoals, rocks, lights, jutting points of land, sea +currents and courses being as clearly marked as are rivers, turnpikes +and railways on land maps. With a good navigator there is little +danger of getting off the course if the sky be clear at noontime. It +is in cloudy periods, when officers cannot get their bearings from the +sun, that danger may occur. + +Rainy weather and clear days are the same to a sailor aboard +merchantmen. Though sailors on a tramp ship rest on Sunday, firemen +and officers have no day off. Chinese, Arabs and Indians, the latter +called "lascars," form the crew of a large number of British ships. +From $12 to $16 a month were the wages then paid. On American ships +white sailors receive $40 a month. + +Two hundred miles a day was all the _Bertha Clay_ was traveling. Her +smoke funnel was white with salt from the waves of the sea dashing +against it. Some of the officers gathered in the little saloon every +evening, when the hours were whiled away until bedtime by indoor +amusements. + +Sea birds of the Southland are different from those that accompany +ships above the equator. No traveler who has the noble albatross as a +companion can refrain from devoting hours and hours of time during a +voyage to watching and admiring the smooth, graceful movements of this +large bird. Sometimes as many as a hundred of these handsome soarers +may be seen encircling the ship for as long as an hour at a time, +seldom flapping their wings. In far southern waters the albatross +generally joins an outgoing vessel from 200 to 400 miles from shore, +and is not seen when a ship is the same distance from land at the +other side of the ocean, although companions for weeks before. Its +color is generally gray and white, but some are snow white, and +occasionally brown-colored ones are seen with the others. These birds +are as large as a swan, some measuring twelve feet from wingtip to +wingtip. But many a sailor has lost his life when falling from a +vessel in parts of the sea inhabited by the albatross. The great bird +will pounce on anything it sees in the water, and, being so strong, +the beak will penetrate the skull of a person at the first attack. +Navigators say that it will not live during transit across the +equator. The mollemoke is another companion sailors have with them +when traveling south of the equator. This bird, while not so large, +resembles the larger specie both in poise and color, and also mingles +with the albatross during a voyage. Feeding on garbage thrown from the +ship seemed to be the chief attraction to the fowl. A very pretty sea +bird seen in far southern waters is the Cape pigeon. The pigeon is as +large as a sea-gull, but in color is like the guinea fowl--spotted +white and black--but of much brighter color. The snowbird is another +companion that follows a ship in the southern seas, but only in +sections where the weather has become chilly. The petrel is also found +in these parts, and still another, a small, dark colored bird, no +larger than a swallow, appears in large numbers at intervals. Sailors +call these Mother Carey's chickens. All these fowl are one's +unfettered companions while traveling through watery Southland, save +an occasional whale. Sea-gulls do not appear. + +It was eighteen days since we sailed from Buenos Aires, and twelve of +these had been stormy. The "A. B." was near the captain while he +studied the chart, at 9 o'clock one evening, when the mate came into +the chart room. "Mr. Jones," said the captain to the first officer, +"keep a sharp lookout, as we should see the Cape of Good Hope light by +10 o'clock, or thereabouts." "Aye, aye, sir," he replied, as he passed +out, and then scaled the ladder to the bridge. The sea had calmed as +we neared the African coast. Less than an hour later the skipper and +the "A. B." were chatting, when the door opened. The mate, putting his +head between the door and jamb, in sea manner, announced: "Flash light +port abeam, sir!" It was the Cape of Good Hope light. We had reached +another continent--the African. + +For five more days we sailed in sight of the green, treeless hills of +South Africa, using glasses frequently, as may be imagined, eager to +see houses, cattle and grain fields. Finally we came in sight of the +Bluff, the beacon of Port Natal. Soon we were opposite the entrance +channel to the harbor, when anchor was cast. Shortly after a harbor +boat was seen coming through the channel. Later a rowboat, manned by +Zulus, headed toward the _Bertha Clay_, in which was a white man +dressed in a white suit. The captain shouted to the man in white, +asking if we could get into the harbor before night. It was then +nearly sunset. The answer from the rowboat was, "I'm coming." This was +the skipper's first trip to a country where white clothes were worn, +and he mistook the man in the rowboat to be the port doctor. One +unfamiliar with customs in that part of South Africa--or, in fact, +anywhere--would never dream of seeing a grizzled sea pilot dressed in +an immaculate white suit of clothes. It proved to be the man who was +to steer our ship safely to harbor. "All well?" he inquired--the usual +salute--when his rowboat had reached speaking distance of the tramp +ship. "All well," replied the master of the _Bertha Clay_. When the +pilot had drawn alongside our vessel, he began to wriggle up the rope +ladder at the side of the ship, the usual means of boarding and +disembarking under such circumstances. + +We anchored in the harbor as twilight was hastily changing to +darkness. "Supper is ready," announced the steward when the anchor +chain was silenced. As ship food had no charm for the "A. B." when +land food was available, he hurriedly made steps for the ladder at the +side. This settled matters concerning eating supper aboard ship that +evening, as the captain shouted, "Wait." Soon the skipper also started +down the ladder, and the master of the _Bertha Clay_ and his passenger +had dinner ashore. + +We had stepped foot on Leg Two. + +The captain wished the "A. B." to return to the ship and sleep in his +recently vacated bunk in the chart room that night--"the last night," +as he put it--but my feeling of relief at the thought of not having +longer to occupy that "cabin," in which the bedclothing had often been +made damp through waves dashing against and over the ship, together +with several inches of water at times covering the floor, might be +compared to those that one would experience on leaving a "house of +trouble." + +"You'll have to come to the port office in the morning and get paid +off and discharged," remarked the captain, after we had finished +eating the best meal we had had for nearly a month. Meeting at the +time designated, the formality of paying off was gone through with, in +accordance with maritime law. The "A. B." was handed $2.40 for his +"work" during the voyage, but the money did not reach his pockets, as +it was handed back to the genial skipper. The provisions of the "Act" +had been complied with--in name. + +The _Bertha Clay_, with her bunkers full of coal, left the following +day for Cochin-China--6,000 miles further east--thirty days' more +sailing. + +"Sixty cents a day" (the minimum legal charge for a person's food on +English ships) "is all it will cost you if you will come with us," +inducingly spoke the captain to his discharged "able seaman," while +shaking hands warmly, a short time before the _Bertha Clay_ sailed out +of the harbor. The skipper's generous offer was declined. + +The passenger left behind sought the highest point of the seashore to +watch the tramp ship sail on her initial stretch to Asia. She dipped +her nose in the sea and wobbled and pitched as she had done for +twenty-three days during her former voyage. It was not long before +only an outline of the hulk was in view. Then that disappeared +altogether, when all that remained in sight was the smoke funnel. Soon +that also had faded to but a speck, and a short time later the _Bertha +Clay_ became hidden in a hazy horizon. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +With a population of a hundred thousand, Durban is the chief seaport +of South Africa. Located on the Indian Ocean, it is known also as Port +Natal. Among the inhabitants, colored people of varied races comprise +two-thirds of the population. With the native black there is the +Indian, or Hindu, Arabs, Malays and half-castes from islands located +near the East African coast. The phrase "Darkest Africa" is even more +emphasized by the presence of the dark races that are not natives of +the country. + +Untidiness and unsanitary conditions invariably prevail where black +races are in the majority, especially so where the percentage is three +to one white person; but a pleasant surprise is met with here in this +respect, as few cities anywhere surpass Durban in cleanliness, whether +composed entirely of white people or a predominating number of blacks. +Almost the whole white population is British. + +To the east and south, as one comes through a channel from the sea to +the harbor, a ridge of land known as the Bluff, thickly verdured with +low trees and wild flowers, offers such an inviting setting to a +visitor that one forms a favorable opinion of Durban before he has +stepped off a ship. That foreground is as green in the winter months +as during the summer, for it is summertime in Durban the year round. +After having passed through the channel into the bay, the harbor is +seen landlocked on one side by the city, and on the other side and end +by the evergreen Bluff and more verdure. It is Durban's splendid +harbor, reasonable port dues, up-to-date facilities for coaling ships, +and splendid docks that has gained for her the title of premier +seaport of the South Indian Ocean. Her modern maritime facilities are +the result of energy by the Durban business man more than to natural +advantages, for the entrance channel had to be dug out and the harbor +dredged. + +The business houses are built of brick, cement and stone, some of them +being seven stories high. The stores are large, of fine appearance, +with attractive windows. No place of Durban's size can boast of better +buildings or better stores. + +One of the largest and best built structures to be found south of the +equator is the Durban Town Hall. This building, of brick and cement, +is a city block in size and three stories in height. The scope of this +hall may be understood when it is mentioned that under its roof is +contained a public museum, an art gallery, public library, theater, +councilors' chambers, besides offices for the city officials. The +building is not only large and imposing, but the architects have +succeeded in giving the structure an artistic finish. The Town Hall of +to-day should meet the requirements of the Durban Corporation +centuries hence, and would be a credit to a city of a million +inhabitants. + +A good bathing beach and a well-laid-out and well-appointed park do +not, as a rule, go together, but one finds this dual comfort at this +part of the Indian Ocean. Scattered about the terraced lawn have been +built substantial kiosks and pagodas, with thatched roofs, which lend +to the surroundings a decidedly Oriental air. These have been provided +with comfortable seats, and, with the soft breezes nearly always +coming from the Indian Ocean, enviable restfulness is assured to even +nervous wrecks. Then stone walls, with alcoves built in to add to the +seating capacity of the park, together with flowering vines creeping +up and over and then drooping, form a means of shelter and rest, +adding more attractiveness to the surroundings. Above the beach and +park are splendid hotels, some without doors, and all with wide, +inviting verandas. + +Sharks--man-eaters--are so numerous along the Natal coast that the +bathing enclosure is closely studded with iron rods to prevent the +voracious sea beasts from mangling and killing bathers, as would +happen were there no means provided to keep the sharks away from the +holiday-maker. + +The Berea is a residential section of Durban, and for landscape and +floral effect is a notable feature. On a range of hills rising several +hundred feet, overlooking the business portion of the city and the +Indian Ocean, many Durbanites live in broad-verandaed homes, shaded +with semi-tropical flowering trees, perpetually blooming plants, vines +growing so luxuriantly that the porches, and often the sides, of the +houses are shut in by a green and floral portière, as it were. Added +to this attractiveness are various species of palms and clusters of +giant and Japanese bamboo. Some of the flowered hedges enclosing these +building plots are so gorgeous in rich color and shape as to make a +Solomon green with envy. + +The flambeau tree, indigenous to the Island of Mauritius--"the flower +garden tree," it may be termed--is conspicuous on the Berea, both as +to numbers and floral beauty. This tree, with fern-shaped leaf, does +not grow over twenty-five feet in height, but it is of a spreading +nature, its shade in some instances measuring fifty feet across--twice +its height. It is in flower about a month, from the middle of December +to the middle of January--Junetime south of the equator. The color of +the flower is a bright red, as large and the shape of a sewing +thimble, and grows in clusters of eight and ten in number. When in +bloom, this bright red aerial garden may be seen from a distance of a +mile, so the reader can picture what a gorgeous floral effect is +displayed when hundreds of these handsome trees are in flower at the +same time. + +The rosebush seemed to be the only plant of the nature of bush or tree +that overrides lines, climates and seas. It is no doubt the most +cosmopolitan plant that grows, and is to be seen in about the same +beauty and diffuses its fragrance in the same degree in nearly all +parts of the world. All the trees seen growing south of the equator +appeared foreign to those growing in the United States. + +The Christ thorn--said to be the same as the one that pierced the brow +of the Savior on Mount Calvary--grows abundantly in Natal. In some +instances the bush is used for hedge fences, and when allowed to grow +to a height of from two to four feet it makes a spiky obstruction, as +the prongs are an inch in length, grow numerous on the stock, little +thicker than a knitting needle, and are almost as sharp as a sewing +needle. The thorn, which is of a creeping nature, like a grapevine, is +more generally used as a border for a flower pot, however. As its name +naturally calls up memories of the deep-stained crime of nearly 2,000 +years ago, one scrutinizes it closely. The Christ is a flowering +thorn, and the flower is red, not larger than a wild strawberry's. +These grow in a group from one stem, each cluster numbering from two +to ten flowers--always even--two, four, six, eight and ten--never in +odd numbers. + +Some of the trees growing here bud and bloom twice a year. These +interesting changes do not take place in the same way that nature does +her work in the colder climates--by the leaves falling off in the fall +of the year and the buds coming in the spring. With these trees the +old leaf remains until forced off the limb by the new bud. About six +weeks' time is required for nature to change from the old to the new. +During this period new buds bulge from the tips of the limbs, when the +old leaf will fall to the ground. This change is gradually +progressing, until sections of the tree offer a clean, fresh, bright, +green-leafed appearance, while on other parts the dull-green, +dust-soiled leaf offers a striking contrast. Between the months of +February and March and August and September the new leaf replaces the +old. + +There is really little timber in South Africa, as the trees grow low +and are of a spreading character. Naturally, the shade cast by them is +much wider than that afforded by high trees. Where brush grows, it is +found to be a dense thicket or jungle, in which monkeys disport +themselves at will, and is often the home of the python also, a +reptile frequently seen along the Natal coast. Shooting monkeys in the +brush is a common amusement. + +Outside the city are banana plantations, and sometimes patches of corn +and pumpkins. In order to prevent crops from being partly eaten by +monkeys, laborers are out in the fields at daylight setting traps to +catch the "missing links" or shooting them. The monkeys are very +destructive to crops growing in fields bordered by bushy land. A +monkey's gluttony often renders his cunning of no avail, and for that +trait he becomes an easy prey. Calabashes grow everywhere in South +Africa, and it is by this vegetable the monkey is generally trapped. +The calabash is dug out, or partly so, and cornmeal, calabash seeds +and other monkey edibles are put inside and then made fast. A small +hole, just large enough for a monkey to wriggle his supple fingers in +and contracted paw through, is made in the vegetable. When no one is +about, the monkey makes a start for the calabash trap and is soon +eager to find out what is inside. He then begins working his paw +through the opening, and when he has reached the cornmeal, seeds and +other bait he grabs a handful. It is then that his gluttony proves his +downfall. The opening that admitted his empty paw is too small to +allow his clenched fist to be withdrawn, so he pulls and tugs for +hours to get his paw through the hole, but will not let go of the food +even while being put to death by his captors. + +"Are there any automobiles in South Africa?" asked a friend in a +letter. Perhaps others will ask a similar question concerning the +presence of other modern appliances in a far-off part of the world. +One will not meet with elevated railroads, tunnels under wide rivers, +underground railway systems, or buildings from twenty to fifty stories +in height, for the reason that the cities of South Africa are not +large enough to require these modern public utilities; but one will +meet with modern electric light systems, telephone, telegraph and +wireless telegraphy systems, automobiles, motorcycles, motor trucks, +most up-to-date fire-fighting apparatus, modern farm machinery, +typesetting machines, web presses--all the modern machinery and +appliances with which cities of the same size in the North are +equipped will be found in the cities of the far Southland. + +White drill clothes are worn by two-thirds of the men of Durban; also +white shoes and a white, light-weight helmet. A suit costs from $2.50 +to $6, and a wardrobe contains from three to half a dozen. In addition +to the drill, a majority of mechanics and clerks can vary their +apparel by wearing woolen, flannel and even evening-dress suits. Women +also generally adhere to white clothes and often a helmet similar to +the style worn by men, together with white shoes, white hand-bag, and +white parasol. + +The standard of intelligence of the people is high. A majority in the +coast cities are from the United Kingdom. Scotch and English are the +more numerous, the Irish and Welsh being less in evidence. Among a +group of men, the colonials (white persons born in South Africa of +British parents) are nearly always in the minority. + +It is only in very small towns in South Africa where a public library +would not be open to all who wished to take advantage of its benefits. +Durban is well supplied with public schools, a technical school open +for both day and night classes; Y. M. C. A., Y. W. C. A. institutions, +splendid library, art gallery, museum; is thickly spired and turreted +with good church buildings; and, for recreation, there is a promenade, +fringed with beautiful palms and shady trees, with seats under them, +for a mile on one side, and the bay on the other; parks and sports +grounds scattered throughout the city; a botanical garden and a +zoological park. All these institutions of education, religion and +recreation are to be found 10,000 miles from America, on the fringe of +"Darkest Africa." + +In order that the reader may clearly distinguish between white and +black, a note of the distinctive terms in use here might not be out of +place. A "native" is a kafir or negro; a "colonial" is one born in +South Africa of white parents, generally applied to English-speaking +people; Dutch means a Boer, and Boer means Dutch; the word +"Africander" also means Dutch. But for all whites--Dutch, colonial, +and foreign-born--the word "European" is used to designate the white +from the black. The word "white" is seldom used. Indian coolie, or +Indian, is a native of India, or of Indian parentage. "Colored" means +a person of Malay and white blood. Half-castes are of negro and white +blood. A "boy" means a kafir servant or a laborer. A native servant 40 +years of age would be called a "boy." + +House servants in South Africa are native boys, and Indian women and +girls are often employed as nurses. Occasionally one sees a native +woman looking after children; but the native boy--the "umfaan," as he +is called in the Zulu language--from 10 to 18 years of age, is the +standby as a house servant in the Province of Natal. The houseboy +wears clothes that denote his occupation, and generally presents a +neat appearance. His wage varies from $2 to $5 a month. Most of the +umfaans make good servants, particularly the Zulu boys. Unlike his +American brother, he is an early riser. + +"Umfaan peril--protection for the children"--is the light in which a +great many of the Europeans see their dependency on the umfaan as the +servant. While Indian women and some native women look after the +children, more umfaans will be seen wheeling baby carriages than black +maids. Such a thing as a European servant is almost unheard of in +South Africa. So, how to have the children looked after by other than +black male servants is a burning question in the province. Conventions +are held regularly at the instance of women's children protection +societies, leagues and similar organizations, at which the ablest +minds of the country deal with the "umfaan peril." But no solution has +yet been found to check the degradation that follows in the wake of +such a system of taking care of children. Men and women who have made +a study of the "peril," and who are familiar with customs, are loth to +place all the blame for undesirable conditions on the native, +nevertheless. A large number of native girls are not allowed by their +parents to come to the cities or towns as servants. While they live in +the kraal on the veld no concern is felt for the future of the girls; +but so soon as they leave the native hut to go into service in the +towns their future is in doubt. So, with no native girls to be had as +servants, the umfaan's services for the present are indispensable. + +South Africa has proved an Arcadia for a great number of poor girls. +Mill and shop girls of Great Britain who had dreamed of being the wife +of a man dressed in white clothes from feet to head, of living in a +wide verandaed house, trellised all around, with flowering vines +climbing all about the porch, with the picture varied by the hum of +bees or humming birds; with palms, exotics and flowers growing about +the house and yard; with bearing banana plants, mango trees and rows +of luscious pineapples growing in the yard--all encompassed by a +flowering hedge of big, bright hibiscus bush; with a foreground of a +steepled city and a broad blue ocean, and a background of spreading +fern-leafed trees emblazoned with scarlet and lavender-colored +flowers; with an ayah (Indian maid) to be at her beck and call and a +black boy to do the housework and bring her breakfast to her room; to +be drawn from her home to the shopping center of the city and back by +a big and swift Zulu ricksha puller, with long cow horns secured to +each side of his head--that dream has come true to thousands of poor +girls who have married in this section of South Africa. + +Most wives from Great Britain, however, prove white elephants to men +living in the colonies. They are eternally going "home," as the +British Isles are termed, and the husband's nose is "kept on the +grindstone" to meet the expense required. The home "holiday" is seldom +less than six months, and is frequently eighteen months, during which +period the husband is maintaining two homes--the one in the colony and +sending money to Great Britain to meet the expense of his family in +that country. On the other hand, the climate of Southern Natal and +Zululand is hard on the white woman. The easy life they live, and +their fascinating surroundings, are not reflected in face or in +physique. It is unusual to see a buxom, rosy-cheeked woman or girl in +Durban. The face is white and features lifeless. The climate in that +part of South Africa seems to not only make them jaded, but +crow's-feet and deeper wrinkles mark the faces of most women at a +period in life when the features should be free of these ageing signs. +The children suffer from the climate to the same degree as the women, +most of them having thin bodies, thin arms, thin blood and spindled +legs. Men also are affected by the climate, but not to the same degree +as women and children. Illustrative of the size of men in Southern +Natal, it may be noted that ready made suits of clothes of size 40 and +over are not kept in stock by merchants, as there is no call for +them; few men attain that girth. It is doubtful also if one could find +a collar of size 17. + +The horse of Natal is a hungry-looking beast. This is owing to the +grass generally being of a wiry nature, which the animal cannot +digest, and a better quality, if eaten when dew is on it, proves very +injurious to the system. Smoldering fires are lit in stables in the +evening so that the smoke will keep mosquitoes from the premises. +These insects are said to inject disease germs into any horse they +bite. Large, vicious flies prove another menace to horses. The bite of +these flies often draws blood, and as a result white hairs grow from +the bitten parts. So many of these white hair spots appear on the +bodies of black and bay horses that they often give a beast the +appearance of being an iron-gray color. In certain sections of the +Province of Natal horses cannot live. + +Favored with a delightful climate and a good bathing beach, Durban is +a noted winter resort in that part of the world. The weather during +the "season"--from May to October--is like the American Indian summer +save for the absence of Jack Frost. At this time of year people from +Johannesburg and other sections of the high veld come in large numbers +to this point of the coast to spend their vacations. Circuses also pay +their annual visits; hotel-keepers raise prices; rooming house +proprietors double rates; fakirs are numerous; talented tramps--street +singers--are heard in front of hotels, looking for any spare change +that may come from verandas and windows; Zulu ricksha pullers become +ambitious for an extra "holiday" fare--every one tries to get rich off +the visitor, and the air is charged with music, merriment and life at +every turn. + +In the way of amusement, moving pictures predominate, although +theatrical people of world reputation frequently tour South Africa. +Concerts in the Town Hall Sunday evenings, held under municipal +auspices, are a popular form of entertainment, these being in charge +of the borough organist, a city official. Military bands in the gala +season entertain the populace morning, afternoon and evening at the +Beach and in parks. Besides these attractions, boating, fishing, horse +racing, military sports tournaments, and the general athletic sports +figure largely in the life of the place. + +Dwellings are nearly always at a premium, these renting for from $15 +to $35 a month; but few houses are available for the lesser sum. The +standard of living may be gauged by these charges, as people receiving +small salaries could not pay high rentals. The wages of clerks, +salesmen and mechanics range from $65 to $100 a month. In many Durban +homes will be found a piano, a phonograph, good furniture, often a +good collection of horns and skins, pictures--the home of no +workingman of any country could be better furnished than the Durban +breadwinner's. + +"Did you attend the funeral yesterday?" was asked of a lady whose +relative had been buried the day before. "Oh, no!" she answered, much +surprised at the question; "only men attend funerals." The absence of +women at subsequent burials proved this to be the custom here. A body +must be put under ground within 24 hours after death. Were a person to +die at 7 o'clock in the morning, the burial would take place during +the day. When information has been given that a person has died, it is +understood that the funeral will take place in a few hours. + +One making a visit to the black belts would use good judgment were he +to leave behind the word "woman" when applied to white women. "Woman" +in these countries is used only when speaking of black or colored +persons. "Lady" is always used when referring to a white woman. One +will find a similar distinction in vogue in the negro sections of the +United States. + +"Toff" is an English term used to denote a good dresser--a sort of +dandy. As most of the clothes worn by men are tailor-made, a great +many "toffs" may be seen in Durban. The cheapest suit one can have +made costs $22, but from $25 to $40 is the general price. + +Natal, unlike the other provinces of South Africa, has always been +English, particularly the coast section, which accounts for few +manufacturers being in evidence from other countries. But among +American products are shoes, sewing machines and illuminating oil. +Some powerful locomotives in use are of American manufacture and are +imported chiefly to pull trains up heavy grades. The cooking stove in +general use here is the kerosene oil sort, most of them of American +make. In recent years, exports from the United States to the +sub-continent (as South Africa is often termed) have increased to the +creditable figures of 35 to 40 per cent. + +"Will you please look at the fireless stove?" a saleslady asked, as a +group of women passed a "kitchen" stall in a fair ground on a +provincial fair day. Turning about, there was a dish of baked beans, +seldom seen away from America; an apple pie, an article of food as +scarce in foreign parts as hens' teeth; a roast chicken, soda biscuits +(called scones in British territory) and baked potatoes. The whole +outfit had America stamped on it very strongly. All the women stopped +to witness the fireless stove "demonstration." "Where's the fire?" +asked one of the women. Then the "demonstration" began, both in action +and word. Her auditors looked with staring eyes and open-mouth as the +agent showed them and explained its working. + +Comparatively few Americans live in the Province of Natal, as at a +luncheon given by the American Consul's wife to her countrymen "a +table held us all"--thirty being present. Invitations had been sent to +a larger number, but as some of these were missionaries located in +remote places of the country all did not attend. The luncheon was +served on a Fourth of July, and what a pleasant gathering it proved to +be. Some of those present had been away from their native country as +long as forty years. Pleasant chats, speeches, toasts--the season of +good fellowship that prevailed at that Fourth of July gathering, when +we were all 10,000 miles from home, will remain among the longest +cherished memories that those present will carry with them through +life. + +Though lighting, water, a telephone system and street railways are +owned by the city, municipal ownership does not augur cheaper prices +in Durban, in spite of the fact that the rates charged the consumer +and patron insure the city not only a fair return on the capital +invested, but generally a snug surplus is shown besides. Street cars +are of double-deck style, but the fare is high. The system of paying +is by "stage"--four cents from stage to stage, and the distance +between "stages" is so arranged that the city receives about three +cents a mile from its patrons. Conductors and motormen are Europeans. + +While the street car system gives employment to white men, it is the +only department of the city that does so. The park system and the +street department work is done entirely by Indian coolies, who receive +from $3 to $5 a month. They are the most hungry looking, bony, +spindle-legged lot of creatures one might set eyes on; but it is +largely due to this cheap help that the Durban treasury is in such +good condition. + +The Indian coolie is tricky, treacherous, lying, lazy, dirty and +repulsive. He has about his loins a rag just big enough to cover his +nakedness, while the wrapping around his head--his puggaree--is as +large as a bed sheet. In other words, he makes a loin piece out of a +handkerchief, but requires yards of cloth for a head covering. + +Sugar growing being the principal industry of southern Natal, the +Indian coolie was imported to work in the sugar-cane fields. Tea also +is grown in the southern part of the province, and Indians are used in +that industry, receiving from $3 to $5 a month and board. As his main +food is rice, board does not cost much; and as he sleeps in any sort +of a shed, the sugar grower is not put to great expense for beds and +bedding. The coolie used to be brought to South Africa under what was +termed the "indenture system," the indentureship periods being from +three to five years, during which he could not leave his employer. It +was a mild form of slavery. At the end of his indentureship he was +generally shipped back to India, but could be re-employed there and +return to Africa. The sugar company paid his transportation either +way. But that expense did not greatly shrink the growers' pocketbooks, +as the coolie was shipped in the hold of a ship, which, when packed +with this class, resembled a great ant-hill. Serving two and three +terms of successive indentureship to the same employer gained for him +his freedom, when he could remain in Natal. From then on he became a +curse. The Dutch came in full control of South Africa on May 30, 1910, +and a month later marked the end of indentured coolies entering the +sub-continent. + +As is generally known, Indian girls become mothers at the age of from +12 to 14 years. Added to a resulting abnormal birth rate, compared +with Europeans, polygamy is also a custom of the Indians. Thus will +readily appear the great danger to the white interest where the Indian +gets a foothold. + +The Indian patronizes his own people, and for this reason many of the +Arab and Hindu merchants soon become wealthy. They aim to oust the +white man wherever and whenever they can do so. Their standard of +living is so much lower, and their employees work for so much less +than the white merchant must pay European help, that they can +undersell the white in most lines of business. Some of the wealthiest +men in the province are Indian merchants. + +Most of the money in use in South Africa is gold--gold sovereigns--and +silver. The gold sovereign is what the Indian is after. His savings +are sent to India in gold. Through the Durban post office was sent not +long since 65,000 gold sovereigns. Bankers and business men appealed +to the government to put a stop to sending this metal out of the +country, and when that method of depleting the gold currency had been +checked, it was sent to India secretly, most of it in packing boxes, +there being a large trade between the two countries. + +The Indian having become a running sore on the financial and social +body of Natal, the government has tried to tax the race out of the +country. The legal age of a girl is placed at thirteen years and that +of a boy at sixteen years. The tax on "legal" aged Indians is $15 a +year. So, if an Indian father had three girls over thirteen years of +age, and two sons over sixteen, making seven in the family of legal +age, the head tax would be $105. To impose such an exorbitant tax on +poor, low paid people seems a hardship. No "melting pot" that ever +simmered will assimilate the Indian with the white race, however. They +bring with them filthy habits and weird customs, and live the life of +an Indian in whatever part of the world they may be located. + +The destruction of the "gods"--Mohurrum festival--is one of the great +holidays of the Indians in Natal. This is the closing climax of a +Mohammedan ten-day festival. The festival takes place each year, which +shows that Indians do not worship stale gods, as a new one comes into +existence ten days after the drowning of the old gods. The gods on +this occasion were drowned in the Umgeni River, about three miles from +Durban. + +The fantastic hearses, in design a strange mixture of mosque and +pagoda, made up of bamboo framework covered with bright colored paper +and lavishly decorated with tinsel and gaudy ornaments, most of them +surmounted by the star and crescent on a dome, emblematic of the +Moslem faith, were followed by Indian women in brightly colored +garments, and grotesquely painted men scantily clad in loin cloths, +weird headpieces, and other trappings, who conveyed the gods to the +river. Above the noise that followed this gay holiday crowd, bent on +the destruction of Indian gods, could be heard the monotonous and +ear-racking din of the tomtom, together with a prehistoric bagpipe +here and there, and these were the only musical instruments in use to +demonstrate the feelings of this motley crowd. The pagodas are called +"taboots," and when these came to a halt--they were drawn by men--the +"tigers," men besmeared with lead, ochre and yellow-colored mud and +grease from head to foot, would give exhibitions of contortions, which +must have been pleasing to the slowly moving gods. At the river where +the gods were to meet their death had gathered a great crowd of +Indians, natives and Europeans to witness the last part played in the +Mohurrum fast and festival. "Taboot" after "taboot" was tipped and +hurled into the stream, after the priests had taken rice and other +grain from it, which they tossed into a small fire burning in an urn. +The shallow river was swarming with youngsters, and no sooner had a +"taboot" reached the water than the boys were at it, and in a short +time it was a shapeless wreck. + +On the shore of the Indian Ocean a group of Hindus were observing a +repulsive form of the Buddhist religion. About a dozen in number, they +assembled round a brass urn, six inches across and three deep, in +which burned an oil fire. Half of this number formed what we may call +an orchestra. Two of the instruments were tomtoms and the others +rounded pieces of wood, bored out, as large as a croquet ball, and +with brass bells attached. These were put over the players' hands, +rattling as they moved their wrists, the other members at the same +time chanting a dump. Close to the urn stood a cone-shaped wooden +frame, two feet high and eighteen inches at the base, covered with +flowers. To the rear lay three live hens, with strings tied to their +legs. + +The Hindus then started toward the water to the accompaniment of bells +and tomtoms. Leading were three men, the one between, who appeared +nervous, being aided by those on each side. One of the trio had thick, +black hair reaching to the waist, but none wore head covering. When +the three had waded in up to the armpits, the center man was ducked a +number of times. The music then ceased for a short period, after which +all returned to the urn. The Indian who had been immersed turned out +to be a convert to this fanatical sect. + +The orchestra resumed the chant, the man with the long hair and the +convert kneeling by the fire, the third one, a priest, standing. The +former began bending his body backward and forward, his head touching +the sand at each movement, also running his fingers through his hair. +The convert followed the actions of the other. Both worked themselves +into a state of weakness, verging on collapse, during which their +hands, at times, came in contact with the flame in the urn, but none +of the members made any effort to turn their hands from the fire, +which, of course were burned. At this stage of the ceremony both men, +their eyes rolling and only the whites showing, lay on the sand, +exhausted. The chant ceased. The priest approached the apparently +lifeless Indians with a phial in his hands. He next placed the open +end of the bottle to the nose of one, then to the other, the Hindus +raising themselves to their knees as the orchestra resumed. + +The half-revived convert then put out his tongue, the priest advancing +with what looked like an oyster fork in his hand. The orchestra +stopped--all was silent. He next took hold of the dazed, hand-burnt +disciple's tongue in one hand, and forced the tines of the fork +through that member with the other; then, quickly stepping to the +cone, took two flowers--lavender and yellow in color--and, returning, +put one flower on top of the tongue, the other underneath. No blood +flowed from the penetrated member. The Hindu stood up, apparently in a +trance, his tongue spiked. The priest again alertly stepped back and +returned with a chicken, snapping the hen's head off as if cut with a +scissors. The blood from the headless fowl was sprinkled over the +convert; then another hen was brought, killed likewise, its blood also +being sprayed over the supplicant, when the orchestra played. The +follower next bended to his knees, after which the flower cone was +lifted on his head. He rose; then the group, to the accompaniment of +the "music," walked over sand dunes in the direction of a mosque, +where, it was said, the fork would be withdrawn from the inducted +Asiatic's tongue. + +The Zulu ricksha puller is the most striking feature of that +interesting city to a visitor, as he proves an object of much +curiosity and admiration. He is in a class by himself. In stature, he +stands from 5 feet 6 inches to 6 feet 4 inches; in color, darker than +a mulatto, but not black; with bare legs, strong, muscular and fleet +of foot; generally ready to smile, showing his perfect teeth; standing +between two shafts by which he draws the ricksha, watching eagerly for +a fare--this gives but a meager illustration of the Zulu ricksha +puller. + +The Zulu reaches the culmination of vanity when he has fixed himself +up to look like, and to imitate the actions of, an ox, horse or mule, +for he has a veneration for these dumb animals. The larger the horns +he can wear, which are secured to a piece of cloth that fits tight to +the head, the better he is pleased. A number of long feathers often +extend from between the horns, and vari-colored grass and thin reeds, +also attached to the same place, fall to and below the waistline. +Added to this head adornment, calabashes, sometimes as large as a +cantaloupe, protrude from the side of his head. His jacket, +sleeveless, which bears designs of plaids and squares, resembling a +checker-board, extends midway between thigh and knee. His pants are a +slit knickerbocker, also extending to halfway between thigh and knee, +but from the hem fall strips of red braid six inches below. The pants +are split to allow his legs freedom when drawing the vehicle. + +The ricksha puller is eternally trying to think of something fantastic +and grotesque to wear. One fellow may be seen with his legs and feet +painted blue, representing the sky, with white spots dotted here and +there to represent stars, another with both legs painted white. At +times one leg is painted red and the other white. Also may be seen, +fastened to the puller's horns, the skull of a calf or sheep, or +perhaps of a monkey. Monkey skins, with tails attached, are worn, one +in front and the other on the back. Again, a discarded plug hat may be +hung on one horn and an empty vegetable can on the other while he is +pulling a passenger about the city. Sometimes his head looks like a +small flower garden, as he is seen trundling his ricksha about with +bright red hibiscus and carnations sticking out of his black, woolly +head at the top and from the sides. At night a small light--generally +a candle--attached to the axle of his sulky, may be seen at the sides +of streets and showing from dark alleys or from under a spreading +tree. The puller will jingle the little bell on the shafts of his +ricksha to attract the attention of a passerby. The weird trappings, +with the dim outline of the Zulu, together with his long horns showing +from the darkness, will not inspire confidence in one unfamiliar with +the native puller. In short, he appears fantastically inhuman by day +and grotesquely brutish by night. His physique, however, is an object +of admiration; mentally, he is a child. + +The ricksha is a two-wheeled, two-shaft sulky, with rubber tired +wheels, upholstered, and will seat two persons. A hood is attached to +the seating box like that of a carriage. A small bell hangs from one +of the shafts, which the puller sounds to give warning of his coming. +Under, from the center of the axle depends a bar of iron with a small +wheel at the end. This bar prevents passengers from falling out if the +ricksha should tip while going up hill. The service is good and the +fare cheap--from 6 to 50 cents--the different fare stages being +printed on a card. Like every one engaged in similar occupations, the +puller knows a stranger, and succeeds often in getting more than the +just fare from men, but women generally ask for the schedule card. + +"Ricksha!" is the only word shouted when a puller is wanted. Regular +stands for them are located in different parts of the city, and if one +feels depressed in spirits and wishes to get out of the "dumps," a +good way to have the "cloud" lifted is to shout "Ricksha!" when within +200 to 300 feet from where fifteen to twenty of the pullers are +chatting and waiting for a fare. Every one of them will spring between +the shafts, like fire horses to harness, and make a dash at full speed +to the person who shouted. The noise and rattle a group of pullers +make in approaching sounds almost like a collision between two railway +trains. + +The puller rests the shafts on the ground while his passenger is being +seated. He holds his big, strong, flat foot on the thills, so the +vehicle will not slip while one is getting aboard, until his patron +tells him to go. If one cannot speak the native language, not a word +will be spoken, for rarely does one meet a native who can speak +English. The passenger points his finger in the direction he wishes to +be drawn. The Zulu raises the shafts and, after a few slow, heavy +pulls to get the vehicle started, one is spinning along as fast as a +trolley car travels. + + [Illustration: JIM FISH WAS THE SWIFTEST PULLER THAT EVER WORE A BRACE + OF HORNS. + DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA.] + +"Jim Fish!" "Jim Fish!" they will call to a passerby, at the same time +ringing the small bell on the shafts, while advancing and acting in a +manner that suggests the person being approached had forgotten to call +a puller. Jim Fish was the swiftest puller that ever wore a brace of +horns. In a three mile race with a trolley car Jim came out ahead, +but, like Pheidippides, the Greek of the dusty past, after whose +run the Marathon has been named, he fell dead when he had crossed the +finish line. By calling out "Jim Fish" the Zulus imagine the name +suggests a fast ride. + +The puller appears at his best when traveling down grade. Just at the +head of the decline he jerks the shafts upward--this movement bringing +his back close to the dashboard--when his arms rest akimbo on the +thills. He maintains his full height during this change of position, +which is in accordance with professional ricksha pullers' custom. The +sulky naturally tilting backward--also the occupants--his body is +nearer the axle of his vehicle than when traveling over a level or +inclined surface. Aided by the weight of his passengers, the ricksha +is then almost evenly balanced. Riding on the shafts, he throws to one +side, like a jumping-jack, the big leg bearing the painted design of +the sky or openwork, and his unpainted leg to the other. He also moves +his body from side to side and assumes a labored expression, although +resting while being borne on the shafts. His body movement and stern +appearance are affected, and are, as he believes, in keeping with that +of a racehorse when coming down the home stretch, which he is +imitating. His horns and their adornment, together with the colored +grass streamers, feathers, monkey tails, checkerboard designed jacket, +calabashes, braid, flowers--all his trappings are then set full to the +wind, as the Zulu seems to actually fly through space. + +In stormy weather, which means good business for the puller, the hood +is raised, and a piece of canvas that covers the front of the ricksha +is buttoned to the sides, which protects the occupant from rain both +from above and in front. Off the Zulu goes, after he has tucked the +rug under his passenger's feet and has seen to it that the canvas +shelters his fare. The rain may be coming down in torrents, and the +water half knee deep in the streets, with the handicap of the raised +hood and front canvas against him; but patter, patter, patter he will +continue, watching for depressions, in order to sidestep them so that +his passenger will not be jolted, until he has reached the place at +which his fare wishes to alight. He will take one home in any sort of +weather, as his strong legs and body rarely fail him. + +The puller will often have nothing on but the jacket, short, split-leg +pants and trappings. He does not go to his living quarters--the +ricksha stable--and get dry clothes, as one might expect him to do, +but trundles his sulky about in the rain looking for another fare. He +pulls a ricksha from two to three years, when consumption generally +claims him as a victim. + +Twelve hundred of these stalwart natives were formerly engaged in this +kind of work, but now there are less than a thousand. The extension of +street car lines from time to time accounts for the decrease. + +The rickshas are owned by a company, and 60 cents a day is paid by the +puller for its use. All he makes over 60 cents is his own. It is said +he often earns from $2 to $3 a day, but there are also days when his +fares do not exceed the rent charge. Most of the pullers work but four +days a week. + +A "curfew" bell rings at 9 o'clock each evening, and the only native +seen about the streets who is immune from arrest after that hour is +the ricksha puller. After "curfew" a native carries a pass or a note +from his employer, either of which will save him from being taken to a +police station. It is very amusing at times to watch a Zulu policeman +question a native as to why he is out late. His only protection is the +note or his pass, which the policeman makes pretense at reading, +though he does not know A from B. + +This dusky guardian of the peace is next in interest to the ricksha +puller. His uniform is a jacket, dark blue in color, that reaches just +below the waist band. His pants are of the same material, reaching to +and covering the kneecap, where it is buttoned tight. His legs from +his knees down are bare and shine like polished ebony, for they are +oiled every day. He wears a stingy head piece called a forage cap, +generally made of blue cloth, which covers about one-third of the +head--the side--from the arch of the ear to within two inches of the +crown. This is held in place by a string looping under his chin or +resting between the chin and lower lip. Some caps have a red stripe +across the top, and all have a dent or crease. His weapon is a +knobkerry, a stick an inch round, with a knob on it as large as a +croquet ball. A pair of handcuffs is also included among this Zulu +officer's equipment. + +The European policeman of Durban, as many European women of that city, +have an easy job. The native police do any "rough" work required to +subdue black offenders, as Europeans, to whom the white policeman +would give his attention, are as a rule law abiding. The native +carries his superior's raincoat, overcoat, or any burden that the +white officer might need while on duty. A black policeman is not +permitted to arrest a European, no matter how serious the offense +against the law might be. The worst offenders are Indians; but big +thefts, safe-blowing, house breaking, hold-ups, sand-bagging, etc., +are few, which indicates the respect people have for the law in this +British stronghold. White policemen receive $75 a month, and natives +$15 a month and board. The working time is eight hours a day, with +three shifts. + +A large building without an entrance door would appear as something +unusual in Northern cities; and yet one can find such an oddity in the +far Southland. The one in question is built of brick, three stories in +height, and contains a hundred furnished rooms. The entrance is a high +archway, and just inside is an elevator and stairway. It is an English +custom to leave one's shoes outside his room door on going to bed, so +that "boots" can polish them in the morning. In front of each room, on +each side of the aisles, in this hostelry could often be seen from one +to four pairs of shoes, yet every pair would be found in the morning +where they had been placed the night before, although no porter guards +the entrance of the building nor a night watchman the interior. + +Meat is about the same price in South Africa as in America. Beef, +mutton, chicken and pork cannot be had for less than 15 to 25 cents a +pound. Irish potatoes are expensive, as most of this standby is +imported. Eggs sell at 35 to 60 cents a dozen. Apples are imported +from Australia and Canada. + +Pineapples, oranges and bananas are found on the table of nearly +every household the year round. Then there are, among other varieties +of seasonable fruit, the mango, guava, grenadilla and avacada pear. +The pineapple, when picked ripe, is as soft as our pear. These native +fruits sell at a reasonable figure. A hundred bananas can often be +bought for six cents. + +Hotel expenses are reasonable, $2 a day insuring good accommodation. +In boarding houses, good board and lodging can be had at from $30 to +$35 a month. Splendid furnished rooms can be rented at from $10 to $15 +a month. Meals in popular priced restaurants cost 30 and 35 cents. + +The sun rises from the Indian Ocean here and travels during the day on +an almost straight course, shining on the south side of the street, +the north side being partly shaded. For this reason the principal +business street of Durban is roofed on the south side, as it is +exposed to the sun from morning until sunset. The cold and warm winds +also come from a different direction than those above the equator--the +warm winds from the north and the cold winds from the south. Even the +sun seems to rise in the west and set in the east. + +Wages paid mechanics range from $3 to $4 a day of eight hours' work. +Such employment as teamster, hod carrier, street laborer, +'longshoreman, and park worker is all done by Indians and natives. The +native is paid from 25 to 50 cents a day, the latter figure being +considered good wages, while the Indian works for 10 to 15 cents a +day. Hotel work, waiting on tables, kitchen work, and even cooking, +with a few exceptions, is done by blacks, chiefly Indians. + +A white man "on his uppers" in Durban, or in any black center, for +that part, is to be pitied. If he be a mechanic, his chances for work +are none too good, and if he be an unskilled worker there is no chance +for him at all, as blacks do all the work of that sort. The United +States and Canada are the only countries--possibly Mexico, too--in +which one can travel on railroad trains without paying fare or being +put into a penitentiary. Walking on a railway track in Europe is a +prison offense. So, taking that as one's cue, a man caught stealing a +ride on a train might be tried for treason. As Durban is 7,000 miles +from England, 4,500 miles from the Argentine, 6,000 miles from +Australia and 5,000 from India, a fellow "broke" in the coast cities +of South Africa is in a sorrowful plight. The cheapest steamship +passage from South African ports to England is $80 to $100. + +Labor unions exist in South Africa, and the members take an active +part in politics. Not long since a spirited campaign was on for a seat +in the Senate. One of the foremost business men of that country was a +candidate for the office, and a union labor man, a locomotive engineer +by trade, was the opposing candidate. The lines were tightly drawn +between capital and labor in that senatorial contest. The +"one-man-one-vote" clause has yet to be drafted into the constitution +of the Union of South Africa. Only a citizen paying a certain amount +of tax during the year is allowed to vote. On the other hand, a man +holding much property, and this scattered about the country, can, as +in England, vote in as many districts as his property is located. A +wealthy man may cast half a dozen votes at an election, while the +workingman taxpayer will not, as a rule, have more than one vote. The +capitalist candidate for the Senate in this election had four votes to +cast, while the railroad man had but one. A widely known man from the +Transvaal was imported to Natal to do "heavy work" for the wealthy +candidate, and prominent labor men from the Transvaal and the Cape of +Good Hope Provinces were saying and doing all they could to make votes +for their candidate. + +"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang +separately," a labor campaigner was heard to say at one gathering, +quoting Benjamin Franklin's cynical epigram. "Of the people, by the +people, and for the people," Abraham Lincoln's immortal words, were +also used during the campaign. But the speakers of both parties were +tyros compared to the American brand of spellbinder. Election day +came, and he who had plural votes cast them, and he who had one vote +cast it. The result of an election is made known by a judge announcing +the figures from the balcony of the Town Hall. "Hear, ye! Hear ye!" a +voice was heard to command, the judge addressing the people +assembled. The engineer had 36 more votes than his wealthy competitor, +and was the third labor legislator elected to the South African Upper +House. + +Every mechanic has his "boy"--the bricklayer, carpenter, plumber, +electrician, painter--to wait on him. One might be located in the +black belt for years and not see a mechanic carry even a pair of +overalls. A mechanic may be seen any time, when working, asking his +"boy" to hand a tool that would not be two inches beyond his natural +reach. A bricklayer becomes so painfully helpless that he will neither +stoop nor reach for a brick; that is what his "boy" is for. The +carpenter must saw boards, because the native cannot saw straight, but +in every other respect he is just as helpless as the bricklayer. +Clerks even have a "boy" to hand a pen or any other thing they might +need in connection with their work. The only tradesman observed who +did his work without the aid of a "boy" was the printer and linotype +operator. And what applies to printers may be said of editors and +others engaged in the printing trade. They really work in the +old-fashioned way. Were one to take a spade in hand to prepare the +garden for vegetables, merely that act of manual labor would be very +apt to prove a bar to a further continuance of the respect of his +European neighbors, and assuredly so by the natives and Indians. + +The white man is always at his minimum energy where the black man is +depended on to do the work. We need not go farther than our Southern +States to learn that lesson. + +Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer, discovered the Province of Natal +five years after Columbus set foot on the North American Continent. Da +Gama's first visit to Natal was on Christmas Day in the year 1497. As +Christmas Day is the natal day of the Savior, and as the word natal in +the Spanish and Portuguese languages is used as is the word birth in +the English language, this will explain the origin of the naming of +Natal. + +For more than three hundred years that section of South Africa +remained as Da Gama found it before white men made a settlement among +the Zulus. In 1824 a few Englishmen built temporary dwelling places on +the shores of the Indian Ocean, more Englishmen joining them from time +to time, until Durban has become one of the leading seaport cities of +the African continent. The coast section of the Province of Natal is +the only part of South Africa in which the Dutch were not the +pioneers. + +A great many humpback whales inhabit the Indian Ocean in the stretch +of sea, nearly a thousand miles long, separating Durban from Capetown. +Of late years whales have been hunted on a large scale, and each +season finds a new whaling company in the field to share in the +profits of this lucrative industry. Eight or ten factories, or +stations, most of these located a few miles from Durban, are now +engaged in utilizing the by-products of the whale. + +Harpooning whales, or whaling--to use the general term--is engaged in +at places separated by thousands of nautical miles, and, like other +water industries, has its season. Whales, like wild fowl, migrate at +certain seasons to some particular part of the great water expanse, +and return again the succeeding year. By nature, this cetacean prefers +a cold climate to a warm one. The season for their migration is at a +different period to that of the wild fowl, for the "spouter" leaves +the zone of the hot sun and swims great distances until he reaches +cooler water. Sometimes it is from the North Atlantic to the South +Atlantic or Indian Oceans, and at others from the Indian Ocean +southeasterly to the South Pacific Ocean, the water of which is cooled +by the icebergs of the South Pole section. Whales leaving the North +Atlantic in early summer for the South Atlantic Ocean know it is +cooler south of the equator than north of it. + +Americans and Norwegians engaged early in the whaling business in the +North Atlantic Ocean, and up to a few years ago American whaling ships +made frequent visits to the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans in quest +of the oil-producing leviathan. But it is to the Norwegian that credit +must be given for building up the whaling industry in the Indian +Ocean, thereby putting in circulation a large sum of money each season +that, until recent years, had been overlooked. + +From 600 to 800 of these monsters of the deep are harpooned and +rendered into oil in the Durban factories in a season--from June to +November, inclusive--the cool season in that part of the world. Thirty +tons is the average weight of whales killed in the Indian Ocean. Those +on exhibition in museums give one some idea of the size of a whale, +yet the cured specimen is a poor substitute for one which had been +"spouting" an hour before. + +Whaling boats are little larger than a big tug-boat. The whaler is +equipped with one mast, and twenty feet above the deck a long barrel +is secured to this, in which one of the crew is stationed when hunting +the great monster of the sea. The barrel is called the "crow's nest," +and from here the "lookout" scans the ocean in every direction for the +"spouting" mammoth. On the bow of the boat a cannon is secured, out of +which a harpoon is shot into the whale. The harpoon looks like a small +boat anchor. The length of the harpoon bar is four feet, and at one +end are four hooks ten inches long. The hooks are attached to the bar +by a spring, and, before being used, are bent down to the bar, and +kept in this position by strong cord. Over the end of the bar fits a +spear-pointed cap a foot long, and in this cap has been placed a +dynamite bomb. Whales are shot within thirty yards of the +boat--sometimes twenty feet. The cannon can be adjusted to any angle. +When the spear-pointed cap enters the whale, the bomb explodes, +snapping in two the cord with which the four hooks were tied to the +bar, when the hooks spring outward--like an open umbrella--inside the +whale. + +The vital spot aimed at is the lungs. If the aim proves true, the +large mammal falls a victim to the ugly weapon, and dies instantly. If +the harpoon goes wide, the whale heads for the bottom. A long, strong +rope is secured to one end of the harpoon bar, and the whale is given +liberal latitude for his deluded effort to escape. Soon the rope +slackens, when the whaler knows the "spouter" is coming to the +surface to breathe. In the meantime, another harpoon has been placed +in the cannon, and when the whale appears this one is shot into the +crippled monster, putting an end to his fight for life. It sometimes +occurs, however, that the whale breaks the rope fastened to the eye of +the harpoon, when he escapes, carrying the treacherous weapon in his +ponderous frame. + +When dead, the great "catch" is drawn to the side of the boat by the +rope secured to the harpoon. His tail flippers, which are from 10 to +12 feet long, are cut off, to allow of convenient handling of the +cumbersome carcass. A chain is then put around his delimbed tail, the +winches revolve, and, when his tail has been drawn up close to the bow +of the boat, a start is made for the wharf, leaving behind a wake of +red sea, discolored by the blood running out of his mouth and from the +rent in his body where the harpoon entered. + +At the wharf, the boat chain is loosened and the harpoon rope cut. A +chain from the shore is next wound round his tail, a signal given the +engineer to start the machinery, and the great cetacean is slowly +drawn up a slipway out of the water. When drawn to the head of the +slipway, the body continues moving on to a wide flat car, the railway +track on which the car rests being sunk to a depth level with the top +of the slipway. One flat car is not long enough to afford room for the +huge wanderer of the deep, and a portion is drawn on to a second car. +An engine backs down, is coupled to the "whale train," and a start +made for the factory. The harpoon remains in the whale until the body +is cut to pieces. + +At the factory, the whale is drawn off the car on to the "dissecting" +platform by another chain secured to the tail. Men, with long-handled +knives, then make deep cuts--one in its back and another in the +underpart--from the point of the jaw to the tail, and another deep cut +the full length of the carcass. The spaces between these incisions are +three feet at the underpart and from five to six feet on the back. +This part of the process is called "flencing." At the point of the jaw +a piece of flesh is cut until it is released from the bone, and a +small hole is cut out of the released part. A kafir, bare-headed and +bare-footed, brings a chain, and the hook of it is put through the +hole made in the released end of flesh at the whale's jaw. A signal +being given a man at the winches to start, the piece of released hide +begins to peel from the jaw, then down to the shoulder, and further +still. When the winches stop, a slab of hide 40 to 50 feet long, six +feet wide, and six inches thick--from the point of the jaw to the +whale's tail--is stretched out on the platform inside up. The skin +from the back and sides of the whale peels off almost as smoothly as +does the skin of a banana from that fruit. The skin at the underpart, +however, does not peel so freely, requiring cutting of the flesh by +the flencer in a similar way to that of severing threads when ripping +a seam in a garment. The underpart of the hide is but three inches +thick. These slabs or strips of flesh, of which six or seven are +procured from a whale, is the blubber, and from the blubber comes the +best grade of oil. + +Kafirs, with long-handled knives, cut chunks--about 18 inches long and +12 inches wide--from the slabs, which are thrown into a hopper in +which are revolving knives, these cutting the flesh into small pieces, +which drop into elevator buckets, later emptying into boiling tanks +located on a floor above. In these vats the oil is boiled out of the +blubber. + +The whalebone, located in the enormous mouth, is yet to be removed. +The flesh to which the bone grows is cut with long, strong knives +around the inside of the jaw. A point of the flesh is released, a +chain hooked to it, the winches again start revolving, and the +whalebone begins peeling off the inside of the mouth as freely as did +the blubber off the back. Half of the whalebone still remains in the +mouth, and this is removed in the same manner as the first half. + +A great blood-red hulk is all that now remains of the whale. A chain +is again wound about and secured to the tail of the carcass, the +winches, for the last time, revolve, when the colossal frame is moved +up an incline to a floor above the platform on which it was skinned. +Then kafirs, with axes, begin cutting the hulk to pieces, which are +thrown into rendering vats. Different parts of the body are thrown +into different tanks, as certain portions of the flesh produce a +better grade of oil than other parts. The only portion not boiled is +the bone in the mouth. The blood is the only particle not utilized, +and it would add proportionately to the whale's value were it shed on +shore instead of in the sea. The flesh, after the oil has been boiled +out, is sold to farmers for fertilizing purposes. Thirty to +thirty-five men take part in disposing of a whale at the factory, and +from four to five hours' time is required to get the carcass into the +rendering vats. + +From $700 to $800 is the value of a humpback to the manufacturer. The +average quantity of oil rendered is 50 barrels, and a barrel of oil +sells at $12 to $15. Most of the oil from the Durban factories is +shipped to Glasgow, Scotland, the whalebone to Paris, France. + +Some whalers say the food of a whale is small fish, while other +authorities give it, owing to the gullet of some species of these +cetaceans being but two and three inches wide, as very small, +nutritious marine organisms, or insects, many not visible to the eye, +called invertebrates. When feeding, the whale takes great mouthfuls of +water, its whalebone serving as a strainer and repository in which the +minute sea denizens lodge. The water is then forced out of the mouth, +the food extricated from the meshes of the whalebone and advanced to +the throat. The mouth is so well protected with this bone, which looks +like a low, dense brush thicket, that nothing can enter the throat +until it has proved palatable. + +The whale breathes through two slits, 18 inches long, located on top +of the head. Forty-five minutes is as long as the great mammal can +remain under water without breathing; but when swimming fast it will +be seen spouting at intervals of from five to seven minutes. The +spouting is caused by the slits or air-holes being slightly under the +surface. The tube through which air passes to the lungs is said to be +three inches in diameter. + +The color of the back and sides is black and the skin smooth. The +underpart of the body and flippers is white, save for an occasional +black speck and fine black lines--mottled. Flutes, four inches deep, +corrugate the beast's underpart from tail to neck. In these grooves +are to be seen a great many small barnacles, and on the neck and lower +jaw barnacles grow as large as goose eggs. + +From $8,000 to $10,000 is the value of a ton of whalebone from a +"right" whale, 800 to 1,000 pounds of this elastic substance coming +from the mouth. The bone grows in the form of strips, from 6 to 10 +feet in length, and 6 to 12 inches in width. One end of a strip is +fringed with fine, black hair-fiber, this part of the whale finding +its way to the top of persons' heads, as out of it some "human-hair" +wigs are made. A "right" whale, 10 to 15 feet longer than a humpback +and in value equivalent to eight of the latter, is worth from $5,000 +to $7,000, but of the hundreds killed in the Indian Ocean during a +season not more than half a dozen of this specie will be among the +number. The whalebone from the humpback is in little demand, growing +but two feet long, and is of inferior quality. The bone in the mouth +of the "right" whale calf--strips a foot long and tender--is of great +value. These are shredded, the fine, soft fiber being made into +artists' painting brushes. + +The cow whale brings forth young each year, but triplets or even twins +are unknown in the cetacean family. A calf first opens its eyes in the +sea and soon finds its way to its mother's side, where, securely +snuggled by a strong fin, it remains from three to six days. When able +to "paddle its own canoe," the baby whale--a born swimmer--keeps close +to its mother's side, either up to the surface to "blow," adding a +tiny whitecap to the bounding main, or to accompany its maternal +guardian to feed in salty pastures of the deep. A whale calf nurses +like a colt. When a nursing cow whale is harpooned, whalers generally +kill the calf also, as it would starve if left without its mother's +nourishment. + +At certain times of the year whales move in pairs--male and female. +When a hunter meets a couple the female is first selected for +slaughter; the sex is known by the cow being larger. The male whale +will not desert his dead mate, and thus becomes an easy victim of the +hunter's harpoon. On the other hand, if the male be shot, the female +immediately takes flight. + +A whale is 17 feet long when born. At three years of age it has +attained a length of 30 feet, and during the succeeding eight or nine +years reaches its full length--from 45 to 50 feet; so that it requires +ten to twelve years to reach its maximum size. Old whalers are loth to +hazard a statement concerning the natural lifetime of the cetacean. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Zululand was next visited. During the reign of their kings Zulus +controlled their own internal affairs--made their own laws, +apportioned the land, chastised their subjects, conferred with British +officials concerning border line rules--were, in fact, in every sense, +a distinct, unfettered race of people. Zululand was Zululand then. War +after war, with gatling guns and modern fighting implements pitted +against their mediæval arms--the assegai, or spear--naturally made the +tribe submissive and wiped out their border line. So long as they had +a king there was always danger of trouble from Zululand. Dinizulu, the +last ruler, was taken prisoner, and was "boarded" in a Transvaal +penitentiary until a few years ago, when he died. The border line +between Natal and Zululand passed away, and the interests of the Zulus +and the affairs of Zululand are now looked after and administered by +officials of the Province of Natal. + +The train, passing through cuts and grades, is half embowered with +flowering trees, growing on the banks. The giant bamboo, in obedience +to a summery wind, was gracefully swaying to and fro; the aloe, with +its flowery top, sixteen feet above the ground, sentinel-like, +contributed its share to the floral ensemble, and, together with an +almost endless tract of soft, light green sugar-cane growing on each +side of the railroad track, offered a mellow landscape found in but +few parts of the world. + +A depressing contrast to nature--the Indian coolie scourge--is +witnessed at every stopping place in this part. We were in the sugar +growing section of Natal, and, as mentioned previously, Indian coolies +are employed entirely in this industry. There they were by hundreds, +most of them of objectionable appearance, and a dirty, almost naked, +baby astraddle every woman's hip, the Hindu mother's custom of +carrying her child. + +We reached the Tugela River, the border line between Natal and +Zululand, and, thirty miles further, the train stopped at Ginginhlovu, +our destination. Ginginhlovu (elephant, in Zulu) was 93 miles from +where we started, and the train was seven hours running that distance, +running to schedule, too. Indian shanty stores were pleasantly absent, +as none but white traders are allowed to do business in Zululand. + +The post cart is the stage coach of South Africa. Strongly built, it +is covered with canvas, has two wide wheels and contains two seats. A +seat will accommodate three persons in a pinch--the maximum capacity +of the coach being five passengers and the driver--but as the latter +usually takes up two-thirds of the front seat to handle the large team +required to draw the coach, the ordinary capacity of the cart is four +passengers, three occupying the rear and one the front seat. A frame +at the back serves for luggage, and small hand baggage may be put +under the seats. Four or six mules comprise a cart team, the charge +being ten cents a mile. + +We left the railroad, and our mode of travel into the interior of +Zululand was by cart, wagon--a conveyance drawn by beasts. Five +passengers, the maximum number, squeezed themselves into the cart. The +next trip inland was on the following day, for which we would have to +wait, the station-master had informed us, "unless there was a +transport going to Eshowe." Eventually a transport--a truck 18 feet +long--was found, the driver of which said he thought he had room for +another passenger. The transport, ridged with bags of cornmeal five +feet high, was drawn by four teams of mules. + +"Climb on," said the driver to a group of six; "we'll be starting in a +few minutes." Three women, two men and a boy began to scale the +transport up to the top of the load. "Get up," said the driver to the +mules, when a start was made for the interior of Zululand, the +passengers sitting on the top tier of cornmeal bags of the loaded +African transport. + +We traveled slowly seventeen miles over a good macadam road. "That's +the home of Dinizulu, the Zulu king," said the boy passenger, as we +passed a frame building close to the road. We reached our destination +just at sundown--Eshowe, the old capital of Zululand, and one of the +prettiest places visited in South Africa. + +Shade trees, flowers, comfortable homes built in spacious yards; +small, but substantial, public buildings; a good library, a wooded +glen just away from the town, in which had been built a splendid +cement swimming pool, give an insight into what the old Zulu capital +looks like now. The comfortable appearance of Eshowe has been made by +the European. English and native weekly papers are printed here, and +the quality of the work is good. + +A European boy volunteered to show me about town. He had taken me to +the swimming pool, and as we were passing through a timbered portion +of this natural park he suddenly shouted, "Look out!" He then pointed +to a big fly that had just passed between us. "If that fly had struck +you the bitten part would swell up as large as a hen's egg. Often the +effects of the bite will assume the nature of an ulcer," he added. A +great number of flies in South Africa draw blood when they strike a +victim, whether man or beast. + +We had 35 miles more to travel before our last stop in Zululand would +be reached. The post cart left at five o'clock in the morning, with +four passengers, and was drawn by four mules. The road was level for +the most part, with high grass growing on each side, broken only by an +occasional giraffe thorn or mimosa tree. The mimosa was in flower, and +so much fragrance was diffused from the thorn tree that one would know +of its existence if it were not in sight a hundred feet away. + +"Hello, Graham!" shouted one of the passengers to a white man who +stood in the door of a building at which we had pulled up. We had +reached N'Halini, the first relay, where we breakfasted. "Hello! +everybody," returned Graham, for he proved to be the proprietor of the +eating station. "I haven't any eggs to serve you this morning, but I'm +strong on steak, ham and bacon. Bring out a big piece of steak to +make up for the eggs," he directed one of his Zulu boys. + +Graham is a sailor with a wooden leg. He entertained us by telling how +many times he had been caught in the net fastened to the boom of a +sailing ship--a "wind-jammer," as he termed that style of craft--and +how, when encountering the fierce gales that blow in the Straits of +Magellan, he had been blown entirely off his feet, his body being +lifted in mid-air, his legs suggestive of ribbons, while holding to a +deck rail. + +"Did you get enough to eat?" he asked, when we had finished. And we +admitted we had. Graham had two pigs eaten by crocodiles the day +before, and he could not restrain himself from bemoaning his luck. + +"So long, fellows! I'll have eggs for you when you come back. So +long!" were the parting words of the onetime sailor, as, with an +additional team of mules, we started on our second relay. + +"Sit forward, please, while we are going up this seven-mile hill; the +cart is tilting back too much," said the driver. We had five +passengers now, as another one had got on at Graham's place. It's +easier to say Graham's place than it is to try to pronounce the Zulu +name. + +On, on we traveled over those beautiful hills of Zululand, the +passengers chatting as we moved along. Grassy hills, 500 feet high, +bare of timber and even shrubbery, with native huts built on the +sides, and small patches of corn growing here and there, proved of +interest. Vultures were flying high up in the air, bevies of guinea +fowl scurried to cover, and the wagtail, a black and white bird of +swallow size, with a tail ten inches long, crossed the roadway from +time to time. We had been told of the beauty of Zululand, and nothing +had been exaggerated. + +Grass--long and short--was growing everywhere, enough to feed millions +of cattle, and not a "critter" grazing in sight. The Zulus, before and +for some years after the white man settled in South Africa, were a +wealthy tribe. Hundreds of thousands of cattle, sheep and goats roamed +over and fed off these ever-grassy hills; but tick fever--East Coast +fever, it is as often called--had fattened the vultures and made the +Zulu poor. + +We reached the second relay, then the third, but the beauty of +landscape did not diminish. Our next relay will be the end of our +stage journey--Melmoth--52 miles from the railroad. + +"The stopping off place" is a term often heard, but when one reaches a +point where there is no railroad and the terminus only of post carts, +it is certainly the stopping off place. Europeans live in remote +places still beyond Melmoth, and their mail is brought to them by +native postmen on foot. + +We reached our destination early in the afternoon. Mail for persons +living beyond "the stopping off place," brought with us in the cart, +was to start on its way at three o'clock. As it was a week before +Christmas, the post contained a great number of Christmas presents. +The mail finally being sorted, it was entrusted to the postman's care. +All the letters could be put in a coat pocket, but the presents +strapped to his body made a heavy load. + +A Zulu, six feet tall, stood on the porch of the squatty postoffice +building, looking like an off-colored Santa Claus. Having reached for +a stick a foot longer than his height, he stood up straight, waiting +for the word to go. + +"All right, Jim," the postmaster ordered in the native tongue. "Ba, +ba," returned the negro in a low voice, bowing and saluting, with one +hand raised to the side of his head. He turned round quickly and +walked alertly in the direction where white people live, to be made +happy by presents sent to them by friends living in distant lands. +Thirty-three miles was the distance the Zulu carried the mail. It was +three o'clock in the afternoon when he left the Melmoth post office, +and was due at the next post station at 9:30 the morning following. + +"He'll be there on the minute," the postmaster replied to a question +as to whether the carrier could travel the distance in the time +allotted, considering the heavy load. "He never fails us. Always on +time--in hail, rain or shine," he concluded. + + [Illustration: ZULUS "SCOFFING" MEALY MEAL. + ZULULAND, SOUTH AFRICA.] + +Zulu huts are round, the framework being of poles bent half circular, +tied with grass rope. The arch poles are supported with bent poles +strung crosswise, these being made secure by grass rope. Roof and +sides are covered with grass and reeds, secured to the framework with +the same kind of rope. The floor is of soil, generally taken from an +ant-hill, and becomes as compact as cement. In the center of the hut, +what may be termed a sort of earthen vessel is built, sometimes 18 +inches across, and this is the cooking place--the stove. Zulus build +good huts. No windows are provided, however, and but one low entrance. +The cooking utensils are limited to an iron kettle, with three legs. +This is placed in the "stove." Cornmeal (called mealy meal) is the +chief food, which is boiled in the three-legged kettle, and, when +cooked, the family gathers round it, some sitting on the floor and +others resting on their haunches. Each member is supplied with a +wooden spoon, and with these they eat mealy meal as long as there is +any to be eaten. A ladle to stir the mush, cut out of a calabash, is +generally seen in a Zulu home. The bed is a cotton blanket, spread on +the earthen floor, and a bowed piece of wood, resting on two upright +pieces at each end, about four inches high, serves as a pillow. A soap +box may occasionally be found in a hut, but no chairs. The interior is +generally black with smoke from the "stove," a strong, sooty odor +being noticeable. + +The Zulu tribe does not "colonize"--or, rather, assemble in villages, +as each family live by themselves. Huts are numerous, of course, but +one rarely, if ever, finds a settlement--a town. They live in +"kraals." A kraal is a group of huts, numbering from two to ten, +surrounded by a fence, generally composed of thorn brush. The +collection of huts generally indicates the number of wives that that +Zulu has. One hut is always larger than the others, this being +occupied by the first wife. Where cattle are kept together in a small +area inclosed by a fence, it becomes a cattle kraal. Sometimes one +kraal serves as a shelter for both natives and cattle. + +Polygamy is common. The method of obtaining a wife is by purchase from +the father. Cattle is the medium of barter, from 10 to 80 cows being +the number asked for each girl. A wife who can be bought for 10 cows +is just the ordinary girl. The daughter of a petty chief would bring +20 cows, and a girl of royal descent could not be purchased for less +than 70 to 100 cows. + +When a Zulu wishes to marry he comes to an understanding with the +girl's father concerning the number of cattle that must be paid for +the bride, and he must not forget to include among them another nice +beast, which is slaughtered and eaten at the wedding feast. The +marriage always takes place at the home of the bridegroom. The bride, +with her attendants, arrives the evening before the wedding day. The +extra ox is killed early in the morning. + +The bride wears a veil of beads over her face for several hours while +the ceremony is taking place. Certain persons are appointed to +celebrate the marriage. Dancing is indulged in during this period. The +father of the bride steps forward among the merrymakers and bespeaks +the merits of his daughter. An old woman runs backward and forward +among the guests, holding in her hand a small stick, pointing upward, +and cackling like a hen. Dancing is going on all the time, one "group" +of dancers holding the "stage" until exhausted, when another group +will fill the vacated space and inject renewed life into the ceremony. + +The bridegroom must show his valor during the pow-wow. He steps into +the arena with two sticks in his hand--stout walking-sticks. A series +of thrusts, feints, dodges, ducking, then a terrible thrust; more +fencing, another awful jab; snorting, sweating, uttering deep grunts +of satisfaction; stamping his feet heavily on the ground to make a +noise, imitating thunder, which denotes powerfulness--he is fighting +an imaginary foe, and when the bride's father and wedding party +signify by applause that he has been victorious--that he has killed +his adversary in mortal combat--he retires, carrying in his bosom the +assurance that he is a Zulu warrior "to the manner born." + +From 300 to 400 Zulus attend a wedding, which lasts sometimes several +days. Native beer, made from corn, is brought in large quantities in +hollow calabashes by the guests. Faction fights, often brought about +through uninvited onlookers, but generally from drinking too much +beer, frequently prove an exciting feature of a Zulu wedding. + +Under no circumstances can a wife leave her husband. A bargain is a +bargain with the Zulu. On the other hand, if the bride's merits have +been misrepresented, her husband will take her to her father's kraal +and demand the return of the cattle he paid for her. Though the girl +gets the cattle in name, the father really has the cows. + +When a husband dies, his wives are not left alone in the world. It is +a Zulu custom that a brother of the deceased look after the widows. It +may seem an imposition on a brother to be saddled with two large +families--his own and his dead brother's--yet, bearing in mind that +the widows, collectively, are mothers of half a dozen to fifteen +daughters, it means that the guardian would fall heir to a nice herd +of cows when the girls reach womanhood. Zulu families, however, are +not large, averaging about five children. + +A Zulu's standing with his people is based on the number of wives he +has. One with six to nine helpmates is considered in good +circumstances. In a general sense, the wives get along agreeably when +they number from two to six. The first wife is mistress of those who +come after her. Under the king's ruling, putting to death a favorite +wife by the others occurred from time to time; but in such instances +the wives numbered eight to twelve. Murders of this character have +become of rare occurrence, however, since Zululand has been governed +by the white man. + +Wives and children are of little or no expense to a husband. He does +not work after he has become the possessor of several wives, and the +corn is planted, hoed, husked and ground into mealy meal by the wives. +None of them wear shoes, nor hats, nor coats. Cotton blankets, which +cost from 25 to 35 cents, are their chief covering. No money is +required for baby carriages, as, when they are not snugly dished in a +blanket on the mother's back, with the ends tied in front across her +chest, they are seen creeping about the kraalyard. A visit to the +country districts will find native women hoeing or working at +something else with their babes tied to their back. Their husbands are +in their huts, smoking pipes or sleeping. Zulu women look as strong as +the men. Save for their babes, all burdens are borne on their heads. +This mode of bearing weight is often carried to the ridiculous. A +spool of thread, a tomato, a tincup or similar light article may be +seen balanced on a woman's head. But she will carry in the same way, +with as apparent ease, though, a 100-pound bag of cornmeal, a five +gallon tin of water, a big three-legged iron kettle, and other weights +that would tax the strength of a strong man. The Zulu woman's superior +physique is accounted for, to a large degree, by the bearing of +burdens on her head from early childhood. + +A Zulu woman "dressed up" is a striking figure. An ocher-colored cone +of hair rises from her head sometimes as high as 10 inches. One +unfamiliar with the native's hair, as seen resting flat on the head, +would never imagine the kinky mop, when straightened, would measure +from 12 to 18 inches, but it will. The natural color of the hair, of +course, is black, and its unnatural color is brought about by the +application of a thin, red-mud solution. Grass stalks, placed inside, +form a frame, which keeps the cone from settling. At the bottom, a +band, generally a strip of hide, keeps the "ornament" firm. A long hat +pin, whittled thin from a large bone of a beast, also plays a part in +keeping the "stove-pipe" properly poised. Her face is broad and rather +masculine, the expression stoical. No head covering is worn, and +weights are borne on women's heads, cone or no cone. Her broad, strong +shoulders are generally bare, and she always stands straight. Strings +are fastened around her neck--sometimes these are hairs from an +elephant's tail--to which are attached square pieces of cloth, with +colored beads fastened on them, resembling dominos. Generally wire +bangles are worn on one arm, these in some instances being so numerous +that they cover the arm from wrist to elbow. Often the skin of a calf +or a sheep or that of a wild beast is wrapped around her chest, +passing under her arms, and fastened at the back. This "waist" extends +in front to about the knees, and sometimes it is ornamented with +beads, pebbles or small seashells. A short skirt of rough cloth +extends to just below the knees, so that her legs from that point are +bare, as precious few native women wear shoes. They have none. Only +married women, or women engaged to be married, appear in the +cone-shaped hair fashion. + +Polygamy is conducive to thrift as well as to laziness. Nowadays few +cattle are left to sons by fathers, as tick fever has almost bared the +country of this means of food and barter. So, in order to get a wife, +a Zulu must earn money with which to buy cows. The umfaan will save +half of his wages of $2.50 or $3 a month that he receives as houseboy. +When he has saved enough to buy a cow--they can be had for $15--it is +put to graze close to his father's kraal, and he will save enough +money to buy another cow or two. In the meantime calves are grazing, +and by the time he has reached 21 years of age he generally has enough +cows to buy one wife. Numbers of young men go to the Kimberley and +Transvaal mines, where the wages run from $15 to $30 a month, with +board. Unlike the American negro, the Zulu saves his money. But he +will not work more than six months in the year at most. It is said a +great deal of the Zulu's cash savings is hid in the ground. They are +suspicious of the stability of banks, so keep the money where they can +see it when they wish to. + +The native of South Africa is as independent of the white man's aid +to-day as he was a thousand years ago. His wants being so few, and his +food easily obtained, he is not compelled to work for the white man. +He is not ambitious for riches. + +When a Zulu's hut is built on government ground the tax per year is +$3.50, which includes all the land he feels disposed to work. He does +not plant all his corn in one field, but has two or three patches +growing not far from the kraal. If his hut is built on private land, +the landowner charges the native from $5 to $10 a year rent. Land for +cultivation, however, is included in the rent of the private +landowner. Some of the public men of South Africa entertain the +belief that if a heavier government tax were imposed on the native it +would force him to work more--smoke him out, as it were. Just think of +the snug income some Europeans who have from 100 to 300 huts on their +undeveloped land are receiving from natives, as they collect from $5 +to $10 for each hut. The native still pays the $3.50 government tax +also. While Zulus as a race are honest, few Europeans will do business +with them on a credit basis; they must pay cash for what they buy. + +Honesty among Zulu house servants is an admirable trait. One might +place a bushel of $20 gold pieces in the center of a room, be away +from home for months, and on return find the money where it had been +left. This applies more to what is termed a "raw kafir." When they +have been among white people for a year or two their traits of honesty +often slacken. The black man, as a rule, will pick up all the white +man's vices, but few of his virtues. + +A violation of the Zulu code of honesty was formerly punishable by +death, and in some cases is still adhered to. The theft of a horse, +cow, sheep, goat, pig or dog brought the death penalty. The moral code +is inflexible. If a girl leaves a kraal to go into service in the +towns and returns not as good as she was when she left the hut, she is +likely to disappear mysteriously. A native guilty of committing a +crime with a Zulu woman may be put to death. + +Few deformed or crippled members of this tribe are seen. Under the +kings' ruling an imperfect child at birth was not permitted to live. + +Respect for old age is another excellent trait of the Zulu tribe. Were +a mother or father to be living with a son and his wives, the father +is "boss" of the kraal; and were the father to die the mother is the +head of the kraal. The elder of two persons is respected by the +younger. The oldest son has absolute rule over the other children; +but, if the father be a chief, the youngest son succeeds him. +Indian-like, Zulus walk in single file, and the younger always walks +behind the elder. The woman always walks behind the man and carries +his belongings. A Zulu woman is never seen alone--always with a child, +woman, or girl. + +Zulus have their own name for Europeans. A man who wore spectacles +would be "four-eyed" in their language; a person with a scar on his +face or hands, would be "scar" in the native language; one having a +deep voice or light voice--that would be his name with the native. +Long hair, short hair, mustache, a smooth face--any mark or +peculiarity--Zulus would know him by words pertaining to these. + +Natives are not allowed to own or carry firearms or any weapons used +by Europeans. The same restriction applies to native police. A +knobkerry, a pair of handcuffs and a sjambok (a strip of rhinoceros +hide like a short whip) are the only weapons a native policeman is +supplied with. The policy is a wise one, for, if the blacks knew how +to use firearms, it would mean a constant menace to the whites. Zulus +often carry their assegais with them in their country, and are allowed +to carry sticks at all times, as a dog will attack a black, and the +same dog would not even growl at a white man; besides, deadly snakes +are numerous. + +The Zulu system of "telegraphing" news from one part of the country to +another is an interesting accomplishment. Results of battles and +approaching danger are shouted from hilltop to hilltop for hundreds of +miles with surprising speed and accuracy. In crises Zulus seem to rise +out of the ground. + +Sugar, salt, kerosene, cotton blankets, tobacco, snuff, lanterns, +Jew's-harps, concertinas, mouth organs, beads, cheap spangles, bright +calicoes, whistles, and numerous other things of a tawdry character +are what Zulus spend their money on. Six cents is the cheapest +purchase he can make, as the three-penny piece is the smallest coin in +circulation. They will haggle and haggle with a trader sometimes for +half an hour over a six-cent purchase, if the trader will listen to +them. + +"Bonsella" is a word one will often hear if he has dealings with the +Zulu. "Bonsella" means he wants something that does not belong to him. +With a six-cent purchase he will insist on a "bonsella." A thin slice +of a small bar of soap, a few grains of sugar, a little pinch of +salt, a piece of string will do, if he cannot do better; and should he +fail in getting something from the trader he will ask for a drink of +water. + +With similar weapons, and each equally skilled in their use, and even +numbers, one is pretty safe in making the statement that no man can +fight better nor for a longer period than the Zulu. Their military +uniform used to be cow-tails secured to a ring around the neck. The +tails were so thick they presented the appearance of a complete robe +or skin. The Zulu can store enough food away at one meal to last him +for 24 to 36 hours without becoming fatigued. He can run from 50 to 70 +miles without stopping. Coupled with these staying qualities, it was +the custom with some of the Zulu kings to kill all soldiers who +returned defeated in battle. That left but two courses open to +him--death or victory. + +The Zulu has but a poor and varied quality of religion. Some select +the sun as their guiding light, others a white bird, again hawks will +appeal to him as being worthy to look up to. Unlike the Mohammedan, +his knees are not calloused from kneeling to gods of any sort. + +Missionaries claim to have 200,000 followers of the Christian +religion, which is nearly one-quarter of the Zulu population--one +million. People who live in black countries place little credit to the +native for having adopted the European faith. In fact, there is a +prejudice against the mission native. If a man in South Africa were in +need of two "boys," and two mission "boys" and two kraal "boys" had +appeared for work at the same time, he would at once select the kraal +"boys." When a native begins to wear shoes and a European hat, his +usefulness as an employee generally proves of doubtful quantity. When +he embraces the Christian religion he is limited to but one wife. That +does not absolve him, however, from coming forward with the cows for +his bride. + +Zululand, and South Africa generally, is well looked after by European +mounted police. The duty of the mounted police is to see that firearms +do not find their way to the native; that whisky is not smuggled over +the border; to learn if discontent exists that might turn into a +revolution. The native police, unmounted, arrests natives for minor +offenses, and tries to find out from his brother violations of the law +that the white man could not know other than through his minion. + +"Ba, ba" (father), is a native salute to a European. A bow always +accompanies the words. It is customary to return the native's +recognition, although some Europeans will not go to the trifling +trouble to do so, which is discourteous, to say the least. + +Should one be benighted, a European does not think twice as to whether +he will go to a native's hut and sleep on the floor with the family. +In so doing he will be offered every hospitality. + +Deadly, poisonous snakes are so numerous in this section that settlers +carry with them a snakebite outfit. This consists of a strong cord, a +syringe containing a poison antidote, and a small lance attached. In +Zululand and Natal a rattle-snake is considered almost harmless. The +puff adder, that coils itself in a pathway and is very sluggish, bites +one by a backward spring. His fangs grow that way. He cannot bite +after one has passed him. Death shortly ensues from the bite of this +reptile if not attended to at once. + +A person will die in 20 to 30 minutes after being bitten by a mamba. +There are two kinds of this deadly snake--the green and black--but no +difference in the quality of poison they inject into their victim. +Death from a mamba's bite is said to be an awful one. Sometimes the +bitten person's head will burst and appear as a pumpkin would look +when thrown with force on a stone. This will account for the settlers +carrying the snakebite outfit. The cord is used to wrap around the +member bitten above where the fangs entered, to keep the poison from +getting further into the system; the lance is used to cut out a piece +of flesh where bitten, and the syringe is used to inject the antidote +accurately at the raw part of the member where the fangs stopped. This +precautionary measure must be gone through within a couple of minutes +or one will fall a victim to the mamba's fangs. The snakes grow in +length from three to four feet. + +"Wood and iron" houses--corrugated iron mostly--is the style of +European homes seen in Zululand. This also will apply quite generally +to the country districts of South Africa. A half dozen of these, one +story high--a postoffice, three general stores, a court house and a +hotel--are the buildings about which the commercial life of Melmoth +centers. A church building is generally numbered among these groups, +and always a graveyard out of proportion. Many of the hotels of +Zululand are built somewhat on the kraal plan. The dining and sitting +rooms--sometimes one room answers both purposes--are in a one-story +"wood and iron" building. Many of the bedrooms--small houses resting +on posts a foot to eighteen inches from the ground--are located a +short distance from the main building, which they sometimes +half-encircle. Each house, by partitioning, contains several small +bedrooms. The beds with which these rooms are furnished are generally +half-size iron ones, and the light provided is often a candle. + +"Keep to the native trail until you come to that clump of wattle +trees," directed the driver of the post cart when ten miles from +Melmoth on my return to Ginginhlovu. A printer who had got tired of +the smell of printers' ink moved to Zululand to make his living in the +dual capacity of farmer and trader. So, with a grip in my hand, I +started over the Zulu trail to the clump of trees in the distance. I +had not gone far when I heard a shout, but could not tell whence it +came. It may be the natives telegraphing the start of an uprising, I +mused. "Halloa!" was again heard, and, looking in another direction, a +wide-brimmed hat was looming over the arch of a grassy hill. It was +the printer. The post cart driver had "set me down," as a Britisher +would say, at the wrong trail. + +"The natives wouldn't sell me any chickens when I first came here, so +I wouldn't sell them any goods unless they paid for them with +chickens," was one of the difficulties the printer-trader recounted in +his effort to hew his way in Zululand. + +"Sarah," addressing his wife, "come with us this afternoon while we +visit the natives' huts, as you can speak the language better than I," +obligingly suggested the sturdy trader, who had beaten freight trains +over the United States, sailed before the mast, and had tramped the +desert of West Australia to the gold mines at Coolgardie. + +Through the trader's wife we chatted with the Zulu women hoeing corn, +with their pickaninnies on their backs. Later we squeezed through the +small entrances into hut after hut. The lady of the Zulu home +explained how the natives winnowed the mealy meal by blowing the dust +or bran from it with their breath when passing from the hands, to +lodge in a wooden bowl under; how they stirred the meal; explained +their scanty washing outfit, how the wives got along together, and +other interesting features of Zulu life. After spending several +interesting days at the printer-trader's home, it was time to say +good-by; and I left with a keen feeling of indebtedness for the +unstinted hospitality and kindness shown me. + +"I've kept my word--I've got the eggs!" remarked Graham when we had +pulled up at his place for luncheon on the return trip. + +With pages left unwritten of the Zulu, the strongest, most intelligent +and best built tribe of the Bantu race, we will leave the sailor's +place for Eshowe, take the post cart to Ginginhlovu, and return by +rail to Durban. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +My first introduction to South Africa railway travel took place on my +initial trip to Johannesburg. The compartment type of corridor +carriage, as passenger coaches are termed, with an aisle at the side, +similar to that of Great Britain, is in use. Meter gauge--3 feet 6 +inches--is the standard of that country, 14 inches narrower than what +is known as "standard gauge"--4 feet 8 inches--in the United States +and in some of the European countries. The narrow spaces of the +compartment (6 by 6½ feet) inclined one to wish for a two person seat. +Two out of a filled compartment have direct access to a window--the +two passengers whose seats are the outside end ones. Most travelers +have seats reserved, in some instances a week in advance, their names +being written on a card on the outside of the car at the compartment +assigned. + +Compartments in the railway coaches are heated with what is called +foot-warmers--that is, sometimes the compartment will be provided with +this device. The foot-warmer is an iron pipe, two feet long, eight +inches wide, three inches thick, and filled with hot water. The +foot-warmer is all right when there are but two persons in a +compartment, or when two foot-warmers are supplied and four persons +occupy a compartment, but when six or eight passengers occupy a +compartment--well, 16 passengers' feet cannot get on four feet of +piping. That is the only means of heating passenger coaches in South +Africa. + +In some respects accommodation is better on South African trains than +in the United States and Europe--every passenger having a place to +sleep, for instance. Six persons can sleep in a compartment, but five +is generally the maximum number assigned, the extra berth being +reserved for hand baggage. Frequently, when travel is light, one has a +compartment to himself. The back of the compartment against which one +leans while riding is portable, and when pulled out straight is +fastened at each end. Above that shelf, or berth, is another. The same +applies to the opposite side of the compartment, which, with seats on +each side, termed the lower berths, make six in all--three on each +side. These berths, or sleeping shelves, are two feet wide and +upholstered. Travelers generally carry with them a cushion and +blanket, or rug, as it is termed, which is used for sleeping purposes. +The bedding furnished by the railway cost 60 cents. If one is +traveling two nights in succession the bedding is rolled up by a +steward in the morning and put on the top shelf of the compartment, +where it remains during the day, and is taken down the second night +for use. Sixty cents for two nights--30 cents a night. Meals on the +train are very reasonable. Breakfast and luncheon costs 50 cents and +dinner 60 cents. So, paying but 60 cents for a bed, as it were, and +not more than 60 cents for a meal, one finds a great reduction in +traveling expenses in South Africa compared to what is charged for the +same service in the United States. Railroad fare is higher, however, +than in America, the second class rate being three and four cents a +mile, and first-class six cents a mile. A hundred pounds of baggage is +allowed a passenger. The schedule is slow compared with that in +England and on some roads in America, twenty-five miles an hour being +as fast as trains run. Long delays take place at stations, for when a +passenger train stops it often seems as if it had been abandoned. + +From Durban to Pietermaritzburg, a distance of 70 miles, an elevation +of 3,000 feet is ascended. Some cultivated land is seen from the +train, but grassy, timberless hills, with smoke and flames from +prairie fires showing here and there off the railway, is what a +stranger notices continuously. + +Pietermaritzburg, the capital of Natal, was first settled by the +Dutch. The town hall, postoffice, and government buildings are +imposing structures. In addition, one finds a small museum, botanical +garden and good city parks, an electric railway system and a good +railway station. One is surprised when visiting small cities located +so far out of the world, as it seems, to find them so up to date. +Locally, the place is called, for short, Maritzburg. + +The Voortrekkers' Church is a historical monument to, and a solemn +reminder of, the terrible sufferings of the Voortrekkers during the +dark days between the massacres by the hordes of Dingaan, the Zulu +king, of over 600 men, women and children, in February, 1838, and the +eventful overthrowing of Zulu power, at Blood River, in December of +the same year. The massacre of Piet Retief, leader of a colony of Boer +emigrants, and some of his band by the native despot at the head +kraal, and the slaughter of his followers at Weenen, which immediately +followed, is closely identified with the erection of the church. +Retief and some of his followers had been led to believe that Dingaan +wished to make friends of them. While in the king's kraal, they were +seized and massacred. Andries Pretorius, with 450 men, some months +later, started on an expedition to avenge the massacre. Religious +services were held every day during the march of the expedition, and a +vow was made by Pretorius' party that, if they came out victorious in +battle with the bloodthirsty and perfidious Zulu king, a church to the +honor of God would be erected. Pretorius and his burghers met the Zulu +forces at a river then unnamed. Fifteen thousand natives were arrayed +against 450 Boers. After several hours' fighting the Zulus fled, +leaving behind 5,000 dead and wounded. The river was said to be red +with the blood that flowed from wounded natives, and that stream has +since been known as Blood River. Dingaan's Day, December 16, one of +the national holidays in South Africa, is observed in honor of the +bravery of Pretorius and his followers and the avenging of the foul +massacre of Piet Retief and his band of emigrants. The church promised +by Pretorius was built in 1841, three years later. + +Maritzburg natives are mostly Basutos, the only tribe in South Africa +that white troops have never conquered. Most of Basutoland is situated +in the Drakensburg Mountains, some parts of which contain rich land. +They have a king, and are said to be wealthy. Europeans cannot travel +in Basutoland without permission from the ruler or some high native +officer. A large amount of firearms and munitions of war is said to +have been smuggled into their country. The Basuto is feared by all in +South Africa, and that will explain why Basutoland is for Basutos +only. + +Now we travel northward to Ladysmith, passing Spion Kop south of the +Siege City. Ragged turrets and spires are still to be seen, bearing +gaping evidence of the days of suffering, hunger and fear that the +brave besieged underwent in the Boer war. Historical Majuba Hill next +comes in view, with Mount Prospect opposite. A tunnel has been bored +through the land lying between Majuba and Mount Prospect, known as +Laing's Nek. We travel over rough territory for a while, then find +ourselves on the high veld, having left the Drakensburg mountain range +behind. Continuing to Charlestown, on the south bank of the Vaal +River, and crossing the river to Voxburg, we passed out of Natal and +were in the Transvaal. + +"When do we scoff?" asked a passenger, at one stage of the journey. +The term being a strange one, "I don't know" was what a stranger would +reply. "Luncheon is ready" announced a train steward just then as he +passed the compartment. "Let's go and scoff. I'm hungry," said the +South African. "Scoff," in South Africa, has the same meaning here as +"grub" in the United States. + +The River Vaal is the boundary line between the Transvaal Province, +Natal Province and the Orange Free State. The meaning of "Transvaal" +is, across the Vaal--trans-Vaal. + +On we go over the grassy veld, or prairie, seeing very little +cultivated ground, but cattle are grazing here and there. They are a +brand peculiar to South Africa; their horns grow from two to three +feet, their legs in keeping with the long horns, but their bodies are +narrow and of light weight. The most productive feature of the veld +were ant-hills, ranging in size from a water bucket to a hogshead. +Thousands of these, as far as the eye could reach, mar the green +landscape as freckles or small-pox mark an unblemished skin. + +The railroad from Durban to Johannesburg is the crookedest one might +ride over. To save building a small bridge, the track turns for miles +before it gets back to a straight line. When the railway was built the +contractors were paid by the mile. Were the road constructed on +ordinary scientific lines, the distance between the two cities could +be reduced fifty miles. Yet, neat, well-built, attractive stations, +surrounded with flower beds, were passed all the way. + +Over the freckled veld we rolled, with Johannesburg in the distance. +The sky was clear, as most always, on the highlands of the Transvaal. +We had traveled to over 6,000 feet above sea level. Objects in the +distance became less distinct--a haze seemed to gather. It was the +smoke from the gold mines on the great Gold Reef-- + +"Johannesburg!"--"Johannesburg!" a train guard announced. + +A well built business city is the impression made by this great gold +center of the world. A long street, with all the business of the city +centered in it, one would expect to find on reaching Johannesburg. +That is the style of some of our western mining towns. Instead, here +are buildings, five to eight stories in height, of stone, brick, and +steel, some of them a city block square in dimension, with arcades +leading from one street to another; large plate glass windows where +goods are attractively displayed; elevators and steam heat +appliances--all centralized in a space five squares in extent. This is +the retail section of Johannesburg. The great banking and mining +companies' buildings--splendid structures, all of modern +architecture--are situated half a dozen squares from this center. The +financial district is a busy place. + +"Come, buyers! Come, buyers! Come, buyers!" the auctioneer cries when +he has an assignment to sell something in the marketplace. Every one +is used to the call, and soon a group gathers around. "How much--how +much--how much?" the auctioneer starts with his glib sale talk. The +articles to be sold may be crates of oranges, bunches of bananas, a +crate of chickens, geese, hares, wild fowl, pumpkins, tomatoes, +turnips, cornmeal, oats, hay, a pig, cattle, buck (deer), wildebeeste +(gnu)--anything edible for man and beast. Dozens of auctioneers are +selling goods in the Johannesburg market at the same time. + +"That fellow is one of the lost tribe of Israel we read about in the +Bible," spoke a Britisher who had been a produce dealer on the +Johannesburg market for twenty years. "When the Rand was opened to the +world," he continued, "the lost tribe cropped up in the Transvaal and +that fellow is one of them." The buyer was engaged in a controversy +with the old dealer, the point at issue hinging on one chicken, the +Israelite contending he had bought thirteen hens, and the dealer +maintaining there were only twelve to be sold. Arguments are taking +place all the time between buyer, seller and auctioneer. + +Fifteen wildebeeste (gnu), with bent horns, and whiskers six inches +long growing straight from their noses; blesbuck, bushbuck, springbuck +by the dozens, lay on the ground in the market. Meat from these +animals is sold as venison. Seeing these beasts of the plains +stretched out in plain view, about which most people read but do not +see, creates a far-off feeling--a feeling that, were the eyes shut to +the brick and mortar walls close by, one would be in a wild, unblazed +section of the world. + +Hundreds of ox teams in the market ground worm their way through piles +of bags, hay and transports, led by the natives with bare feet and +bare head. A South African ox team numbers nine yoke--18 oxen. The +transport, or wagon, is 18 feet long and strongly built. Seven feet of +the rear is generally covered with canvas, and under the "tent" is the +home of the Boer, and often his wife, as weeks must elapse from the +time a start has been made for market until their return, as the +farms, in a great many instances, are located long distances from +large towns. Time saving is not a factor in a great many sections of +the sub-continent. The oxen plod slowly along an unkept road, always +preceded by a kafir, who guides the caravan by rhinoceros-hide strips +attached to the horns of the leading team. After traveling about three +hours, a stop ("outspan") is made for the cattle to feed, as grass +grows bountifully on the veld. So, allowing time for "outspanning" +and "inspanning," 10 to 15 miles a day is generally the distance +covered by a transport. "Salted" cattle are the only ones in demand +for working purposes. "Salted," when used in speaking of oxen, +signifies that cattle can run the gauntlet of many diseases that so +often bare the veld of grazing stock. These are cattle that have been +sick but survived the attack. "Unsalted" stock are in little demand, +as they often get sick after starting from the farmer's home and die +by the roadside. + +One automobile to 15 persons is a high percentage in a city with about +100,000 white population, yet that indicates the wealth of the gold +city on the high veld. There are over 800 automobiles and the same +number of motorcycles in Johannesburg, and among these are the +largest, most expensive and swiftest manufactured. + +The term "The Rand" embraces the mining districts of the Reef, and +"Witwatersrand" is used when speaking of the districts located close +to Johannesburg. + +Sixty miles of smokestacks--from Krugersdorp to Springs--will suggest +at once the magnitude of the great Gold Reef. Dynamite is blasting the +gold-bearing ore for that distance 24 hours a day; black smoke is +rolling out of high smokestacks from strong fires, under boilers in +which steam is generated to furnish power to hoist the ore from +thousands of feet underground to the stamp mills at the top; great +dirt heaps--cyanide banks, as they are termed--circle about and wall +in thrifty mining towns, that are not seen until a train stops at a +railway station; monster stamp mills, whose crushing machinery +resembles the roar of a sea beating on a rocky shore, are grinding the +quartz into powdered dust--for nearly thirty years the Reef has been +exploited, and is still giving up its precious ore. Hundreds of +thousands of people are engaged in this gold mining industry; the eyes +of the money people of the world are constantly watching the gold +yield of the Rand. + +In 1884 the output of the Transvaal gold mines was $55,000, and, save +for a few years, during which the Boer war was being fought, the +output increased until it has reached the enormous sum of +$150,000,000 a year. The monthly output is from $12,000,000 to +$15,000,000. + + [Illustration: NATIVE HUTS AND KAFIR CORN (top); AFRICAN TRANSPORT + (bottom). + SOUTH AFRICA.] + +The stamps that crush the ore into powdered dust weigh from 1,800 to +2,000 pounds. Under the stamps are zinc-lined inclining tables, 10 +feet long and 4 feet wide, covered with quicksilver. Water washes the +thin dust over the tables, when the gold adheres to the quicksilver. +The dust from five stamps passes over one table. When about an eighth +of an inch of gold sediment has accumulated, the stamps cease working, +and the residue is scraped off the zinc. The scrapings look like thick +black mud. The sediment then goes through a drying process. The dried +chunks of gold "mud" are next put in a kettle, or retort, and melted. +Borax is tossed into the hot metal, which separates impurities from +the gold, the precious metal remaining at the bottom of the kettle, +the dross keeping to the top. More gold "mud" is put in the kettle, +until there is enough to make a brick, or ingot. The gold metal is +poured into a mold. Cooling in a few minutes, the red hot brick is +dumped on the floor. The shape of an ingot is similar to a sponge +cake, narrower at the bottom than at the top. The weight of an ingot +is 1,000 ounces, its value about $20,000. + +In early years the dirt that passed over the quicksilver was +considered of little value, and was washed away. The dirt is now +treated by what is termed the cyanide process. Remaining in large +cyanide tanks, any gold contained in the dirt is reduced to a liquid. +The liquid next goes to the extracting room, where it passes through +inclining tanks, 12 feet long by 6 feet wide, composed of five +compartments. The floors of these tanks are covered with 8 inches of +zinc shavings. The liquid slowly passes from one compartment to +another. Any gold contained in the chemical solution adheres to the +zinc shavings. The shavings are then taken from the tank and put in a +retort. At the same time sulphuric acid is placed in the retort, which +causes the zinc to dissolve. The sediment in this instance is also +like black mud. This is next put through a drying process, put in +another retort, when the gold can be seen, poured into a mold, and +dumped on a floor in ingot form. Some of the mine owners are very +obliging to visitors who wish to look about the works. The mines range +in depth from 2,000 to 4,000 feet. + +Twenty thousand Europeans and 200,000 natives are employed in the Rand +mines. Paul Kruger, nearly 30 years ago, fixed the wages of the white +miner at $5 a day. Contract miners, however, earn as much as from $200 +to $300 a month; but the average wage of the Rand miner is $160 a +month. The natives' wage runs from 50 cents to a dollar a day and +board. The hours worked are eight, three shifts comprising a day's +force. + +Compound is the term used for an enclosure in which native employes +are kept. As many as 3,000 to 4,000 kafirs work in some of the mines. +From the mine they go to the compound, where a bunk is provided, a +place to make a fire, and food is furnished. They are not allowed +outside the enclosure at night, but on Sundays and holidays most of +them are free. Tact has to be exercised when assigning kafirs to their +quarters and to working mates, as a hostile feeling exists between +certain tribes. If members of unfriendly clans be not kept apart, +fights and murders often occur. + +Weasel-eyed, idle, easy living Europeans are found in considerable +numbers in mining districts. Were the natives allowed their liberty in +the evening, it would result in their complete demoralization, for the +crafty gentry would succeed in getting bad whisky or vicious rum into +the compounds, receiving a big price for the poison, in addition to +offering inducements to the "boys" to pilfer nuggets or heavy-bearing +gold quartz. + +"Scarcity of help, scarcity of help," is the cry of mine owners in +South Africa. Sharp competition prevails between mining companies for +"boys," and it is a scarcity of this class of labor to which they +allude. A European trader may have the confidence of natives in the +district in which his store is located, and when help is wanted labor +agents call on the merchant. When a trader induces natives to go to +the mines, the firm to which they have been sent will pay him $15 for +each "boy" as a bonus. If the company failed to pay the bonus, it +would thereafter get very few "boys" from that trader's district. In +thickly populated centers like Kaffraria a dealer may control as many +as 1,000 natives. In such instances companies pay him an income of +from $100 to $125 a month, in addition to the $15 a head, in order to +keep in his good graces. If a "boy" should engage to work for the +shorter term--six months--and rehire at the end of the term, the +trader from whose district the kafir originally came would be sent an +additional sum of $15. Where labor agents deal with native chiefs for +mine "boys," the chief expects a "bonsella" of $2.50 for every "boy" +leaving his district to work in the mines. With bonuses, clothes, car +fare and other incidentals, it costs the mine company from $25 to $30 +to get a "boy" from the kraal to the works. Mine owners claim they pay +out a quarter of a million dollars a year in bonuses for native help. +It is also claimed that the mining industry could not be conducted at +a profit with all white labor. + +Twenty-one thousand graves in Braamfontein Cemetery, a great many of +these containing two corpses, strongly emphasizes the terrible toll of +human life paid to King Gold in the Transvaal mines. This is but one +European graveyard, as there are several smaller burying places in the +Johannesburg district. Besides those in which only Dutch and English +are buried, there are Jewish, Malay and Mohammedan graveyards +scattered about the city. Braamfontein Cemetery is filled, and a new +one is filling fast. This appalling mortality has taken place during +the past 30 years. + +Eighty-nine open graves--mound after mound in as regular order as are +boards in a floor--is a gruesome setting that forces one to cast a sad +glance at the clouds of black smoke pouring out of the hundreds of +smokestacks on the great Gold Reef, and at the gray-colored cyanide +banks that half encircle the city of Johannesburg. These unbroken rows +of freshly dug graves were in the European section of Brixton +graveyard, and at the other end of the large burying ground--the +native section--eighty freshly dug graves presented a grim +foreground. + +"Bubonic plague?" the reader may ask. No, phthisis. + +Eighty in a thousand of ordinary miners, and 140 in a thousand of +workers using underground drilling machines, are affected with +phthisis. As gold-bearing rock is being blasted all the time, miners +inhale the fine dust during working hours. Respirators, a device +covering the nose and mouth, having a sponge at the mouth, and two +openings at the side covered with a fine wire screen to admit of air, +are worn by some of the workers, but, as it proves cumbersome, a great +many miners discard that life-extending invention. Phthisis here +signifies the drying up of the lungs. The dust inhaled settles in the +cells of the lungs, with the appalling result mentioned. + +Seven years is the average lifetime of the Rand miner. On the +headstones in Braamfontein Cemetery, carved in granite, most of the +ages are found to be in the twenties and thirties. Few stones observed +bore ages of 40 years and over. + +The average number of burials in Johannesburg is ten a day; Europeans +average four and natives six. People not engaged in underground work, +and not connected with the mines in any capacity, also become affected +with phthisis. As on American prairies, the wind blows on the veld +nearly all the time, and generally with considerable force; hence the +air is full of dust from the powder-crushed cyanide banks. + +Priest, preacher and missionary may be seen at cemetery gates all the +time, more particularly in the afternoons. + +"Will there be any more funerals today?" was asked of a native who had +just filled in a grave. + +"Yes, baas. Two wagons coming now," he answered, pointing to the road. + +The natives are buried in a burlap sack, drawn tight and sewed, +reducing the natural size of the body considerably. Two corpses rest +on the bottom of a grave. Six inches of dirt cover these, when two +more of the sacked bodies are lowered, making four in one grave. + +The city of Johannesburg receive $7 for every kafir buried in Brixton +graveyard--$28 for a grave containing the bodies of four natives. The +owners of the mines at which the natives had worked must pay this +burial charge. Deaths of natives are caused more by accidents in mines +than from phthisis, as kafirs will not, as a rule, work more than six +months in the year. + +At the end of Brixton graveyard, where Europeans are buried, could be +seen, from a distance, undertakers in long coats and high hats; +hearses, ornamented with white or black cockades, drawn by horses of +the same color; clergymen, their heads bowed and reading from books, +with groups of veiled people huddled in small areas--putting people +underground and the circumstances attending these ceremonies are of +very frequent occurrence in Johannesburg. + +The grave-diggers have no slack seasons; they are busy the year round, +which accounted for so many open graves. As they were sure to be +needed, it was better to be ahead of the demand than crowded with +orders. + +"Don't Expectorate!" is the cautionary sign confronting one at almost +every turn in the Gold City. Where the "Don't Spit!" sign appears +frequently one knows he has reached a place where lung trouble is +prevalent. + +Paved streets in some of the South African cities has not been +considered so much of a municipal duty as in other parts of the world. +The soil being hard, the rain, coming in showers, flows off as it does +on paved streets. As the sun shines 365 days in the year on the high +veld, the ground is dry in a short time after a shower has passed. + +Walking in the streets instead of on the walks is a local custom one +quickly notices. In Johannesburg good, wide walks may be practically +free of people though the street space is occupied by pedestrians from +curb to curb. + +"Joburg" is the local term used almost exclusively by South Africans +when speaking of Johannesburg. When one hears another say +"Johannesburg" it is a pretty sure sign that he is a stranger in +"Darkest Africa." + +Living expenses are much higher in Johannesburg and other up-country +cities than on the coast. House rent runs from $25 to $40 a month; +meat was 18 cents to 30 cents a pound; street car fare is very high; +in a general sense, expenses are 20 per cent. higher than in the coast +cities. Boarding houses charge from $35 to $40 a month; hotel +accommodation is expensive, too, the cheapest costing $3 a day; rooms +cost $1.25 a day in all the hotels. Six cents is the least sum for any +small article. A newspaper costs six cents (threepence), the +bootblacks charge 12 cents for a shine, barbers 18 cents for shaving; +it seemed as if one was handing out six cents at every few squares to +a street-car conductor, so short are the "stages"--in fact, few things +can be had for less than six cents. + +Dutch, British and Jews comprise the majority of the population, Jews +numbering one-third. Germans are also quite numerous. Americans, up to +the time of the Boer War, held high positions with mining companies, +but they have been thinned out since the country changed hands. Every +country of the globe is represented in that cosmopolitan center. + +On pay days "Joburg" is a lively place. The saloons seem to get the +biggest part of miners' wages. They spend their money like lords. In +no place are bars better patronized. A glass of beer costs 12 cents, +and stronger drinks 24 cents. The barmaid, a woman engaged tending +bars in public drinking places in British territories, is not seen +behind the bar of saloons in cities and towns of the Transvaal, men +being engaged at that work. + +Years ago, when the game of baseball was played, which took place +weekly and on holidays, crowds of people used to attend. Games are +still played at weekly intervals, but only a few attend--sometimes not +more than 100 persons. On the other hand, big crowds attend the +English games--cricket and football. + +"Closed on account of dust." "Open--Closed on account of dust." Such +signs will be found secured to doors of most business houses. The wind +blows so generally, and nearly always so strongly, that all doors must +be kept closed, whether of business or dwelling. With unpaved streets, +and the half-circle of great cyanide banks about the city, +Johannesburg, as appearing to some visitors, is not a choice place of +residence. The climate of the Rand possesses one virtue--there is no +malarial fever. On the other hand, the lips swell, chafe and crack +from the effects of both the wind and high altitude, this causing an +irritating feeling. Laundries do a good business here. Collars are +changed twice a day, as the soil, being red, and the almost constant +high winds, with the dry nature of the country, keeps the dust flying +about most of the time. One will not have lived in this city long +before he will have eaten his allotted "peck of dirt." + +In Ludlow Street Jail, New York, prisoners are kept who are not +considered criminals--that class of men who cannot pay their debts and +who have not been adjudged insolvent. The city pays for their food. In +Johannesburg, if a man is sent to jail for a debt, the creditor must +pay the city 50 cents a day for the debtor's board. Precious few +prisoners of this class are found in the Johannesburg jail. + +Newspapers of the Rand are fully up to the requirements of the city, +four dailies being published, two morning and two evening. The morning +papers issue Sunday editions, one of these including a colored +magazine section. It has required constant fighting by the owners to +maintain the Sunday editions, as it is an innovation in British +territory. Opponents had injunctions issued against these +publications, and in other ways the publishers were put to much +inconvenience. This edition still appears on the street, however, but, +by a court decree, dealers and newsboys are prohibited from soliciting +sales. Printers earn good wages on the Rand, running from $30 to $55 +weekly, with the working hours seven and eight. One finds here +linotype machines, web presses, color presses, stereotyping--all the +modern machinery in use in the North. South Africa is the one country +where printers can do as well, and sometimes better, than in the +United States. + +Mechanics and miners are so well organized that they have a building +of their own. They pull together on election day, and, as a result, a +number of union labor men are sprinkled about the upper and lower +Houses of Parliament. Eight hours is the maximum working day in South +Africa among skilled mechanics and miners. Wages run from $4.50 to $6 +a day. + +In years gone by the Dutch suffered so much from the natives during +their treks that they have a pretty good idea of how to manage them. +No blacks crowd Europeans off the walks in Johannesburg, for the black +man is not allowed on them; he must walk in the street. This policy +saves trouble for both black and white, for it prevents arguments and +fights. He is not allowed to ride on street cars. In railroad +compartments colored and half-castes are prohibited from intermingling +with Europeans. "Reserved" is posted on the doors of certain +compartments, in which one generally would find well-to-do colored +passengers. + +The native is not allowed to live in towns and cities here. What are +termed "locations" are built by the municipality, and in these places +the natives are kept to themselves. The Boer plan is much better than +the English, as, if the black man be given too much liberty, it +generally proves injurious to him. Dutch authorities are very severe +on men smuggling liquor to natives. Five hundred dollars is the fine, +and in default of payment the smuggler must serve five years in jail. + +Indians leaving Natal for the Transvaal generally come to grief. On +arrival they are promptly taken into custody, and when 50 to 100 have +been collected are put into box cars of a train headed for Portuguese +territory, and soon find themselves in the hold of a ship sailing from +Lourenzo Marques for India. Indians have spoiled the Province of +Natal, so the Dutch are taking care that that race do not get the +money that belongs to the white man in the Transvaal. Though Indians +are British subjects, it makes no difference to the Dutch. Australia +has barred them from that country, too. + +An art gallery, a museum, a large public library, a good zoo, sports +grounds, parks where music is furnished, theaters, schools, churches, +hospitals--all the public accessories that make a city are found in +Johannesburg; also most modern city fire-fighting appliances, an +electric street car system, electric and gas plants, fully in keeping +with those in cities of the same size located in the countries of the +North. + +"Necessity is the mother of invention," so, as there is practically no +timber in South Africa, and brick buildings cost quite a sum of money +to erect, homes had to be made of something else. Corrugated iron was +the material that answered the purpose of brick, wood and stone. About +all the timber required to erect one of these houses is for joists, +scantlings, and doors. The sheets of corrugated iron are nailed to the +joists and to the scantling at the roof. Sometimes there are plastered +interiors, but a great many have no more protection than the sheet of +iron. They are very hot in summer and very cold in winter. They pop +and crack all the time from expansion and contraction. These houses +are seldom more than one story high. "Wood and iron" buildings is what +they are called. + +"Pipe Hospital" may be seen over the door of a tobacco store. It means +that pipes are repaired there. + +A broad-brimmed hat, with a thick outside band, the latter often +brown, with a white speck here and there, is the head-covering worn in +the interior of South Africa. It is the only hat a Dutchman wears. +Derby hats are in little demand in that part of the world. One +occasionally sees a man wearing that style, but soft hats hold the +day. + +Snow fell in Johannesburg a few years since, the first in 20 years, +and it proved an epoch in the history of the country. Important events +that took place before or since are referred to as having occurred +before or after the storm. Still, the weather gets cold enough to +freeze water, but the sun warms up everything in the daytime. By +reason of the high altitude--over 6,000 feet--the weather is never too +hot in summer. + +To General Louis Botha the people of not only South Africa, but of the +world, owe a great debt for saving the Rand mines. The time Botha +rendered this service was when Lord Roberts, with his invincible +forces, was outside the gates of Johannesburg prepared to enter the +city. Most of the gold mines on the Rand had been wired and powerful +explosives placed at sections where the greatest damage would take +place from an explosion. It was planned that as soon as Lord Roberts +entered the city an electric button would be pressed to set off the +bombs, which would ruin the mines. Botha, of course, was well aware of +what was to occur. A messenger was dispatched by him to Lord Roberts, +bearing a request from the Boer commander to delay entering the city +for 24 hours. Lord Roberts acceded to the request. During the interval +General Botha pleaded with his Boer sympathizers not to blow up the +mines. It required his utmost persuasive ability to dissuade the men +from carrying out their purpose. He eventually got their promise that +the mines would not be molested. Had Botha been narrow-minded or +vindictive, instead of a broad-minded man, in dealing with Lord +Roberts, the world's output of gold since that time would probably +have been from $100,000,000 to $120,000,000 less annually. + +Johannesburg is named after a Boer--Johannes--whose farm was located +on a portion of the Gold Reef. It was about 1885 when gold was +discovered. + +The Great Trek by the Dutch from Cape Colony to the Transvaal took +place in 1835-38. Being dissatisfied with English administration in +Cape Colony, they, like the Mormons in America, kept going into +uninhabited parts, stopping only when they believed they had gone +beyond reach of everybody, where they could live their own lives in +their own way. There were thousands in the Great Trek. In 1852 a +government was formed, and M. W. Pretorious became the first President +of the South African Republic. In the early seventies there were about +25,000 Boers in the Transvaal. In 1876 the republic practically +collapsed, when England assumed responsibility. In 1877 the British +flag was raised in Pretoria, but the Dutch did not relish that +innovation. During 1881 the Boers attacked the English garrisons, and +in January, 1882, the British suffered successive defeats at Majuba +Hill, under command of General Colley, the latter being killed at +Ingogo Heights. Eight hundred English officers and men were killed in +the engagements, and on the Boer side 18 were killed and 33 wounded. A +few lean years for the Dutch followed. Later, the gold fields of +Barberton sprang into existence, then the Rand, and undreamed of +wealth poured into the Transvaal, towns springing up as if by magic. +It was during this early heyday period of the Rand that adventurous +spirits such as Barnato, Hammond, Beit, Rhodes and others figured +prominently in the life of Boerland--some there by reason of the +opportunity to vent their inborn desire for adventure, others as +agents of Great Britain, but all playing for high stakes round the +green table of the great Gold Reef. With the exception of the Jameson +Raid, in 1895, the Boers enjoyed peace and prosperity up to the +opening of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899, when, three years later, the +Transvaal and Orange Free State became British possessions. + +On May 31, 1910, the four provinces--Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Orange +Free State and Transvaal--became the Union of South Africa, with +General Louis Botha, Premier, his Cabinet, save one, being composed of +Dutch members. Each province has its legislature, like our State +legislature. A governor-general, appointed by the King of England, is +the representative of the Imperial Government in South Africa and +Rhodesia. With the exception of eight Senators, appointed by the +Governor-General, the members of the National and Provincial +Parliaments are elected by popular vote. One is safe, commercially +speaking, in saying Johannesburg is more than half of Boerland. + +Law and order in the Gold City conform to the British standard. Noted +crooks and adventurers are found about places where gold and diamonds +are mined, yet few big burglaries take place. In stature, the +policemen of Johannesburg are second to none. They are of splendid +physique. Native policemen are used in that city also. + +The ravages of cattle diseases in South Africa is strongly suggested +on seeing refrigerator cars being emptied of frozen meat. The poorer +portions of beeves and sheep find their way to the compounds, the meat +being eaten by the mine "boys." The frozen meat comes from Australia +and New Zealand, arriving every week, and is shipped to what is called +an agricultural country. + +What seems an inexcusable lack of enterprise, combined with +mismanagement, is seen at every turn. Cattle hides are shipped to +Europe, while boots and shoes worn in South Africa are made in +England, Germany, Holland or the United States. Wool is shipped to +centers North, and hence all the woolen goods come from Europe. One +may ride through sections that should make splendid farming districts, +but these are held by landowners in tracts of from 2,000 to 30,000 +acres, and only a small area is under cultivation. Lack of water is +the reason given. One sees no windmills, however. Rain water is often +stored in a crude pond, which is generally muddy from sheep and cattle +walking in it. This dirty drinking water alone is enough to kill the +stock. + +Every animal of field and farm seems to have a mortal enemy. With the +cattle, one of three diseases--East Coast or tick fever, rinderpest +and red water--is apt to decimate them at any time; two or three +diseases wipe out sheep; there is what is termed "horse sickness," +horses also dying from eating grass when dew is on the ground, and +meningitis menaces mules. + +At least four drawbacks figure in raising grain--drought, hailstones, +locusts and poor farming--the worst being the presence of the black +man, meaning poor farming; though his hut rent keeps the white man's +coffee-pot boiling, at the same time it unhands him industrially. When +one sees a piece of plowed land it is generally but half plowed, a +grassy strip of sod often appearing between furrows at some part of +the field. It would be a rare thing to see unplowed strips between +furrows in England, on the Continent, or in most of the farming States +of America. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The Dutch being averse to having the capital near the sea coast, as +soon as they gained full control of United South Africa, on May 31, +1910, they decided on Pretoria as the capital, although Capetown was +well provided with good legislative buildings. Money was then +appropriated to erect government buildings in Pretoria, and a hill +east of the city was selected as a site for the Parliament buildings. +Following this, a large force of government employes were compelled to +leave Capetown for Pretoria, as government business was in future to +be transacted in the Transvaal instead of the Cape of Good Hope. At +present Pretoria, 45 miles from Johannesburg, is the capital of United +South Africa. Before the war the Boers exercised control over only the +Transvaal and Orange Free State, but 11 years later they also +exercised authority over the Provinces of the Cape of Good Hope and +Natal. + +One who had imagined he would not find modern utilities and +attractiveness of a general nature in a place located 'way up on the +veld would be much taken aback upon entering Pretoria. Encircled by a +range of hills is this, the best-looking large town in the interior of +South Africa. The city being so far away from the busy centers of the +world, and over a thousand miles inland from Capetown, one would not +expect to find fine, clean streets, a good electric street railway +system, good parks, in some of which music is furnished; shade trees, +water fountains, and splendid buildings--residential, business, +municipal and governmental. + +The Dutch Reformed Church, built in the center of the old market +square, around which long ox teams used to slowly worm their way and +seek shelter behind its stone walls from winds and shade from the sun; +where auctioneers, chattering like monkeys, sold produce of burghers, +brought from points a hundred miles in some instances, to the highest +bidder; where Boer met Boer and sympathized with each other during +lean years, discussed native wars, their troubles with England, and +the ravages of locusts and rinderpest; where the last President of the +Transvaal intermingled with his people, walking among the piles of +pumpkins, calabashes, tomatoes, guinea fowl, chickens, hares, and +buck; where, on holy days, Psalms were sung by these rough-looking +plainsmen--this historical assembling place of burghers, with its +old-time and latter-day memories, has been removed, and the +market-place converted into a public garden, surrounded at ends and +one side by imposing government buildings. On visiting the square +where the old church stood, the men of full beards and broad-brimmed +soft hats now look instead on beds of flowers in bloom and fountains +casting rainbow spray round a circular space. + +One feels more comfortable in Pretoria after having spent some time in +the Gold City, for he has left the red dust behind, the unattractive +cyanide banks, the clouds of black smoke and the sooty buildings. The +air is free from smoke, from the dirt banks, and a healthier +atmosphere prevails. Pretoria is Dutch; Johannesburg cosmopolitan. + +Some 40,000 people were living in this attractive place, and the +population is increasing. The government departments were removed from +Capetown, one after another, and with the reëstablishment of each +Pretoria's population naturally increased as the government employes +followed. "Civil servants" is the term used to denote government +employes. An increase in salaries was granted to employes when brought +from Capetown or Durban, as the salaries paid in the coast cities, on +which a frugal person could save money, provided little more than food +and clothing in the new capital. As in Johannesburg, house rent is +high, and board cannot be had at less than from $35 to $40 a month. +The cost of living here, as in Johannesburg, is from 15 to 20 per +cent. higher than the coast towns. + +Away from mining towns smokestacks are few and far between. Pretoria +makes a better showing in this respect, as there are flour mills, an +ice plant, an electric power house, and small manufactures that give +the place a business appearance. + +Walking a few blocks along West Kerk street, on the right hand side, +may be seen a one-story stone and cement house, roofed with corrugated +iron. This building is surrounded with an iron fence, built on a +cement foundation. On each side of the walk leading to the house are +two stone lions. In front is a veranda. In that modest house Paul +Kruger lived. Walking in the same direction a few squares a park is +reached. Entering by a gate, a short distance ahead is seen a large +cement foundation with steps leading up, and resting on the foundation +is a square granite base. The monument finishes there. Postcards bear +a picture of the completed monument to Paul Kruger, but it lacks the +bronze figure of the Boer President. "The monument that was to have +been erected to the memory of the late President Kruger" is the +wording under the picture of the "completed" monument. The bronze +figure of Paul Kruger reached Lourenzo Marques, Portuguese East +Africa, at the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, in 1899. Several lean +years followed the Boers' defeat, and the Transvaal was theirs no +longer. What stands of "the monument that was to have been" is well +looked after. Some day, however, the printing on a postcard of the +completed monument will read: "Paul Kruger's Monument." + +"Dick" Seddon, of New Zealand, was a great man; Brazil, Argentine, +Chile and Australia have produced men they consider great, but their +fame is only local. Many in other countries tell one that the United +States has produced but two great men--Washington and Lincoln. Looking +at things from a world viewpoint, one cannot find a man born south of +the equator who measures up to Paul Kruger's fame. So, in fairness to +rugged genius, it would seem no overt act would be committed if the +completed monument did stand in that park in Pretoria--to the memory +of the greatest man born south of the equator. + +"Have you been out to Wonderboom?" is a question visitors to Pretoria +will be asked. Six or seven miles from the capital is seen from a +distance what looks like a very large tree, located a mile from the +railroad station. Big trees with dark green leaves are rare on the +veld, which accounts for Wonderboom being such an attraction. In a +radius of 150 feet seven groups of trees are growing, and from each +grows half a dozen trees. The space taken up by some of these groups +measures from 20 to 30 feet, and the clumps grow from roots of what +appeared to have been large trees at one time. When vegetation of all +sorts is white from drought the Wonderboom is as green as if it had +been watered at frequent intervals. The trees grow 20 feet high, and +cover an area of half an acre. No one seemed to know the name of the +wood. "Vonderboom" seemed to be sufficient to cover all questions +asked about its specie. + +English newspapers published in Pretoria could not be favorably +compared to the Johannesburg productions. This may be accounted for by +the existence of Dutch publications, which naturally have a larger +patronage than English newspapers, the population being in the main +Dutch. As a considerable amount of the government printing is now done +in Pretoria, this industry has improved. The pay is from $30 to $45 a +week, eight hours' work. Mechanics of all kinds receive $5 a day. + +All government documents, bills, blanks, etc., are printed in two +languages--Dutch and English. As the government owns the railway, +telegraph, postoffice and telephone systems, any one can understand +what a big item the government's printing bill is. This was agreed to +by the British representatives who attended the convention at which +the consolidation of the four provinces was ratified. The Dutch adhere +strictly to this agreement affecting their language. + +The Dutch are not a vindictive race. No tales of brutality are heard +of in connection with the Boer War. Men who fought on the British side +tell of having been taken prisoner and of being sent back to their +command. Sometimes the Boers would take the clothes off a captive, and +then direct him to where his fellow soldiers were camped. Paul Kruger +would have been justified in shooting the men who instigated and took +part in the Jameson Raid, on the grounds of treason, but he spared +their lives. They paid big sums of money in fines, though, for their +unsuccessful, treasonable offense. + +The Dutch have their faults, like other races, but they seem the +better able to guide the destiny of their land of plagues. + +The Boer War, in a sense, proved a blessing in disguise to the Dutch. +Previous to that time proper attention had not been given to educating +the young; precious few lawyers, doctors, educators and mining +engineers bore Dutch names. Look through the directories of South +Africa now and contrast the number of Dutch names that figure among +those of the professional class. The war woke up the Boers to a sense +of assuming a greater responsibility in the advancement of their +country. A great many Dutch young men are students in the leading +universities of the world. + +Nothing feminine in sound is noticeable about the names of places in +Boerland. But one often feels at a loss to account for the general use +of the affix "fontein." Save for a narrow strip along the coast the +country is dry. The Orange and the Vaal rivers seem to be the only two +of consequence in the interior. The country is full of "spruits," +"fonteins" and rivers which, when one reaches them, are dry as a bone. +The only things that seem to "spruit" in them are cobble-stones and +rattle-snakes. + +"Assegaiboschfontein," "Jakhalskraalfontein," "Wildebeestespruitbult" +are a few names of towns that occur to one as being decidedly +masculine. + +Boers, physically, are large men. Many of the older men wear full +beards, and invariably wear a broad-brimmed hat with cloth band of +several plies thick. They smoke calabash pipes, the weed being known +as Boer tobacco, which costs 50 cents a pound. They generally carry a +sjambok, a strip of rhinoceros hide about three feet long and an inch +thick. Meeting one alone, the questions he asks in quick +succession--"What's your name?" "Where do you come from?" "What's your +business?" "Have you been in South Africa long?" "How long are you +going to stay in the country?"--bring to mind this distinguishing +trait of a noted Chinese who made a visit to America some years ago. +Rum is the Boer's strong drink, but he is seldom seen under the +influence of liquor. In a sense, he is of a roaming disposition, for +some Boers are on the trek all the time. They seem to be better suited +when they have got beyond the outposts of civilization. Were it not +for the Boer's inclination to trek, however, it is possible there +would be no gold mines on the Rand or diamond fields in Kimberley. His +battles with the native tribes and his sufferings and hardships will +never be lost sight of as the factors through which the white man was +enabled to live in that section of "Darkest Africa." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +We take our departure from the Transvaal and make a start for Victoria +Falls, in Rhodesia, also British territory. Traveling some 300 miles +out of a direct line, through Fourteen Streams, to Vryburg, on to +Mafeking, finds us nearly opposite the place started from, but headed +in the right direction. A gap of 40 miles from Zeerust to the main +line has since been closed, which makes the trip from Johannesburg to +Bulawayo much shorter. Two trains a week care for all the business +over that stretch of native territory. + +From Fourteen Streams, which is only a railway junction, we start +northward over the treeless veld on our way to Rhodesia, 700 miles +beyond. Vryburg is the next place reached where white people live, and +most of the 3,000 inhabitants are engaged in business connected with +farming. Nearly a hundred miles further Mafeking was reached, which +has been made historical in virtue of the seven-months' siege of +Britishers during the Boer War. It is located near the Transvaal +border, and is a trading center for the western Transvaal. Railway car +shops are located at Mafeking, and these and the trading industries +give employment to its 3,000 inhabitants. + +An hour's ride further, and we have crossed the Cape +Colony-Bechuanaland Protectorate border line. Northward from that +point we pass through what seems an uninhabited country, so far as +white people are concerned. A railway station is built here and there +along the line, where a few Europeans may be seen; but the country is +wild and populated with natives. Were one to go to sleep for six or +eight hours, upon waking up he would not know that he had moved a +mile, so far as any change in the appearance of the landscape would +indicate. At a few stations signs of industry were in evidence, bags +of corn being piled along the track. + +Natives with karosses (skins of wild beasts) and native-made souvenirs +surrounded the train when stops were made, spreading their wares on +the ground and holding the objects of native handicraft to the gaze of +the passengers. The natives' souvenirs were the images of giraffes, +elephants, lions, tigers, storks and other animals cut out of wood and +painted or dyed black, but many of the imitations were far from good. +Splendid karosses are bought cheap along the line. One can have his +choice of a lion, tiger, hyena, jackal, wildcat, monkey and baboon, +and sometimes a giraffe. Many are as large as a buffalo robe. + +"How much!" shouted a splendid specimen of a Bechuana woman, in the +native language, as she held her naked pickaninny over her +head--laughing heartily at the same time--at a place where the train +had stopped and where natives and karosses were numerous. Passengers +were bartering and haggling with the natives over the price of +karosses, and others were ambitious to sell their souvenirs. The black +mother had imbibed the "shopping" spirit, when she jocularly offered +her babe for sale. "Half a crown!" (60 cents) shouted a passenger. +With that offer the semi-barbarous mother quickly brought her +pickaninny to her bosom, threw her arms about the little one and gave +it such a hug that the baby's eyes bulged, she laughing so heartily +the while as if to split her sides. + +Still traveling toward the heart of Africa, we reach Mochudi and the +Kalahari Desert, the eastern fringe of which we traverse, a distance +of 200 miles. The dust had become so thick in this stretch of the +journey that the color of the passengers' clothes could not be +detected. All the way along from Mafeking I could not keep from my +mind the Americanism, "It's a great country, where nobody lives and +dogs bark at strangers." + +When the train stopped at Mahalapye we entered what is known as +Khama's country. The course of the railroad is nearly on the line +taken by David Livingstone, the explorer. When Livingstone and his +band passed through that section of Africa, the grandfather of the +reigning chief offered every hospitality to the explorer, and espoused +the Christian religion. Chief Khama, the grandson, is the most +important ruler of Bechuanaland, and has spent some time in Europe; he +conforms largely to European customs. Besides being a strict +disciplinarian, he forbids the sale of liquor to his people. He +receives a pension from the English Government. Serowe, Khama's +capital, located 30 miles inland from Palapye Road station, is the +largest town in Bechuanaland, having a population of 40,000. His +subjects pay the smallest head tax of any of the tribes in South +Africa. + +We were passing through a country about which the wildebeeste, +gemsbuck, eland, tiger, lion, and even the giraffe, still roam. Along +the railway may be seen the secretary bird, guinea fowl and also +handsome cranes. The secretary bird, so named from feathers growing at +the back of the head, which look like quill pens, is what is known as +"royal game." "Royal game" are beasts or fowl that must not be killed. +The reason the secretary bird is protected is because it is a bitter +foe to snakes. Snatching a snake in the middle with his bill, he at +once begins to fly upward with the reptile, and when at a certain +height will let go his prey. The snake, when he strikes the earth, is +killed. + +White traders are located through these desolate tracts of country, +sometimes a hundred miles from a railway. Little cash changes hands +between natives and traders in out-of-the-way districts. For his skins +and corn, or whatever the native may have to sell, he receives as pay +bright-colored calico, Jew's-harps, concertinas, mouth organs, tinware +and such things. + +Passing out of Khama's country we enter a territory known as the Tati +Concessions. Traversing this tract, we crossed the northern boundary +of Bechuanaland a few miles south of Plumtree, when we were in +Matabeleland, Rhodesia. In this section Lobengula, the Matabele king, +held undisputed sway until Cecil Rhodes decided to annex this part of +Africa to England's possessions. What Andries Pretorius did to Dingaan +at Blood River--broke forever the power of the Zulus--Cecil Rhodes did +with the powerful Lobengula in Matabeleland. + +We passed within ten miles of the Matopo Hills, on the top of which +is buried Cecil John Rhodes, "the Colossus of South Africa," as he was +termed. Whatever shortcomings Rhodes may have possessed, or the means +he resorted to to attain his ambition, one of his virtues will always +remain unquestioned--bravery. He wished his remains to rest where his +greatest feat of daring took place. It was during the rebellion of the +Matabeles in 1896-97 that Rhodes, unarmed, with a friend accompanying +him, walked up the Matopos through the files of the warring hordes of +blacks to where their chiefs were stationed. His cool bravery and +personal magnetism so impressed the chiefs that the rebellion ceased. + +"Here lie the remains of Cecil John Rhodes" is the brief inscription +carved on a granite slab that covers his grave, which was chiseled out +of a solid rock on the highest of the Matopo Hills. "World's View" is +the name Rhodes gave the place where he is buried. It is located 30 +miles southeast of Bulawayo. + +Bulawayo, meaning in English "the place of killing," is located in the +heart of wildest Africa. We find here splendid streets, as wide as +those of Salt Lake City, fringed with trees, with monuments erected at +convenient places in the center; a good public library, containing +5,000 volumes; hospitals, parks, a botanical garden, zoölogical park, +museum and art gallery, schools, churches, business buildings, daily +newspapers--all of a high order. Bulawayo, nearly 1,400 miles from +Capetown, has a population of 5,000 whites. It is the largest town of +Matabeleland, the center of the gold mining industry, and has had +railway connection with the Transvaal since 1897. Only four years +earlier Lobengula's Kraal occupied the land that Bulawayo is built on. +It required the sacrifice of many lives of hardy frontiersman to +conquer the Matabeles, and to pave the way for the accession of +Matabeleland, Mashonaland, Barotseland and the other sections that +comprise Rhodesia. + +Industries in Bulawayo are few and small. In this respect, however, it +is no different than most African towns. But located in the country +away from the metropolis are numerous gold mines, and Bulawayo is +headquarters for that industry. The annual output from these mines +run from $12,000,000 to $15,000,000. + +We find in this place the typical frontiersmen. This feature of the +country is reflected from its founder, as Rhodes was not a "toff." +Every one goes in his shirtsleeves, and derby hats are not sold in +Bulawayo. Soft, wide-brimmed hats, like those worn by the Boers, rule +the day. One occasionally sees the butt of a revolver sticking out of +a hip pocket or at the side of a belt, and hunting knives, incased in +a sheath, are carried by almost every one, particularly on leaving +town. A rifle strapped over the shoulder of men coming in from country +districts is a common thing to see. Lions and tigers are so numerous +in Rhodesia that weapons are carried to protect one's-self from any +attack that might be made by the wild beasts. Still, under these +"trouble-making" conditions, we find maintained that same respect for +law and order that was so noticeable in other parts. + +A native word--"indaba"--much in use in Rhodesia, is often used in +South Africa. When the chiefs met to talk over matters pertaining to +their tribe--a native cabinet meeting--the meeting would be termed an +"indaba." When Cecil Rhodes was engaged in dissuading the Matabele +chiefs on the Matopo hill to discontinue the rebellion, the meeting of +the "great white chief" with the native chiefs was termed an "indaba." + +In the grounds of Government House stands what is known as the "Indaba +Tree." The residence of the Governor-General is built on the site of +Lobengula's home, and it was under this tree that the rulers of the +Matabele tribe assembled and dispensed native justice. + +Though the altitude of Matabeleland is about 5,000 feet, the weather +is warmer in winter than it is in the Transvaal. + +Mention has been made of "salted" cattle in South Africa. The only +people who can live in most parts of Rhodesia are "salted" men. If the +inhabitants are so fortunate as to take on a few pounds of flesh at +certain seasons, they lose that much, and generally more, from fever +and ague at another season. Among the creditable buildings mentioned +of Bulawayo was included "good hospitals." Wherever hospitals are +seen frequently, particularly in small settlements, one is using sound +judgment if he makes his escape from that place early, as otherwise he +will soon be personally familiar with the interior of these +institutions. Wherever hospital facilities of a small community are of +the first order, one finds a graveyard out of all proportion to the +number of people who live in the place. A hen with a brood of chicks +was crossing a sidewalk in Bulawayo, and each chick had its head drawn +back between its wings. They were so slow getting across the walk that +one had to step over them--stepping over chunks of fever, as it were. + +Rhodesia is a trap in which many poor men get caught. The riches of +the country are much advertised in England, and those who come out and +buy land soon find that their limited means are gone, and they are +practically stranded. Both Rhodesia and South Africa are countries +only for men with capital. + +The railway branches in two directions from Bulawayo--one easterly to +Salisbury and out to Beira, Portuguese East Africa, the latter place +being the port for Rhodesia; and northwesterly to Victoria Falls, and +from that point 300 miles northward toward the southern border of the +Congo Free State. This branch is what is known as the Cape-to-Cairo +route. + +We will start for the Falls. Fifty miles from Bulawayo we left the +plains and passed through a forest of teak trees. Further on, growing +palms indicated a warmer climate. + +"Thirteen years ago," said a traveling companion, who was a trader in +these parts, "fourteen of us came up to Rhodesia. None was over 25 +years of age. I'm the only one left out of the fourteen," he +concluded. Asked what had taken off his companions, he answered: "One +was killed by a lion, and the others died of fever." + +Ho! a smokestack is in view. We have reached Wankie, a coal mining +district, and a rich one, too, for the mineral may be seen cropping +out of the ground on each side of the track. A big hospital is +observed, situated on a hill, which bears the usual significance in +Rhodesia. + +"Do you see that low, white cloud to the right?" asked a passenger. +"That's the spray from Victoria Falls. We have several miles yet to go +before we reach the bridge," he added. + +We had traveled 1,200 miles from Johannesburg to this place, the +journey taking three days. Recklessness, rather than good judgment, +marked my course, for railroad fare from and back to Johannesburg +tapped my purse for $100. Expenses on the train had increased also, as +the cheapest meal from Mafeking north was 60 cents, and the next +cheapest 75 cents. But to one whose mind inclines to seeing the acme +of nature's handicraft, promptings of this character outweigh +financial considerations. Hotel accommodation at Victoria Falls was +correspondingly high--$5 a day. One has no choice, as there is but a +single hotel there, which is the property of the railroad company. +Aside from the hotel, a photographer's studio and a few houses +comprise all there is in the way of buildings in Victoria Falls. + +Some of the Boers who took part in the Great Trek from Capetown north +in 1835-38 did not stop long in what later became the Transvaal, but +kept trekking, until they reached the Zambezi River. Most of these +voortrekkers, however, were massacred by Matabeles. This occurred from +ten to fifteen years earlier than Livingstone's visit. But it fell to +David Livingstone to make known to the world the greatest of +waterfalls, on which he first set eyes in November, 1855. + +For a distance of seven miles above the falls the river is dotted with +evergreen islands. Through this archipelago the waters of the Zambezi +slowly run, giving no intimation of what is taking place several miles +below. On these islands hippopotami feed when inclination prompts, and +crocodiles sun themselves and sleep when they choose land to water +rest. + +Two islands--Livingstone and Cataract--are located at the edge of the +precipice, which accounts for Victoria Falls being of three parts, +namely: Rainbow, Main and Cataract Falls. The distance from one side +of the river to the other here is over a mile--5,808 feet, to be +correct. The water, unlike that of Niagara, is of a dark, sallow +color, but not muddy, and the falls are straight, instead of horseshoe +shape. + +Stealthily the water moves over the wide ledge of rock, when its dull, +lifeless color in the archipelago now assumes a much brighter shade. +Save for two dark panels of unwatered space, made by two green islands +just above, there unfolds before the visitor's eye what seems a +mile-wide mantle of amber-colored, gauze-like lace. Myriads of water +crystals dart from the broad flow's filmy web and, jewel-like, +embellish the absorbing water spread for a depth of 380 feet. Also +rainbows revel in still further enhancing this crowning masterpiece of +art--these, in beautifying, sharing a radiant part--the bars of iris, +of lustrous, engrossing hues, burnishing the peerless tri-falls' +breast, as the veil-like flow descends in brilliant, multi-colored, +wavy folds from its smooth, extended crest to the roaring, misty maw +below. Clouds of spray, which may be seen 15 miles away, rise to a +height of 2,000 feet from the boiling abyss, and the thunderous roar +made by the impact of the waters is heard 12 miles beyond. + +A parallel wall rises in front of the precipice over which the water +flows. A space varying from 80 to 240 feet separates the two. Into +this narrow chasm 5,000,000 gallons of water a minute dash from a +height of 380 feet, and one may imagine what pandemonium is taking +place all the time in the great vault. For three-quarters of a mile +the second, or parallel, wall, runs westward, unbroken. Then there is +a break of something like 200 feet in width, that looks as if it had +been gnarled out not only by water, but that even some other powerful +agency had taken part in making this cleavage. The wall rises again to +its full height and maintains a solid, unbroken front for a quarter of +a mile further to Cataract Falls, at the west bank of the river. The +water from Rainbow Falls, at the east bank, and from Main Falls, in +the center of the river, runs westward to the 200-foot gap in the +parallel wall, and the water from Cataract Falls runs eastward and, +boiling and foaming, intermixes with the other waters and flows +through the same opening. One may form an idea of the great depth of +water at the narrow outlet when it is borne in mind that this vast +quantity, falling over a ledge of rock a mile wide, finds its way out +of the huge rock tank through that narrow channel. + + [Illustration: VICTORIA FALLS. + ZAMBEZI BRIDGE AND GORGE BELOW FALLS. + NOTE.--The parallel wall against which the flow dashes is equal in + height to the precipice over which the water passes, the picture + being drawn with a view of affording a clearer conception of + Victoria's wide descent.] + +After the water storms through the 200-foot wide channel the torrent +travels several hundred feet, when it flows under the Zambezi railway +bridge, 450 feet above. On it turbulently runs, the water befoamed, +through high, perpendicular walls of basaltic rock for over a mile. +The rocky banks then decrease, but the course of the river remains +rugged and tortuous for a distance of 40 miles. + +Vegetation growing about the falls, particularly palm trees, adds much +attractiveness to the environment. The absence of improvements--save +for the bridge, together with grass-thatched native huts showing dimly +through the vegetation on the banks; the evergreen islands; the +stillness of the water before making its plunge, contrasted with the +wild-appearing, rugged, high, rocky walls below and the foaming and +billowy torrent as it dashes madly through the narrow gorge--make +Victoria, like other great works of nature, distinctive in formation +from other notable waterfalls. + +Summing up the comparative grandeur and greatness of Niagara and +Victoria Falls, most persons who have seen both would decide, I +believe, that Niagara Falls is the more beautiful and Victoria the +greater. In this connection one has only to compare the grand crescent +of sky-blue water of Niagara with the dull color of Victoria Falls, +the water of Niagara, after plunging over an unbroken stretch of rock +ledge into a roomy, circular-shaped basin, assuming its true blue +color, with the gradual narrowing of the banks to the Gorge; contrast +Niagara's broad, sweeping, unconfined character with the water of the +Zambezi, hemmed in from view in tank-like walls after passing over the +falls, and then prevented from making a good showing, as it were, by a +continuation of similar walls for a distance of 40 miles. + +The bridge across the Zambezi River is a pretty one, with a single +span of 610 feet, and was constructed by an American firm. Cecil +Rhodes instructed the builders to erect it where it now stands, "so +that it would always be wet by spray from the falls." + +Nature's fickleness, a trait disclosed in choosing remote regions for +some of her noted wonders, entailing, as it does, long journeys, +fatigue and much expense to reach, is conspicuous by her placing +Victoria in a country hemmed in on the west by Angola and German West +Africa, north by the Belgian Congo, northeast by German East Africa, +east by Portuguese East Africa, and south by Bechuanaland and the +Transvaal. The shortest time in which a journey could be made from an +American port to these falls is about five weeks. Landing at Capetown, +four days' travel, on a slow train, mostly over a dry and dusty +country, must be undergone to reach that point, when Victoria Falls is +viewed in all its sublimity, located in a wild, interesting, but +fever-ridden, section of Rhodesia, where only a handful of languid +white persons live, and on a continent where the superior race number +less than a million and a half. + +It is dangerous to cross the Zambezi River in a rowboat, the river +being infested with crocodiles, which grow from 12 to 16 feet long. +The hippopotamus, though, starts the trouble. He hides just under the +water, and nothing can be seen of the beast until a boat is on top of +him. Then he rises, overturning the boat. "Hippo" will not harm a +person in the water; but crocodiles are generally found close to a +hippopotamus, and the former are always hungry. As soon as the +unfortunate occupants of a boat have been dumped overboard there is a +swirl of water close by, another farther off, yet more disturbed +water, when long, dull colored shapes come lashing swiftly up. The +poor swimmers disappear, the muddy water reddens for a short time, and +then becomes sallow colored again. To the Barotse native the crocodile +is a sacred animal, and, as he will not harm the voracious beasts, +deaths of both natives and Europeans by crocodiles occur frequently in +this part of Rhodesia. + +The Zambezi River rises in West Portuguese Africa and empties into +the Indian Ocean at Chinde, Portuguese East Africa, about a thousand +miles from its source. + +Beer and whiskey are drunk a great deal in that part of Rhodesia, and +almost every one takes quinine to allay fever. No one would dare take +a drink of water were it not boiled. + +"Knocking around" is a term much in use in Rhodesia. "Have you seen +John Smith knocking around?" "Is there a boat knocking around?" "Are +there lions knocking around here?" are common instances in which the +term is used. + +Tigers are so numerous about Victoria Falls that they rob hen roosts, +and even climb through pantry windows and take away what eatables are +handy. + +Vegetation in these parts is interesting to visitors, as all the +bushes and trees are strange to those coming from foreign places. +Nearly every tree or shrub produces its seed in the form of a pod, +like beans. Thorn prongs, as sharp as needles and two and three inches +in length, grow on some trees. The cream-of-tartar tree, however, will +interest a visitor more. This one grows very large, and the bark is +the color of a hippopotamus' skin. In fact, the bark of all trees has +a dark color. The pod of the cream-of-tartar is the shape of a +cucumber and 10 to 12 inches long. The shell is very hard, but, when +broken open, if ripe, the substance in the pod is white, and separates +from the fibers in the form of sugar cubes. The natives eat it. One +cream-of-tartar tree seen close to the falls measured 22 feet in +diameter. + +A very good tribe of natives is found in that part of Rhodesia--the +Barotse. At a kraal visited, several of the sightseers asked a native +for a drink of native beer. The liquid was brought in a large +calabash, and the drinking cup was the bowled-out end of a small +calabash. Before the native served the beer he poured out some of the +brew in the hollow of his hand and drank it. Then he tilted the +vegetable demijohn, when the beer was poured into the cup for the +Europeans. The reason of the Barotse sampling the beer first was to +allay any suspicion his white visitors might entertain concerning its +genuineness. + +Natives' musical instruments are a one-string fiddle, a skin drum, and +a little wooden frame containing three and four pieces of steel a +quarter of an inch in width and four inches in length. This last is +called a "piano." The small strips of steel are fastened at one end of +the frame. By touching these with the fingers a faint musical sound is +produced. For hours at a time a husky native keeps playing the +"piano," happy in the thought that he is an accomplished pianist. +Lewanika is the head chief of the Barotse tribe. + +Native wives are much cheaper in Barotseland than in Zululand, prices +ranging from two sheep to ten cows. Should the wife leave her +husband--elope, for instance--the girl's father must return the sheep +or cows to the deserted husband. + +North of the Zambezi River the territory is known as Northwestern +Rhodesia, and also Barotseland. Seven miles from Victoria Falls is +located Livingstone, the capital of Northwestern Rhodesia. Here, right +in the heart of one of the fever regions of Africa, one finds small +but substantial provincial buildings, a good, roomy hotel, an +up-to-date printing office, and a small but interesting botanical +garden. + +Malarial, or African, fever is very bad at Livingstone. Horses and +cattle cannot live in this part of Rhodesia unless they are well +"salted." Everything must be "salted," both man and beast. Transport +riders, when taking a load of provisions to traders or to mining camps +located far from the railway, are provided with extra oxen. Lions are +so numerous it frequently occurs that an ox is found in the morning +dead and partly eaten, the work of Leo during the night while the +cattle were resting or grazing. It is said the vital part of the +cattle where the lion makes his attack is the nose. In a second the +beast is thrown, and it is but a matter of a few minutes when the lion +will have his prey dead and badly torn. + +The tsetse fly is in his own bailiwick in these parts. This fly is one +of the worst plagues of Central Africa. In size, this insect is as +large as a bumblebee, and when he bites he draws blood, whether it be +man or beast. It is said the deadly virus he injects is extracted from +the bodies of big wild game. Nagana is the name of the disease caused +by the tsetse-fly bite. The scientific name for this fly is rather +prosy--Glossina morsitans; also for a first cousin, whose bite +likewise caused nagana disease, Glossina allidipes. Mail must be +carried to the interior by immune native runners, as a bite from these +flies means a very short life for a horse. Deaths from sleeping +sickness have occurred in this section of Africa. + +Machillas are the means of transportation by which people are carried +from place to place. The machilla is a long pole, with the ends of a +piece of canvas made fast, over which a cover is stretched. The ends +of the pole rest on the shoulders of four natives--eight in all--who +run along at a good gait, with their passengers in the hammock-like +device, until they reach a relay station--at intervals of about five +miles--when a fresh "team" of natives take up the machilla and are off +again at a good trot. + +The European population of this large tract of land is said to be only +30,000, blacks numbering 150 to one white person--and it is doubtful +if that number will ever be greater, for the large graveyards with +numerous fresh mounds of dirt are becoming better known through the +receipt of mail by friends living in countries of the North sent by +cadaverous, shaking relatives dying in the fever glades of Rhodesia. + +From Livingstone, 1,650 miles north of Capetown, the projected +Cape-to-Cairo line extends 300 miles further, to Broken Hill, where it +stops. The route from here is to the southern borderline of the +Belgian Congo, thence through that country, crossing the equator, +until Uganda is reached. From Uganda it will traverse the Soudan, +running thence into southern Egypt. At a point in this country the +line will connect with a tongue extending southward from Cairo, the +northern terminus. When the center has been linked, the length of the +line from Capetown, the southern terminus, to Cairo, will be about +5,000 miles. + +Returning to Johannesburg, we passed through Bulawayo, then over the +Matabeleland borderline into Bechuanaland, through the Kalahari +Desert, next into Cape Colony, and thus into Boerland. + +Perhaps the prettiest and most shapely mountains in the world are +those in South Africa. Though not so high as those in other countries, +their shapeliness attracts, most of them bearded with brush at bases +and sides, the tops being round and grassy. With the deep blue sky +above--the sun nearly always shining on the high veld, except during a +shower of rain--and the same colored horizon all round, together with +the rays from a bright sun lavishly diffusing the summits, there is a +tone and finish to Boerland mountains which, in other countries, +rocks, snow and timber do not bestow. The highest mountain is Mount +Aux Sources, rising 10,000 feet, located in the Drakensburg range. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +From the Gold City we traveled southward to the Diamond City. + +"You haven't been in town long?" a Kimberley policeman addressing me, +remarked, as he stepped in front. As a matter of fact, I had only got +about a hundred yards from the railway station. I surmised that I had +been taken for an "I. D. B." (illicit diamond buyer), having been told +a bird can scarcely alight in Kimberley without coming under police +surveillance. "We're from the same country, I believe," the officer +continued, when I felt easier. "My native town is St. Louis," he +added. "Come to my home this afternoon and have dinner with us, after +which we'll call on an American living in a house a few doors below," +he went on kindly. This courtesy allayed all suspicion that I would be +asked to establish my identity before staying longer in the diamond +fields. The invitation was accepted, his hospitality being generous. +The second American had been on the diamond fields for more than 30 +years, but local interest was a secondary consideration to meeting +some one just come from the United States. He had been in British +territory so long that he had acquired the British accent, but that +was the only thing foreign about him, as one would not know where to +find a more patriotic son of America. On a second visit to the +"Diamond City" every kindness was shown me by these two "exiles." + +Kimberley, with a population of about 35,000, one-third of this number +being white, is the capital of Griqualand West, a section of Cape +Colony. Before diamonds were discovered, the territory embraced in the +Kimberley district was understood to be a part of the Orange Free +State. When the diamond fields promised rich returns, Cape Colony +officials claimed this tract as being part of that province. The +matter was finally adjusted by the Free State surrendering its claim +to the Cape authorities upon payment by the latter to the Boer +republic of several million dollars. The Diamond City has evidently +stood still while other places in the sub-continent have kept pace +with the progress of the times. Its newspapers are inferior; only one +building reaches three stories; there is very little street paving, +practically no sidewalks, and public buildings are quite ordinary; the +shacks standing not far from the business center, built by colored +people out of American oil cans, are a disgrace; church bells even are +suspended from a crosspiece resting on the top of two posts, 10 feet +high, in the churchyard; the parks do not amount to much, most of the +shade trees in these being fine-bearded pine, through which the sun +beats down on one. If there was anything of a creditable character +here, save for a modern street car system, we did not observe it. To +Alexandriafontein, a fenced-in private pleasure resort, an electric +line runs, but it costs 25 cents to reach this park. + +Were one in need of an object lesson to understand thoroughly what a +trust means to a municipality, he would learn that lesson in +Kimberley. A number of diamond mines are in operation in the Kimberley +district, but there is but one diamond mining company--the De Beers. +Diamond mining is the only industry in Kimberley. Mine officials are +very kind to visitors who wish to look about the works. + +"Ho! that's Kimberley rain," shouted a friend. Looking from a window, +the width of the street appeared a solid mass of dust, if the term may +be allowed, extending far above the roofs of the houses. "That's the +sort of 'rain' we get in Kimberley," he explained. No rain had fallen +for six months. + +The depth of the diamond mines runs from 1,000 to 2,600 feet. The +color of the soil in which the diamonds are found is blue--blue dirt, +it is called--which is removed by explosives. Dirt, pebbles and stones +are moved in iron trucks with iron covers, and locked. On coming to +the surface it is started on gravity railways which extend from two to +four miles from the mine. The truck of dirt, weighing about a ton and +containing an average of one-third of a karat of diamond, is here +dumped on the ground. The "dirt field" contains 1,400 acres of space. +Three high barbed wire fences form the inclosure, and police--mounted, +on bicycles, and on foot--see that no stranger gets inside the triple +barbed-wire fence. + +The blue dirt remains in the field from three to six months until, by +exposure to the air, it crumbles. A harrow, with teeth 10 inches long, +is drawn over the section of field ready for use, when any remaining +lumps are broken into fine dirt. The diamond soil is next loaded into +trucks and started back to the head of the mine. The dirt is here +dumped into a revolving screen, which contains holes for pebbles of +certain sizes to drop through. These drop into a revolving round tank, +or vat, 14 feet in diameter and about a foot deep, into which water +runs. Inside the vat are two large stationary rakes, around which the +tank revolves. This is called the washery. The dirt runs out as muddy +water, and the rakes serve to move the pebbles to a point in the +circular vat where there is an opening. Connecting with this opening +is a pipe, down which the stones pass into a steel truck below. When +the truck is filled with pebbles, the door is closed and locked. + +The truck is now started on a gravity railway to what is called the +pulsator, where the nuggets and diamond-bearing stones are separated +from those of no value. Here the contents of the truck also are +emptied into a revolving screen with graduated holes to allow the +pebbles to drop out. The stones of the various sizes now drop into +compartments 4 feet long and 18 inches wide--called jigs--which move +back and forth. Water runs over the pebbles in the jigs, the +light-weight ones washing out and the heavier remaining at the bottom. +The pebbles that remain in the jigs are taken out later and put into +still another revolving screen. Under the grade sizes of this screen +are inclined tables, over which water runs, these having a thickly +greased floor, or bottom, on to which the stones drop. The nuggets and +diamond-bearing stones stick in the grease, but the non-diamondiferous +pebbles pass over. To emphasize how strongly grease acts as a magnet +to the precious stones, of the millions and millions of pebbles that +are washed over the greased bottoms, which are carefully inspected by +experts, rarely is a diamond detected among the culls. + +The little lumps on the greased tables--the diamonds covered with +grease--might resemble a hand with big warts. The table is cleaned, +when the scrapings are treated by a liquid, which renders the diamonds +free of grease. They then pass to a sorting room. The sorters are +native prisoners, but a white man is over them. Then one negro, very +expert in detecting diamonds, examines the stones sorted by the +prisoners. From him they pass to a room where two white men again +examine them. They are then put into steel cups little larger than a +teacup. The cup has a lid to it and a lock. The lid is closed, locked, +and the cup labeled. The locked cups next go to the Kimberley office. +Every Monday the output of the diamond mines is taken to a train +headed for Capetown. That train makes connection with a steamship +leaving for Europe on Wednesdays. From England most of the diamonds +are sent to Amsterdam, Holland, to be refined. + +The reducing character of the diamond mining industry is apt to +astonish one. Over 200,000 trucks of dirt are treated daily, and the +product from this great quantity of soil is less than a cubic foot. +Twenty-three thousand men are engaged in digging, and the diamonds +mined by that large force are examined by but four eyes and handled by +only four hands in the examining room at the pulsator. The yearly +output of the Kimberley diamond mines is from $35,000,000 to +$40,000,000. + +Credit for bringing to light the first stone found in the Kimberley +district, in 1870, is given to an Irishman named O'Reilly. A Dutch +boy, whose father's name was Van Niekerk, was playing jackstones. +O'Reilly's eye being attracted by a bright stone among those with +which the boy was playing, he told the boy's father he thought that +particular one was a diamond. O'Reilly's judgment proved to be good, +as, when weighed, it was found to be of 22½ karat. The stone was sold +for $2,500, O'Reilly and Van Niekerk dividing the money. + +On the wagon containing the weekly output of diamonds of the Kimberley +mines, and which meets the train that goes to Capetown every Monday +afternoon, is seated a white man and a native driver. No attempt has +yet been made to rob the wagon while going from the head office of the +diamond company to the railway station. This alone may serve to +emphasize the grip which law and order has on that community. + +A week before a native quits the diamond mines he is kept under strict +surveillance. The natives live in compounds, as the kafirs do in the +Rand mine compounds, but, unlike the "boys" working in the gold mines, +mine "boys" of Kimberley are not allowed outside of the compound +except when going to and coming from work, and then only under guard. +They are hired for from three months to a year, and are paid from $15 +to $30 a month and board. There are seven mines in the Kimberley +district, which give employment to 20,000 natives and 3,000 Europeans. +Three eight-hour shifts are worked. + +Those engaged in the diamond diggings along the banks of the River +Vaal carry with them during life a characteristic by which they may be +picked out from among men following different pursuits. A +fortune--which they all hope for--may escape them if their eyes are +raised from the ground for even so brief a time as that required for +the wink of an eyelash, as they might thus have missed the fleeting +flash of a precious stone just peeping through the soil. For this +reason, when engaged in the diamond diggings their eyes are constantly +looking downward. After they leave the diggings--when they have spent +their savings and become practically starved out--they walk about with +bent head, looking at the sidewalk or ground as they did when +hand-screening soil and digging alluvial dirt. Some have made fortunes +in the diggings, but these are few and far between. + +Bloemfontein, next visited, is known as the Convention City. Because +of its location, being the most important city in the center of South +Africa and well provided with hotels and railway connections, together +with its good public buildings, it has become the favored place for +national gatherings. + +After the Boer War the name of this province was changed to Orange +River Colony, against the burghers' wishes. In May, 1910, when the +Dutch again assumed power, its former name, and its present +one--Orange Free State--again came into use. + +Located between hills on two sides, having good streets, shady walks, +electric light, good buildings, and a broad, treeless veld to the +east, with poverty seemingly absent, an inviting air pervades +Bloemfontein. The homes of that city, a great many of them built of +red brick, with their vari-colored painted roofs and tidy yards filled +with flowers, all nestling under and some built on the side of the +kopjes, or hills, put one in mind of that other Dutch capital--Pretoria. +Unlike Kimberley, no tin shanties were to be seen here, neither were +the streets swarming with half-castes and Hindus. + +As in other places in South Africa where there are no mines, +smokestacks are few here. The Orange Free State is said to be a good +farming section, and from that source, and the general commercial and +official business linked with a metropolis and State capital, spring +the main assets of the city. Newspapers, a good gauge by which to +measure a center, are in advance of the Free State capital. + +The marketplace in Bloemfontein is typical of the Dutch, being located +in the center of the town, business houses and hotels standing on the +four sides. The long ox teams, led by natives with rawhide strips tied +to the horns of the leading yoke; the big transport, with its tent at +the rear, a Boer sitting in the doorway or opening, smoking his +calabash pipe filled with Boer tobacco, and his frau, behind him, +knitting; the auctioneers jabbering above a pile of farm produce; the +group of farmers, with their wide-brimmed hats and full beards, +arguing in the Dutch language, are all in evidence. It was interesting +to walk about observing the product of the soil and the people who +cultivate it, and the means in use to bring it where it might be +profitably sold. With the tent at the rear end of the transport, and +"scoff," coffee and cooking utensils, hotel expenses are eliminated, +and one may stay as long as one wishes. A great number of Boers pay a +couple of days' visit to old acquaintances when they come to this +marketplace. + +Bi-lingualism, a nightmare to some of the British in South Africa, has +its fountainhead in Bloemfontein. Bi-lingualism here means the +teaching of the Dutch and English languages in the public schools. +When the conditions of consolidation were drafted, dual +languages--Dutch and English--to be taught in schools was one of the +provisions, and this clause was agreed to by the British +representatives at the convention at which the act of federation was +ratified. The Minister of Education is from the Orange Free State, and +is Dutch through and through. He insists on the dual language clause +being carried out to the letter. The Dutch, as spoken in South +Africa--it is called the Taal--is not so pure as the Holland Dutch. +While one might not agree with the Minister of Education in forcing +English scholars to study Dutch, when either French, Spanish or German +would be better, his fighting for the perpetuation of his mother +tongue must command admiration. Cabinet Ministers of South Africa, by +the way, are not cheap salaried men. The Premier receives $70,000 a +year, the other members $48,000 a year. + +Hotel expenses are from $3 to $5 a day. House rent is rather high, +too; but the wages paid mechanics are fair, running from $4 to $5 a +day. + +In the evening one sees very few black people about the streets. +Bloemfontein has a municipal "location"--a place where natives must +live--about three miles from town. Except as a servant, the Indian +coolie, although a British subject, is not allowed to cross the Free +State border. No adverse feeling is entertained for the native, but +the line is drawn on Asiatics. + +The veld is so bare of any vegetation, save grass, in that part of +South Africa that there is not a native tree growing in a radius of a +hundred miles from Bloemfontein. + +While traveling through farming districts in South Africa one misses +the grain elevators seen at every station, and even sidings, when +passing through agricultural sections in the United States and Canada. + +Southward we headed for Capetown, passing through Modder River and +then Naauwpoort. Later we entered a stretch of country known as the +Karoo. Rain does not fall in this district for a period of nine or ten +months. For hundreds of miles there is not a blade of grass to be +seen, yet goats, sheep, and ostriches abound, and grain is a product +of that strange stretch of land. Cradock, the metropolis of the Karoo, +is an oasis, because good shade trees are numerous. A small bush +grows, called karoo, on which goats and sheep feed, and do well, if +they do not die from thirst. The climate of the Karoo is very +favorable to persons suffering from lung trouble. One of the best +churches of Dutch design in South Africa is found in Cradock. + +We had now reached the Cape of Good Hope Province. Southeast of +Cradock is Kaffraria, at one time a separate colony. Natives are +numerous through that section. One of the tribes of Kaffraria is the +Fingo, a good native for the mines. Hence, mine labor agents are to be +found at every turn seeking help. It is in that district where the +traders do so well in furnishing "boys" to the mines. Natives owning +land, and wishing to sell it, are not allowed to sell to a white +person, but may sell the land to a native. + +Unlike Zulus, the natives throughout Kaffraria live in colonies. The +huts are principally made of mud and roofed with straw. Different +tribes are known to strangers by the blankets they wear. One tribe +wears a brown blanket and goes bare-headed, while another wears a +dark-colored cotton blanket, with black cloth over their heads. This +mode of dress pertains to the native women. + +Order is maintained in these settlements by a native appointed by the +government. When violations of law occur, the police authorities go +direct to this native, as head of the settlement, who is held strictly +accountable for any infraction. Cornmeal, or mealy meal, the staff of +life to natives of South Africa, costs $7 a bag, and 200 pounds +provide "scoff" for four natives for a month. + +Africa, as generally known, is the home of the ostrich. In South +Africa alone they exceed 700,000, and this southwest corner comprises +merely one-twenty-fourth of the area of the "Dark Continent." The +territory lying between Kaffraria and Capetown, however, is the +section in which the ostrich industry has reached its highest state of +development. The feathers are picked at periods of 18 months, the +average yield being three pounds, although some ostriches grow six +pounds of feathers in a season. These are mostly disposed of by +auction at Oudtshoorn, the clearing house for this product of the +sub-continent. Buyers representing leading feather merchants of the +world attend these sales. The price of feathers varies a great deal, a +common quality bringing only $25, while a good grade sells for $100 a +pound. The annual exports from this industry amount to $15,000,000. A +pair of ostriches sell for $500 to $800. Fifteen eggs is the average +composing a sitting, and six weeks' hatching is required to bring +forth the young. Hatching devolves mainly on the male bird, he sitting +at least four weeks out of the six. The two weeks the female devotes +to sitting are objectionable ones to her, being whipped to her task by +the male bird from time to time to take even this unequal part in +bringing their brood into existence. The law prohibits both shipping +from, or taking out of South Africa, eggs of this, the premier bird. + +"Will you have some shiverin' jimmy?" asked a compartment companion as +he began unwinding a cloth from a bundle. "I'm from Grahamstown," he +continued, "where there is nothing but 'pubs' (saloons) and churches. +Have some shiverin' jimmy," he concluded. By that time the cloth was +off the "parcel." What he called "shiverin' jimmy" proved to be +animated headcheese. + +The train crept slowly down a steep grade, as we had left the high +veld behind. Mount Matroosburg, a thin sheet of snow on its summit, +was on our right, and on reaching Hex River Valley we were in the sea +zone, and not far from Capetown. + +The interest associated with Table Bay, by reason of its early +explorers, massacre of early settlers, and the fighting with the +Hottentots of those who finally got a footing, comes to mind when in +this section. It was about 1653 that Johan van Riebeek, a Hollander, +started a settlement. Several attempts to establish a white colony had +been made earlier, but attacks by the natives drove those daring men +back to their ships. Van Riebeek, however, succeeded. Cape Colony +remained Dutch for some years, afterward coming under British control, +reverted to the Hollanders again, then to England once more, and has +remained an English possession ever since. + +To find a city to compare with Capetown, from a point of unusual +attractiveness, would be difficult. In front, Table Bay, a charming +sheet of blue water, spreads out to a good width, and beyond rises the +Drakenstein and Hottentots Holland ranges of mountains, their +castle-like peaks lending solemn charm when viewed from a distance; +above the city rises Table Mountain, the feature of Capetown, with its +two flanking towers--Devil's Peak (3,300 feet) and Lion's Head (2,100 +feet)--forming the semi-circular valley in which the city rests so +picturesquely. The commanding, frowning and scarred front of this +unique mountain proves an object of admiration. Table Mountain is +three miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide. The top is as +level as a table, and, like other mountains in South Africa, is barren +of timber. Rising to a height of nearly 4,000 feet, a view from its +broad, flat top is of unusual interest. Antonio de Saldanha, in 1503, +is said to have been the first white man to scale its sides. + +The Town Hall, Parliament buildings, a splendid public garden, good +museum, art gallery, colleges and other commendable public +institutions are fully in keeping with the natural attractiveness of +the Cape Peninsular. Creditable business buildings and good docks are +also prominent. + +Durban's wide-awake business men, together with Capetown's high +charges to shippers, have taken from Table Bay the maritime prestige +she once enjoyed. The majority of ships going to India and Australia +do not come into Table Bay for coal, but keep steaming until they have +reached Port Natal. + +Smokestacks about the shore of the bay are not numerous enough to +class the place as a manufacturing center. One often wonders what +people do to earn a living in some of the cities of South Africa, in +view of blacks doing so much of the work. Wages in Capetown, the +lowest paid in South Africa, are not enough for comfortable living. +Clerks, bookkeepers and clerical help generally are offered $7 to $10 +a week. House rent is very cheap, however. + +The blacks and colored of the Cape Province participate in the +franchise, and a native of Tembuland was a member of the provincial +Parliament. Strict laws in the old Boer provinces prohibit selling +liquor to natives. While all natives here cannot vote, all voters have +a right to drink liquor. So, if a native has money to buy whisky, he +need merely say he is a voter and the saloonkeeper will take his word +for it. When a black man can drink all the whisky he can pay for, and +has a vote, that means insults and danger to life for the white of +both sexes. This is the deplorable stage reached, to a noticeable +degree, in Capetown. The white population is decreasing and blacks are +becoming more insolent. The native of Capetown is not like the Zulu, +nor the Barotse. He is copper colored, lower intellectually, of +uninviting features and meanly inclined. Instances are frequent when +the black of Capetown will not share the sidewalk--the white man must +step off or get into a fight with half a dozen of these drunken +natives. + +To be allowed to land in Capetown one must have a hundred dollars. +Englishmen, Irishmen, Scotchmen, foreigners--no one can land if he has +not that sum. The tariff charged on foreign goods is from 50 to 125 +per cent. The latter figure applies to tobacco. On a pound of American +tobacco, which sells in the United States for 40 cents, there is a tax +of $1.20. + +Sixteen days is the shortest time in which mail can be transported +from Capetown to England. The distance separating these two points is +6,000 miles. + +Groote Schuur, the home of the late Cecil Rhodes, of very striking +design and richly furnished, is located here in one of the finest +estates in the world. Having a splendidly wooded park, with good paths +built at convenient sections, it is shaded by the towering clefts of +Table Mountain. The entrances to the Rhodes estate were never locked, +and one had only to push open a gate to come in touch with nature in a +superior form. Passing away in 1902, eight years before the +consolidation, but far-seeing enough to know what the future policy of +the country would be, Rhodes bequeathed Groote Schuur to the first +Premier of a United South Africa. Louis Botha, elected to that high +office, thereby came into possession of this attractive home. + +"Your Hinterland Is There" is one of the inscriptions carved on the +granite base on which the bronze figure of Cecil Rhodes rests in the +Public Gardens of Capetown. The front of the figure is facing north, +and a hand is pointed in the same direction--to Rhodesia. "So little +done and so much to do" were the plaintive words of a man who had +added 750,000 square miles to his country's already large possessions. + +The wine industry is prominent in this province. Some years ago the +grapevines were ravaged by a disease. Grape stocks were imported from +the United States, and the native vine engrafted to the American +plant, when the industry again thrived. + +Snook, a fish three feet in length, numerous about the Cape Peninsula, +seemed the principal food of a great number of poor colored people of +Capetown. + +In a place that has been an English possession so long one would +expect to find a general use of the English language, but, on the +contrary, natives and a majority of Europeans speak Dutch. + +Newspapers and printing in general are ahead of the town. The wages, +however, are low compared to other large places in South Africa. + +"Hi'm the merry widow!" he shouted. "Hi'm the merry widow!" A Cockney +Jew, with a grooved face, was among the merchants who sold +goods--underwear, shirts, socks, haircombs, handkerchiefs, etc.--on +what is known as the Parade Ground on certain days of the week. He +wore on his head a woman's white straw hat with a soft, broad brim, +which flopped against the sides of his face while he vigorously cried +his wares. Around the crown of the hat was a garland of artificial +flowers--daisies, roses, forget-me-nots, etc. He stood on a box, and +told his auditors he was almost giving everything away. He talked at +the rate of a thousand words a minute, more or less, working so hard +that the perspiration on his face resembled a large water-soaked +sponge when pressed. While streamlets of sweat ran down the flutes in +his cheeks, he frequently interlarded his cheap-bargain harangue with, +"Hi'm the merry widow!" "Hi'm the merry widow!" + +Nearly 200,000 people live in and about Capetown, and the mixture is +the worst in South Africa. Malays came to the Cape Peninsula years +ago, and the mongrel off-shoots of these, with Arabs and natives of +St. Helena and other places, emphasize the word "colored." + +Being situated at almost the junction of two seas, the South Atlantic +and Indian Oceans, the climate is the best in South Africa. The +weather is never very hot, and frost is unknown. + +We shall travel northward over the Karoo again to Bloemfontein, then +easterly across the Orange Free State to Ladysmith, board a train +going south, and return to Durban. + +As stated in the early part of this volume, I had $1,350 when I left +New York. On returning to Durban I had $637. With that sum I was about +to start for India. The second day after reaching Durban, however, I +obtained work on the leading newspaper, which furnished me with +employment for six months. My wages averaged $40 a week. Modest +comforts were good enough for me, and, living expenses being +reasonable, I was enabled to put away a snug sum. Work was there for +me if I wished to "drop in" the next year, so I promised to be on +hand. This opened an opportunity to visit another continent--Australia +--which I had not taken into calculation before leaving New York, as +at that time I had not money enough to do so. So, early in January, I +was on my way to the Antipodes. + +On my return from Australia I took another trip to Johannesburg and +back. I went to work the first of August and continued to the middle +of December. Then I made a trip to Zululand, and upon my return was +again offered work. As I had not enough money for the remainder of the +journey, I decided to stay. Taking another trip to East London, +Kingwilliamstown, up through Kaffraria, to Cradock, Bloemfontein, +Kimberley, Johannesburg, Pretoria, and back to Pietermaritzburg and +Durban, in the middle of March, 1912, I went to work for the third +time, and finally bid good-by to Durban in July following. + + + + +LEG THREE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Thirteen first-class passengers--four women, three men and six +children--boarded a steamship at Durban for Australia. The vessel was +a cargo ship, but had accommodation for a small number of passengers. +She had started from a Swedish port in the Baltic Sea with a full +cargo of pine lumber. The distance from the Baltic port to Durban is +8,000 miles, and the ship's final destination was to be Brisbane, +Queensland, Australia, over 7,000 miles further east. Speaking about +long voyages, this one should satisfy the most ambitious. + +A Swedish woman, with two children, boarded the ship at her home port, +with Sydney as first landing. From Sydney she intended to sail to the +South Sea Islands, until she reached Vavau, Tonga (Friendly Islands), +still 2,000 miles further east from Sydney, where she and the children +were to join her husband. The time required to travel from the Baltic +seaport to Vavau was over three months, counting stops. + +From Durban to Melbourne, 6,000 miles, the fare was only $100 first +class. Food was good, the ship steady, and weather fair. Our captain +was a jovial soul, and the passengers proved a congenial group. The +vessel was well manned by a white crew. + +The second day out again found the albatross and Cape pigeon as our +companions. Later we sailed down to latitude 39, south of which +sailors term the "roarin' forties," where the weather became chilly. +Two islands--St. Paul and Amsterdam--were the only land seen during +the voyage, and not a single ship. One cultivates a genuine respect +for seafaring men when traveling on ships that bring one in intimate +touch with them. They are so thoroughly versed in the science of +navigation that they know to a foot's space almost what part of the +sea they are sailing over. + +One of our lady passengers, returning to Australia, her native +country, had her three children with her. Years before she and her +husband left for South Africa, where fortune smiled on them; she was +returning a wealthy woman. A New Zealander and his wife, an +Australian, also were returning from South Africa. A baby had come to +their home in Boerland and they were returning to Kangarooland to show +the hopeful to their friends. + +A feature of the sea at night in that stretch of the Indian Ocean +represents what might be termed a starry marine firmament. The water +contains phosphorous in sections, and, when opposing forces clash, +bright, blue-white lights come thickly to view and twinkle and +scintillate on crests of waves made by the wash of a vessel. These +sparkling beams have their season during periods of contact, when, +like embers, they gradually flitter away as the waves assume their +normal level. From bow to stern the water line of a ship will be aglow +with star-like streaks, the wake of a vessel appearing as a "milky +way," this marine illumination taking place where the sea is "plowed" +by merchantmen, as it were. + +"Is that Rottnest Light ahead, captain?" asked the New Zealander. +"Aye," answered the skipper. "We'll anchor outside the breakwater +about 3 o'clock in the morning." We had been sixteen days out from +Durban, and every one had a good voyage. In the forenoon, after the +port doctor had completed his examination of the passengers and crew, +we passed through the channel and into the harbor, and soon were +alongside a dock at Fremantle, West Australia. We had reached Leg +Three. + +"What Ho!" is the national salute of Australia when countrymen meet, +and if the reader will allow me to step slightly in advance of my +notes, I shall take the liberty to offer, "What ho!" to "the +Down-unders." The use of the term "Down-unders" is explained by +Australia being situated almost in a direct line under that section of +the globe constituting Europe. + +"A White Australia" is the slogan of the people of the Antipodes, and +the first thing one notices on coming from any of the black countries +is the absence of black men about the docks. + +Twelve miles up the Swan River from Fremantle, Perth, the capital and +metropolis of the State of West Australia, is located. It was in 1827 +that Captain Stirling sailed to the mouth of the Swan River, where +Fremantle is located. He decided the location would make a good +settlement site. Perth later sprang into existence, however, and grew +so fast that Fremantle, with a population of 18,000 people, is but a +port for the State Capital. + +Big things are met with in Australia, and the State of which Perth is +the official center is about four times larger than the State of +Texas. + +One inwardly joins with the people of the Commonwealth in their +national slogan when the industrial activity is so strikingly +contrasted between "Darkest Africa" and "White Australia." Australia +is seen at her best when coming from any of the black belts. + +The European style of passenger coach is in use, and the freight cars +are also European, some of these not one-third as large as the +American box car. Small locomotives are also in use. The country from +Fremantle to Perth is sandy, the only verdure growing being the +eucalyptus, or gum tree, as it is called. Homes seen along the railway +track were of red brick. + +When Perth--with a population of 60,000--was reached--well, it looked +like one of the busy cities of the North. Smokestacks, streets crowded +with people, splendid buildings, all work being done by Europeans, all +vehicles drawn by good horses--no oxen in sight; streets asphalted--in +that far-off land one will find as busy and as up-to-date a city as +exists anywhere. Credit for this substantial condition of things is +more strongly emphasized when it is remembered that West Australia is +very hot, more suited to black races than white. + +Clean streets, with bright-colored red-brick residences, one story in +height, are prominent in this section of the country. A large number +of working people are their own landlords, and those who do not own +their own homes pay $3.50 weekly rent. The weekly system of paying +bills--house rent and store bills--is the custom in Australia. As the +government owns the railroads, postoffice and other public utilities, +the employes in these departments, as those of municipal and private +employers, are also paid weekly. This has proved a good system. + +The street car system is good, cars being of the double-deck type. +This was the first place the American system of street-car transfers +was noticed. + +One finds here a splendid park square with plenty of free seats and +space, flowers and grass. In a larger park, a short distance away, is +a zoo. There is also a museum, art gallery, a good library, hospitals +and schools. + +Many people were gathered in the larger park on a holiday, and had +brought lunch with them. The thermometer registered 107 in the shade. +At one place in the park a big kettle, three feet high, hung over a +wood fire, was boiling. The holiday-makers came to the kettle for hot +water to make tea. It looked out of place to see hot tea drunk in such +weather, yet tea is the non-alcoholic drink of that country, and is +said to be the best for that climate. The city employed the man who +boiled water for the tea. + +Swan River is said to be the home of the black swan, the graceful bird +that makes ponds and lakes so attractive in many parks in the world. + +Good meals could be had for twenty-five cents. Grapes were selling for +four cents a pound, and peaches, melons, and other fruit sold at a +proportionately low price. Mutton sold at four to six cents a pound; +beef, from ten to twelve cents, and pork at twelve cents. + +Educating the young is a pronounced characteristic in West Australia. +The schools are maintained by the State, are free, and attendance is +compulsory from the age of six to fourteen years. Twenty-one dollars +is the sum the State fixes for the schooling of a scholar. +Scholarships of the value of $250 a year are offered annually for +competition among pupils between the ages of 11 and 13 years. Other +inducements are made to bring out the best that is in the growing +generation. In sparsely settled farming districts, where ten or more +children are to be found, the State reaches out a beneficent hand to +qualify the child for the battle of life. In addition to +appropriations for their schooling, and where the children must ride +to school, 12 cents a day is paid to the person in whose vehicle the +children are carried to and from the schoolhouse. Where a railroad +runs through these sections, and the children ride on trains to and +from school, no fare is charged. + +Very liberal inducements are held out to persons taking up government +land. Twenty years' time is allowed the settler in which to pay for +his farm, and the interest charged is four to five per cent. +Residential growth and improved conditions, of course, result from the +transaction. + +To prevent destruction of crops by rabbits, which do a great amount of +damage to growing grain in some parts, the government has gone to the +expense of building rabbit-proof fences about tracts of land it has +for disposal. The quality of wheat, oats and other cereals is of the +best, meriting the awarding of first prizes at world expositions where +they have been on exhibition. Sheep-raising is another great asset of +Western Australia. + +The rich gold fields of this State are located from 300 to 350 miles +east of Perth, in the heart of a desert, of which a large area of West +Australia is composed. In 1884 gold was discovered in this section of +the Commonwealth, but a greater rush to the mines occurred in 1890-92, +when the Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie finds became known. In this +industry a hundred thousand persons are engaged. Before a railway was +built over this barren stretch of country from the coast to the mines, +many an adventurous soul perished during his journey in quest of the +precious metal. No water is found in this district, that needed in +homes and for treatment of the ores being "imported," pumped from a +dam near Perth through pipes of 30 inch diameter for this great +distance. Besides gold, copper, tin and coal are mined. Black workers +are excluded. + +Wages paid are more equalized than in other countries. Laborers +receive a minimum of $2 a day, and mechanics from $2.50 to $3 a day. +Eight hours is a day's working time. + +Newspapers are fully abreast of this hustling city. Printers receive +$21 to $25 a week, the hours of work on newspapers seldom exceeding +six. I had been offered work in Perth, but, my destination being +Melbourne, I continued eastward. + +We had traveled 4,300 miles from Durban to Fremantle, and 1,700 miles +separate Perth from Melbourne. Twelve hundred miles of that distance +was to be across the Great Australian Bight. + +Fourteen hours' sail east from Fremantle, Cape Leeuwin was reached, +the most westerly point of land of the Australia continent, and one of +the most dangerous points for ships in the world. The distance +traversed to clear the Leeuwin is 25 miles. + +Dutchmen were early explorers in Australia, and parts touched bore the +names of the head of the exploring parties, and sometimes the captains +of the ships. Some of the names were Eendracht Land, Nuyts Land, De +Witt Land; but of all the places given names by the Dutch, Leeuwin +Cape is the only one well known. That part of Australia was early +known as New Holland. The Dutch set foot on West Australia 200 years +before Fremantle became a settlement. + +Across King George's Sound, on which Albany is located, we sailed, +when the Bight was entered. The Bight is famous for its rough sea; +accounts of the vengeance it has wreaked on mariners, travelers and +ships would fill many pages. + +"Do you think we'll have a good voyage through the Bight, captain?" +asked a passenger. "The barometer indicates fair weather," he replied. +Continuing, he said: "The last time we came through we had very +'dirty' weather. Slowly the heavy sea was forcing us to shore. I saw +we could not keep our course with safety, so I pointed the nose of the +ship to the storm, but for 24 hours we gained only half a mile against +the force of the sea." "Did you fear for the ship?" "I wasn't afraid," +he answered, "so long as the engines stood the strain; but they were +taxed for every ounce of power. Look at the black mark on the chart. +That is where a vessel went down," he added. When a sailor uses the +term "dirty" weather, as stormy and rough seas are called by seafaring +men, a landlubber will be at a loss to find a word in any dictionary +to describe what he thinks of such weather. We fortunately had good +weather through the Bight. + +Cape Otway, about a hundred miles west of Melbourne, marks the eastern +end of the line that divides the Southern Indian Ocean from the +Southern Pacific Ocean, and the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, +marks the western end of the line dividing the Southern Indian Ocean +from the Southern Atlantic Ocean. The distance separating these two +points is 6,000 miles. The meeting of the currents of the two seas, +confined by the western coast of Australia, makes the water very rough +in the great bay, or Bight. From Cape Otway eastward we were in the +Southern Pacific Ocean. + +Twenty-seven days after leaving Durban we sailed into Port Phillip and +up the Yarra River to Melbourne, where the Swedish vessel was made +fast to a wharf. "I trust we succeeded in treating you right," said +the captain on going down the ship's ladder to the wharf. "Fair +weather through life," were his parting words. + +It is said an American laid out the city of Melbourne; if that be so, +this one service reflects much credit on the land of his birth. In a +world contest for the Commonwealth's capital site design an American +of Chicago was awarded first prize. Australia aims at having the most +attractive capital in the world, to be located at Canberra, in the +State of New South Wales. American civil engineers also have taken a +prominent part in the construction of the large weirs or reservoirs +that the Commonwealth has erected for land irrigation purposes. +Melbourne's streets, 99 feet in width, run at right angles, are kept +clean and well paved. Built on each side of these grand thoroughfares +are splendid buildings, utilized for banking, trade and general +business purposes. What are called alleys in Melbourne are wider than +most of the business streets in Buenos Aires. All goods brought to +and from business houses go by the back entrance. The sidewalks are +free of all incumbrances, such as iron doors and gratings. No abrupt +steps from the sidewalks are met with here, the walk, at an incline, +sloping gradually into the roadway. + +One feature, though, mars that well-laid out, well-built and +well-managed city. It is a privately owned and privately managed +street railway system, which is of the antiquated cable type. Some +fifteen years ago a franchise was granted by the city to a company to +install street railways, of cable type, for a term of 20 years. The +fare is six cents, and the light in the cars is from murky, coal oil +lamps. The street railway company is getting all it can out of the +system, for it is well aware that at the expiration of the franchise +the city will not renew the agreement, but will at once tear up the +present line and construct a modern one, more in keeping with +Melbourne. + +Melbourne is the capital of the State of Victoria and temporary +capital also of the Commonwealth. Victoria is termed "The Garden +State," and the prosperity of the country is reflected in every part +of the city by the splendid homes of its citizens. They are healthy +looking, well fed and well dressed. This State, being visited by a +regular rainfall, suffers less from drought than West Australia, South +Australia or New South Wales. + +The arrangement and scope of parks is admirable, and seats are free. +Streets, boulevards and roads here could not be bettered. Within the +city limits are over 5,000 acres of parks and public gardens. An +imposing Parliament House, a splendid museum, art gallery and a zoo +are other notable features. + +Americans are not the only people who speak with a "twang," for one +meets persons in the capital city whose "twang" would make a down-east +Yankee green with envy. Still all have the British accent. By nature, +the Australian is unreserved, and seems more American than British. + +Melbourne is termed the "American City," and in the nature of wearing +apparel there is no difference in the cut of the clothes. In South +Africa, among the English-speaking people, the brand of England is +stamped on most customs, but in Australia there is a difference. + +Splendid college buildings, with nice grounds; training schools, +technical schools--at every turn the air is punctured with turrets and +spires on buildings in which the citizens of Victoria are taught the +sciences that enable them to take a leading part in the advancement of +the world. + +The weather being so moderate in Australia, parks so attractive, and +bathing beaches so convenient to the coast cities, indoor life loses +its charm. In Melbourne the weather seldom gets cold enough to freeze, +and, if so, it would occur not more than one or two nights during the +winter season. The mean temperature of that section of Australia is 55 +degrees. + +Athletic sports are very popular, as the weather permits of such +recreation the year round. Horse racing, as an amusement, has a strong +hold on Australians, and the same horde of nondescripts and +non-producers found in other countries, who live by their wits on "the +sport of kings," thrive and flourish here on the money of those who +earn an honest living. + +"Mate" is the way Australians address each other, and for an off-hand +salute, sounds better than "Bill" or "Stranger." "Right, ho," with +scarcely a sound of the "h," is used entirely in place of our "All +right." A man with a small business--say, a news store, green grocery, +or printing office--is termed a "cockatoo" news dealer, a "cockatoo" +grocer and a "cockatoo" printer. The term "cow" is used to express +displeasure or disgust with fowl, animals and even inanimate things. +"On the wallaby trail," or "on the wallaby," is applied to a fellow +"on his uppers." "No chop" means there is nothing in a proposition +made to the fellow who says "No chop." "He 'bally' well knew he was +wrong" is an instance of how the word "bally" is used here, as in +England. "Tucker," in Australia, is the term used when speaking of +food, in the same sense as "grub" in America. + +The educational system of Victoria is of the same high character as +that of West Australia. The sum required to educate a scholar a year +is $19, $2 less in Victoria than in West Australia. It is the boast of +State and government officials that a child whose parents live in +isolated parts receives as good teaching as children in city schools. +With such a splendid school system, it is needless to touch on the +advanced intellectual position of Australians. + +Government pensions for both husband and wife are paid when they have +reached the age of 60 years, and when their income does not exceed +$250 a year. The pension paid is $2.40 a week each, $4.80 for the old +couple. Citizens who are incapacitated, and have not reached the age +of 60 years, are also paid the $2.40 a week. Young persons deformed or +mentally incompetent also receive the pension, or, rather, their +guardians do. In cases where a man dies and leaves a widow and +children without means of support the government looks after them. Any +representative citizen living in the community in which the fatherless +family resides will accompany a family to court. He tells the judge +the circumstances attending the bereavement of the family, and +declares the widow is unable to support herself and children. The +mother then surrenders her children, and they become wards of the +State. When that phase of law has been gone through, the judge next +appoints the mother guardian of the children. Each child thereafter +receives $1.20 a week from the State. The children must attend school, +though, from the age of 6 to 14 years. This is the minimum sum given +by the State, but there also are municipal and other funds to help +needy citizens. Should a boy of such a family become apprenticed to a +trade after leaving school, the employer pays the wages of the boy not +to the mother, but to a State official, in charge of that department. +The boy's earnings are put in a savings bank until he has reached his +majority. Reports are made as to his habits from time to time, and, +should he be of an industrious nature, the money that he has earned +while an apprentice is returned to him when he has become a +journeyman. How many poor, fatherless boys in other countries have +several hundred dollars handed them at 21 years of age? + +No State or municipal poorhouses are found in Australia. Homes, +however, are provided for infirm persons, but these are maintained by +religious and charities bodies. The State, of course, would lend a +helping hand were these organizations crippled for funds to carry on +their laudable work. + +To help settlers cultivate government land, from $250 to $10,000 is +advanced to an immigrant who means well. Certain conditions in the +nature of improvements and residence must be complied with. The time +given the settler in which to pay back money advanced is 20 to 33 +years. The interest charged is four to five per cent. If drought or +other agencies renders the settler's crop a failure and he has no +money to meet his payments, the government does not swoop down and +take his farm, but advances more if circumstances threaten to drive +him from the land. He will be looked after until he has good crops. +The government has yet to lose a copper from advancing money to +settlers. Agricultural Department officials visit farmers to teach +them how to get best results from the soil. The land does not become +freehold property, however, but is leased for a long term. + +Two persons out of every five of the citizens of Victoria have savings +bank accounts. The average wealth in this State per head of population +is $1,253. An income tax is collected on all salaries of $1,500 and +over. The tax becomes greater in proportion to the larger salaries or +incomes received. + +Previous to 1901 each State was a separate division, fixing its own +customs dues, legislating only for itself, and at each State boundary +line were custom houses and State officers. The federation of States +into the Commonwealth took effect January 1, 1901. + +There is an average of three beeves to each person, and 20 sheep to +each inhabitant. Mutton, beef, cheese, wine, fruit, grain, flour, +wool, hides, tin, silver, copper and iron ores are exported from that +far-off country to centers north of the equator. + +Melba, the opera singer, is from this State. In Paul Kruger, South +Africa produced probably the greatest man born south of the equator, +and the fair State of Victoria has reason to be proud of the diva, the +most widely known woman born south of the equatorial line. These two +seem to be the total of the Southland's contribution in recent times +to the world's great personages. + +Some Chinamen live in Melbourne, but a majority of them came to +Australia years ago. These are mostly engaged in furniture +manufacturing, and Mongols practically control the industry. The +slogan, "A White Australia," is as pronounced in Victoria as in other +States. To gain entrance to Australia an Asiatic must pay an +immigration tax of $500. + +Good newspapers are published in that city, but none issues Sunday +editions. Printers on these earn from $25 to $30 a week. Other +mechanics receive $18 to $21 a week. + +Meat sells from 6 to 12 cents a pound; eggs from 20 to 36 cents a +dozen. House rent, which is paid by the week, runs from $3.50 to +$4.50. + +Class distinction is usually foreign to any new country, but the lines +are tightly drawn between labor and capital in Australia. Skilled +mechanics and laborers generally stand together in political matters +on election day, and the employer, capitalist and that class of +citizen oppose the labor party. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Traveling from Melbourne to Adelaide, 483 miles, gave opportunity to +study Australian railways. The railroads are State or government +owned, and the fare is two to three cents a mile. The coaches are of +European type, the schedule 30 miles an hour. Compartments are +generally fitted for eight persons. One difference was observed in +these coaches from the South African--no free sleeping accommodation +was provided. Sleeping cars are run on Australian lines, however, but +a berth costs $2.40 a night. The system of heating the compartments in +chilly weather is by iron pipes, like those used in the South African +trains--foot warmers. But there is one commendable feature about the +Australian railway system, namely, no steps to the cars, the platforms +of all stations being built on a level with the platform of the +passenger coach. + +"Mate, you may share part of my rug," spoke the man sitting opposite +in the compartment. "There'll be no chance to get our feet on the +foot-warmer, and the atmosphere will grow chilly before morning. It is +large enough for us both," he kindly added. As in South Africa, almost +every one in Australia carries a rug, or blanket, as we call them. His +kindness was much appreciated, for, as it turned out, the foot-warmer +did not move in our direction for the night. This is another instance +of how obliging I found Australians. + +A city looking more like a large park than a business center is how +Adelaide appeared. When laid out, in 1837, it comprised a tract of +land a mile square, and around this area is a park strip of land half +a mile wide. The mile square area was originally the business and home +section of Adelaide, but residential requirements have far outgrown +the original space. Over two thousand acres of land in and about the +city are set apart for public and botanical gardens, park squares and +for sports grounds. The city is located in a fertile plain, encircled +by a range of green hills on two sides, and has as a foreground the +blue water of St. Vincent's Gulf. + +A pathetic incident accompanied the laying-out of this beautiful city. +After the surveyor, Colonel William Light, had selected the site and +surveyed the streets his plan was ridiculed by his fellow colonists. +Being of a sensitive nature, their criticisms and jibes so worried him +that he found relief from taunts in an early grave. In Victoria Square +stands a splendid bronze monument to the designer of Adelaide, with +this brief inscription chiseled out of the granite base: "Light." + +Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, has a population of 200,000. +Its wide streets and great park space make the area as large as that +usually required for a city of half a million. + +An agricultural college, mining college, and other means of popular +education insures a high percentage of intellectual attainment. The +same splendid public school system that has been touched on as +existing in West Australia and Victoria is maintained by both the +municipal and State educational departments here. Money for +educational purposes is voted to an almost reckless degree by the +States of the Commonwealth. + +The homes of the people of Adelaide are fine. Where they are not +entirely built of stone, there is at least a stone front and brick +side walls. The houses are mostly one story, containing from five to +seven rooms, with a veranda on each and flowers in every yard. Most of +these homes are owned by the families who occupy them, but some rent +at from $3.50 to $4.50 weekly. "Poor," "slum" and "wealthy" +residential distinctions are pleasantly absent in Australian cities. + +The botanical garden, zoo, museum, State and municipal buildings, +business blocks, the lighting and street railway systems are all very +good. The ambition of the Australian seems to aspire to the best, as +little of a shoddy character is in evidence. The statues about the +cities also are as good as one will see the world over. The stores and +shops compare with any for quality and attractiveness. + +Ordinary meals could be had for 25 cents, and comfortable +accommodation, with good food, was obtainable in any of the cities for +$1.50 a day. + +The bird life of the country adds to its attractiveness. The emu, next +in size to the ostrich, is on his native heath, and the lyre bird is a +native of Australia, too. In the "bush," as the woods of Australia are +termed, revel the cockatoo, macaw, parrots of different species; the +kookooburra, or laughing jackass, and the smart magpie are quite +numerous. Australians are very proud of the native birds. Chasing the +emu on horseback is a sport indulged in in some sections. + +The English sparrow was taken to Australia by settlers from the +British Isles, and he has proved a source of annoyance to the people +of that country, as well as that of others. Another bird imported from +England, the starling, a very dirty and destructive one to berries, is +also an eyesore to the people. This bird is numerous in Adelaide. +Rabbits were unknown in Australia before settlers from the North made +that country their home. Being very destructive to crops, large sums +of money are expended to build rabbit-proof fences about tracts of +farming land owing to the millions of these creatures that infest the +country. The moderate climate admits of perpetual breeding. +Australians do not eat rabbit meat. + +The rabbit trapper of Australia is an independent sort of a citizen. +His disposition is akin to that of the fellow who will sit on a log +all day to catch a six-inch fish, and considers his time well spent +when he walks into his home, carrying his quarry by a spear of long +grass pulled through the vent in the gills. Ships loaded with frozen +rabbits leave Australian ports for England at frequent sailings. + +The kangaroo is termed in Australia "the native," and is harmless when +met with under any circumstances. The smaller specie is known as the +wallaby. Kangaroo is the biggest game on the Australian continent. Its +tail is the only part used as food, and then only for soup. + +A story is told of an English woman who became engaged to a native +Australian. She started from England to meet her fiancé at Adelaide. +She had told her friends she was to be married to an Australian +native. When she reached the end of her long journey and came ashore +friends in Australia who met her, pointing to a kangaroo close by, +remarked that the animal was the native Australian. "What!" shouted +the bride-to-be. "Am I engaged to marry a kangaroo?" + +The national flower is that of the wattle tree. This tree grows large, +its leaves are small and of a very dark green color, and the limbs are +dense. Blossoms come out very thick, and leaves, limbs and body of the +tree are hidden from view under a profusion of rich, gold-colored +flowers. Tracts of wattle-tree groves extend for miles, and when all +the trees are in bloom it is a treat for the eyes seeking floral +beauty. + +Mutton and lamb are the meats chiefly eaten. One seldom gets a good +cup of coffee in British territory, for the reason that the British +are a tea-drinking race, and the same applies to Australia. As +evidence of the hospitality met with in homes of British colonists, +food dainties are always served with tea to callers. + +After having said good-by to Adelaide, we boarded a train going to +Melbourne. Upon reaching Ballarat, having heard of the Eureka +Stockade, behind which gold miners defied militia in 1854, induced a +longing to see this historical spot on the Australian continent where +men faced each other with firearms. The skirmish between miners and +troops came about through the authorities charging miners exorbitant +sums for gold mining licenses. A stockade was thrown up--it is there +to-day--and from that shelter bullets whizzed at the troops, and +soldiers' bullets whizzed at the miners. The battle lasted ten +minutes, after two dozen miners had been killed. With this exception, +Australia is as barren of warfare lore as a large part of the country +is of vegetation. Gold mining is still in active operation, and +profitable. While gold is mined in all the States of the Commonwealth, +the output of the West Australia mines is greater than the combined +production of the other five. + +When gold was discovered in Ballarat, in 1850, 65,000 people landed in +Melbourne the next year, and in five years 337,000 had found their +way to the diggings, although in those days vessels were small and +slow, and the distance from Europe to Melbourne is 13,000 miles. + +Ballarat has a population of 50,000, is in the State of Victoria, and +75 miles west of Melbourne. One of the principal streets is 168 feet +wide. How many cities are there in the United States, the size of +Ballarat, having an art gallery, a museum and creditable botanical +garden? Ballarat has these. A nice lake also is within the city +limits. The attractiveness of this place is unusual for a gold mining +center. + +With an acquaintance, a football game between two crack elevens was +attended, and the price of admission to the grounds was 12 cents. + +Ballarat holds her own in the matter of buildings, good lighting and +street car systems. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Passing from the ocean through The Heads to Sydney Harbor, there +unfolds to the eye perhaps the grandest foreground of a city, +landscape and soft-water scene to be found in any part of the world. +From the harbor--scalloped with pretty bays--to the left rise, on a +gentle slope, bright-colored brick and red-sandstone homes with +red-tiled roofs, the openings carpeted with ever-green lawns, animated +by flowering gardens, a soft brush-grown space here and there, or a +blushing cove, walled by friendly rock--a willing partner to molding +the frame incasing this splendid picture. Traveling toward the city, +the vessel circuits evergreen islands, passing smart sailing craft and +swift-moving launches, when a point of land, part of an attractive +park, invitingly juts its grassy space into the noted harbor. The +Botanical Garden next comes to view, when the Norfolk Island pine +tree--none more shapely in the world--seems to suggest to the visitor +that there is something good even beyond. To the right of the +harbor--also fringed with cozy bays and rippling coves--on another +slope, there spreads out a grand landscape that can come only from gum +bush and tropical foliage, the former in this instance. The harbor +becomes dotted with hurrying ferry boats, carrying people from one +side to the other. The city of Sydney then becomes outlined, and, from +the striking panorama of red-sandstone structures, there is revealed a +galaxy of towers, turrets, spires and domes that unerringly suggest +the highest industrial ideal of a people living in a center of +civilization and modern achievement. + + [Illustration: PARLIAMENT HOUSE, MELBOURNE (top), and VICTORIA + MARKETS, SYDNEY (bottom). + AUSTRALIA.] + +As Capetown is the cradle of South Africa, so is Sydney the cradle of +Australia. Nine miles from Sydney, in Botany Bay, James Cook, an +Englishman, anchored his ship _Endeavor_. That was in 1770, six +years before the Declaration of Independence was signed by the +American colonists. For two hundred years previous to Captain Cook's +raising the British flag on the shores of Botany Bay, Dutch, French, +Portuguese and Spanish navigators had gotten glimpses of that great +continent, but failed to implant the ensigns of their respective +countries on it as Cook did. It was anybody's country up to the year +1770. Section after section had been annexed by the English from time +to time, until all the continent and islands close by had become +British territory. Not a shot was fired to acquire these different +sections. Eight years after Captain Cook reached Botany Bay, Arthur +Phillips landed and formed a convict settlement on the site from which +Sydney had grown. + +In 1788 there were but six head of cattle in Australia; to-day there +are over 15,000,000. In the same year there were but 29 sheep; to-day +nearly 100,000,000. + +Heated arguments take place frequently anent the merits of Sydney +harbor and that of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said to be the two best +harbors in the world. The distinction between these two grand havens +is similar to that existing between Victoria and Niagara Falls. Where +the land about Sydney harbor gracefully slopes and admits of the +striking panorama from The Heads, or entrance to the Harbor, to +Circular Quay, hills shut from view the attractive city of Rio de +Janeiro. The Brazilian capital cannot be seen at a point where Sydney +harbor's beauty reaches its climax. On the other hand, Rio de +Janeiro's harbor is twice larger, dotted with over a hundred tropical +islands, and of good depth. The length of Sydney harbor is eight +miles, with comparatively few green islands, and at places the water +is none too deep for ships of great draught. Also The Heads of Sydney +harbor are squatty compared to the high, bold stone pillars between +which vessels sail through a narrow but deep channel into Rio de +Janeiro's haven. It would seem that Sydney's harbor is the prettier, +Rio de Janeiro's the greater and better. + +Three-quarters of a million busy and industrious people are engaged in +factory, mill, shop, office and store in modern Sydney. Every one of +these will do any task with pleasure that tends to enhance the +commercial prestige and attractive appearance not only of their city +but of the Commonwealth. In no other country will one find a more +patriotic race of people; but, though British subjects, their +patriotism seemed to be for Australia. They have a national flag, +national emblems on their money coins--in fact, Australia is deeply +stamped on any and every thing Australian. + +Travelers are often disappointed when visiting points of interest +based on local reputation; but Sydney is the exception to the rule. +One can spend at least two weeks in the State capital, going to +different attractions from day to day, and will find everything +reputed to be of interest worth one's time going to see. For this +reason it has become known as the "holiday city." Sydney is one of the +most difficult cities in the world to describe, because everything is +so good. One would be justified to begin and finish an account of +Sydney with the word "Splendid." + +Not until I reached the capital of the State of New South Wales did I +find government or municipal ownership of public utilities meant +anything in the way of cheaper or better service. The street-car +service of Sydney is, I believe, the cheapest in the world. The charge +is two cents for each "stage," but the "stages" in Sydney are far +apart. The clumsy, slow, double-decked car is not to be seen. + +An express train leaves Sydney for Melbourne at 8 o'clock every +evening, and had one decided to start that journey on a Sunday and +depended on street car travel to the railway station, he would surely +miss his train. The cars come to a standstill from 7 to 8 o'clock, +while church services are being held. + +A loaf of bread in Sydney must be a loaf of bread. The legal weight is +two pounds, and employes of the city bureau who look after the staff +of life keep a close watch on bakers to see that customers are not +cheated. An inspector is apt to halt a driver of a baker's wagon at +any point, jump into the vehicle, pick up a loaf of bread, take from +his pocket a collapsible scale, put the loaf in the tray and +particularly note its weight. If the bread should be an ounce under +weight the baker will be fined $5, and should the loaf be two ounces +short of weight he would be fined $10--$5 for every ounce under two +pounds. The quality of the bread, by the way, is, like everything that +goes to make up Sydney, excellent. + +Vulgarity or profanity is not heard about the streets. Any unsavory +remark that reaches the ears of a policeman will cost the careless one +at least $2.50. + +Stopping at a small and tidy hotel, located three squares from the +postoffice, the rate was but $1.50 a day. Good meals were served at +restaurants about the city at 25 cents. Serviette is the word always +used in British territory for table napkin. + +House rent for working classes ranged in price from $15 to $20 a +month, payable weekly. Meat sold at 6 to 12 cents a pound. Clothes are +cheaper in Australia than in South Africa, because Australia uses its +own wool. + +"When you will have brains enough to owe your butcher $15, you'll get +a better grade of meat." Two women were seated on a bench in a park, +talking about dresses, hats, engagements, marriages and babies, when +they touched on household matters. One told the other her troubles +with her butcher--could not understand why she got inferior meat. Her +companion asked if she paid cash for her goods, and the complaining +one answered, "Yes." It was then that the suggestion contained in the +first sentence was made. + +Concerning freedom of speech and liberty in a general sense, one sees +no difference from what he has been used to in his own country while +traveling about, but does admire the quality of law that is dispensed +and maintained in British territory. + +While looking about the exhibits at a State agricultural fair one can +reach a fair conclusion as to the nature of a country by the products +shown, more particularly if one has been raised on a farm. At a fair +visited there were cattle with backs almost as broad as a full-sized +bed. The weight of some of these animals was 2,500 pounds down to +2,000. It seemed as if an exhibitor would be laughed at were he to +enter a steer that weighed under a ton. Horses on exhibit were of the +same high class. The reputation of the Australian horse extends +beyond local bounds, and he is known as the Australian "whaler." +Sheep, chickens, pigs--from the top of the list to the last only the +best of each kind were exhibited. Australian cattle and horses are +aristocrats compared to South African breeds. + +Education for children living in the "back blocks," as distant parts +of Australia are termed, is hauled on wagons. A government teacher +travels about in a wagon covered with a tent and stops at the home of +every settler who has children. The tent is lifted from the wagon to +the ground, and school exercises are gone through. Would not the +trouble and expense that the Commonwealth of Australia goes to for +fitting its people to meet the struggles of life "warm the cockles of +your heart" to such a government! This is called the "traveling +school," and it would be a waste of time to dwell in detail on +universities, colleges, technical and the lower-grade schools of the +educational department of New South Wales. + +The conditions of giving land to settlers by the State of New South +Wales are liberal. If one is a white man, is willing to work, and +wants a farm, he will get the land, and money to make a start with, +too. + +The English system of money is in use. That system is not on a decimal +basis, which deficiency seems out of place in an advanced country like +that of the Commonwealth. For this reason efforts are being put forth +to change the system to a decimal basis. The kangaroo and emu are +stamped on the face of some of the money coins in use, but these will +not be accepted as legal tender in other British countries. + +"Smoke, ho," is the term one might hear were he to pass a gang of men +working on a railroad or at any work where a group of men are +employed. The weather gets very hot in summer, and rests are taken at +intervals. When the foreman of the gang says "Smoke, ho," that means a +breathing spell, or quitting time. + +The State of New South Wales, of which Sydney is the capital, is the +richest in the Commonwealth. The sheep industry is the greatest. +Smokestacks from factory and mill are thickly dotted not only about +the city but far into the suburbs. Great quantities of butter, beef, +mutton and wool, wheat and flour are exported from that State, besides +ores and coal. The exports from Australia now are very large, but what +will they be when the country becomes even one quarter settled? + +Wages have increased from time to time in Sydney, until now +bricklayers receive $5 a day. That figure is good wages in Australia, +for the climate permits of outside work the year round. The city is +growing all the time, the demand for mechanics naturally increasing. +Few mechanics receive less than $3. The lowest wages laborers receive +are $2, but that figure is often exceeded. Printers on newspapers earn +$27 to $30 a week, the working time not exceeding 36 hours. Good board +can be had at $4 to $6 a week. No one works Saturday afternoons in the +British colonies visited. + +Excellent newspapers are published in Sydney--fully in keeping with +the city. On looking over their pages, one must give much credit to +the publishers for the cable dispatches printed, as the news rate must +be high when sent from centers 6,000 to 13,000 miles away. + +A thousand acres of splendid park area are located in and close to +Sydney, divided into 37 parks. Within a radius of 25 miles are 70,000 +acres of park land. Besides, there are half a dozen good bathing +beaches within easy reach. + +Over a hundred miles from Sydney, in the Blue Mountain range, is +located a tract of stalactite and stalagmite caves. These are the +property of the government, and known as Jenolan Caves. The caves +cover a large area of land, and exploration is going on all the time. +Over a dozen of these are now open to visitors, and the trip is well +worth while taking. But while Jenolan Caves are much greater than +those of Luray Caverns, Virginia, one will find in Luray better +formations and a prettier grade of that mineral than can be seen in +Jenolan. It is another case of Victoria Falls and Niagara. Jenolan +Caves are much the greater, but Luray Caverns are the prettier. In +caves of this character columns of stalactite and stalagmite a foot in +diameter may be seen, and when it is remembered that, in one instance +at Jenolan, a stem of stalactite has grown but one-thirty-second part +of an inch in 30 years, what a tremendous age the larger columns must +have attained! The atmosphere in this section of the Blue Mountains is +of a deep blue color. Mount Kosciusko is the highest peak of +Australia, rising 7,308 feet. + +In that section of country kangaroo may be seen hopping about the +hills, feeding on grass and sprouts, or standing up on their hind legs +to watch if any one is coming their way. Timidity starts them, at the +slightest alarm, to holes in the mountain, and where rocks are located +at the place of concealment these are as polished granite from their +heavy tails passing over them on coming out and going in. + +The difference in railroad gauges is proving a source of much +inconvenience to transportation. In New South Wales the gauge is +standard, 4 feet 8½ inches, and in Queensland the railroad is +narrow-gauge, 3 feet 6 inches. So, going from Sydney to Brisbane, +passengers, cars and freight must be changed; also in going from +Sydney to Melbourne, when the Victoria border has been reached, a +complete change has to be made, as the Victoria gauge is broad, 5 feet +3 inches. The width of South Australia railroads is 5 feet 3 inches +and also 4 feet 8½ inches, but those of West Australia are again +narrow-gauge. + +One not familiar with the population of American cities would come to +the conclusion that San Francisco, Cal., was the greatest in the +United States, judged from the number of times it is mentioned by +Australians. As a matter of fact, both Melbourne and Sydney have a +greater population than the Californian metropolis. Seldom are New +York, Philadelphia and Chicago mentioned. This is accounted for by San +Francisco being nearer to Australia than any other American city. + +"Two years before the fleet came," and "About a year after the fleet +was here," are instances of how recent great events are referred to. +Evidently the visit of the American battleships to Australia, when the +fleet made its trip around the world, proved an epoch in this +country. + +Before leaving the "mainland," I want to acknowledge my gratitude to +Australians for the many courtesies extended and kindnesses bestowed. +I had been offered work in most of the places visited. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +From Melbourne we sailed across Bass Straits up the Tamar River to +Launceston, Tasmania, located at the northern part of the island. Abel +J. Tasman, a Dutch navigator, discovered what is now Tasmania, in +1642, after whom the island is named. Van Diemen's Land, however, was +the name given to Tasmania by its discoverer, but was changed later. +The Dutch seemed to have been good navigators in early years in the +Pacific and Indian oceans, but they proved poor land-grabbers. With +Tasmania as a key to the mainland, it would seem the spirit of daring +did not extend further than the decks of ships, for Tasman finally +left Tasmania, and later on it fell into the hands of British +navigators. + +Tasmania is the smallest of the six States of which the Commonwealth +is composed. It has its upper and lower legislative bodies, a governor +from England--in all respects a self-constituted State. The length of +the island from north to south is 150 miles. + +Tasmania is known as "the sanatorium" of Australia on account of its +good climate. At Launceston this was plainly borne out by the rosy +cheeks of the people. The city itself, of 25,000 population, is +attractive from its parks, its iron-latticed porches and verandas, a +splendid stretch of natural scenery known as the Gorge, and the +unassuming nature, plain but tidy appearance, and contentment of the +people. Few smokestacks were in sight, and as a business center it +does not hold kinship to the bustling cities of the mainland. + +"This is the way it is all the time!" said a second-hand clothing +dealer who had invited me to call at his store, he having gone from +America to the Southland to make his fortune. The store was as empty +of customers as a church is of worshipers at midnight. + +The commendable custom of Sunday evening concerts in the colonies was +in vogue in Launceston, only the one attended here was held in a +beautiful park instead of in a town hall. As in other places, the +concert did not begin until after church services. In the same park is +a small zoo, very good for the size of this city. + +The wages of workers are low, mechanics receiving from $2 to $2.50 a +day. Calling on one of the daily newspapers to see how things looked, +when it became known that I was from the United States most of the +composing room force stopped work, gathered about me, questions coming +eagerly concerning conditions in America from every angle. I was to +leave the city a few hours later, when two of the force left their +work and saw me on the train. + +Hobart, 135 miles south of Launceston, was the next stop. This is the +capital of Tasmania, and has double the population of Launceston. +Hobart is situated at the delta of the Derwent River, and has a +splendid harbor, with Mount Wellington behind the city, water in +front, and a large domain or park at one side. While showing little +life commercially, there is a charm about the Tasmania capital that +sticks to one. + +Three women to one man is Hobart's unequal population. The wages are +so small that any young fellow with an ounce of pluck will cross Bass +Straits to the mainland cities, where his labor sells for more than a +bare living wage, with opportunities for amounting to something later +that Tasmania does not offer. A preserve or jam factory in Hobart +furnishes girls and women with employment. + +Food and house rent are cheap, and for these reasons, together with +the splendid climate all the year round, a considerable number of +ex-British army officers, who have a pension, go there to spend their +last days. + +No stale fish is eaten in Hobart. At the wharfs many fish dealers are +found, and their stock is kept in barges or scows containing enough +water for the fish to swim in. A customer points out the fish he wants +to buy, when it is speared and handed to the purchaser alive. One fish +found in that locality--the "trumpeter"--is as sweet as American +shad, and it has fewer bones. Oysters do well also in Hobart waters, +as that city is nearly as far south of the equator as New York is +north of that line. Fish caught in a warm climate have not the same +flavor as fish that inhabit the waters of a colder one. An angler is +at home when lolling about the brooks and rivers that abound a short +distance from the city. + +A dollar a day was all I paid for accommodation at a tidy hotel. That +sum included three meals and a room. + +One will find here a good museum, creditable art gallery and splendid +park system, also a good street car system, electric lights, gas and +other utilities. + +"Appleland" would be a suitable name for Tasmania, as upward of +3,000,000 bushels of apples are shipped from that island each year, +and the shipments are increasing. The Huon district, some 20 miles +from Hobart, is the great apple growing section of southern Tasmania. +Apple trees grow in these parts where nothing else would thrive, and +large tracts of orchards are seen on the sides of rocky hills. Trees +are not allowed to grow over six feet high, which adds much to the +convenience and cheapness of picking. They are trimmed each season, +and the stumps are eight inches in diameter in some instances, but +only the stump, which will not rise over six inches above the ground, +is left. The sprouts grow from the stump, and these do not, as stated, +exceed six feet tall. These apples do not hang only from the ends of +the limbs, as they do from most apple trees in America. Blossoms bloom +from the body of the limb, and the limb and trunks of the sprouts are +entirely covered with apples. Apples grow from the limbs as freckles +on an arm. Ten acres of apple land in southern Tasmania bring in a +nice yearly income. The trees grow bushy, and as many as 20 bushels +are often picked from one. Most of the apples shipped from Hobart go +to England, the time of shipment being from February to June. + +Fifty miles from Hobart stands the walls of the old Port Arthur +Prison, as well as the walls of the church, cracked and ready to fall, +covered with ivy vines, where the prison officers worshiped; the nice +avenues of trees where the freemen enjoyed the shade on a hot day are +very pretty, and the cozy bay, with Point Peur jutting into still and +attractive waters, suggest nothing, so far as nature is concerned, as +to the place having been one of the most inaccessible, impenetrable +prisons of the world. What was known as the hospital building is in +good condition, and serves the small community of Carnarvon as a town +hall and public school. + +Port Arthur has been changed in name--to Carnarvon--as most of the +places that have had anything to do with the early prison days of Van +Diemen's Land. The prison was located on a strip of land, 12 miles in +length, called Tasman Peninsula. Water naturally borders both sides of +the peninsula, and the narrow neck of land at the head--Eagle Hawk +Neck--of the peninsula is less than a quarter of a mile wide. + +Just across the small bay from Port Arthur is Point Puer, on which for +years there had been a boys' prison. Both men and boys sent to these +prisons, located 13,000 miles from England, had committed alleged +offenses in Great Britain. In addition to these two male prisons there +was also one for women, but the latter was not located at Port Arthur. +The ages of boys sent to the Point Puer ranged from 12 to 15 years. A +number committed suicide, induced by homesickness and other causes. +This inhuman state of affairs being brought to the late Queen +Victoria's attention, she ordered the boys' prison razed to the +ground. + +The narrow neck of land referred to separates Norfolk Bay from the +Pacific Ocean. To-day there are, or were recently, a row of posts +standing across Eagle Hawk Neck--from Norfolk Bay to the ocean. To +these posts dogs had been chained, the chains just long enough to +allow a dog fastened to one post to meet the other. Some of these +posts were driven in the bottom of Norfolk Bay, and on them was built +a rest for the dogs to jump on when the tide was in. On each side of +the narrow strip of land soldiers were stationed, the string of dogs +between. Were a prisoner, in trying to escape the hardships of Port +Arthur, to get beyond the sentries, and attempt to get by the dogs, +an uproar would be made by the canines, and the sentries on the other +side would be on the alert if a prisoner chanced to get by the vicious +dogs; so that any effort to escape by that route would be futile. + +Norfolk Bay at that point is also narrow--not over a quarter of a mile +wide--several prisoners making their escape by swimming across. To +forestall further escapes by that means, sharks, which had been +imported, were placed in the bay and fed. So, between the soldiers and +the dogs on guard at Eagle Hawk Neck and Norfolk Bay full of sharks, +once brought to Tasman Peninsula escape was impossible. + +Masks were worn by prisoners when they attended church services, so +that no recognition could take place. In addition to that precaution, +the seats in the church had a board at the back as high as a man's +head, and the prisoner was closed in by boards on each side. The +preacher was the only man that could be seen when sitting in the box +seat. From 1842-46 19,000 convicts were sent to Tasmania. Sometimes +many died during the voyage. The only humane feature connected with +the convict traffic was that the ship doctor received $2.40 for every +prisoner who landed in Tasmania. Naturally, the doctor would do his +best to collect the fee. The last shipment of convicts took place in +1877. It is said some prisoners sent to Tasmania had committed minor +offenses, such as shooting a rabbit on another's property, stealing +chickens, inability to pay debts, and similar charges. + +Eucalyptus trees are said to grow to a height of 350 feet in certain +parts of Tasmania, and also in some other States. + +Reading accounts of the products of the Commonwealth, its exports of +wool, meat and ores, and being unfamiliar with the obverse side of the +picture--droughts, deserts and the rabbit pest--one would little +expect to hear the question asked, "Will the 5,000,000 industrious +populace of Australia, a name that fascinates as does California, and +having an area one-quarter that of the British Empire, ever increase +to 25,000,000?" + +Only a fringe of this continent is habitable, behind these fertile +tracts being expansive wastes, on portions of which rain does not +fall, at times, for several years. No such river as the Nile or +Mississippi flows through these salt deserts. Near the coast, visited +by moderate rainfalls, are sections in which drought is ever feared, +where wells have been bored to depths of thousands of feet, only to +find, when a water vein has been pierced, that, in many instances, the +flow proves to be salt water, unfit for drink or irrigation purposes. +The two chief rivers of Australia--the Darling and the Murray--are +small compared to waterways that course other countries. In dry +seasons the water becomes low, and in drought periods the bottoms of +these rivers offer little more moisture than is found on the plains. + +Not more than one per cent. of the land of this great continent is +under cultivation. In order to insure the harvesting of crops in +favorable seasons, millions and millions of dollars have been expended +by the government in building rabbit-proof fences; the quantity used +would encircle the globe nearly half a dozen times. Added to this +outlay, large sums have been expended in boring wells, building +reservoirs and establishing water stations on cattle and sheep ranges. +Buying land from landowners controlling large tracts, obtained by +devious means in the early stages of the country's development, is +still another heavy national expense. This land, when allotted to +small farm settlers, is leased. Leasing the land, instead of granting +the freehold, does not augur for a rapid increase in the rural +population. + +Quality, not quantity, seems to be the aim of the Commonwealth in +regard to the immigrant entering its shores. "Assisted passages" apply +chiefly to domestic help and agricultural workers of British birth or +of British descent, and these must be in good health and of sound +body. A strong sentiment seems to be prevalent for immigration, but +those engaged at the various trades, and even the professions, do not +encourage the coming of additional artisans to the respective +vocations or an increase of names to the professional roster. Hence, +the small volume of immigration to the Antipodes. + +With a desert comprising a major portion of the continent, a +temperature of 100 to 120 degrees prevailing over a large area, with +but few rivers, pure water lakes or refreshing streams, and the bowels +of the earth giving up brackish and salt water, thereby dispelling +hope of the sandy wastes being reclaimed and the ravages of drought +counteracted--meeting with failures in battling to overcome these +natural barriers to development, we can picture running through the +Australian's mind the paraphrased biblical quotation: "Paul may plant, +Apollo may water, but God must give the increase." + + + + +LEG FOUR + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Our first stop in New Zealand was at Bluff, a small port nearly a +thousand miles eastward across the Tasman Sea from Hobart. Though +composed of only a few hundred people, this place, nevertheless, +commands the attention of a traveler, as it is one of the most +southerly outposts of civilization, there being no white habitation +between Bluff and the South Pole. Tons of cheese and butter were here +loaded into the ship, brought by rail from Invercargill, eighteen +miles inland, the commercial center of a thrifty farming district. + +Abel J. Tasman, in 1642, was the first white man to discover New +Zealand. He was frightened away by a warlike and fearless race of +natives, but mapped out the coast line roughly, and named the country +Staaten Island, which Dutch officials altered later to New Zealand. +Captain James Cook, in 1769, was the first to land on New Zealand +soil, which he did after much dickering with the Maoris; it then +became a British possession. + +While traveling through Devereux Straits from Bluff to Dunedin, one of +the three islands comprising New Zealand--Stewart Island--was to the +south. It has an area of 665 square miles, a mild and pleasant +climate, and was a favorite assembling place for American whaling +ships twenty-five to thirty years ago. A Maori settlement, most of the +natives being fishermen and oysterers, form the chief inhabitants. +Oban, twenty miles from Bluff, is the principal town. The straits +between South and Stewart Islands was red with prawns, and thousands +of fowl were feeding off these crustaceans; the birds make their home +on the latter island. Later we reached the Heads of Otaga harbor, +passed Port Chalmers, and seven miles further the vessel docked at +Dunedin, a stronghold of the Scotch. + +In 1848, after a voyage of several months in sailing vessels, two ship +loads of Scotch Presbyterians from Scotland sailed up Otaga harbor and +disembarked at what is now known as Dunedin, where they formed a +settlement. Scotch energy was at once put into action--some of the +colonists building homes, others turning over the soil of this virgin +country, then seeding the land, later harvesting their meager +crops--all initial undertakings requiring more patience and +persistence than afterward, when better supplied with tools and +implements, and more familiar with natural requirements. From this +small beginning--followed by periods of anxiety, disappointment and +hardship, as settlers, with more courage than money, in most all new +countries have endured in battling with the uncertain phases which +confronted them--the pluck of these hardy pioneers is represented in +Dunedin being the metropolis of southern New Zealand. + +Losing time hunting for level land or gently sloping hills on which to +establish a city was not the Scotch way of doing things. The hills are +so high, steep and rugged where the citizens of this center live that +electric power would fail to draw street cars up some of the inclines; +hence steps are cut into the rocks, and walks, made of boards, lead up +to many of the homes. Like the rocky hills within the municipality, +Dunedin is solidly built. Dark graystone figures largely in building, +and streets are good and well looked after. An electric street car +system is another asset, and the railway station is one of the best +government buildings in New Zealand. Numerous church steeples rising +about the metropolis attest the well-known religious tendency of this +race; an art gallery, museum, libraries, schools, colleges and other +factors indicating intellectual advancement, are found here--14,000 +miles from Scotland and the gateway to the Antarctic region--a credit +to Scotland grit. Among the manufactures are woolen goods and farm +machinery. Frozen meat exports from the Island Dominion, as this +country is often termed, are large. This great industry had its +inception here, the first cargo being shipped in a sailing vessel from +this port in 1881. Burns' clubs, bagpipe bands--which thrill a Scot +wherever found--and Caledonian societies have flourished here since +its settlement. The bands keep things lively, appearing frequently in +complete regalia, the pipers holding their own with any in Scotland. + +Sixty thousand people live in Dunedin, these being mainly Scotch. Some +of the early colonists came from Dundee and others from Edinburgh, +Scotland. While settlers from the former were bent on naming their new +home Dundee, those from the latter wanted the place called Edinburgh. +A compromise was finally reached by their taking the first syllable of +Dundee (Dun) and the first and second syllables of Edinburgh (Edin), +calling the place Dun-edin. + +Ho! An American flag was flying from the mast of an old three-masted +schooner in Otaga harbor. Though I had traveled nearly 22,000 miles +since leaving New York and had been at the main ports of three +continents, this was the only occasion the Stars and Stripes was +observed flying from a vessel. + +Little difference was observed here in the clothes worn or the general +customs in vogue in America; but British names for certain business +callings are the rule, such as ironmonger, fishmonger, mercer, draper, +etc. + +Everybody cuts their own bread in Dunedin. Sometimes resting on a +wooden dish, and in other instances on an ordinary piece of board, the +loaf is placed on the table, with a big knife alongside. Meat is +served carved, however. + +Splendid horses are noticeable--the big, heavy-bodied, hairy-legged +Clydesdale breed. + +Street cars do not run earlier than 1 o'clock on Sunday afternoons, +when church services are over. + +Liquor licenses are issued only to hotel-keepers; none to places where +travelers are not accommodated. Hotel expenses were only $1.50 a day. + +South Pole expeditions sailing from Europe generally call and remain +some time at Port Chalmers to refurnish their stores before piercing +the icy reaches of the Antarctic division of the world, and this is +the first port explorers reach upon emerging from that but partially +known region. Dual names to many seaports throughout the British +Empire prove confusing to the ordinary person. A news cablegram may +tell of a South Pole exploring vessel having reached "Port Chalmers, +N. Z." Seafaring men would know at once by the name the message bore +that the explorers were in Dunedin; but very few persons in America or +Europe would know that Port Chalmers and Dunedin denote the same +place. Durban, South Africa, is another instance of a place known by +two names. A seafaring man would call Durban "Port Natal" instead of +the name by which it is better known; and cables also give it as Port +Natal. Instances could be cited of a captain saying he was sailing to +a certain "port" which a passenger never heard of, but who would +readily recognize the place if the name was mentioned as it is +designated in books. + +The apteryx--or kiwi, as this bird is generally called--is a native of +New Zealand, and one of the strangest fowl in the world. Man, beast, +animal and fowl have been provided with two arms and two legs, four +legs, or two legs and two wings, respectively. The kiwi, as large as a +hen and brown of color, however, has been furnished with two legs, but +has no wings. Its feet are similar to those of other fowl; it has a +long bill, and thin, scattering feathers grow straight from its head. +The sides of the kiwi appear as free of wings as those of a cat. The +habits of that strange bird are similar to the pheasants. Its call +note, "ki-i-wi!" uttered during the early hours of the night, has +great penetrating power, and ceases after midnight. + +"Not far from here is a waterfall with a drop of 2,000 feet--the +highest in the world," remarked a patriotic New Zealander. "Is it an +uninterrupted waterfall?" was asked. "No, there are several breaks," +was the answer. When reminded that Yosemite Falls, in California, has +a sheer drop of 1,600 feet and a total descent of 2,400 feet, it +occurred to him he may have used the word "world" inadvisedly. Not far +from Dunedin is the natural scenic section of that country, with a +splendid chain of lakes, glaciers, high mountains and attractive +gorges. The highest mountain in Australia is 7,000 feet, and Mount +Cook, not far from Dunedin, rises to 12,000 feet. Cold weather +prevails in this section in winter, accompanied by ice, snow and +blizzards. + +No snakes or poisonous insects are said to be found in that country. +One may lie down on the earth in any place and have no fear of being +bitten or stung by anything that lives under or on the surface. + +From Dunedin to Christchurch I had my first experience riding on New +Zealand trains, owned by the government. Some of the passenger coaches +are patterned after the American cars. The track is more than a foot +narrower--3 feet 6 inches--which does not allow room for two persons +on a seat on each side of the car aisles. One row of seats will seat +two persons, but those on the other side accommodate but one person. +Seats are upholstered, and the train schedule is 30 miles an hour. +This was a first-class car, and the fare three cents a mile. Some of +the second-class coaches are not as well equipped. Boards, secured to +the sides, with only a thin cushion over them, run the length of the +vehicle. It is merely a bench, no partition separating passengers, the +side of the coach serving as a back rest. The corner seats are coveted +ones, as a passenger can put his back to the end and stretch his legs. +It is the worst accommodation I have seen in railroad coaches. The +government charges its patrons two cents a mile; no reduction in fare +is allowed for return tickets. + +A hundred miles south of Christchurch the road passes through a rich +farming country known as Canterbury Plains. Farm land in that district +sells at $200 to $300 an acre. Great quantities of frozen mutton, wool +and grain are shipped from Timaru, a seaport town in that section. As +many as 6,000,000 carcasses of mutton and lamb are shipped from New +Zealand each year. There are over 25,000,000 head of sheep in the +Island Dominion. + +One would never think it was possible to conduct a farm on an +eight-hour basis, yet those are the hours worked by farm hands in New +Zealand, with extra pay for overtime. Wages are good, also, as they +run from $30 to $40 a month with board. + +One would feel safer with hobnails in the soles of his shoes while +walking about some of the residential sections of Dunedin, so steep +are the hills; but Christchurch is built on a level surface--on +Canterbury Plains. Dunedin, as stated, was settled by the Scotch, but +Christchurch was settled by the English in 1850, two years after the +foundation of Dunedin was laid. + +Instead of States, the Dominion of New Zealand is divided into +provinces, and Christchurch is the metropolis of the Canterbury +Provincial District. It has a population of 70,000 thrifty people, and +the city is rich in beautiful flower gardens, fruit trees, and grassy +lawns, while the River Avon, its water of a glassy clearness, and its +grassy and tree-covered banks, uniting in forming a picture, winds +attractively through the city. + +Here may be seen splendid churches, colleges and schools. Seldom is a +church the center or hub of a city, yet street cars stop and start +from the Cathedral of Christchurch, and it is the point from which +distances are measured. No skyscrapers, nor such grand buildings as +Melbourne and Sydney can boast of are seen here, yet everything has a +solid, attractive and complete appearance. + +The homes of the people attract attention by the large space in front +of them and at the sides. Each lot contains one-quarter of an acre--66 +feet in front and 136 feet in depth. Houses are mostly one story, and +flowers, shrubs and grass in front and at the sides add much to their +comfortable appearance. Most of these are owned by their occupants, +and where rent is paid, which, as in Australia, is on a weekly basis, +the rate is from $3 to $5. Every home has its own reservoir or water +supply. Some thirty feet under the surface there is said to be a lake, +and each householder bores in his yard until the water gushes up. The +waste water running from these thousands of wells serves as a flushing +system. Christchurch streets are of good width--66 feet. + +One could not expect to visit a prettier place than Hagley Park, +through which the beautiful Avon River runs. Weeping willow trees grow +on the banks, and the ends of their drooping limbs are constantly +refreshed by the water in which they rest. Besides the general +attractiveness of the park, there is a splendid museum containing +much of interest, built within the grounds. + +"Wait Until Car Stops, Fine $25," is a caution to passengers posted in +street cars of that city. Were street car companies in some American +cities fined $25 every time a conductor forgot to signal a stop at +places where he was requested to do so there would be more +appointments kept, money saved passengers, and less wrangling. + +Every one is his own bread carver here, as in Dunedin. The New +Zealander, like his Australian brother, is a meat eater. Beef sold at +10 to 12 cents, mutton at 6 to 8 cents, and pork at 12 cents a pound. + +Good newspapers are printed in this city. Wages are $15 to $16 a week. +Laborers receive $2 a day. An eight-hour day is universal in New +Zealand. + +The system of measurement in both New Zealand and Australia is that of +the chain--66 feet. A chain wide, two chains, two-and-a-half chains +long, are the terms used. + +Prohibition has a considerable hold on the people, as most of the +smaller cities are "dry." + +Double fare may be charged by cab drivers on holidays only, but in +other countries cabbies collect excess fares any time patrons will pay +them. + +Theaters, bioscopes, amusements and sports of all sorts are found in +the city, being freely patronized. + +The kea bird of New Zealand is destructive to sheep, and for that +reason the government pays a bounty of $5 for every dead kea. This +bird is of the parrot species, dark green in color, with a bill an +inch and a half in length, curved like a parrot's beak. It will alight +on a sheep's back, and at once attack the animal in the section of the +kidneys with its sharp bill, as the only part the kea cares for is the +fat growing about the kidneys. The animal naturally bleeds to death in +a short time, when the bird gratifies its appetite at leisure. The +desire for this food is an acquired one, as the kea first got its +taste for sheep fat from skins hung on fences and other places to dry. + +The islands of New Zealand are divided by Cook's Straits, which are +40 miles wide. One section, lying south of Cook's Straits, is known as +South Island, and the land north of the straits is termed North +Island. We have been traveling in South Island, which is far richer. + +Port Lyttleton, the port for Christchurch, is located nine miles from +the metropolis. Boats run to Wellington daily, the sailing time being +ten hours. + +One man one vote, and one woman one vote, is the scope of franchise +New Zealand offers. Parliament is composed of 70 members, elected for +three years. Several political parties exist in the Dominion, and the +one in power chooses from among the Assembly a successor for the +Premiership. Although the Premier is the responsible head of the +government, over him is an imperial official, a governor-general, from +the British Isles, who is appointed by the King of England. New +Zealand, in common with other colonies of the British Empire, pays the +governor-general's salary. The Cook group of islands, located 1,800 +miles northeast of Wellington in the Southern Pacific Ocean, is a +dependency of New Zealand, and its affairs are administered by the +Dominion Parliament. + +Previous mention has been made of a good railway station in Dunedin, +and that nearly completed the substantial government buildings seen +when that country was visited. We also commented on the poor +accommodation furnished second-class passengers on railway trains, +though paying two cents a mile. A wooden building--if it has not since +been replaced--"the largest wooden office building in the world," is +pointed out to visitors to Wellington. A government office building in +the capital of a country--built of wood! The worst public building in +the splendid city of Christchurch was the government railway station; +the station at Wellington would not make a decent sheep shed. With +passenger and freight rates sufficient, and a heavy import duty +collected on most commodities entering the country, together with an +annual tax on incomes of $1,500 and over, the dearth of creditable +public buildings, and the inferior railway accommodation afforded +second-class passengers, would seem to suggest that government +management did not bear the mark of striking efficiency. On the other +hand, the people are thrifty, courteous, kind, congenial and mostly in +good circumstances. + +The business portion of Wellington is built at the bottom of a chain +of high hills, with a splendid harbor front. These hills are so steep +that stairways and cable lines figure largely as utilities by which +residents reach their homes. One misses the convenient squares and +parks found in other centers in that part of the world, but the +absence of these here is accounted for by lack of room, as the space +between the butts of the hills and the docks is limited even for +business purposes. Some distance from the business center, however, is +a good botanical garden, and in another direction are creditable +parks, with sports grounds included, which enable the capital to make +a fair showing in this particular. + +Most of the dwellings are of wood, and rents are, like the hills +surrounding the city, high. The weekly system of paying bills is +customary here. Some of these homes, for which $25 and $35 a month +rent is paid, are difficult to reach, even after one has alighted from +a cable car. Rents are higher in Wellington than in any city of +Australasia. Wages, too, are comparatively low. Laborers receive no +more than in cities where rent is much cheaper. Mechanics receive +about $3 a day. + +One cannot but observe the trend of industrial advancement in almost +every quarter of the globe visited. It is a very dull place, indeed, +where houses or buildings of some sort are not under course of +construction. In Wellington the sound of hammer and saw is heard in +valleys and on hillsides miles away from the city. Landlords squeezed +their tenants so hard that the government was finally induced to help +the citizens by advancing money with which to build homes on sites +some distance from the capital. + +Arbitration courts fix wages, but that system of settling disputes +between employer and employe works out better in theory than in +practice, judging from the number of strikes that so frequently take +place. Anyway, one clause of this law is very effective--if a man +works for an employer for a less wage than had been fixed by the +court, both employer and employe are fined. + +Double-decked street cars are in use in Wellington, as in cities of +the South Island. A few cars run on Sunday up to 2 o'clock in the +afternoon. The fare up to that hour being 12 cents, persons going to +and from church might have reason to pinch on the contribution to make +up for excessive street-car charges. The custom is hard to explain. +Certainly, it is too far to walk from some of the valleys to the city, +but, as a limited number of cars are run for the convenience of +churchgoers, why this overcharge? It is possible church-going people +have a Sunday commutation ticket; if so, non-churchgoers who patronize +the cars would pay the freight. + +Gas costs $1.80 a thousand feet here. A private company controls this +commodity. + +Wellington, with a population of 75,000, is the chief seaport of New +Zealand. In addition to being located in the center of the two +islands, its good, land-locked harbor, deep enough to admit vessels of +great draught, adds greatly to its commercial prestige. Big vessels +plying between England and New Zealand dock and start from here. + +Meat is no dearer than in other New Zealand cities--6 to 12 cents a +pound. Telegraph messages cost but 12 cents for 12 words. + +The government pays pensions to citizens who have reached the age of +65 years and whose incomes do not exceed $240 a year. This rate is the +same as is paid in Australia--$2.40 a week each to husband and wife. + +The Town Hall, with other municipal and business buildings, is a +creditable one, and its auditorium and balconies are packed with +people who attend the Sunday evening concerts, furnished by the city, +which do not begin until church services are over. A good museum is +another attraction. Little in favor of the streets can be said, +however, for they are poorly laid out and are not kept as tidy as +those in other cities. + +Newspapers are well up to the mark for the size of the city, and had +I been short of funds, I could have kept my head above water, as I was +offered work here. + +The standard of law and order maintained in the Island Dominion may be +inferred when it is mentioned that there are no keys to doors in some +hotels. When shown to a room at one place the absence of a key was +brought to the attention of the clerk. "There are no keys to any of +the rooms," he explained, in a matter-of-fact manner. Notwithstanding +high rents and the high price of gas, hotel expenses were only $1.20 a +day. + +Pelorus Jack, the pilot fish, lives on the other side of Cook's +Straits from Wellington. Like the kea bird and the kiwi, he is in a +class by himself--the most remarkable fish in the world. He is perhaps +the only pilot that ever lived who knows nothing about the science of +navigation. Pelorus Jack belongs to the dolphin family. His length is +about 14 feet, and he is bluish-white in color. His home is in Pelorus +Sound, and the channel from that body of water to Nelson is very +tortuous. Where the channel becomes dangerous for ships, Jack will be +found, waiting. When a vessel reaches the mouth of the channel, the +dolphin sallies forth, faithfully following the curves of the route, +and the ship is steered in accordance with his trail. Outgoing vessels +are also met by this remarkable fish, who precedes the ship until it +has reached safe water. The Maoris aver that Jack has lived in these +parts for generations, and in their eyes he is an ocean god. An act of +Parliament was passed in 1904 protecting all fish of that species in +New Zealand waters. As Jack is probably the only fish of his sort +living in Cook's Straits, he enjoys the exclusive protection of the +legislative decree. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Traveling up a steep grade from Wellington, and then down the mountain +on the other side of the range, the train pulled away from the coast +and headed northward, speeding over the trunk line between the capital +and Auckland. Passing through tidy towns, then over trestles spanning +rippling streams, through bushy glens, ornamented with attractive fern +trees--queen of flora here--which have no superior as a natural +adornment, we entered stretches of lava wakes, covered with a bracken +growth. To the right, Mount Ruapehu, 9,000 feet high, with its +snow-capped summit, came to view; then Mounts Ngauruhoe and Tongariro, +lower mountains than Ruapehu, appear. We next came to the King +country--Maoriland; later a stop was made at Francton Junction, where +a change of cars was made, and then headed for Rotorua, the main +attraction of the thermal district of New Zealand. + +Rotorua is a place where people come on crutches and leaning on +walking sticks, and a great number of these, on taking their departure +from the sulphur laden air of that district, leave their crutches and +walking-sticks behind. + +The New Zealand government owns this part of Geyserland, and too much +credit cannot be given for the splendid place that has been made out +of what was formerly a lava-bestrewn stretch of land on the shore of +the blue waters of Lake Rotorua. Broad streets, shaded with beautiful +avenues of trees; electric lights, gardens and parks, handsome bath +buildings, grounds for light sports and free music every day, are some +good things the government furnishes. Board can be had for from $5 to +$7 a week, and sulphur baths--the water boiling out of the +ground--cost only 12 cents, including a towel. The Rotorua wells have +proved heaven-sent blessings to many an afflicted soul. After taking +a few baths the flesh assumes a velvety softness. + +It was a pleasure to note the improvement in the condition of a +crippled person who had reached Rotorua on crutches. In a few days one +crutch sufficed; in a similar time that crutch had been discarded; a +walking stick next answered the purpose of support, and, finally, with +a beaming face and a buoyant heart, that same person, whose legs had +been distorted for years from rheumatism or some other cause, could be +seen walking about the pretty lawns or shaded streets, unsupported by +either stick or crutch, with bright eyes and a radiant countenance, at +peace with all mankind, and prepared to face the battle of life again +with limber limbs and a grateful heart. + +The geysers of Rotorua--real high spouters--cannot compare with those +of Yellowstone Park. From the shore of the lake, for half a mile back, +the ground was marked at close spaces with gurgling, bubbling and +steaming wells, and a strong sulphurous smell is nearly always +present. One feature of that section of Geyserland, however, surpasses +any of Yellowstone--a large mud pool, called Tikitere. It is really a +volcano, and the furious, boiling, bursting, smoking pond of sulphuric +mud commands unusual attention. + +Half a dozen lakes are linked together, each from five to twelve miles +in length, the sides heavily verdured with an evergreen growth, and +high hills rising in every direction, making the trip through the +lakes very interesting. One of these, Rotomahana, is a boiling body of +water. Launches travel through this steam-laden lake with as apparent +safety and comfort as through normal waters. The shores contain +numerous and deep fissures, steam coming from these openings in great +clouds. Both lake and shores present a scene like that after a big +fire, when nothing but smoke remains. + +A small Pompeii is among the attractions of this thermal district. The +place is known as Te Wairoa, and was overwhelmed in 1886 by heavy +showers of mud and volcanic ash ejected from the volcano Tarawera. +Over a hundred natives and four Europeans were buried under the mud +and lava. The ruins of the settlement--buildings, wagons and other +evidences of habitation--are yet to be seen. Ashes and cinders ejected +from the volcano at that time were carried for a distance of 60 miles. + +At Whakarewarewa, a short distance from Rotorua, is where the greatest +subterranean disturbance takes place. Quite a number of geysers are +located at that center, but none of the high-spouters were "working." +The "crack" or "show" geyser of that basin is Wairo. It seems to have +imbibed the easy-going spirit of the Maoris, for it will "work" only +on State occasions. For instance, if the governor-general of New +Zealand were to visit Rotorua, and later "Whaka," as that long name is +called for short, Wairo would be set to "working." The geyser is +coaxed into action by throwing quantities of soap into the well. +Visitors would willingly contribute money to buy soap to set Wairo +working, but as the geyser is covered with heavy planks, a prison cell +would be the reward of a person tampering with the pet "spouter." It +is said that water is forced to a height of 100 feet when Wairo gets +into harness. + +Vegetation suffers when coming in contact with the outpourings of the +Yellowstone geysers, while about Rotorua the steam and sulphuric +atmosphere from the steaming wells does not seem to interfere with the +growth of flora. Jewelry and silver and gold coins become black while +visiting that district, the sulphur in the air having this effect on +metal. + +Guides showing visitors about that district are Maori women, the price +for their services being fixed by the government, together with launch +charges for sails on the lakes. It is a good system, for one then +knows beforehand how much money a trip will cost. + +New Zealand, unlike Australia, is rife with battle cries, war songs +and narratives of native bravery. Most of the trouble had its +inception from land-grabbing by white men, and they have succeeded +well, although the natives' domain is still large. Like most natives, +the Maori is not blessed with a great amount of ambition, and his +needs are common and small, being favored with a good climate, as the +weather in the North Island is moderate the year round. + +The Maori is not a native of New Zealand, but what race of people +inhabited that country previous to his settlement history does not +record. It is safe to presume he killed off the aborigines, as he +would not brook much interference from an inferior race. The Maori is +the Polynesian, and in 1350 he paddled and rowed in canoes across a +stretch of sea for a distance of 1,700 miles--from the island of +Raratonga, one of the Cook group, to New Zealand. From that time until +New Zealand's gradual settlement he held undisputed sway. In color he +is similar to an American Indian, and is inclined to fleshiness. + +New Zealanders are very proud of the Maori. While of a warring race, +he is not a criminal. He can be made a friend--can be trusted. +Intermarriages take place frequently, and it is said the white party +to the transaction meets with no social discrimination. Civilization +has proved detrimental to them, as with most natives, however, and is +diminishing their numbers from time to time. Consumption is decimating +them fast. + +It was interesting to watch Maori women, with their babes on their +backs, cooking food and baking bread by the heat from boiling springs, +so numerous about the shores of Lake Rotorua. A board box, large +enough to admit a kettle, is placed in a well, and an iron grating put +at the bottom to rest it on. Meat, fish, vegetables or anything to be +cooked is put in the kettle. A blanket is placed over this to keep the +steam from escaping. When the food is cooked, the kettle is taken out +and the meal served. Dough is placed in them also, and the bread is +well baked. Dried shark meat is much eaten by Maoris. + +Like all South Sea Islanders, he is fond of the water, indulging in +bathing, swimming and aquatic sports. The Maori still maintains the +skill with large canoes that enabled his forefathers to paddle 1,700 +miles over the Pacific, from Raratonga to New Zealand. + +Tattooing is a very noticeable custom of these people. Women are +tattooed more generally than men. It used to be the other way. When +the custom began to die out with the men, the women took it up, and +it is they who keep it alive. The marks are made by a dark blue +liquid--the sap of a certain tree. The forehead and chin are the +places where the marks are mostly made. Tattooing does not improve the +women's looks, but they will not allow old fashions to die out. The +woman is generally the man's master. + +Maoris are a proud and independent race, considering themselves on an +equal with the white man. In order that their "equality" may be +maintained, they will not act as servants of the white race. One could +not induce a Maori girl to do housework for a European for any wage, +neither would a Maori boy black a white man's shoes. They have a vote +on any measure affecting their interest, but Dominion suffrage ends +there. Four Maoris represent their race in Parliament. The immigration +laws of this country practically prohibiting, by a high tax, Asiatic +and all other black and colored races from entering, the Maori is the +only colored inhabitant in New Zealand. + +Any land Maoris sell must be sold to the government and disposed of as +it sees fit. The government forwards to the natives the interest on +the principal from these sales when they are in need of funds. They +prefer to work in the sheep-shearing period, which lasts a month to +six weeks, during which they can earn from $8 to $10 a day. As a rule, +they do not want a steady job. + +Native women wear a charm, called tiki--a flat, green stone, one to +three inches in width and from two to four inches in length. It is a +weird image, carved in the stone, having a big, lop-sided head and +unevenly shaped body. This ornament is worn on their chest. A small +hole is bored in the top of the tiki, through which a string is +passed, and, when the ends are tied, the loop is placed around the +neck. + +Many Maori women smoke pipes. They are a religious race, and before +entering a church they lift the pipes from their mouths and place them +on a railing or a step outside. When the service is finished, each +one, on leaving the building, stoops and picks up her pipe, lights it, +and heads for her home. + + [Illustration: MAORI WOMEN'S SALUTE--RUBBING NOSES AND SHAKING HANDS. + NEW ZEALAND. + See page 195.] + + [Illustration: MAORI WOMEN COOKING BY BOILING SPRINGS. + NEW ZEALAND. + See page 193.] + +Homeless white babies and children need not be a charge on a +municipality where there is a Maori settlement. Natives will take all +the white foundlings that are offered them. As they are an honest +race, white children are not only well looked after, but are taught +good principles also. + +Rubbing noses and shaking hands is the mode of greeting when Maori +meets Maori, and their offspring learn that custom early. As a mother, +carrying her child on her back, bends to "burnish" noses with a +friend, the children seem to lean to one side and watch their mammas +carry out this old Maori mode of greeting. + +Pakeha is the native word for white people, and when white persons +speak of native and white, pakeha and native are the distinguishing +terms used. + +Visitors to Rotorua are afforded much amusement by native dances and +hakas. Women engage in the poi dance, which is a series of motions, +gone through to the accompaniment of a concertina. In the hands of +each woman is a ball of grass as large as a peach, with a grass string +attached. Time is kept with these as they come in contact with the +other hand, and when a dozen strike in unison a shuffling sound +results. The grass or flax ball is termed the poi. Men only take part +in the haka, which is a war dance, and a good one, too. An extended +account of the Maori and his customs would make interesting reading. +They number less than 50,000. + +Kaikai is the name they give to food in New Zealand. Grub, scoff, +tucker, and kaikai is the collection of food names to this point. + +We now take leave of this pretty place, where crutches, +walking-sticks, and invalid chairs are converted into kindling wood; +where pain evaporates with the sulphurous odors, and men are made anew +by bathing in that far-off pool of Siloam--where, as Langhorne so +beautifully puts it, + + "Affliction flies, and hope returns," + +and start for Auckland. + +Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, having a population of +85,000, and was the busiest we had visited. This is another +leg-straining place, but not so hilly as Dunedin or Wellington. Ships +from the South Sea Islands are arriving and departing continually, as +Auckland has a big trade with these groups. Most of the shipping +between Australia and New Zealand passes through Auckland; many large +steamships from Europe also head for this port. + +The rosy-cheeked women and children and the healthy appearance of New +Zealanders generally is a feature one cannot fail to observe. Besides, +there are few poor people--none wearing ragged clothes, +certainly--every one tidy in appearance and well dressed. Few +foreign-speaking people live in Auckland--90 per cent, are +Britishers--and all have a fair education. Schooling advantages are +good. + +The city is well supplied with parks; also a splendid museum and an +art gallery are among the assets of that busy, far-off place. +Auckland's street car system is the only one privately owned in New +Zealand. Unlike Melbourne's, though, it is fast and modern. + +The winter climate of Auckland proves a magnet to those living in +colder parts of the Dominion. It is semi-tropical and has an +invigorating atmosphere. + +The dwellings are mostly frame-built, two stories high, and from $15 +to $20 a month rent is charged. Wages do not exceed $3 a day for +mechanics and $2 a day for laborers. Meat, on the other hand, is +reasonable, ranging in price from 6 to 12 cents a pound. + +Servant girls have a union in New Zealand, and their wages run from $4 +to $5 a week. After quitting time, the lady of the house must finish +any work that has not been completed. A smart New Zealand girl does +the work of three African house servants. + +The degrading occupation of barmaid was noticeable in New Zealand, as +in most British colonies. But that kind of work for women will +gradually come to an end in the Island Dominion, as an act was passed +forbidding saloonkeepers hiring barmaids. Those that were engaged at +that work when the act was passed were allowed to remain, but when a +barmaid leaves the proprietor must fill the vacancy with a man. As +temperance has gained a strong foothold, it is not likely that, in the +near future, there will be work of that sort for either women or men. + +Punishment by lashes for certain offenses committed by men is a law of +New Zealand, the number administered being from one to fifty. + +All the inhabitants of Australasia are tea drinkers--tea for +breakfast, tea for luncheon, and tea for dinner. Mutton and lamb chops +are the meat standbys. + +The government has sadly neglected Auckland in public buildings. For a +lively business place, and the largest city in the Dominion, the +railway station was a disgrace; it was little better than the one at +Wellington, but this comparison adds nothing to the Auckland Station. + +When the American fleet visited New Zealand, the sailors took a fancy +to blankets made in that country, and before they left the hospitable +shores of the Dominion every blanket in stock had been bought. The +visit of the United States battleships here some years ago proved an +epoch-making event. + +New Zealanders are very patriotic, but often, when they have visited +Australian cities and rested their eyes on the splendid buildings and +grand parks there, and quaffed a few draughts of metropolitan air that +pervades some centers of that country, they are in no hurry to return. +New Zealand is the best place in the world until the New Zealander +visits Australia. + +Coastwise shipping, both in New Zealand and in Australia, is conducted +on a similar basis to that of the United States. A steamer leaving New +Zealand for Africa or Europe, or any foreign port, and stopping at an +Australian port to take on oversea cargo, is not allowed to carry +either freight or passengers from New Zealand to Australia. The same +rule applies to vessels coming from foreign ports that stop at +Australian ports with their destination a New Zealand port. Sailors +and firemen employed on coastwise ships are paid double the wages of +sailors on oversea ships, the same as paid sailors employed on +American ships--$40 and $45 a month. + +One steamship company has cornered almost all the shipping there is in +that part of the world. It is a four days' sail from Auckland to +Sydney, and the first-class fare is $37. If a passenger received +first-class accommodation there would be less fault to find with the +high charge. A cabin contains six berths, and these are nearly always +occupied, as travel is heavy between the two centers. What would any +one paying first-class fare on a steamship plying between the United +States and Europe think if shown a cabin containing six berths, all of +them taken? One has no choice in Australasia. Second-class +accommodation on the ships of that line is not so good as third-class +on the European liners. + +The duty on some American exports--grain binders, motor cars, +manufactured and raw material for various uses--is 25 to 60 per cent. +The duty on tobacco, most of it shipped from America, is 84 cents a +pound. + +Auckland is very attractive by reason of her good harbor and the +elevated character of land, on which the greater portion of the city +is built. + +Gold is profitably mined in both the North and South Islands. + +The newspaper industry is well represented in Auckland, and fully +measures up to the place. One will find more news from the United +States printed in Auckland papers than in any other newspapers in +Australasia. + +New Zealanders are to be commended for their fair treatment of +strangers. Travelers, particularly those from foreign lands, pay no +more for hotel accommodation and articles bought than is charged local +tourists. Every one seems to be interested in a stranger's welfare, +not for what money they can extort from him, but from a purely +Christian spirit. No petty overcharges were imposed--no one seemed +bent on getting more out of a visitor than was just. We wish them +well. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +After a four days' sail over the Tasman Sea we reached Sydney, +Australia, where, after several weeks' stay, we counted our money. +Five dollars a day was our basis of expenses, but, as hotel rates had +not exceeded $1.50 a day in Australasia, we found ourselves with a +surplus of over a hundred dollars, for our expenses had been only $4 a +day instead of $5. A very enticing trip, taking several weeks, was +advertised to Fiji, Samoa, and the Tonga Islands for $125. We could +spare $100, but feared that the other $25 might result in our being +held in Australia at a time when we had promised to be in South +Africa. However, we bought a ticket for the South Sea Islands trip, +and took the chance of a shortage. + +The ship was packed with passengers going to Fiji, as the sugar season +had just begun. The first suggestion of the demoralization that +accompanies living in the tropics was observed here. Whisky-and-soda, +whisky-and-soda, all the day and a good part of the night, seemed to +be the main "amusement" indulged in by many of the Islanders. This +pronounced phase of tropical life does not apply to any particular +white race--people of every nation travel the same road. + +After six days' sail from Sydney the ship was angling about +treacherous coral reefs, and before us were fields of bright green +color--the sugar-cane; several buildings with smokestacks rising +above--the sugar mill; one-story frame houses dotted here and there; +the shores attractive with cocoanut palms, and just behind stretches +of broad banana leaves, the tops of grass and leaf-built huts showing +now and again through the foliage, were the unerring suggestions that +the balmy tropics had been reached. + +How savage these strange people, standing on the wharf at Lautoka, +looked! The stiff hair was pointing upward for six inches from their +heads, some so bushy that the bottom of a washtub would be none too +large to accommodate the moplike, hairy spread. Tall, and of athletic +build, their features flat and negroid, copper or black in color, with +muscles standing out from legs and arms, their flesh shining from the +frequent use of cocoanut-oil, and with a cloth about their waist +extending to the knees, there stood the redeemed cannibals. + +Their hair is black and kinky, but among groups of Fijis may be seen +hair of a dark, reddish color, and, again, others are completely +plastered with white mud. The plaster is coral lime, used to change +the color, which accounts for the reddish-colored mops. Dyeing the +hair is only a fad with a native, however, for he later on becomes +tired of his reddish locks, when he will apply a black dye, the hair +again becoming its natural color. In a few days the coral lime will +change the hair from black to brown, or reddish. He rubs himself with +cocoanut-oil every day, which gives his body and limbs a polished +appearance. That daily massage largely accounts for his muscles +standing out so prominently and also for his splendid build. Besides, +he puts in a great deal of time bathing and swimming, which exercise +will add strength to any one. In diving he excels perhaps any race in +the world, for going to depths of from 35 to 40 feet is a common +pastime with him. + +The Fijis' mode of dealing with each other is communistic. A sailing +boat may be seen tied to the trunk of a cocoanut palm. All the natives +in that district having contributed to the building of the craft, when +one wished to use the boat there was no protest from other members of +the community. The same principle applies to money; when a Fiji has +earned, say, $5, he shares with others who may be in need. + +One day a week is about all he cares to work, but he will make a +sacrifice of his scruples occasionally by working two days, when, for +instance, a ship is being loaded or unloaded. He receives 50 cents a +day, with board, for that labor. On the wharf are portions of +food--sandwiches, biscuits, meat, and other eatables--for each native +employed by the ship's company. Sitting on their haunches, they +devour their allotted portion at "Smoke, ho," time. + +Numbers of them gather at a wharf of an evening when a ship is in +port. Soon the tunes of "Shall We Gather at the River?" "Jesus, Lover +of My Soul," "Hold the Fort," and other well-known hymns fall +harmoniously on the balmy air, the English words having been +translated into their language. No missionary, however, can be sure of +his black and brawny followers, for they think nothing of severing +their connection with one denomination and affiliating with any other +they think will better serve them. But all are affiliated with some +religious body. Cannibalism has not been practiced for forty years. +Fijians are a docile and agreeable race. + +Unlike his Zulu brother, a Fiji has but one wife, and families, as a +rule, are small, not averaging more than three children. For some +years the birth rate was on the decrease, but of recent years they +have held their own. Some 90,000 natives, and 40,000 Indians, or +Hindus, live in the Fiji group. + +Their huts are built of reeds, bamboo poles and cocoanut trees, the +roofs being covered with grass; they have two doors, but no windows. +Not a nail is used in the construction. Mats, made of cocoanut leaves, +are spread about the floor, giving the inside a neat appearance. Their +food is turtle, fish, yams, taro, boiled green bananas, cocoanut and +rice. A small yam looks like a beet; but some of them grow very large, +being a load for a man to carry. The taro is the root of a plant like +a lily, which grows in swamps. With these growing all around, combined +with the turtles and fish, he is as independent as he was a thousand +years ago. Then there are papaws, breadfruit and other tropical fruits +that furnish all the delicacies he may desire. + +A large sugar mill is located at Lautoka, and the sugar shipment from +the Fiji group is nearly 100,000 tons each season. The land is very +rich, and some of the cane stalks are as large as a two-inch pipe. +Working in the cane fields and mills being too hard for the Fijian, +that work is done by Indian coolies. Narrow railways are built through +the large cane fields, and the stalks are brought to the mills on +trucks from the surrounding plantations. Fiji is the richest of all +South Pacific groups. + +Free railroad travel is a luxury seldom enjoyed anywhere, but this is +to be found in Fiji. The distance from Lautoka to Ba is 28 miles, and +a railway connects the two points. There are sugar mills at both +places. A concession was granted to the sugar companies to build a +railway from Lautoka to Ba, with the stipulation that all passengers +traveling to and from these points be carried free of charge. The +track is two feet wide, and the locomotive is as broad as it is high. +A small car, with seats placed across, heads the train, and to this is +coupled several freight trucks. The schedule for the 28 miles is four +hours, but five and six hours is more often the time consumed in +making the journey. + +Europeans carrying horse-hair fastened to a stick is the first odd +thing one notices at Lautoka. Flies are very numerous and stick to one +like mosquitoes. The fly-swish is used to keep "tormentors" from +worrying one to death. Australia has the same breed of insect, but +because of the absence of black servants and black help their hands +are occupied with tools of industry instead of a hair swish with which +to insure personal comfort. + +Only 150 Europeans live in Lautoka, and these were engaged at clerical +or managerial employment. Few fat men were seen, and every one had a +bleached appearance. + +Suva, capital of the Fiji Islands, is, with Lautoka, located on the +island of Viti Levu, the largest of the group. Abel J. Tasman, the +daring navigator who first set foot on Tasmania and first saw New +Zealand, was also the first white man to come in touch with these +islands, in 1643. They became British territory in 1874. A governor, +appointed by the King of England, directs the affairs of the group, +aided by a legislative council composed of eighteen members, twelve of +whom are appointed and six elected. Two native representatives are +included in the legislative council. Great Britain recently ceded the +government of these islands to Australia. The Fiji group are composed +of 200 islands, 80 of which are inhabited. The other islands are +small, but cocoanut palms grow on most of them. + +One thousand Europeans live in Suva, and all of them dress in +immaculate white. Business houses are located along the water-front, +and the homes are built on rising hills. These dwellings rest on posts +driven in the ground, are of wood and one story in height. Large +verandas are built to the homes, and these are enclosed with +reeds--this screen keeping out the hot sun and allowing the breeze to +blow through at the same time. + +Flowers grow everywhere, nature being liberal to Fiji both in quantity +and variety. Leaves on vegetation range from the size of an +ironing-board down to the finest fern-leaf. The sleeping tree, seen in +Suva, is of interest. When the sun has hid behind the tropical hills +the leaves begin to curl, and by dark they all close. At daylight, the +leaves begin to wake, as it were, and a short time after sunrise they +have unfolded to their full size. One weed or small bush that grows +here is a marvel of the vegetable world. It is called the sensitive +plant. If one looks at it, it seems to shrink away, and the slightest +touch will cause its leaves to shrivel up, as if dead. On leaving the +plant, the leaves slowly expand again. This plant goes to sleep, too, +when the chill of evening falls, but opens at the first flush of the +morning sun. + +"The king of plants," the hibiscus, a flower from three to six inches +across, of a bright red and sometimes red and white color, grows in +profusion. Hedges are often made of the hibiscus, and when in bloom it +offers a superior floral scene. There is no end to flowers in Fiji. + +"Oh, mamma! Look at the black bobbies!" (policemen) roared a young +Britisher when he first saw the Fiji police. The guardians of peace in +Fiji are termed constabulary, and natives compose the force. They wear +a bushy head of hair, as does the civilian native, have bare feet and +polished legs. Their uniform is a blue jacket, or tunic, and white +sulu (a kilt), the latter scalloped or vandyked round the edges. +Natives prefer police duty or soldiering to all other work. Unlike the +Zulu, he scorns domestic service, and field labor does not appeal to +him. A bright red hibiscus, or another flower of flaring hue, may be +seen sticking in his hair at the side. Thus the Suva policeman looks +neat, and is certainly noticeable. + +The best building in Suva is a library, donated by a Scotch +philanthropist. It is built of cement. Little can be said of the +government buildings; yet in this small place is a botanical garden +large cities would be proud of. + +Copra (dried cocoanut) is shipped in considerable quantities from +Suva. Brought from adjacent islands in small sailing boats, it is +loaded on vessels at the capital port. A cocoanut tree produces a +dollar's worth of copra yearly. Forty trees is the number generally +planted to the acre. Eight years' time is required from planting until +bearing. The trees require very little care, and, if not blown down by +storms, will yield for a hundred years. + +It is marvelous to what uses the cocoanut tree and its fruit can be +put. Besides being a staple food of natives, the pulp, together with +cocoanut oil, is made into cakes for cattle, particularly dairy cows. +The pulp contains 40 per cent. nutriment, and both increased quantity +and richness of milk result when a cow is fed with these cakes. There +is a demand for this food in Australia. Soap is also made of the +cocoanut, together with candies, and preparations for cooking purposes +claim a large portion of the product. The coir, or fibers, and +cocoanut leaves are used to make mats, baskets, scrub brushes, brooms, +fans, pillows, for thatching houses, making rope and twine, and in +many other ways the cocoanut tree and its product serve as articles of +utility. + +The Fijian believes that the food that tickles his palate should also +be relished by the white man. When one stops at a native's home it +would be better to forget for the time being that he is a white. +Fijians are very hospitable, and share with a white visitor the best +they have. It makes no difference how the native food may look, smell +or taste, if a white man refuses to partake of the hospitality offered +the native will be offended. + +From 40,000 to 50,000 Indian coolies live in these rich islands, most +of whom work in the sugar-cane fields. Then there are what is known as +the Solomon Island "boys," in considerable numbers in Fiji, engaged at +the same work. The Fijian will not do hard work if he has a chance to +run away. Indians are brought to Fiji under the indenture system for a +term of five years. At the end of the indentureship, though, they may +remain in Fiji. Herein a similar blunder was made in Natal, South +Africa. Indians will eventually own the sections of Fiji worth having; +then natives, white men, and all others will have no chance to make a +living. + +Some 500 lepers are detained on one island; but there was no leprosy +in Fiji, nor other bad diseases affecting the group before Indians +were imported to work in the sugar fields. From six to ten Indians are +hanged here every month; but there were very few hangings before +Indians came. When sending out packs of indentured coolies the Indian +government apportions one woman to three men; this may explain the +monthly hangings. + +"Everybody in town knows what's in the papers before they come out," +remarked a resident when speaking of the Suva newspapers. Two are +printed in the Fiji capital, each appearing three times a week. As +editions appear on alternate days, Suva enjoys the luxury of a daily. +Business men seem to be well satisfied with the publishers' efforts, +for, out of 28 columns contained in each of the tri-weeklies, 20 +columns were advertisements. Considering population, high cable +charges, etc., Suva's newspapers outstrip anything we can recall; they +sell at six cents a copy. + +All natives go to church on Sunday morning. Each one has a Bible or +hymn book carefully wrapped in a cloth or paper. Men and women are +dressed in their best, the men mostly in white jackets and sulus +(kilts), wearing vari-colored neckwear. Women wear cheap picture hats +or go bareheaded. With the latter style go fronds of delicate ferns, +artistically woven in the hair, or plaited together along with a +pretty hibiscus or other flaring flower. The natives not only look +attractive, but their demeanor commands respect. Their singing is of +fair quality, and they put their heart in their efforts. + +The English money system--shillings and pounds--is the one in use in +the Fiji group. Hotel expenses were $2 to $3 a day. + +All barriers and shoals in the sea in that part of the world are +termed coral reefs. Beautiful specimens are brought to the steamships +by natives to sell to passengers. The natural color of the coral is +brown, which becomes white when bleached in the sun. Then there are +big shells that are beauties--some so large they could not go in a +water pail. One variety of pearl shell--cici--found in the vicinity of +Suva has developed into quite an industry. A ton weight of these sell +from $125 to $150. They are as large as a goose egg. The Fijian dives +for these among the reefs, a kind of work that suits him to a T. These +shells are shipped to pearl merchants in China. + +On the island of Mbau, situated not far from Suva, is the ancient +capital of Fiji, where all who may be termed aristocratic in Fiji +live. It was here the last king, Cakobau the Terrible, lived, died and +was buried. Kandavu Levu, the greatest of the Fijian lords and the +grandson of Cakobau, now lives in the old cannibal king's stronghold. +He receives a pension from the British government. The Fijian +princess, Andi Cakobau, the grand-daughter of King Cakobau, is also +among the high-bred Fijian residents at Mbau. + +Sixty miles further a stop was made at Levuka, on the island of +Ovalau, as pretty a settlement as one could wish to see. Only 250 +Europeans live in this place, but all seemed prosperous. These are +mostly traders, and it would surprise one to see the varied assortment +of goods in the stores. Roofs of houses are painted red, and the +residences are surrounded by cocoanut palms, papaw trees, and bananas. +There are flowers everywhere--even the shrubbery bears flowers. + +A short distance from Levuka we came to a native village. Between the +front rows of huts was a street, 150 feet wide, covered with grass. On +visiting one of the huts, the husband pointed to a bed, which +consisted of a dozen mats piled on the floor, inviting me to sit +down. A moment later he bethought himself of the baby sleeping in the +part of the bed where he had invited me to sit. He pointed to a little +mound under the mats, laughed, and indicated that I sit in another +place. Scanning the tidy enclosure, to my surprise, a large picture of +Jeffries, the ex-prizefighter, hung from one side. It pleased the +native to see the interest I took in the poster, for he laughed aloud, +and, pointing to it, said something that sounded like "Ugh!" + +Visiting another hut, it was also found very neat, the floor being +covered with cocoanut mats; the mat bed was the visitor's seat here +also. This Fijian could speak no English, and we had not been long +enough in the islands to acquire a speaking knowledge of the native +language. At our approach the wife came to the center of the hut, but +a few moments later, much to our surprise, she sat on the floor and +began turning a handle to an American-made hand sewing machine that +rested on a soap box. + +It is possible for a Fijian to march 40 miles a day, heavily loaded, +without food; but sometimes he takes twelve hours to travel only +twelve miles, and eats half a dozen big meals during the journey. He +is said to have a more pronounced weakness for yanggona, the native +liquor, than have any other of the South Sea Islanders. This beverage +is made from the root of a tree and, when drunk to excess, +intoxicates. Each native must pay a yearly government tax of $5. + +So that the reader may gather some idea of the scope of the planet on +which we live, it may be of interest to note, before leaving Levuka, +that this small port is located 11 hours and 59 minutes east of +Greenwich, England, from which point the time of the world is +computed. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Traveling through still, blue-water channels, resembling wide +esplanades, if the term be allowed, formed by heavily verdured +tropical islands on each side, with curly coral reefs peeping out of +the sea from time to time, we sailed for 150 miles through what may be +termed an ocean park, when the ship entered the Koro Sea, and two days +later reached the Samoan Islands. Sixty miles east of Levuka we +crossed the line of the 180th meridian, where time changes 12 hours. + +A red stream of lava, running from the mouth of a volcano down a +mountain course 15 miles in length, and emptying into the sea, is a +strange phenomenon. This volcano is located on the island of Savaii, +the largest of the Samoan group. The distance from the shore to the +mouth of the crater is seven miles, but the circuitous course of the +stream is double the direct distance. The volcano burst into activity +in 1905, and a foreshore of lava a quarter of a mile in extent bears +evidence of the crater's outpourings since that time. In daytime the +molten stream is white, and at night it resembles a great flaring +serpent as it angles its way about rocky obstructions down the +mountainside to the sea. Not far from the shore the lava bored a +tunnel through a hillock that interfered for a time with its flow, and +day and night the stream is red when passing through that opening. The +cloud of steam that rises as the lava enters the water resembles a +great volume of spray from a large waterfall. It is said the sea is a +mile deep where this lava stream empties into the Pacific Ocean. Ships +stop opposite the crater to allow passengers to view this unusual +spectacle. + +Passing through a coral reef channel, we arrived in the harbor of +Apia, capital of the Samoan Islands. The little town stretches along +the bay, cocoanut palms lining the shore at places, the trees and +heavily verdured hills in the foreground giving the Samoan capital a +high position in the list of pretty places. The ship was soon +surrounded by natives, who offered for sale fans, shells, corals, +beads and flowers. + +The Samoan is the native aristocrat of all peoples. In bearing, looks, +manners, tidiness, hospitality and pride he leads the world. He is the +Polynesian, together with the Maori, the Tongan (Friendly Islander), +the Kanaka (of Hawaii), and other tribes living on some of the South +Pacific islands. The Samoans number 40,000, about 500 Europeans living +in the group. + +If one should reach Apia on Sunday he would be apt to find the hair on +the heads of a majority of men a yellow and reddish color; and were +one to stop at the same port on a Tuesday or Wednesday the hair would +be black, the natural color. Coral lime will change the color of hair +in two or three days, when he puts on his best lava-lava (kilt; sulu +in Fiji), the light-colored hair indicating he is dressed up. The hair +is straight, and worn brushed back. The lava-lava is often a bath +towel with red stripes. From his waist up he is bare, and he wears no +shoes. From waist-line to the cap of the knee he is tattooed. His skin +is a gold-bronze color, and he walks with a princely step, but not a +swagger stride. Natives are of good size, but not so strongly built as +the Zulus. + +Samoan women are noted for their beauty, and their comeliness measures +up to this coveted distinction not only among the South Sea Islands +races, but of native races of the world. They wear the lava-lava, as +the men, together with a loose-fitting waist, with short, loose +sleeves. Wrappers, however, are sometimes worn. The clothing worn on +the islands is made with the object of affording comfort. The hair +generally presents a tidy appearance. Flowers, ferns or leaves are +often seen deftly placed in the folds of the thick black hair of +Samoan women, which usually shines from a liberal application of +cocoanut oil. Garlands, worn about the neck, also play a part in their +dress. These are sometimes composed of orange blossoms, buds of other +flowers, berry-like seeds from trees, small seashells, pits from +certain fruits, or of pieces of bone resembling teeth of wild beasts. +As a rule, their expressions are pleasing, and they have a healthy +appearance. Some wear sandals, but most natives are in their bare +feet. As with the wearing apparel of most races, the lava-lavas and +waists are not all of the same color, but vary according to the fancy +of the wearer; and the seed of fancy and caprice seems to be implanted +in the hearts of women of all races, as manifested not only by the +different colors of the lava-lava, but also by the patterns of silks, +sealskins, feathers, and precious stones, as the case may be. + +These natives are too proud to unload ships, so Nieu "boys," natives +from the Savage Islands, are carried from port to port to do the work. +Each Samoan owns a small piece of land, and the copra, cocoa, bananas +and other tropical products from this amply supply his needs. + +When eating in a Samoan's hut a mat is spread for the visitor to sit +on. Another mat is placed before the visitor, which might be termed a +tablecloth. A banana-leaf plate, placed on the second mat, may contain +a baked fish or perhaps a pigeon. Still another dinner mat, with a +banana-leaf plate, contains greens, the taro leaf, and cocoanut cream; +then there may be a third course, with mat and "plate," containing a +native delicacy. The native beverage, kava, is served in a cocoanut +shell by one of the daughters. All the while chatting is going on and +compliments paid the visitor by the family through an interpreter, if +one cannot speak their language. Sipping liquid is not a custom in +Samoa; but swallowing whatever is offered in the nature of drink at +one gulp, and then sending the cup spinning back across the mat to the +person who served it, is proper. One is supposed to sit cross-legged +on a mat during the meal. + +Most of the natives seemed to own a horse and buggy, and no signs of +poverty are apparent. People are in no hurry in Samoa, which may +account for the term, "The land of delicious idleness." The weather is +hot, never below 90 degrees in the shade, and hovers about the 100 +mark. The temperature does not vary 10 degrees all the year round. + +For miles around Apia is a great botanical garden. It is said the best +cocoanut palms grow in Samoa; bananas grow as prolific as weeds; the +broad-leafed cocoa tree, with its large, purple-covered pods, covers +large areas; the papaw, or mummy apple, is seen at every turn; coffee +bushes are a luxurious growth; pineapples, mango trees, breadfruit +trees, with broad leaves and rough skin--any tree or plant that grows +in the tropics may be found in Samoa. The exports from that port are +chiefly copra and cocoa. Samoa is the only place in the South Sea +Islands where cocoa trees will thrive. + +Nobody locks doors at night, and nothing is ever taken from huts. +Calling on an acquaintance who kept a general store, we found the +place filled with Samoans--not room enough to move. He had occasion to +step to the rear for some article called for, leaving the goods, which +were piled up on the counters, to the mercy of the natives, and much +floor space was taken up with merchandise, too. After the customers +had left the store, the storekeeper was asked if he did not fear that +his goods would be taken while he was at the rear of the building. "If +I had turned around while walking from the front to the rear of the +store," he explained, "something would have been missing, for I would +have offended their sense of honesty, but by giving no sign of +suspicion--trusting them--had I remained away an hour everything in +the place would be, on my return, as it was when I went away." + +Samoans are a religious race. On Sundays the streets are crowded with +natives dressed in highly-colored lava-lavas, each carrying a Bible +and hymn book. They are good singers. + +Only a few miles from Apia, Robert Louis Stevenson, the novelist, +lived and died. On Mount Vaca, rising a thousand feet above Apia, his +remains lie, and a portion of the tomb may be seen through the thick +foliage when sailing into the harbor. His home, "Vailima," is now the +residence of the Governor-General. + +"Talofa" is the passing salute in Samoa, which, translated, is "My +love to you." "Tofa" is the parting word on leaving a Samoan home, +meaning "good-by." + +Foreign labor is imported to work on plantations, as the natives +cannot be depended upon; Chinamen are generally employed. And what an +improvement the Chinaman is on the Indian coolie! + +The Samoan is a fatalist. If the idea comes into his head that he is +going to die no power on earth will keep him alive. He gives right up, +lies down on the ground, in a boat, or wherever he may be--just makes +up his mind that his time has come. + +A Samoan chief dressed in war regalia is an object of interest. His +well shaped head, covered with a heavy growth of black hair brushed +back and glossy from applications of cocoanut oil, rests on a stocky +neck. The face is round, complexion bronze, and he generally wears a +mustache. In addition to a necklace, thickly studded with polished, +round, sharp-pointed pieces of bone, several inches in length, which +encircles the neck, a loop of stout cord, ornamented with larger and +rougher pieces of bone, resting on the shoulders and extending to +below the chest, is worn. Save for the necklace and loop, the warrior +is bare to his waist. From waistline to between knee and ankle he is +covered with a bulky kilt--often made of bark cloth--this being +embellished with fringe, tassels and ribbon woven from tropical +fibers. Plump, but not fat, he stands about 5 feet 6 inches. A rifle +is a fighting feature of the chief's equipment, and, like most +Samoans, is in bare feet. + +Elephantiasis makes its appearance in Samoa, and natives with legs +swollen to the proportion of an elephant's may be seen walking any +time at a slow, shuffling gait, about the islands. This disease occurs +more often in tropical sea sections, and is believed to be caused by a +blood parasite. The legs become enormously enlarged, due to +inflammation of the skin and obstructed circulation of the blood. + +America has adopted a good system of looking after natives' copra +produced on the islands of Manua and Tutuila, United States territory. +An officer in charge at Pago-Pago receives the goods, weighs it, gives +a receipt for the product, and sells when the market offers the best +price. In the meantime, if the native needs money, he can, by applying +to the proper officer, have funds advanced to him. When his copra +is sold, he is paid the full price. + + [Illustration: INTERIOR OF SAMOAN HOME, BUILT OF BREADFRUIT TREE, + SECURED BY COIR; NO NAILS USED. + SAMOA.] + +The huts or homes of the Samoans, circular in form, are the best built +of those of any native races. From a heavy center upright beam, 12 to +16 feet in length, scantlings extend to a circular support, which +rests on posts three feet high. The roof, composed of cocoanut palm +leaves, is secured to breadfruit wood scantlings. Palm-leaf curtains, +the width of the space from post to post, are attached to the circular +timber. During the day the shades are raised all round, allowing air +to pass through, and at night they are lowered. As an additional means +of cooling the home, a strip of pebbles, two feet wide, extends around +the hut, mats covering the floor space each side of the circle of +small stones. The bed is composed of half a dozen to a dozen +cocoanut-leaf mats, four feet wide and six feet in length, and white +cotton sheets, laid on the floor. In the morning the bedding is rolled +together, placed on poles above, and taken down at bedtime. As chairs +do not figure in the furnishing of a Samoan home, a leaf mat is used +as a seat. + +Though Samoans will not unload ships, they have no objection to +washing clothes. They board vessels in the harbor and solicit laundry +work, charging eight cents apiece. For a white suit of drill they +charge only eight cents, a pair of socks or a collar costing the same. + +On a sailing ship, and on a naval cutter plying between Pago-Pago and +Apia (both seen here), also on a schooner at Dunedin, N. Z., were the +only instances since leaving New York when the Stars and Stripes was +observed flying from vessels. + +Upolu Island, on which Apia is located, is second in area to Savaii, +being 38 miles long and 12 wide. Samoa is one place in the Southern +Pacific Ocean that Abel Tasman was not the first to set eyes on, this +group being discovered by Captain Roggeville, in 1721. + +We reached Apia on a Sydney Sunday (Eastern time), which was Saturday +in Apia (Western time). Naturally, Sydney's Monday was Apia's Sunday, +so we had two Saturdays and two Sundays that week. It is difficult +for the layman to understand how twelve hours can make a day, as we +appeared to lose one after crossing the line of the 180th meridian +from east to west. + +A weekly newspaper of 48 columns, 25 of these advertisements, is +published in Apia. Only 200 Europeans live in the town, yet a +newspaper of that size appears to flourish. + +The American consul called at the ship one evening in tropical evening +dress to have a chat with the American passengers--four in number. He +asked the captain of the vessel, who was a Britisher, to blow his +whistle three times on sailing out of the harbor, when he would +acknowledge the salute by lowering the flag on the staff at the +consulate. The captain kept his word, the following day, but the flag +did not move. There is nothing strange about such forgetfulness, +however, for the consulate is located in "The Land of Delicious +Idleness." + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +We will now say "Tofa" to that splendid race and their pretty islands +and make a start for Tonga, when the day "lost" will be reclaimed, as +we recross the 180th meridian. The captain did not turn back the +ship's clock here, but kept the Sydney time. + +Passing between two prominent stone walls, we entered the harbor of +Vavau, Tonga, another group of the South Sea Islands. This group +appears on some maps as the Friendly Islands. Abel Tasman, who +discovered so many countries before any one else, but allowed others +to claim what he first saw, discovered the Tongan group in 1643. Over +a hundred years later Captain James Cook, the explorer, made three +visits to these islands, before and after he had planted the British +flag on Australia and New Zealand. The Tongans have always had +self-government, but the group is under the protection of the British. +The native ruling power is King George Tubou II. Parliament consists +of 32 elected representatives and an equal number of hereditary +chiefs, all of native birth. The islands also boast a Prime Minister, +a Chancellor of the Exchequer, a Chief Justice and other high +officials. + +King George Tubou II., at the opening of Parliament, wears a European +court suit, a gold and jeweled crown, and a long mantle of crimson +velvet trimmed with ermine, which is supported by two boys attired in +tights, trunks, and feathered caps, while the king's soldiers line the +highway along which the royal procession marches. To maintain that +standard of royalty the natives are taxed $10 each a year, with +maturity age at 16. The native head tax in Fiji is $5, and in Samoa +$3, so the Tongan pays highly for the royal atmosphere he breathes. + +The harbor of Vavau is the prettiest we have seen, but it would not +be advisable to make that statement in Sydney, Australia. While the +striking panorama offered by Sydney's is absent here, Nature's lavish +tropical adornment offsets that feature, wrought mainly by the hand of +man, in the former. For seven miles, from the imposing Heads to the +small town at the other end, the shores are studded with cocoanut +palms, and the bay is beautifully bedecked with small and pretty +islands, thickly verdured with a moistened growth, the fronds of the +cocoanut palm and leaves of the banana bush growing on these dipping +their points into the still, mirror-like blue water from every side. +Smaller vegetation grows upward for a time, but later yields to the +seductiveness of the clear, calm, coral-reflected water, when the +bright, tender tips of these become fondled, as it were, by the gentle +ripples, adding more attractiveness to this unusual scene of natural +beauty. These islands would remind one of a flower-pot overgrown with +drooping ferns. The vessel is pointed straight, then veers, when the +foliage of one of these green barriers seems almost to brush the +water-line of the ship. After a turn in another direction, the course +is straight again for a short distance. Another of these pretty +islands is seen just ahead, when the vessel slants and seem to barely +miss caressing the foliage drooping into the water. All the while the +palm-studded shore maintains its most pronounced beauty. Traveling +through Vavau harbor is like sailing through an enchanted botanical +garden. + +"Malolelei," the word a visitor first hears from a Tongan, is "Good +day" in the native language. One soon asks another who knows how to +pronounce the word to teach him the vernacular, for the salute is +supposed to be returned. Every one says "Malolelei." + +The Tongan is very friendly to the whites, which explains how the name +"Friendly Islands" came to be applied to the Tongan group. Mariners, +in early days, when shipwrecked on the shores of these islands, were +killed, cut up, and made stew of. But nowadays they would be fed, +housed and receive any and every attention that would make their +misfortune easier to bear. Were a white man known to be in need, every +native would feel it his duty to help relieve him. Each would bring +with him food, and if the hungry man could eat all that was brought to +him he might live to be as old as Methuselah without worrying about +money to pay his board bill. + +"The Sun is dead!" was the term used by the natives to describe a +total eclipse of the sun that took place while traveling through the +South Sea section of the journey. The words were spoken in a solemn +tone, and it was amusing to note the difference in their voices and +faces when, the eclipse being over, they shouted, "The Sun is alive +again!" + +Little of interest is to be seen at Vavau, as only 60 white persons +live here, most of them traders. Native meat is scarce, as practically +no grain or potatoes grow in tropical countries, so European food +staples have to be imported to the islands of the South Seas. As an +offset for these importations, bananas, copra and pineapples are +exported to either Auckland or Sydney. + +"Good-by to chops and juicy steaks--canned meat for you +henceforth"--were the parting words an Australian received who left +the ship at a Tongan port. He had decided to make his home in Tonga, +and no person would feel the loss of a mutton chop more keenly than an +Australian. + +We again sail through Vavau's botanical harbor, and next stop at +Haapai, a port on another island of the group. Traveling from South +Sea ports, the deck of a ship is crowded with natives, whose bodies +shine with cocoanut oil, and all have cocoanut palm leaf baskets and +banana-leaf plates. Sometimes a piece of purple-colored taro is bitten +off and eaten, or a dozen cocoanuts are tilted and natives drink the +liquid; then a whole orange may be forced inside the mouth, when a +series of prying with the fingers takes place, causing contortions of +the face, in the effort to squeeze out the juice, when the caved-in +orange will be withdrawn and thrown away. All are bareheaded, wearing +vari-colored kilts and waists, and everybody happy and seemingly well +fed. A feature of the Tongan's "luggage" is the great quantity of food +each brings with him. They have good faces, but are not up to the +general appearance of the Samoan. + +The shore on which the little town of Haapai is built is a picture. +Lined with an unbroken row of cocoanut palms, as far as one could see +over the tops of these there was no other growth. Coral reefs are very +pretty here, and tiny bright blue fish dart like butterflies from +caves in the reefs and in turquoise-blue pools. At some places the +bottom of the sea is like a garden, as growing therefrom is peculiar +colored seaweed, striped and spotted shells being numerous. + +Tonga homes cannot compare with those of Samoa. They are hayrick +shaped, seldom have a window, and two doors generally lead to the +inside. The floors are covered with cocoanut-leaf mats, and the beds +are of mats of the same material. A lantern is used to light their +huts at night; the oil burned in these comes from the United States. A +big circular wooden bowl, with legs cut from the heart of a large +tree, used to mix the native drink in, is another important utensil in +the Tongan home; the bottom is of a slaty-blue color. Cocoanut-shell +cups figure prominently in native utensils. Some Tongans, however, +live in frame houses, roofed with iron. + +A native drink, known as kava, is universally used throughout the +islands of the South Pacific Ocean. The drink is made from the root of +a shrub, which is sometimes pounded into small pieces with stones, but +of late years graters have been used; and coffee-grinders serve the +purpose still better. Gratings from the root are placed in the wooden +bowl, and water is poured on these. The coarser grounds are strained +from the kava by grass or fibers from the bark of certain shrubs or +trees. A European would have to acquire a liking for this native +drink, as at first it tastes like a mixture of soapsuds and ginger. +When drunk to excess it does not affect the head, but the legs become +paralyzed for a few hours; blindness also follows its abuse. Kava is +served in cocoanut cups. + +Tongans number but 21,000, and all belong to some religious +denomination. Church collections are taken only once a year. The +"basket" is never passed for contributions. A wooden bowl or a +galvanized kettle is placed under the pulpit, and each goes forward +and puts his contribution in the "box." A majority, 18,000 out of the +21,000, are identified with the Wesleyan Church, and this number +contributes the sum of $25,000 a year. They build their own churches +and give their services free. Few nails are used in these buildings, +the timbers being secured by coir, or cinnet. If the wood be dark, the +brown fibers of the cocoanut are dyed the color of the wood that is to +be lashed. The cinnet lashing seen in the church buildings is +splendidly done, and often resembles carving. The Tongans hold their +churches in much reverence. At some frame houses in the towns is seen +a round galvanized tank to hold rain water running from the roof. +However, they consider it sacrilege to conserve the water running from +the roof of a church. + +A traveling acquaintance who had lived in Tonga for years was asked if +white people locked their doors at night. "Yes," he replied, "the +kitchen door--to keep the cats out." + +Poverty is unknown here, as are jails. Each Tongan has 8¼ acres of +land, and the copra from that area not only furnishes sufficient money +to buy what is needed but allows a small surplus besides. + +Not one murder has taken place in the group in over 20 years, and then +a white man was mixed up in it. This will seem more remarkable when it +is remembered that almost every native carries a big knife, with which +to shuck cocoanuts and cut the stems of bananas. But two races live in +Tonga--300 whites and the balance Tongans. + +One hundred islands compose this group, Tongatabu, on which the +capital is built, being the largest and most important. That island is +20 miles long and 12 miles wide. + +Nukualofa, the capital, our next stop, is 1,100 miles from Auckland, +New Zealand. Europeans there do not exceed 75 persons, but the native +population is comparatively large. The King's palace and the Chapel +Royal are the most conspicuous buildings in the town. A royal guard, +consisting of half a dozen brown-skinned soldiers, dressed in scarlet +coats, see that their king nor his property are molested. The king is +a man of striking appearance, six feet four inches in height, very +stout, and in the forties. The line of succession in Tonga passes +through the mother, not the father. King George Tubou II.'s salary is +$10,000 a year. The Tonga group is the only independent kingdom now +left in the Pacific. + +Grass grows everywhere in Nukualofa, including the streets. A buggy, +drawn by a small, woolly horse, may pass half a dozen times a day +along the main streets, or a native on horseback, with a +flaring-colored shirt, may create a little temporary excitement +occasionally dashing along a thoroughfare as fast as the horse's legs +can carry him. Children do not appear to quarrel, roosters seemed to +be imbued with the spirit of peace, and the weather is generally too +hot for dogs to have a fall out; so one going to Nukualofa with +distracted nerves is apt to feel stronger after a stay in the Tongan +capital. To borrow from Samoa, it is another "land of delicious +idleness." + +It is in places of this character where one comes across British +ne'er-do-wells, or "remittance men," as they are termed. These are +sent from Great Britain by wealthy parents to isolated places like +Tonga and Fiji, and a certain sum of money is sent them each +month--enough to pay their board and a little over for spending money. +They are too far away to disgrace the family, and it is cheaper to pay +their expenses in far-off countries than it would be to support them +at home. They are virtually prisoners in these out-of-the-way places, +for they soon get in debt, and no one owing money can leave the +islands. These men generally marry a native woman, drink all the +whisky and soda they can get, and the wife's income from her cocoanut +farm provides for the home. + +Consumption is making inroads among this splendid race of natives. +Some discard their native clothes and wear European apparel; they then +live in a house instead of a hut, which is unnatural; but, worst of +all, they cease to rub themselves with cocoanut oil, and in other ways +neglect the customs of their ancestors. The native mode of living is +much the better for the native. European customs do not seem to agree +with colored races. It is the same with all native races--when they +come in contact with the white man they generally go down hill. + +Some of the prettiest trees in the world are to be seen in Nukualofa. +They do not grow high, but their spread is so wide and the outlines of +the limbs so regular that one never forgets them. + +Flying foxes--large bats, or vampires--are sacred animals to the +Tongan. Some distance from Nukualofa is a grove of large trees, and in +the daytime thousands of the bats will be hanging from the limbs by +their claws, heads down. At sunset they all wake up and fly over the +island and make raids on fruit plantations. At sunrise they will +return to the same grove and hang downward all day. These bats are as +large as cats, with furry bodies, and the native believes something +terrible would happen were he to kill one. + +Tongans are more advanced, intellectually, than any of the South Sea +races, not excepting the Maori, who is of the same race. A college in +Nukualofa is well attended by natives. + +Kaikai is the name of food in the South Sea Islands, as it is also in +New Zealand. + +Tongan women do not work like those of other South Sea Islands races. +The men say it makes women ugly to work all day in the sun, and they +prefer their wives to be good-looking and good-natured. Men even do +the larger share of the housework. + +White drill clothes are worn by all Europeans in Tonga, and every man +has a tropical evening dress suit. The suit shows a wide spread of +white shirt, generally starched, and high collar. Vests and trousers +are white. The coat is a jacket, however, that stops a trifle below +the waist line. At the back the jacket comes to a point. It is like a +ship steward's jacket. + +"Teddy Bears" are as universal as American oil and American +sewing-machines. In any part of the world one may observe European +children with "Teddies" in their hands. + +Europeans living in the tropics become so enervated that such a thing +as failing to keep an appointment is thought nothing of. The blood +becomes thin, and the easy life they live practically unfits them for +work they would be called on to do in a cooler climate. Then, again, +they are looked up to in the sparsely settled white communities, and +when they return to the Northland and practically become nonentities +they painfully miss the pampering they received from natives. Most of +these would prefer to live a sickly life in the tropics to a healthful +one, contingent on hard work, in their native land. It is hard to rise +above the pressure of environment. + +We are about to start on Leg Five, but before doing so we wish to +explain our divergence of travel in Australasia. On reaching Melbourne +from Perth a day's time was all that was spent in the city at that +time. We went to Tasmania, New Zealand, and then to Sydney. From New +South Wales we started on the South Sea Islands trip. From Nukualofa +we journeyed to Auckland, our second time in that city. Recrossing the +Tasman Sea to Sydney, we journeyed to Melbourne by rail, the second +time also we were in that city. Stopping there but a few hours, a +start was made for Adelaide; then from Adelaide to Ballarat, and back +to Melbourne, where some time was spent, from which port we sailed on +our return trip to South Africa, and from which place we start Leg +Five. + + + + +LEG FIVE + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +For the first time in my travels I had to be content with third-class +steamship accommodation. I knew the South Sea Islands trip would +shrivel my pocketbook, and would not have been disappointed had I not +enough money to buy even a third-class ticket to South Africa. We took +a chance on the South Sea Islands trip--and won. "Steerage," in big +red type, was stamped on the steamship ticket that carried me from +Melbourne to South Africa, but all passengers were on an equality, as +there was but one grade of accommodation--third. + +Supper was the first meal on board, but no tea or coffee was served. +The absence of these "luxuries" was explained later, passengers being +informed that tea or coffee was provided only once daily--at breakfast +time. At the first morning meal a hubbub took place among mothers with +babes. Something was wrong with the milk, and when that matter had +also been explained we learned that sea water--salt water--had been +used, instead of fresh water, to dilute the condensed milk. + +The cabins contained from two to ten berths, and as almost every one +prefers privacy a few dollars more were paid for a two-berth cabin, as +little sleep could be anticipated were interests pooled with nine +snoring mates. The two-berth cabin had no margin to boast of, as, in +order for one to get a handkerchief from his hip pocket, it was +necessary to vacate it and seek arm-turning space in the hallway. I +had a good cabin mate, and we soon came to an understanding as to what +time each of us would visit our quarters. Two could sleep in the +cabin, but there was not room enough for two to turn in it. The +pillow--we would not be so rash as to say the slip covered a chunk of +cement; it may have been tan bark. The door had no lock, neither was +there a button to ring up the steward. + +The ship stopped at Hobart, took on 30,000 cases of apples, and +headed for Albany, West Australia. The tea merchants in the Tasmania +capital did a good business for the time being, as passengers who, +before starting, knew nothing of the rules of the ship concerning tea +and coffee allowances laid in here a good supply, together with +preserves, crackers, Chinese napkins and other necessities the ship +did not furnish. + +Ninety dollars for eight weeks' travel is surely giving passengers a +cheap journey. The vessel sailed from Sydney the first week in June, +reaching her destination, London, England, about the first of August, +after a voyage of 14,000 miles. Three hundred persons had booked +passage on the liner, and of that number there was not one +foreign-speaking passenger aboard. This will seem strange when it is +borne in mind that the most cosmopolitan place in the world is a +passenger steamship. Seven preachers were included, which, sea +tradition says, generally augurs for bad weather; but, as there are +exceptions to almost every rule, we had smooth sailing after clearing +the Bight and Cape Leeuwin. The "animal" classification of the cargo +included birds--canaries, magpies, parrots and cockatoos; also a joey, +as a young kangaroo is called. This animal was bought at Albany by an +American, the tariff on the joey to London being $10. The freight +charge for a canary was 60 cents, and rates for larger birds were from +75 cents to $1.25. + +Fruit--generally confined to apples or oranges--was served at supper. +The apples often seemed nearly as hard as billiard balls and as +tasteless as frozen turnips. A prosperous Irishman, of a ripe age, who +had gone to Australia in early days, when six months' time was +required to make the voyage, was, with his aged wife, returning to the +Emerald Isle. One evening, when we had oranges for supper, after he +had bitten into one, the Celt was observed going through a series of +facial contortions, with shoulder movements--something after the +fashion of an agitated Frenchman. "Are the oranges sweet to-night, Mr. +O'Gorman?" he was asked. "Sweet?" whipped back the old Roman, as water +dripped from the tear-ducts of his eyes and fire snapped from the +corners--"Sweet? They're so sharup they'd cut your t'roat!" + +Cake was served Sunday afternoons, and milk, sugar and hot water were +at the pleasure of passengers, but they had to furnish their own tea +or coffee. The tea and teapot, for instance, would be given to the +table steward, and he would make the tea and serve it at mealtime. A +piano added greatly to the entertainment of the passengers, as +concerts were held twice a week. Besides, various athletic sports were +indulged in. + +The preachers took turns officiating at Sunday services. As there were +seven of them--the voyage embracing as many Sabbaths--each one had an +opportunity to keep in practice. One of their number, a Scotch +Presbyterian, was on his way from Australia to his native country for +a "holiday." Except at mealtime, he could generally be found sitting +in a corner of the smoking saloon burning up black cigars, as he was a +confirmed smoker; he was also a devotee of, and an expert at, the game +of checkers, or draughts, as that amusement is termed in British +territory. While no one on the ship had a chance to beat him, during +the course of a game he would buoy, from time to time, the hope +entertained by a presumptuous rival of lowering the parson's colors +with clerical flattery--pretending that his opponent had nearly caught +him napping on certain moves and that the skill of the player was +worthy any foeman's steel. An Irish Presbyterian also was among the +clergymen, and he sometimes sat at a table for hours with another +passenger, in tomb-like stillness--playing a game of chess. Chess +players, as a rule, have a poor opinion of checkers--calling it a +child's game. The Irish dominie was asked if much skill was required +to play checkers. "No," was the reply. "Any one can learn that game in +a week." A short time later, when the Scotch preacher was engaged at +checkers, and won, as usual, he congratulated his opponent on the +splendid game he had played. "There's a great deal of superfluous talk +about checkers--one would think that only persons of superior +intellect could play that game," remarked a passenger to the +Scotchman. A sneer came over the preacher's face. "I've been playing +draughts for 30 years and don't know the game yet," he tartly +answered. "Why," returned the passenger, "a man on this ship said +there was nothing to it--that any one could learn the game in a week." +"Who's the man that said he could learn the game of draughts in a +week!" he exclaimed, in eloquent tones. "Who's the man! Point him +out!" He lost control of a strong cigar, and every one laughed but the +padre. + +Durban was reached 26 days after leaving Melbourne, and here I found +myself left with only $2 of the $750 with which I started for the +Antipodes. (Reference to the last paragraph of Leg Two and the +Itinerary printed at the end of the book will explain conditions.) + +On a German ship we took final leave of Durban and South Africa, the +route being along what is known as the East Coast of Africa and across +the western end of the Indian Ocean, to Bombay, India. Every berth was +engaged. New scenes ahead bespoke an interesting voyage. America was +well represented among the passengers, as there were eight--five +missionaries, two theatrical men and a printer. + +A day's sail along the flat coast of Zululand and Tongaland and +southern Portuguese-East Africa found us in Lourenzo Marques, the +capital of Portuguese-East Africa. Seldom is the name Lourenzo Marques +heard in this part of the world. "Delagoa Bay" is used 99 times out of +100 when speaking of that East Coast capital. Mention was made in the +few Lisbon notes of the white and gray paving used in that city, and +the same kind of pavement in Lourenzo Marques brings one's mind back +to the Portuguese capital, particularly "Rolling Motion Square." The +white population of Portuguese-East Africa is small considering the +large territory embraced in that colony, Europeans numbering only +3,000. Public buildings do not make much of a showing, a good harbor +and docks being the city's chief assets. Street car and electric light +systems, a seaside resort and high prices are some of the +characteristics of Lourenzo Marques. Natives are very numerous, and +African fever--a notorious feature of this place--is so prevalent that +all the white residents have a veiny, sickly appearance. + +Fever trees, so called from their sallow appearance, grow not far +from here. The leaves droop, are small, thin and lifeless, while the +bark on the stunted trunks and limbs is scaly. + +Lourenzo Marques, located on Delagoa Bay, is the nearest port for the +Transvaal, through which most of the machinery and supplies for the +great mines passed until the consolidation of the South African +provinces. It was, in short, the chief Boer port of South Africa. Were +the deaths that occurred while building the railroad from here to +Pretoria made public it would make sad reading. During the stretch of +400 miles separating Johannesburg and Lourenzo Marques some of the +territory traversed is through the worst fever zones in the +world--even the trees contracting "fever." + +Cruising along to the next port, Inhambane--also Portuguese +territory--where the stately cocoanut palm raises its bushy head to an +admiring distance from the earth, we again reach the tropics. Four of +the missionaries disembarked--a bishop and his wife, and one other +couple, who were located at a mission station a short distance from +this port. + +Three hundred whites live in this treacherous place and 30 per cent. +die each year. The permanent missionary and his wife had both been +fever victims, and if they fail soon to get out of the Inhambane +district they will never come out alive. The husband is a powerfully +built man, and his wife's skin as fair as a lily. She would be called +pretty. They both had a good education, and both were hard workers. +The missionary's predecessor had become "salted," but the bodies of +three wives were resting under African soil. Black-water fever is +nearly always certain death. Until a few years ago death was as +certain after having contracted that form of fever as to one who +stepped in front of a locomotive traveling at a speed of a mile a +minute. All liquids drunk by a victim turn black. + +A native was induced to scale a cocoanut tree and knock nuts off. +Eight tumbled down, and we were charged two cents each for them. The +cocoanut tree has no season--it blossoms and bears the year round. + +Native women loaded and unloaded the ship, and looked stronger than +the men. Sugar, copra and peanuts were put on at that port. + +The anchor chain winds round the drum, and off we start on another +run, bringing us to Beira, also in Portuguese territory, the port for +Rhodesia. The best route to reach Salisbury or Bulawayo is from Beira. +To the former place it is some 300 miles, and to Bulawayo nearly 700 +miles. + +Venice, Italy, is unique in canals and in the absence of vehicular +traffic; and Beira may claim some resemblance to the Italian city, +notably in the absence of carriages, automobiles, wagons, motorcycles +and street cars. Beira is built on a sandbar, and the means of travel +in that place is by vehicles called "trolleys," four-wheeled +conveyances. The frame is of iron, and a foot-rest, seat, back and +hood are built on this. It is a small carriage on low wheels. The +track on which the trolley runs is two feet wide, and the rails are +one-inch thick. Ties or sleepers support these. The "power" to move +the "trolley" is two natives, who push the vehicle, and push it on the +run. These natives are dressed in white cotton shirts, with short +sleeves, and with a lava-lava or kilt made of calico, with big spots, +which reaches to the knees. Their hat is a red fez with tassels, which +suggests we have reached the influence of the Arab. The "trolley" +pusher never runs between the rails--always on the one-inch rail. One +would think there are grooves in his feet to fit in these. The streets +are intersected by "trolley" tracks, switches being made at places, +where "trolleys" branch to certain streets. On the main street are +three tracks, and turntables have been built here and there on which +to turn the cars around when ready for the return trip. They are +comfortable to ride in, and most of them are privately owned. + +With the exception of a good sea wall, there is little of the +substantial about Beira--only a few frame buildings, and others of +corrugated iron. Arab merchants are numerous, and where they have +become established there is very little money for the white man, few +modern customs being in evidence. + +One of my cabin mates was a Trappist priest. Born in Ohio, he went to +Africa in his early years, and had been teaching natives for a quarter +of a century. He was a chaplain in the Boer War, and his intimate +knowledge of that interesting country was so general as to break set +rules for bedtime when listening to his experiences. + +The ship's whistle blows and we are off again, traveling through what +is known as the Mozambique Channel, that stretch of water separating +Madagascar, a French possession, from Portuguese-East Africa. The +latter country is 750 miles in length and 200 miles wide. The seashore +all along is as free of ruggedness as the shores of a lake located in +a level plain. + +Negro melodies and popular airs were reeled off their musical +instruments by the two Americans at intervals of a few nights between. +We had a congenial lot of passengers, and every one was enjoying the +voyage. + +Three more stops were made in Portuguese-East Africa, but no +enterprise was apparent. Few white people were to be seen, while +Indians, Arabs and natives were as thick as flies. At Ibo, the last +stop, the cargo was brought from shore to the ship in what are called +dhows, with ragged sails, scaly hulks, chipped masts, frazzled +ropes--the sort of vessels that have been used in Asia for 2,000 +years. Rubber trees grow in that section and, together with copra, +comprise the exports. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Dar-es-Salaam, the capital of German-East Africa, was, after leaving +Ibo, the next place where the vessel put in. What a difference is +observable in the make-up and general appearance of this German town +to those in Portuguese-East Africa! Some very imposing stone and +cement buildings, with others under construction; good streets, clean +surroundings, and a sprinkling of white people, were a very welcome +change from the poorly built and almost totally black-populated places +we had left behind. + +The railway station, freight cars and locomotives, good wharves and +paved streets brought to mind old scenes. For nearly 800 miles the +railroad pierces westward through a black-populated and wild-beast +inhabited country to the shore of Lake Tanganyika, this body of water, +420 miles long and 10 to 60 miles wide, being the boundary of this +German possession and the Belgian Congo. Rubber and coffee plantations +have been laid out, particularly at the western end of the railroad +line; and from the great native passenger traffic, and bringing of +supplies to these and to races far beyond the western terminus, good +returns are assured. The area of this German possession is 384,000 +square miles. + +Unlike Beira, motor cars and bicycles were in evidence in +Dar-es-Salaam, but no horses were to be seen, as in Beira. In the +South African notes mention was made of the miserable breed of horse +in Durban, also of horses being unable to live in some parts of that +country. So, on the East Coast of Africa, where horses cannot live, +and the life of Europeans is measured by but a short number of years, +there must be something radically wrong with the climate. + +Numerous fresh earth mounds may be seen in graveyards in the +settlements along the East Coast. Fat men are scarce in these +districts, all having a slender frame and veiny, bleached appearance, +with drooping eyelids. Malarial and black-water fever are prevalent in +Dar-es-Salaam. White clothes, white cloth or skin shoes, and white +helmets are worn. This place has a European population of 1,000, most +of them government employes. The native population is 25,000. + +Natives build their own huts, which are of mud, covered with cocoanut +leaves, and settlements are located some distance from town. + +The sight of native women prisoners, with a band of iron around the +neck and a chain fastened to the first band, then to the second, and +so on, according to the number of prisoners, seemed pretty severe +punishment--too barbarous even for blacks. This is what we saw in +Dar-es-Salaam. Six or eight men and women are generally chained +together. The steel collar or band, an inch and a half wide, opens and +closes with a clasp, and the length of the chain from band to band is +between two and three feet. Groups of women were seen carrying water +on their heads in five-gallon oil-cans. The prisoners have to move at +the same time, as the chain is connected with the iron band around +each neck. The band and chain is a relic of slavery days, as we are at +a noted slave-trading center. + +This German capital is the prettiest town on the East Coast of Africa. +It is smart in appearance, has an electric light plant and good +drives. Cocoanut palms grow all around, and the fragrance from the +frangi-pangi flower heavily perfumes the atmosphere and adds much to +the attractiveness of that center. Germany acquired this possession in +1886. + +"Should you wear your street dress ashore, instead of the short skirt, +it may 'let the cat out of the bag,' and then we would have to pay the +full fare," one of our lady passengers cautioned her daughter who +wished to join other travelers making ready to leave the ship to take +a look at the German colony capital. Mother and daughter embarked at +Lourenzo Marques, having come from the Transvaal, their destination +being Bombay, India. The daughter, twenty, being slightly under medium +size, did not look her age. When booking their passage she was +represented as "fifteen," any one of that age or under being carried +for half rate. Short skirts, extending to just below the knees, were +worn as an age "decoy" to this point of the journey. Though Miss Agnes +bravely nursed her sheepishness, evoked by wearing "kid clothes" as +she termed the "disguise," aboard ship, she drew the line at appearing +"in public" in them. The captain having been observed leaving the +vessel in his launch, Agnes, learning of this, hurriedly donned a +"woman's" dress, joined the sightseeing party ashore, and took the +chance of being detected. Returning to the ship before the skipper, +she quickly changed street clothes to the "kid" garb, breaking her +suspense, none of the officers being any the wiser, and resumed the +journey to Bombay, as she started from the Portuguese port--a +combination of woman-juvenile-half-fare passenger. + +Zanzibar, on Zanzibar Island, is located 40 miles from Dar-es-Salaam. +All the way from Durban we had been getting breaths of Asia, but +Zanzibar is like an Asia in Africa. With perhaps the exception of +Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt, Zanzibar is the largest place on the +African continent. Out of a mixed population, composed of Arabs, +Mohammedans, Hindus, Singhalese, Goanese, Parsis and natives--negroes-- +only 500 are whites. Though the city was inhabited as early as the +tenth century, their first sultan did not begin to reign until 1741. + +Mohammedan women--on whose features no one but husband or family are +permitted to set eyes--walking about with their faces covered in a +cloth having eye-holes cut out; palanquins, enclosed boxes +accommodating one person, are carried by two natives, one on each end +of a pole, on which the box rests, these containing the wives of Arabs +and Mohammedans; native women, ever ready to imitate the clothing of +others, are seen entirely covered in black cloth, save for the +eye-holes in their face coverings; these dark, mysterious, and weird +creatures stalk about the alleyways of Zanzibar during the day and the +night hours. The pale face of the Parsi woman, the Hindu woman with +ornaments in her nostrils, on her ears, arms, hands and toes, and the +gewgaws worn by native women, are seen at every turn. The Parsi, with +his cuff-like cap; the Singhalese with his long, oily hair and amber +haircomb; the Hindu, in his big, cloth head-covering; the bewhiskered +Arab, wearing a fez, and the black, woolly bare head of the native, +form an unusual scene on entering the city of Zanzibar. The Waswahili +are the natives, and the native language of the island, German-East +Africa, and British-East Africa is the Kiswahili. + +Zanzibar, comprising the island of Pemba, 40 miles to the north, is a +British possession. The island of Zanzibar is 50 miles in length and +20 miles wide. These islands are presided over by a Sultan, Seyid +Khalifa bin Harub, but his ruling has to be approved by a British +governor-general. He is sultan in name only, but his salary is $60,000 +a year. The national flag is of a plain red color. The Sultan received +his education in England. + +The streets of the city are so narrow in some instances that both +sides can almost be touched by the hands extended. Houses are built of +brick and cement, and one to three stories in height. A couple of +goats are usually found tied in front of buildings, and often a donkey +may be seen munching a whisk of grass while standing on the steps of a +home. A stranger able to find his way about Zanzibar must have a +pretty level head. On entering a street, one has no assurance that the +street has an opening, for they often end in a solid building +across--a "blind alley." Doors to the buildings are heavy enough for a +jail, and the alleys, veiled women, black and suspicious-looking men, +wearing sandals and strange head-coverings, bespeak Asia. Europeans +live in another section. + +A very good hospital is pointed out to the visitor, which indicates in +that part of the world a very large graveyard, Zanzibar being +regularly visited with smallpox, while malarial fever is prevalent and +bubonic plague and leprosy common. + +Up to 1897 Zanzibar was one of the most noted slave-trading centers in +the world. Slaves shipped from that place numbered from 6,000 to +10,000 a year. The best building in the city is the Sultan's palace, +but this has recently been converted into an office building for +Protectorate officials; the Sultan's harem building, located in a city +park, is now used as a place of amusement; but, as Arabs own most of +the land, and also the property in the city, Zanzibar will always +remain as it is. + +A distance of seven miles, from the city to Bu-bu-bu, comprises the +railway system of Zanzibar. The fare is 32 cents first-class and 16 +cents second-class, the run taking 45 minutes. Passing through a +street where almost everything is sold--an Indian bazaar--one may +reach out of the window of the railway coach and pull off wearing +apparel, shoes, etc., that are displayed on rope lines outside of the +buildings on the narrow street. Through such places the train seems to +be walled in by blacks on both sides. + +The rupee is in use in Zanzibar, along the coast places, and in the +interior in that section of the African continent. The value of the +rupee in American money is 32 cents, and the anna two cents. The anna +piece is nickel, with a hole in the center, and almost every one +carries these on a string. It is certainly odd to see a man pull from +his pocket a string about a foot or eighteen inches in length and take +from it one to half a dozen annas with bored-out centers. + +America was the first country to establish a consulate in Zanzibar, in +1836. The natives then took a fancy to our bright-colored calico, +which they wear to-day, though close competition for that trade has +taken place through other nations importing a similar class of goods. + +The sun is very hot here, and flowers are temporarily faded by 10 +o'clock in the morning. Should a white person walk a few feet in the +sun bare-headed he would be very apt to fall from sunstroke. + +The date palm, a tree 20 to 30 feet high, with a bare trunk, as the +cocoanut palm, but with smaller limbs and a more spreading top, grows +here. It produces its fruit in bunches, similar to the banana plant. +Some of the clusters of dates depending from the top will half fill a +barrel. A wide leaf grows from the stem, to which the dates grow, and +in time, the leaf dies and then bends. It happens, though, that when +it bends it covers and thus protects the large cluster of fruit. +Zanzibar oranges are said to be the sweetest that grow. + +One may hear a few taps on a drum at a corner of an alley in the +native quarter any time--the signal that there will be a dance that +evening. + +Automobiles are seen about the city, and an electric light plant and a +wireless station are among the limited public utilities. + +Clove and cocoanut plantations are the principal industries of +Zanzibar. The clove tree is of the myrtle family, and the older it +grows the greater the yield. Practically all the cloves used in the +world come from the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar. There are sent to +the United States from these islands from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 +pounds of cloves each year. The output for a year is from 15,000,000 +to 20,000,000 pounds. It requires 10 years' time from planting before +the clove tree blossoms. The Island of Pemba produces 75 per cent. of +a year's crop. A hurricane blew down the trees growing on Zanzibar +island in 1872, while those on Pemba island were not disturbed. The +Pemba trees are 100 years old, those of Zanzibar island only 50 years +old. They are planted 24 feet apart each way, and 100 grow on an acre. + +The clove of commerce is the bud of the clove tree, picked before the +petals open. The clove we use would be the seed of the clove tree were +the petals allowed to expand. The buds are picked by natives, whose +carelessness often destroys bearing limbs. When picked, the buds are +placed on matting, and remain exposed to the sun for three days, when +they become dried. A clove tree buds for three months, so this is the +clove-bud picking period. The tree grows to a height of 30 feet, is +bushy, with small limbs, on all of which buds grow. The leaf of the +clove tree resembles that of the English poplar. The buds are more +numerous on the limbs at intervals of four and five years than during +the years between. A tree produces from five to seven pounds a year, +and the price of cloves range from 16 to 20 cents a pound. Growers +have to pay a tax to the government of 25 per cent. of their yield. + +When leaving Durban I provided myself with a draft for $900 on a bank +in Bombay, India, and $50 in cash. From the passengers I heard so many +interesting things about British East Africa that I decided to go +inland from Mombasa, if I could raise the necessary money on the +Bombay draft. Taking my passport for identification, I learned from a +banker in Zanzibar that he could not advance money on the draft, but +that by cancelling the Durban draft and issuing a new one on the same +bank in Bombay he could provide me with any funds needed. I agreed to +that. On receiving the new draft I learned that $15 had been taken for +exchange. + +Tanga, German East Africa, a sea junction for that part of Africa, was +our next stop. Passengers going to Europe from Durban and other points +along the East coast trans-ship to the European liners going through +the Suez Canal and Port Said. + +A railway from this place pushes westward over 200 miles to the base +of Mount Kilimanjaro, which rises to a height of over 19,000 feet. +Tanga is another place that puts one in mind of a snake charming a +bird and then devouring it. Cocoanut palms grow everywhere, and the +pretty trees, frangi-pangi and flowers are enough to lure any one +there. Yet a walk to the graveyard, after observing the large number +of unsodded mounds for a population of 500, would soon alter one's +opinion. The native population is 12,000. + +One of the passengers made up his mind not to shave during the voyage +from Durban to London. The Indian barber is the most useful tradesman +the world over. He carries his kit with him, and is always prowling +about for work. He will shave a man standing up or lying down; in the +rain or in the sun; in bed or on the roof of a house--any time, any +way, or any place an Indian barber will do his work. We no sooner +stepped on shore than the unshaven passenger was picked out as a +possible "job," and was shadowed by the black knights of the razor +until he returned to the ship. + +Rubber plantations are numerous in this section of the colony, and +copra is another of the exports. + +The horse of the East Coast of Africa is really the negro. Everything +is moved on two-wheeled trucks, pushed or pulled with ropes by +natives. No cattle or oxen were seen, so it is fair to conclude that +neither cattle nor horses can live along this section of the coast. +Any one can form an idea of what a sickly country it must be for human +beings where cattle and horses cannot exist. Fever runs down the +natives, also, but not in the same proportion as the whites. + +"The last time we were in Tanga," the ship's doctor remarked on +sailing, "I suffered terribly from jumping toothache. Fortunate in +being in a port where there was a dentist, I called at his office and +had it pulled. Asking him his charge, the dentist replied, +'Seventy-five rupees' ($25)." When my eyes again settled in their +sockets, having bulged at mention of such a fee for pulling a tooth, +the doctor, in answer to a question if he did not consider the +dentist's charge exorbitant, said he was under that impression at the +time, but was not so sure of it now. "Only a handful of Europeans live +here," he philosophically went on to explain why he changed his +impression from a positive to an uncertain one, "and fever is bad. The +dentist--the only one within hundreds of miles--as most persons who +come to the tropics, aims at making enough money in a few years, +before fever robs him of his health, to take things easy for a while +afterward in a good climate. Life, with a thumping tooth and a +pumpkin-like face, was misery to me; I could not pull my tooth, and +antidotes failed to assuage the pain it caused. So, considering the +fee from various angles, I would not feel quite justified in charging +the dentist with unprofessional conduct." Notwithstanding the doctor's +reconciliation to the dentist's charge, it would seem he "paid for it +through the nose," to use a British term for "stung," the standard +rate in Africa for placing a tooth in a plate, whether one or sixteen, +being only $5 each. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Mombasa, British-East Africa, was not reached until 19 days after +sailing from Durban, although we traveled but 2,000 miles. It was a +very interesting trip, though, along the East Coast, as the ship +stopped so often to unload and take on cargo, that passengers obtained +a fair idea of that part of the world. + +Back in the early '80's England and Germany resorted to every +diplomatic device to acquire that great tract of country now known as +German East Africa and British East Africa. The Sultan of Zanzibar +exercised control of a strip of the coastline, ten miles deep, north +of Portuguese East Africa to Italian Somaliland, which naturally +blocked the development of the interior. The claims of the two great +countries were finally settled by Germany getting the southern part of +the domain and England the northern part. The Sultan of Zanzibar still +claims sovereignty of the ten-mile shore strip of the Indian Ocean, +but in reality it is gone from him. The authentic history of East +Africa commences in 1498, when Vasco da Gama, the Portuguese explorer, +anchored off Mombasa. + +Mombasa, located on Mombasa Island, is the chief seaport on the East +Coast north of Durban and Lourenzo Marques. It has had a checkered +career, being held at various times by Persians, Arabs, Egyptians, +Portuguese and British. To-day the blacks number 30,000 and the whites +about 500. Like most tropical places, the surroundings are naturally +attractive, but fever is always present, and bubonic plague or +smallpox may break out at any moment. + +Three years is the limit of residence here for a European. Some part +of the human system is bound to give way if one does not leave before +the three-year period expires. Two and a half years' residence and six +months' vacation in Europe is the usual custom. The tropical climate +seems to center its force on the muscles of the stomach, and this is +one reason why every one wears flannel bands. Most of the business men +are Asiatics. Natives take the place of horses here also, goods being +moved on trucks pushed and pulled by black men. England's solid system +of doing things is in evidence at every turn--notably in the good, +clean streets, parks and docks. + +Before the railroad was pushed to the eastern shore of Victoria Nyanza +the daring Europeans of early days had to travel four months before +the western terminus was reached. Nowadays two days' travel by rail +will take one into the heart of Africa. The country then, as it is +more or less to-day, was alive with ferocious beasts, and some of the +native tribes were warlike. During the winter season there is no rain +for a period of from four to six months. Only men of iron would tackle +such a journey. The Arabs, however, had preceded the whites. + +On the Uganda Railway we boarded a train for Nairobi. For some +distance the road passed through a tropical growth, when we entered +the Taru Desert. Small trees of dense and thorny spreading limbs grow +on this land. The lower limbs are brashy and bare of bark, and the +ones above are leafless and gnarled, although alive. The Taru Desert +is a leafless jungle. No bird life was apparent save vultures, whose +repulsive appearance seemed in keeping with the growth on which they +rested. Fever trees were mentioned earlier in this Leg, and those +growing here suggested the possibility of their exuding something +noxious--if not odors leading to some form of fever, then, perhaps, to +stomach trouble. + +A lone native, and often groups, were seen, with only a clout about +the loins, carrying a long pole with a spear fixed to the end, at the +station or traversing a native path leading somewhere, as there were +no signs of habitation near the railway. Erect, slender, bareheaded +and barefooted, he looked every inch the savage warrior one reads +about. + +The track is meter gauge, three feet six inches, and the railway +coaches, of two compartments, are small, each compartment +accommodating six persons, 12 in all. The South African system--the +best in the world--of providing free sleeping berths for passengers, +has been adopted by the Uganda Railway Company. Four berths are +provided in each compartment, but no bedding is furnished. Breakfast +costs 32 cents, and luncheon and dinner 50 cents. Railway fare is only +two cents a mile, and the speed 14 miles an hour. + +"Dak bungalow" proved a new building term to us, and another was the +"godown." The dak bungalow serves the purpose of a hotel and is +located at stations. These were built by the railway company for the +convenience of passengers living in isolated places who used a certain +station when traveling. The bungalow, which may be used one night free +of charge, is provided with spring beds, but no bedding. The godown is +a freight shed--any building where goods or cargo are stored is called +a godown. Both terms are Asiatic. It would be a risky undertaking to +start through some parts of that country at night, as many sections +are infested with wild beasts. The agents at the stations were +Indians. + +We were traveling over a section of country that had not been +refreshed with rain for months. The soil being reddish, passengers' +clothes resembled those worn by workers in a red brickyard. +Conversations that had taken place between travelers during the voyage +along the East Coast, of big game being seen within easy view of the +railway in these parts, which swayed me from my original route at +Zanzibar, were foremost in my mind at this point. Skeptical of +feasting the eye on herds of zebra, gazelle, wildebeeste, even +giraffe, and other game, my doubts were dispelled when a passenger +remarked: + +"This is Makindu, where nature's zoo starts." "Do you think the game +will be close enough to see from the train?" "They're on the veld all +the time--see the zebra to the right?" he replied. Turning quickly in +that direction, there they were, a solid foreground of striped beasts, +not more than half a mile off the railway. The marvelous sight of +thousands of zebra within easy view extended to the horizon. "You'll +always find zebras huddled closely together," he interestingly went +on, "as they have an eternal fear of lions, who are partial to zebra +flesh," he explained. "The hardest animal in Africa to tame is the +zebra," he continued. "This animal can be ridden, and is sometimes +attached to a light vehicle, but it cannot be trusted. The fear of +lions has for ages been so firmly bred in the bone of this attractive +beast that, no matter how kindly handled, its wildness is always +evident. + +"Giraffes are generally seen browsing in the brush," kept on my +companion. "They're sometimes called camelopards, owing to being +spotted like a leopard and having a long neck like a camel. See!" he +exclaimed, pointing, "there's five of them and a calf." One could +scarcely believe his own eyes. Sure enough, there stood five +long-necked, brown and white spotted, stubby-horned, slant-backed +giraffes and a calf, standing in brush lower than their bodies, 100 +feet from the railway track. As the train was passing they turned +around and ambled clumsily further into the brush. + +"All that game you see to the right are hartebeeste and gazelles," my +companion went on. "Keep watching to the left, though, as we may see +more giraffes, for that stretch of brush will soon be passed, when +there'll be no more chance to see that big game. He's a browser, you +know, not a grazer. There are two more--a nice pair!" he added. Sure +as you're born, there stood two noble giraffes. Like the group of five +with a calf, they turned and hobbled further into the undergrowth. +"We're about out of the brush now, so I don't think we'll see more of +them," he said. What I had already seen amply offset the $15 exchange +charged me at the Zanzibar bank. + +Simba was the name of a station as we entered the game fields; the +meaning of the word "simba" is lion in the native tongue. More than a +score of persons were killed by the king of beasts at this place, it +is said, while building the railroad. + +"Those smaller animals you see together yonder are a pack of hyena," +continued my traveling mate. "There are more zebra to the left. The +animals further along are blue wildebeeste (gnu), larger than the +South African breed. See the ostrich?" (pointing). There they were, +big black and white birds, with wings flopping, running over the +plains, not a fence within hundreds of miles--as wild as wild could +be. + +"We may see a lion before we reach Nairobi; I've seen them on several +occasions while traveling over this stretch of country," he added. A +lion did not show himself, but, as my companion said, they are +frequently seen prowling over the treeless plains from the railroad. + +For over a hundred miles the traveler looks out upon great herds of +game feeding on both sides of the railway track. Gazelles have become +so tame that they sometimes keep grazing as the train passes by; and +the hartebeeste, or kongonie, much larger than the gazelle, with a +wedge-shaped head and an outline of body resembling the giraffe, is +nearly as numerous as the clean-cut, nimble gazelle. The wildebeeste +is seen feeding and swishing his tail as contentedly as a cow in a +pasture. Ostriches and zebras are on their native heath. Tigers, and +other game also, may be seen while traveling through this most +interesting stretch of country. + +These plains, like an American prairie, are free of timber; and as far +as the eye can see, from 50 feet off the railway track--to the +horizon, in fact,--from Makindu to Nairobi, over a hundred miles, the +eye feasts on a sportsman's paradise. + +We reached Nairobi 23 hours after leaving Mombasa, 327 miles +separating the chief port and the capital. What a terrible mixture of +blacks was congregated on the platform and about the railway station! +They were as numerous and black as flies around a barrel of molasses +on a hot day. We were certainly in Darkest Africa. The ricksha is the +hack of Nairobi. One starts for his hotel, with a native in the shafts +and another pushing, a jingle-jangle taking place all the while. The +pullers, while less fantastic and grotesque than their Zulu brothers +in Durban, still have distinctiveness, namely, in wearing small bells +about ankles and arms; the tinkle from these is constantly heard about +the streets. For some distance from the station one is drawn along a +level road, bordered with eucalyptus trees, to the business center. +Wood and iron buildings--corrugated iron--are mostly used in both +dwelling houses and business places. There is no paving on the +streets, no sidewalks, nothing inviting, about the capital of the +British-East Africa Protectorate; but there is no grass growing on the +streets, every one seemingly infused with a "boom" spirit. One finds, +however, in this place a good, stone-built post office, a stone-built +Treasury building, and structures of the same material under course of +construction. + +Nairobi was the blackest town visited. Though considerable building +was being done, a white man--such as carpenter, mason, plasterer or +bricklayer--was not seen engaged at that class of work, all labor +being done by Indians; most of the contractors also were Indians. The +wages paid these blacks are from $1 to $1.25 a day. Natives carrying +the hod, or bucket, rather, are paid from 6 to 12 cents a day. + +Mention was made in Leg Four of Suva, Fiji, having a daily newspaper, +by reason of two tri-weeklies appearing on alternate days. In Nairobi, +however, two daily newspapers appear on six mornings of the week, and +besides these there are also weekly and monthly publications issued. +Together with local news, brief cable dispatches are printed, enough +to keep one in touch with important events taking place over the +world. Even linotype machines are found in that sparsely settled, +out-of-the-way place. The Indian here, as everywhere, when he gets a +foothold, has the printing trade killed in so far as a white man +getting good wages is concerned. He sets type after a fashion for $15 +to $18 a month. + +In order that the reader may draw an accurate conclusion as to the +meaning of the term "Darkest Africa," Nairobi, with only 1,200 whites, +has the largest European population of any city north of Salisbury and +Bulawayo (Rhodesia) as far as Cairo, (Egypt), or in the full length of +Africa to the west and northwest. + +The negro is not the horse of Nairobi. While few horses are seen, +native oxen, with humps on their shoulders almost as large as a +dromedary's, lumber through the streets yoked to wagons loaded with +merchandise. + +As the Zulu language is the key to the tribal dialects of South +Africa, the Kiswahili language is likewise the key to the many native +dialects in this section of Africa. The word "Wa" is plural in the +Kiswahili language, and is prefixed to the name of a person or a +tribe; "M" prefixed means man or individual; "U," in the same way, +means place or locality, and "Ki" prefixed indicates the language. As +an example, the Masai tribe would be Wamasai, Mmasai would be a Masai +man, Umasai would be Masailand, and Kimasai would mean the Masai +dialect or language. + +Professor Diogenes Teufelsdröckh, an exponent of the philosophy of +clothes, held that a majority of the people of the world devoted too +much attention to the matter of unnecessary dress, a failing that +militated against their moral and spiritual welfare. The men of this +tribe, gaunt and gawky, wear nothing but a sort of shirt--a piece of +cloth, with a hole in the center large enough to admit a head through, +secured by neither string, band, nor suspenders. The original color of +the shirt might once have been a mongrel brown, similar to unbleached +muslin, but, as the Wakikuyu observe few wash days, the "garment" is +usually many shades darker. Shoes and head covering, like the +breeches, are also tabooed. + +The Wakikuyu was the worst native tribe we had seen. The men looked +half-starved, and it was tiresome to see them work. Excavation was +being made for the foundation of a building, the dirt being carried +out in small pans; sometimes these would not contain more than a +cupful of earth. When coming up the incline from the excavation to the +street their gait was that of a crippled snail. They receive from 6 to +12 cents a day, and possibly may earn it. + +The women of the Wakikuyu tribe, on the other hand, are hard workers. +They till the land, and raise flocks of goats, sheep, and cattle. They +wear more clothing than the men, their principal covering being a +tanned sheep or goat skin that has been soaked with grease. Dust and +dirt coming in contact with the greased skin naturally give the +garment an untidy appearance. What seems a cruel fashion among the +women of this tribe is the mutilation of their ears. The lobes are +slit, and thick chunks of sugar-cane, bamboo, calabashes, or other +round articles, from the size of a thread spool to the circumference +of a teacup, are pressed through. The plug and "ear bands" resemble an +elastic band a quarter of an inch in width placed around a drinking +glass. The plug is short, from two to three inches in length. These +are forced between the "ear bands" so snugly that they will not fall +out while the wearer is moving about. The woman wearing the largest +plug is the best dressed, according to Wakikuyu fashion, and is envied +by those of her sisters whose ear-lobes will not accommodate the +larger "ornament." In many instances the punctured lobe is so extended +that it becomes a loop, the ends of which sometimes rest on the +shoulders. When not in use, so to speak, the ear loop is hung up on +the top of the ear and seems to be secured by a knot made in that +extended and flexible member. She carries her babe inside her goatskin +covering in front, and a heavy basket of wood, potatoes, or other +things on her back. A strap passes across her forehead, the ends +secured to the basket. The great weights carried in the baskets make +in time an indentation in the forehead the width of the strap. + +A native of that tribe would prefer to be killed rather than touch +anything dead--even a rat. If one of their number should suddenly die +in the hut, every one would immediately move out and leave the dead +member behind. Before taking final leave of the old home, however, +time is taken to dig a hole under the side of the hut large enough to +admit either a jackal or hyena, when the body would be left to be +devoured by these beasts later. The Mkikuyu, though, in order to +retain his abode, takes care that few deaths take place in the hut. +When a member of a family becomes sick he is taken out of and led some +distance away from the home and laid on the ground. Those accompanying +the sick native may, with a short stick or wood, the ends resting in +two crotches made of four shorter pieces held by a grass band, lay his +head on the native "pillow," close to a lone thorn bush, with a short +piece of goatskin covering the body. If the negro recovers he is taken +back to the hut. While thus holding vigil on the veld, a vulture may +be seen soaring above where the native is lying, with others appearing +to view in the distance, and in the background the forms of jackals +and the outline of slinking hyenas may also be apparent, for these +vultures and beasts seem to know, not alone through instinct, but from +former similar settings, that the body of the native, when life has +left it, will not be put underground nor be removed by the +superstitious tribesmen. + +Many of the natives are smeared with reddish, greasy clay from head to +foot. The hair, worn long by some, is plastered and shaped to resemble +a turtle, with head jutting out and tail extended. They wear no shoes, +and seldom a hat. One sees the native in British East Africa little +different than he lived a thousand years ago. + +Men wearing two soft, broad-brimmed felt hats strikes one as out of +the ordinary. Nairobi is but 80 miles south of the Equator, and heavy +head-covering must be worn to guard against sunstroke. Helmets are +worn by a great many, but the two hats, the top one over the under +one, are worn as commonly as the helmet. + +A library is one of the features of the town. An electric light plant +was seen here; also bioscope theaters. One thing Nairobi did not +have--colored postcards that were of any interest. Motor cars spin +about the streets. Food, clothes and living expenses are cheaper in +Nairobi than in South Africa. Hotel accommodation was but $1.60 a day. + +Coffee growing is a promising industry of that section of the +Protectorate. A French mission is located a few miles from Nairobi, +and the fathers, some fifteen years ago, experimented with the coffee +bush. It proved a success, and several large plantations have since +been established. An exorbitant price is asked for land in this +district. + +Irish potatoes grow in these parts, but not along the coast. The +altitude of Nairobi is 5,000 feet, and, while the sun is hot in the +daytime, the nights are cool. + + [Illustration: VIGIL ON THE VELD (top). + BRITISH EAST AFRICA. + "TROLLEY" PUSHERS (bottom). + BEIRA, PORTUGUESE EAST AFRICA. + See page 230.] + +Most of the big-game hunting parties are equipped in Nairobi. The +guides are about the town every few days, and a lion is guaranteed +to be killed or no charge required. Eight lions were killed not far +from here during our stay. One may stroll a mile from the center of +the town, sit on a hill, and watch herds of gazelle grazing not a half +mile away. The black-and-white monkey comes from this section of +Africa. + +"Boy! boy! boy!" is heard from nearly every room in a hotel in the +morning. Everybody has a boy to black his shoes, lace his shoes, put +away his clothes after dusting, get his shaving outfit--the sort of +waiting on that spoils the white man. The hallways of the hotel are +crowded with the guests' black servants. No one thinks of carrying a +valise or bundle of any kind. The "boy" is expected to be in the +hallway morning, noon and night waiting to serve his master. + +Mount Kenia, 18,000 feet high, located directly under the Equator and +80 miles from Nairobi, may be seen from the town any clear day; also +Mount Kilimanjaro, 19,000 feet high, about the same distance south of +this place. + +The Uganda Railway headquarters is located at Nairobi. Some of the +locomotives used on this road are of American manufacture, easily +distinguishable from English-built engines, for American-built +locomotives are the only ones which carry a bell. The locomotive +engineers are nearly all Indians. The Uganda Railway is a paying +concern, for dividends of 33 per cent. are declared nearly every year. +Passenger fare is reasonable, but freight charges are said to be very +high. It cost $50,000 a mile to build the Uganda Railway, which is 584 +miles in length. + +The various native tribes have peculiar marks by which they are +distinguished. One tribe may have a certain tooth missing; another the +end of their teeth filed to a sharp point; still another may have +their teeth nicked, like a saw, done with a stone; or by other marks, +easily distinguished. + +Horse racing, football, cricket, and other English sports are indulged +in. Saturday afternoon is devoted to recreation, as the Saturday +half-holiday is observed. Government employees form a considerable +proportion of the population. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Nairobi was as far as we intended going when leaving the ship at +Mombasa, but, finding the country so new and interesting, with +traveling and living expenses reasonable, we decided to press on to +the shores of Victoria Nyanza. From Nairobi going westward we rose to +an elevation of 7,000 feet. Among the limbs of the trees, while +traveling over that part of the railway line, can be seen crude, small +barrels made of pieces of wood; these have been put in the trees by +natives to intercept itinerant swarms of bees. The stations and +surroundings were literally covered with blacks--natives and Indians. +With the Mkikuyu woman, in her greased goatskin and plugged ear lobes, +and some of the men covered with the greasy, red clay from head to +foot, with hair fixed to resemble the turtle; with the Indian wearing +his cloth headgear, and the Indian woman with her ankle and wrist +bangles; with no Europeans in sight save as passengers--British-East +Africa to-day offers more of interest, more for native study, than +even interesting South Africa. + +At Escarpment a splendid view was afforded, for the railway descends +from a high point down the steep mountainside into what is known as +the Great Meridional Rift, or Rift Valley, a depression in the earth +that is said to extend to Egypt. As the train travels down a woody +mountain, to the left and in front is the Rift Valley and Lake +Naivasha. Traveling along we come to another game preserve, where +gazelles, hartebeestes, wildebeestes, ostriches and zebras are grazing +upon and scampering over the great valley, unaware of the pleasure +their presence affords passengers while traveling through that stretch +of country. + +No evidence of habitation is seen from the railway, yet people get +off at stations--only stations--and often persons are seen waiting at +those lonesome spots in that wild land for the train to take them +beyond. The same took place when coming up the coast--passengers got +off and others got on the ship, though no white settlements were in +sight. It is marvelous how white people settle in such untrodden +sections in which to make a living, surrounded as they are on every +side by the wildest and most uncertain phases of life. + +Strange-looking berries were served at an eating station, and on +inquiry as to the nature of the fruit, we were informed that an +American had crossed two bushes--a strawberry and a raspberry--and the +result, half-strawberry and half-raspberry, growing in that far-off +land, we were now sampling. + +We passed through Masailand, a native preserve, occupied by what was +formerly a troublesome tribe. They live on the plains, and are said to +own a quarter of a million head of cattle. Passing through attractive +mountainous country, from Mau Summit, over 8,000 feet above sea level, +we descended to Kavirondo Valley, a flat country. + +Naked natives, free from civilization's binding customs, hoeing corn, +weeding land, and watching sheep and goats, were seen working in the +fields. These were the Wakavirondo, a tribe noted for its +industriousness. They are chiefly engaged in farming and gardening, +and their products are carried to Port Florence to be sold. Some of +them have on a slight covering when they go to town, but it is +discarded a short distance from where they left their produce. + +Labor agents engage "boys" of the Wakavirondo tribe to work for a +certain length of time away from their district. Of course, the men +must wear some clothes. Returning in from three to six months, they +have become accustomed to wearing covering and wish to continue doing +so. Like the Maori women, though, the women of this African tribe +insist on maintaining the custom of their ancestors, so the men have +to discard the clothes they had become used to and resume their former +clothesless existence. It is very warm where the Wakavirondo +live--under the Equator. + +Port Florence--or Kisumu, as that place is more often called--was now +reached, and before us spread the blue, calm, green-island dotted +water of Victoria Nyanza. We were at the western terminus of the +Uganda Railway--the last railroad piercing Africa in that direction. A +railway station, a dak bungalow--the only place at which to stop--and +perhaps a dozen houses built on raised ground, with good wharves, a +godown and a marketplace, almost completed the "attractions" of Port +Florence. Fever is very bad in Kisumu, and smallpox and bubonic plague +were holding a levee at the time we visited the place. Bubonic plague +is so common here that no one pays much attention to it. Blacks are +taken off with the plague in large numbers, but few Europeans die from +that pestilence. + +Trains run but twice a week from Mombasa to Port Florence, and the +lake boats connect with the trains; so if I remained in Kisumu it +would necessarily be for three days, and people die in less than that +time after having been bitten by the bubonic flea. I did not relish +the idea of possibly breathing my last just then, nor at that place. +The blue water was alluring, the green islands bewitching, and in +fancy we caught an echo of a call from Uganda's shore, inviting us to +cross the great African lake and tarry a short while in the land of +the Waganda. So, when the vessel moved from the wharf on her voyage +across Victoria Nyanza, we were among the passengers. + +The boats traversing that sheet of water are from 500 to 1,000 tons' +displacement, lighted by electricity and of modern design. Every +available sleeping place was occupied, and the vessel's water-line was +concealed by the weight of her cargo. + +A stranger would not know when he had reached the body of the lake, as +the course is through blue-water avenues, bordered with tropical green +islands, for a large part of the journey. The distance across is 175 +miles, and 24 hours was taken in making the journey. The boats on +Victoria Nyanza do not travel at night, which accounts for the slow +time. The Equator was crossed and recrossed during the 24-hours' +journey, but the game of "Neptune" was not played. The lake is nearly +4,000 feet above sea-level, 240 miles in length, and its area 26,000 +square miles. + +Although very fertile, none of the islands was inhabited. For +centuries most of these had been under cultivation, but the +sleeping-sickness plague made such havoc among the natives that the +British government some years ago forced them to the mainland. + +Entebbe, on the western shore of Victoria Nyanza, is the Imperial +capital of Uganda, but Kampala, 23 miles north, is the native capital. +The British government officials are located at the former place, +while the native legislature convenes in the latter. Most of the land +of Uganda is owned by natives, but no concessions are granted without +the approval of British officials. If one wishes to buy land, he must +apply for it through the native legislature. Uganda is a rich country, +but little land is under cultivation. Indians and Arabs would quickly +buy large tracts, but they are not wanted there, as no one profits +from Asiatic holdings but Asiatics; besides they would ill-treat the +natives. Uganda was made a British Protectorate in 1894. It has an +area of 300,000 square miles, that of British-East Africa 200,000 +square miles. Europeans in the Uganda Protectorate number only about +2,000. + +Built on a high point of land, with two blue-water bays on each side +and a wide sweep of Victoria Nyanza spreading out to the horizon; +evergreen landscape beyond the mainland borders of the bays; trees +smothered with vari-colored flowers, and the streets carpeted with a +floral covering which falls from them; bright and pretty-colored birds +enhancing the picture, with their sweet carols "at early morn and dewy +eve;" bulky banana bushes and papaw, or mummy-apple, trees growing at +every turn; the gardens to the homes of the dwellers glowing with +flowers--there, away off in Uganda, on the peninsula overlooking the +great lake, at Entebbe, we found one of the grandest settings of both +land and water scenery the eye could feast on. + +This was the first place we observed natives seeking work. When coming +from the wharf to the town, tidy, well-developed Waganda would timidly +approach, holding in their hands a small book or piece of paper. In +the book or on the paper was written their records, good or otherwise, +the wages they had received, and the length of time worked at various +places. The applicant may be a houseboy, cook or land worker. It is +customary, in fact a standard rule, when servants leave employment, to +give them a note, which is their reference. None of them know a letter +of the alphabet, so have no idea of the nature of the writing. + +Mention has been made of the uninviting appearance of the Mkikuyu at +Nairobi and the naked Mkavirondo living on the eastern shore of the +lake. Here, over 400 miles west of Nairobi and 175 west of Port +Florence, we found the splendidly-built, tidily-dressed, clean +Waganda. The women of this tribe are almost as well developed as the +Zulu women. The Maganda also carries loads on her head. It is hard to +understand why these natives, so far away from civilization, are so +neatly dressed. The Maganda is a good native. + +We were but three miles north of the Equator, at an elevation of 4,000 +feet, and the comfortable climate, instead of an almost unbearable one +one would expect to encounter here, is a surprise. In the evening the +air became so cool that the veranda was vacated for a seat inside. + +Less than 150 white persons live in Entebbe, but with the Arabs, +Indians, and many natives, the population reaches 20,000. Were +government employees to leave, very few Europeans would be left in the +capital. + +This was one place in which the moving picture was not to be seen, and +one is getting pretty well out of the world, so to speak, when he has +out-trod the sphere of that common means of amusement. But there was a +phonograph, owned by an Indian, who lived across the road from where I +slept. Indian music is weird with a vengeance. The scale is cast in +high C, and the flats and sharps and other "harmonics" that went with +the music seemed to be like a clashing of rasps, files and grating +iron. At 2 o'clock in the morning the "tormentor" was started, and its +weird notes unmercifully pierced the equatorial air until daylight. +The police sometimes stopped the music for a couple of nights, but it +was soon heard again. I became well known at the police station +through lodging complaints against the owner of that infamous +phonograph. + +The wharf at the lake was piled high with merchandise and cotton +bales. Some of the imports were to be moved into the interior as far +as the Belgian Congo. The means of conveyance was the heads of +natives--porters, as they are called. From 300 to 600 porters, all +looking half-starved, assembled in front of a shipping agent's office +and waited for orders to start on the trip. Horses cannot live in +Uganda, so natives take the horses' place. Sixty pounds is the +standard load for a porter to carry. The goods are packed and shipped +in quantities conforming to that weight, when it is possible to do so. +The articles carried may be grubhoes, chairs, a box containing canned +vegetables or food, a bed spring, bedding, a table, five-gallon cans +of oil--anything in the nature of food, clothing, or household +furnishings. When the article exceeds 60 pounds, two, three, and even +four porters, with bamboo poles, are assigned to the load. The small +army of porters--the African freight train--start, with a stick in +their hand and 60 pounds of freight on their heads. The destination is +Toro, 200 miles further into Africa. White men are in charge of the +"freight train." Each porter takes with him a portion of rice or +cornmeal. His meat is furnished by the white men in charge, who carry +rifles, and by that means game is shot en route. Thirty days is the +time required to travel the 200 miles, and for carrying 60 pounds of +goods that distance a porter receives $3. A new "freight train" will +take up the goods at Toro and advance the cargo further into the wild +country. Certain packs of natives will not go further than the +sub-stopping place, as natives beyond are generally hostile to tribes +stopping at that point. In that way traders living in remote parts are +supplied with goods. + +We were right in the heart of the sleeping-sickness zone. It has been +estimated that 300,000 natives have been swept away by this strange +and fatal disease. Remains of huts and other mute evidences of tribal +existence at certain parts of the lake districts indicate the wiping +out of whole tribes by this pestilence, which accounts for the British +government forcing the natives from the lake islands to live on the +mainland. Some of these ejected natives try to return to their old +home, and it was said to be a pathetic sight when they were forced to +change their abode. The islands are infested with the fly whose bite +injects the death virus. A strip of territory two miles from the shore +of the lake is prohibited ground, and legal punishment is provided for +any one found over the fly-infested lines. + +Sleeping sickness is caused from a bite of the tsetse fly. It is as +large as a horse-fly, and when it bites a victim it usually draws +blood. The poison injected infects the blood, and is thought to be +extracted from crocodiles by the fly while resting on that beast. It +may be weeks, and even months, before the poison affects the victim. +Anyway, mopiness will become noticeable, then drowsiness, accompanied +by loss of appetite; then an overpowering desire to sleep overtakes +the victim. All the time he is becoming emaciated from lack of food. +This condition continues for months in some instances, and there are +cases where victims have moped and drowsed for years. Some of the +deaths are very painful, while others apparently die in their sleep. +Three flies, with Latin names, carry the sleeping sickness virus--the +Glossina palpalis, the Glossina morsitans, and the Glossina fusca. +They are generally termed "morsitans," "palpalis" and "fusca." The +most advanced medical scientists may be found in this part of the +world trying to find out something definite about the virus and +devising means for its eradication, but are as yet in the dark +concerning how to combat the suffering and fatalities that follow in +the wake of this strange disease. Sleeping sickness is prevalent in +some parts of Rhodesia, Central Africa and in other interior sections +of the Dark Continent. + +The means employed to eradicate the fly is by cutting the brush from +the shore of the lake. A fly will not remain in the sun long, so when +the brush has been cut and a fly's resting place, the shade, is +removed, he leaves the brush-barren district and seeks shady fields. +A grass--lemon grass, it is called--with a leaf a quarter of an inch +wide, which grows to two feet high, is often planted on the land from +which the brush has been cleared. The grass has an oily, lemon taste, +which the tsetse fly does not fancy, and he leaves the cleared +section. + +In the early days Stanley and those that came later to these parts +crossed the lake in canoes, rowed by natives. That was a dangerous +undertaking, as the lake then, as to-day, was inhabited by hippopotami +and crocodiles. As stated in Leg Two, the "hippo" will not harm a +person in the water, but he may overturn a boat that attempts to ride +over him, when the crocodile would devour those cast overboard. + +Most of the wild animals in that part of the world are protected from +hunters by government laws, but the hippopotamus and the crocodile are +left to the mercy of any who wish to kill them. The big water-cows are +very destructive to growing grain and vegetables. They come out at +night to forage, when they destroy gardens, corn fields and grain. +These animals travel a mile or more from the shore for food. The only +time when a "hippo" will attack a person is if the latter should be +between the water and the beast. + +Coffee and rubber plantations have been laid out and promise large +returns in the future. The natives raise a great deal of cotton, and +cotton gins are located at many of the lake ports. So much cotton is +produced that the lake boats cannot keep the wharves and godowns from +being overloaded. + +Three years' growth is required before the rubber tree is tapped. +Several diagonal circles are cut in the bark. A piece of wood, with +sharp nails, similar to a hair comb, is pressed against the tender +bark. White sap then oozes from the tree and runs down a gutter cut in +the bark. At the end of the gutter a tin spout connects, down which +the latex runs into a tin cup on the ground. An ounce of sap is +produced from a tapping. A tree is tapped every day for a month, then +allowed to rest for a month. Sap will run from a tree but half an hour +a day. Natives gather the cups from each tree, emptying each ounce in +a larger vessel. The latex collected is put in tanks five feet long +and six inches wide. The next day the sap is taken out, when it will +have become a white strip, like a piece of fat pork. The slab or sheet +of raw rubber is next put through a press twice, which squeezes out +water and impurities. The sheet of raw rubber remains unbroken, and +its thickness is reduced to a quarter of an inch. It is then rolled +together, like belting, put into a drying place, where it remains for +a month, after which it is shipped North for refining. Before tapping +a tree the bark is cleansed with a carbolic acid wash. The sap is +white as milk, and sticky, and remains that color until refined. An +average of one pound of rubber a month from a tree is a good yield, +and the price ranges from $2 to $3 a pound in the raw state. The trees +will produce sap for about ten years, and are from two to eight inches +in diameter. Some rubber plantations contain hundreds of thousands of +trees, and from 200 to 1,000 natives are employed. The wages paid +latex gatherers in Uganda are from $1 to $1.50 a month. + +At the market place little cleaning-up was necessary, as vultures pick +meat blocks and keep the floors white after the day's business. + +A good botanical garden that any city of half a million population +would be proud of is found in Entebbe. Often groups of monkeys may be +seen jumping from limb to limb and from tree to tree in the garden, +each following the same route that the first one traveled. + +Missions and missionaries are quite numerous in that section of +Africa, almost every religious denomination being represented. + +A ricksha is the usual means of traveling. When going from place to +place, three natives are assigned to a ricksha, two pushing, with one +between the shafts. These have bells tied around their ankles, and +they sing from the time they start until they have reached the end of +their stage. Each team runs about five miles, when three fresh pullers +take charge of the vehicle; then the passenger will again spin along +the road at a speed of five miles an hour, cheered by the tunes of the +natives. + +"Safari" is a word much used in the Protectorates. When one camps out, +or goes on a country journey, he will be on "safari." Often a man's +standing is gauged by the number of natives that accompany him. In the +eyes of the natives the man with the largest safari is the bigger man. +For that reason a vain man will have a larger force of natives serving +him than would be necessary were his position not gauged on that +basis. In that and in other ways white men become slaves to the +caprice of native opinion. + +Natives living in that part of Uganda are ant-eaters. The white ant, +another African scourge, builds, unseen, large chocolate-colored +mounds of dirt, some of them eight feet in height and from six to +eight feet across the base. After reaching a certain age wings grow on +the ants, when they emerge from the hill. The natives, aware of the +time the exodus is to take place, build a frame of sticks over the +cone of the mound, over which is placed a bark cloth. The cone is +covered down the sides to a place below which the ants will not break +through the dirt. Between the bottom of the upright frame sticks and +the mound will be placed a banana leaf, the center pressed down, +forming a trench. The ants, on emerging from the mound, fly upward, +when they strike the cloth covering and drop into the banana leaf +trench. Once their flight is interrupted they cannot fly again. An +hour's time is consumed while migrating from the mound--from the time +the ants begin to come out until all have left their old home--during +which the natives are busy eating the insects that creep out between +the leaf cracks. They gather these by the wings, which are an inch in +length, and put the live ants into their mouths, wings and all. The +swarm of ants is later scooped from the trench, put into baskets made +of leaves, taken to the hut, where the wings are plucked, and are then +put into a pan and fried. In keeping with the secret and interesting +nature of that insect, they do not begin to leave the mound before +sunset, and often not until dark. Also, in keeping with the generosity +of the Mganda, a member of this tribe, holding a number of ants by +their wings in one hand and putting these in his mouth--having an +equal number in the other hand--offered to share the winged delicacies +with his white spectator. + +A variety of grass, from 6 to 12 feet high, called elephant grass, +grows in that country. Some ivory hunters have met their death owing +to wounded elephants secreting themselves in the tall reeds. A hunter +would naturally follow the tracks of the great beast, though, being +close to his quarry, he could not see him; but the elephant could see +the hunter. Before he could protect himself or escape, the powerful +trunk would come down on the hunter and deal him a death blow. Ivory +from the tusks of the female elephant is the better grade. Ivory +smuggling is said to be practiced in that part of the world, as opium +smuggling is in some parts of America. While the tusks of some +elephants weigh 25 pounds, the average is 15 pounds. Export and import +duty on ivory is very high, which accounts for alleged smuggling in +that product. Elephants take 30 years to attain their full growth. + +The two most dangerous animals in Africa are the buffalo and the +rhinoceros. Most animals will run from man, but a buffalo may be just +inside tall grass or a brush thicket, unseen, when he will charge a +hunter. The rhinoceros is almost blind, but what he lacks in sight is +made up for by his keen scent. As soon as he scents anything he wishes +to impale on his horn, he starts in the direction from which he got +his lead. When closely pursued by a "rhino," the hunter will stand +still until the big beast is immediately in front; then he will +side-step. A man can turn much quicker than a "rhino," and in that way +one has a chance to get away, or to keep dodging the animal until help +comes. + +Plural marriage is the custom with these natives, but a wife in Uganda +is one-half cheaper than in Zululand, from four to six head of cattle +being the standard price of a helpmate. + +Bananas and sweet potatoes grow very bountifully, and these two +vegetables comprise the principal food of the natives. The banana is +boiled when green and eaten. The soil is rich and a chocolate color. + +This was the only place in our tour of Africa where pretty birds were +seen and also were heard singing. Birds in South Africa seldom sing. +Parrots are on their native heath here. + +The sun in that part of the world shines 12 hours a day the year +round. + +Automobiles, motor trucks, motorcycles and bicycles may be seen +spinning along good roads. + +My time had been overstayed in Entebbe, so we took our departure for +Kampala, the native capital. The lake stopping-place is called Port +Bell. Seven miles from the little port is located Kampala, the ancient +capital of Uganda, and that distance is traveled in a government motor +car. Rubber trees and banana groves line the roadway for the distance. +About 75,000 natives live in Kampala, but the huts are so scattered +and buried under banana bushes that one would not think there were +one-third that number. It is another Rome, so far as hills are +concerned. The government buildings are seen on one hill, the King's +house and Ministers' houses on another, and a monastery and a mission +stand on other hills. Four hundred Europeans comprise the population. + +Our next landing from Kampala was Jinja, another port of Victoria +Nyanza, and the most interesting of the lake stops, as we had reached +the outlet of that body of water, Ripon Falls, where one looks at the +starting point of the historical river Nile, the magnet that figured +largely in my giving way to the witchery of the foreground when +standing on the shore of the lake at Kisumu some weeks before. + +J. H. Speke, an Englishman, in 1858, discovered Victoria Nyanza, but +its outlet, hidden by green banks on each side, was not reached until +four years later, on his second visit to that section of Africa. He +named that neck of water Napoleon Gulf. Speke was the first to reveal +the source of the river Nile, which had long been sought by the +Egyptians, who had for ages been in the dark concerning the +fountain-head of the river that meant so much to them in providing +water to grow crops--their life, in fact. When it is recalled that +rain has not fallen for thousands of years in some sections of the +African continent through which the Nile flows, it is little wonder +that the Egyptians were eager to learn of the river's source. + +Ripon Falls, named by Speke after the president of the geographical +society that financed his explorations, is located a mile from Jinja, +and is only 12 feet high and 400 feet wide, but when that plunge has +been taken the water becomes the river Nile. From Ripon Falls to +Albert Nyanza the river is known as the Victoria Nile. On, on it flows +through countries inhabited by savage tribes--by elephants, +rhinoceroses, lions and hippopotami--through lakes and great swamps; +still on and on through the Soudan, and even further northward, where +it is halted for a time by the great Assouan Dam. It next passes +through the desert to Alexandria, Egypt, where it becomes lost in the +salted ocean, nearly 4,000 miles from its source. + +Until a few years ago visitors to Ripon Falls were forbidden to go +close to the section where the water makes its plunge from Victoria +Nyanza to the River Nile, as the brush growing on both sides was +infested with tsetse flies. The brush was finally cleared and lemon +grass planted. One is not quite safe from being bitten even now, as on +the opposite side the brush is dense, and the distance across the +river would be none too far for a fly to journey. No one enters that +brush unless their hands are covered, and face and neck protected with +a heavy veil, to thwart any attack by that winged messenger of death. + +From Jinja a railroad, the only one in Uganda, extends northward 59 +miles. + +Returning by boat to Port Florence, then by train over the mountains +to Nairobi, we again feasted our eyes on big game while traveling +through the great preserve; next through the Taru Desert, where the +leafless trees grow; and finally we rumbled over the trestle spanning +the water channel separating Mombasa Island from the mainland. + + + + +LEG SIX + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +We now take final leave of Africa, the land of fever and fascination, +and start for India. The boat from which I disembarked at Mombasa +weeks before had sailed to Bombay, returned to Africa, and was now +again on her voyage to the Pearl of the Orient. Only two Europeans +were traveling second-class--the only white passengers aboard--the +others being black. We had been at sea but a few hours when the +captain invited us to quarters in the first-class section without +additional charge. Seldom are passengers favored with such kindness. +The ship headed for the Island of Mahé, the largest of the Seychelles +group. + +Before leaving Mombasa passengers had to be vaccinated, as smallpox +had broken out in that place. The port doctor snagged my arm with an +inoculation needle in three different places, giving as a reason for +doing so that he was sure none of them would "take." Later, it became +painfully evident his opinion could not be depended upon in a matter +of that nature, as three flaming-like eyes appeared on my arm--all +three vaccinations had "taken." + +A ship may enter the port of Bombay, India, though bubonic plague and +smallpox is ravaging the passengers, but if what is known as a jigger +is found on the feet or hands of a passenger a vessel would be +quarantined for eight days. The jigger is a small insect that crawls +under the toenail, deposits eggs if allowed to remain, and then dies; +its eggs, however, cause a sore, which spreads over feet and legs, and +the hands and body eventually become scaly, somewhat like eczema. +African natives are very clever at digging out the jigger. The ship's +doctor examines every toe and hand of passengers booked for India. He +places a box on deck, when, one at a time, each passenger puts first +one foot on the box, when the doctor inspects each toe, and then the +other, for jigger indications. Several days are devoted to this +examination. + +"A complete quarantine" was the order of the port doctor when we +reached Port Victoria, on the island of Mahé, Seychelles group, the +Mombasa clearance papers announcing smallpox prevalent in the African +town. + +The coco-de-mer--a double cocoanut--is perhaps one of the strangest +products in the world; only in the Seychelles group will the nut grow, +and there on but two islands. After the shuck has been removed the +double nut is found, black as ebony. A striking feature of the +coco-de-mer is its resemblance to the torso of a black person. The +tree on which it grows is like the cocoanut palm, and the nut is used +for decorating homes and clubs. The palm grows in sexes, male and +female, only the female tree bearing. + +This group is composed of 29 islands, with an area of 153 square +miles, and is located in the Western Indian Ocean about a thousand +miles east of Zanzibar. The French settled these in 1742, which +remained their territory for 50 years, when England added them to her +possessions. The 30,000 inhabitants of the islands speak the French +tongue. Unlike most sections of Africa, the climate here is healthful, +the group being often referred to as the Garden of Eden. Cocoa oil and +vanilla are the principal exports; tea, coffee, banana, cocoanut and +other tropical growths also flourish. The natives are yellow in color, +but not negroid. American five-gallon oil tins are in evidence in that +isolated "oasis" of the world. + +We traveled northwest from Seychelles, when we recrossed the equator, +leaving behind the towering palms of Rio; the circling albatross and +pretty Cape pigeons, the whales, flambeau trees, Zulu ricksha pullers, +gold and diamond mines, Victoria Falls, and shapely mountains of South +Africa; Australia, New Zealand, and the South Sea Islands; the +interesting East Coast of Africa and Zanzibar; leafless trees, game +preserves, green-island dotted Victoria Nyanza, nimble monkeys +disporting in treetops, ant-eating natives, pretty birds, Ripon Falls, +the tsetse fly--mindful only of the interesting and fascinating--and, +lastly, the Southern Cross, as we say a final good-by to the attractive +Southland and the kind people living in that division of the world. + +"The anchor rattles down on stranger shores." We had stopped at +Morumgoa, Portuguese-India, where most of the black passengers left +the ship. Goa is the name of this Portuguese colony, which embraces an +area of 1,500 square miles, and has been ruled by Portugal since the +fifteenth century. Half a million Portuguese subjects live in Goa, and +from that place comes the Goanese. They consider themselves Europeans, +dress like Europeans, but are as black as an Indian. Stewards on +passenger steamships in the East are generally Goanese, as they make +better servants than Indians. The passengers were returning from +Africa, where they had earned from $20 to $30 a month, very good wages +for them. They had saved enough in Africa to live in ease at home for +a long time, and would send friends across the Indian Ocean to take +their places. + +Another day's travel within sight of the Indian shore, and we sailed +into the east bay of Bombay harbor, when a splendid panorama--the city +on our left, the bay in front, and green hills and islands to the +right--spread out before us. We had reached Asia--Leg Six. + +The Parsi (a Persian) is the financial power in Bombay, coming to +India a long time ago, when his empire was destroyed by the +Mohammedans. Persecuted by Indians for centuries, his progress is +entirely due to the protection he has received under England's strong +arm. Bombay has been an English possession for 300 years. + +The Parsi is lighter in color than the Indian, dresses differently, +thinks he is better than the native, will not eat food prepared by +others, and does not marry outside his own race. A majority of Parsis +wear spectacles--possibly one of the results of tribal intermarriage. + +One is surprised, on visiting this Parsi stronghold, at the splendid +buildings, rising bulky and high, about the city. The streets in the +business section are good and the walks in fair condition. A good +system of stone and cement docks impresses the visitor. Ships are so +numerous at this port that some of the vessels have to remain in +harbor for days, and even weeks, before docking room is available. A +large dry dock was under course of construction at this time, and +other important improvements were in evidence all along the water +front. + +Trucking is done by oxen; horses are never seen drawing heavy loads. +The Bombay truck is a two-wheeled cart, thousands of these, loaded +with cotton bales and various merchandise, slowly moving about the +city all the while. When drivers wish to speed their oxen they twist +their tails. From this method of forcing the animals, the pronounced +corrugated nature of their tails suggests that the joints had been +wrenched apart numerous times. + +Bombay cotton mills number about a hundred and furnish employment for +over 200,000. Indian cotton is not so good as that grown in the United +States, and for this reason hundreds of thousands of bales are +imported from America each year to mix with the native product. Cotton +is worn mainly by the natives, and, as the Indian woman has a weakness +for colors, groups of these make a picturesque showing. + +Indian women work side by side with men and receive the same wages. +The work engaged in may be carrying earth from an excavation, loading +dirt into carts, shoveling coal, or lifting bales of cotton. These are +known as coolies, and no distinction is made between male and female, +English rule has given some workers in India a short day, but others +work 10 and 12 hours. The wages paid coolies in Bombay are from six to +eight cents a day. A woman may be carrying material to masons working +on a wall of a building and her babe be sleeping behind a pile of +bricks. When the child requires its mother's attention the hod-carrier +walks over to the infant, remains a short while, then leaves, loads +her basket with brick, lifts it to her head, and starts up the ladder +with the material. + +Thousands of people in Bombay sleep on the sidewalk at night. They +completely cover their head and face, placing a piece of old cloth +under them--if so fortunate as to have something of that sort--lie +down, and sleep until morning. One wonders they do not die of +suffocation. + +Usually the temperature is cooler at night than by day, but such is +not the case in Bombay, the weather being hotter at night during the +summer season than in the daytime, when a breeze generally blows, and +ceases at sundown. Then perspiration seems just to boil out of one's +body. Bombay being built on an island, with water on all sides, one +would naturally think air would be noticeably stirring at night, but +instead the bays at this time of year are usually as calm as a mill +pond. We reached this country the end of September, and for three +weeks following the weather would not permit of even a sheet covering +at night. The weather is indeed hot in India. + +The monsoons, or rains, begin the latter end of May, and continue +until the first of September. The rain comes in showers, the sun +shining between, when steam continually rises from the ground. White +women go to the mountains before the monsoons, on account of the +trying nature of the weather, and also after the monsoons have ceased. +The weather in India is very depressing to white women. + +Were one to walk about with bare arms on a cloudy day they would +become blistered. If one walked ten feet without head covering, he +would be apt to fall from sunstroke as quickly as if felled by a blow. + +Bombay, the fourth city of the British Empire, has a population of a +million, 15,000 of whom are said to be Europeans, but it is doubtful +if there be that number of full-blooded whites in the city. Of this +population, it would be interesting to know what percentage wear +shoes. Some Parsis do so, others wear sandals; but no Hindus or +Mohammedans wear shoes, and but a small minority are seen with +sandals. These are worn only while walking, for it is the custom to +leave their sandals outside the entrance of a building or home and +enter in bare feet. No matter where they may be, the sandals are +discarded at all times when they are not actually walking, and when +sitting down their feet are partly concealed under them. + +Hindus and Mohammedans do not eat pork, as they consider the meat +unclean; neither is beef eaten by Hindus. This is the reason why beef +sells for five cents a pound. A cow is considered a sacred animal by +the Hindu, and therefore not to be eaten. A shoemaker or saddler, or +any one working with leather, is of very low caste, according to Hindu +social rating. + +In the Five Towers of Silence, located on Malabar Hill, the Parsi dead +are disposed of, the method employed being one of the strangest +customs practiced. A long, stone stairway leads to where the bodies +are placed on an iron grating, which takes four men to carry it. Here +are five cylinders, of three compartments each, 276 feet around and 25 +feet high, resembling a circular gridiron, with a depression toward +the center. Under the depressed portion of the cylinder is a well. +Bodies are laid on the grating naked--adult males on the outside +compartment, women on the center, and children near the well. +Bald-headed vultures being numerous in the trees growing about the +Towers, half an hour after a corpse has been placed on the gridiron +every particle of flesh will be stripped from the bones by these +vultures. The skeleton remains on the grating, exposed to sun and +wind, until it has become dry; then the body-carriers, with tongs, +remove the bones into the well. This method of disposing of bodies, +instead of by cremation, is due to the Parsis regarding fire as too +sacred to be polluted by burning the dead, and water and earth are +equally revered. The bones and dust going into the same well is in +keeping with one of the tenets of their religion--namely, that rich +and poor must meet in death. The Parsis are followers of Zoroaster, +who is said to have brought sacred fire from heaven, which is still +kept burning in consecrated spots, while some of the temples are built +over subterranean furnaces. + + [Illustration: BHISTI (Water-Carrier). + INDIA. + See page 293.] + + [Illustration: PARSI. + BOMBAY, INDIA. + See page 271.] + +The Parsi has a marked weakness for seeing his name engraved on brass +plates or shields or cut in polished granite. In order that this whim +be gratified, he donates large sums of money to worthy benefactions. +Their wealth and power may be inferred when it is stated that the +control of the city of Bombay is in the hands of 80,000 out of a +population of a million. The poor are well looked after, and a high +standard of morality is their boast. The adoption of European +customs becomes more noticeable from year to year. The children of +that race attend the public schools. + +One style of hat or cap worn by the Parsi is of pasteboard, covered +with dotted white and red silk cloth, in the shape of a horse's hoof. +In the center of the cap a conical piece of the frame points upward, +but not so high as the top of the "hoof." That feature of the cap +suggests the frog in the horse's foot. No rim, string or tassel goes +with this odd headgear. Occasionally a small feather may be seen at +one side. Another hat having a high crown, is made of cloth, without a +rim, save for what might be called a cuff around the bottom. His +"coat" is a long, loose garment reaching to the knees. The Parsi +horse-hoof hat, with adornment, will yet be well known beyond the +borders of India and Persia, for milliners will induce their customers +to adopt that style of headdress. + +The city is well provided with parks. On the west side is a large +strip of land, on which English sports, including polo games, are +common; this park is used also for other forms of recreation. Music is +provided in this part of the city every evening. In another section is +located Victoria Gardens, a very pretty place, containing a good +museum and a creditable zoo. Music is furnished in these grounds +several times a week. + +An interesting type of the varied nationalities of Bombay is the +fisherwomen, who carry their catch in a basket on their heads. They +are a different race to the Hindu or Parsi, dress differently, wear no +head covering, and a sort of skirt they wear stops at the knees, the +center being caught up by a piece of cloth brought between and +fastened in front, giving the skirt a baggy, trouser-like appearance; +from their knees down their legs are bare, including the feet. While +their occupation would suggest untidiness, yet no people in the world +are superior, in neatness of step and admirable carriage, to the +Bombay fisherwomen. + +It may be of interest to note that Bombay "duck," appearing on menus +in the Far East, is really fish caught in the Arabian Sea, which, +after being dried, is shipped to many parts of the world. + +Bombay curry and rice is another food seen on menus in cities a long +distance from the place whose name it bears. A gherkin is always eaten +with this, the chief food of India. Curry and rice is seen on menus +all over the country, and it is well for one to acquire a taste for it +while in India, as it is said to be good, and there is always plenty +of it. + +"Lac" is used in India to denote large amounts, as a "thousand" is +used in our country. There is a much larger difference in the amount, +however, as a lac is 100,000. Five lacs of rupees, or three lacs of +cotton bales, is the way the term is used. + +A garrywaller is a cabdriver, but "garry" is the general term used +when speaking of that class. The term "waller" is used in the place of +the word "smith" in the United States. It would be tinwaller for a +tinsmith, woodwaller for a cabinetmaker, saddlewaller for a saddler, +and so on. + +Cab fare is cheap in Bombay. The charge for the first hour is 25 to 30 +cents, and 16 to 20 cents an hour after the first. Short trips cost +from 10 to 16 cents. One engaging a "garry" should know the exact fare +before starting, for a driver may demand double the regular fare when +the journey is finished. The cab horses are a hungry-looking lot--like +those of Paris, France. + +Jewelry and copper wallers form a considerable proportion of skilled +workers. Copper cups and vases are much used in connection with +religious customs, and Indian women will starve themselves to save +money to buy silver ornaments. As many as six or eight ankle, wrist, +and arm bangles are worn by these women, besides heavy pieces of +jewelry depending from the ears, and flat ornaments covering the +mouth. These last are attached to a pin that has been pierced through +the nose. Mothers even have bangles on the arms and ankles of their +babies. + +An Indian woman's dress is often composed of but one piece of +cloth--cotton or silk, as the case may be. On the amount of money a +woman has at her disposal depends the bulk of the dress she wears. The +strips of material are sometimes 20 feet in length; they are caught up +by deft hands and made into a full fold, a half fold, or a V-shaped +hook design, until a covering of what seems an inch of cloth is around +the figure, worked out in shapes and designs to suit her fancy. None +of the women wear shoes or hats, the head covering being made of the +bolt of cloth composing her dress. The brighter the color of the +material the better she is pleased. + +Several English daily newspapers are published in Bombay; the leading +one sells at six cents a copy. Employed in that particular office are +1,100 persons, and out of that large force were only nine Europeans +working in the mechanical departments, these directing the work of the +several divisions. Here were linotype machines and other modern +appliances that mark the advancement which has taken place in the +printing industry during the past 25 years. The "aristocratic" workers +of that office were the linotype operators, their wages varying from +$14 to $18 a month--big salaries for India. A typist or linotype +operator would not hold a job long in America were he to bump down and +up the keys of these machines with but one hand; yet that is the way +the Indian linotype operator manipulates a keyboard. Unlike coolies' +hours, the working day in a publishing house is but eight hours. The +wages of other Indian skilled mechanics in that office ran from $3 to +$8 a month. + +Modern machinery in any branch of industry in India, however, is often +run at a loss. In a large publishing house a modern paper-folding +machine had been installed at considerable expense. After the machine +had been in operation for several weeks it occurred to the management +there was little, if any, financial gain noticed by the results. When +the original cost, wear and tear and ultimate replacement had been +figured out, the figures proved that the work could be done 600 per +cent. cheaper by hand. The folding machine was immediately abandoned +and the work again done by boys receiving from 4 to 6 cents a day. + +The Bombay policeman's hat is yellow in color and resembles a thick +pancake, with a firm rim. He carries a club, and a small stick is +another symbol of authority. He wears sandals, and is not officious. +If he be on a day assignment, his time on duty is eight hours. The +night policeman has much shorter hours--two hours on and two hours +off. This unusual practice is maintained owing to an officer being +very apt to go to sleep while on duty. Mention has been made of the +weather being hotter at night than in the daytime, which may explain +the night policeman's tendency to become sleepy. These protectors of +the law receive $3.25 a month. + +Electric street railways run to every part of the city, but few +Europeans ride in them. Not long since a white person seen riding on a +street car would be thought little of, but social restrictions in this +respect have relaxed to a noticeable degree. Formerly Europeans were +expected to maintain their position by riding in a carriage. Street +railway fare is cheaper in Bombay than in Sydney, Australia--from 2 to +3 cents for a long ride. The city is lighted by gas, but it does not +reflect much credit on the lighting department. + +Every European living in India must be identified with the local +militia. It matters not whether one be a Britisher, a German, a +Frenchman, or an American--all white male residents must be instructed +in the use of arms. It is the fear of native uprisings that demand the +training of each European, to be able to give the best account of his +ability if confronted by hordes of blacks intent on the most cruel +forms of massacre. A large garrison of British soldiers is stationed +in Bombay, and even a larger number at Poona, 100 miles east. + +The food is nearly the same variety as one gets in other parts of the +world. One would expect to come across different vegetables, but, with +a few exceptions, potatoes, beans, peas, tomatoes, onions and pumpkins +rule the day. One does not fare so well with eggs, however, as these +are one-third less in size than European or American eggs. The Indian +breed of chickens have long legs and a wide breast, so there is more +white meat than dark to the Indian fowl. + +Elephanta Caves, located seven miles from Bombay, on the opposite +shore of the eastern bay, is one of the attractions of that city. +Caves of this character are numerous in Southern India, and most of +them are worth a visit. The caves are underground temples, and the +sculpture, as seen in the gods carved out of solid rock; pulpits, +shrines, and images symbolic of their faith, speak well for the +people's skill in that art. The roofs of these caves are supported by +large stone columns. Nothing has been overlooked to make these large +underground places of worship emblematic of their religion, no work or +expense having been too great to bring about that end. Elephanta and +other wonderful subterranean temples bespeak the Buddhist faith. They +were chiseled out in the eighth century. Thousands of Buddhists visit +and worship in the caves to-day. The Caves of Ellora, however, are the +greatest and most notable. + +One would not expect to find away off in Bombay the prettiest railroad +station, perhaps, in the world; yet Victoria Station, the western +terminus of the Great India Peninsula Railroad, in architectural +beauty, will withstand critical examination. The style is Italian +Gothic, with Oriental designs. The building is elaborately ornamented +with sculpture and surrounded by a large central dome. The station was +built in 1888, and cost $1,500,000. We know of a number of larger +railroad stations, but have seen none to compare with its rich +architectural appearance. Though Victoria Station is the prettiest +structure in Bombay, other splendid buildings would surprise a visitor +on his visit to the Parsi city. + +A flat or an apartment for Europeans costs $30 a month. Office rent is +nearly as high in Bombay as it is in New York. + +Good hotel accommodation can be had from $2 to $3 a day. Usually a +room is composed of three "compartments"--a sitting room, dressing +room, and bath room, but no running water. Hot water for the bath is +brought in copper kettles and emptied into a wooden tub. It requires +three Indians to look after a room--a room "boy," bath "boy," and +"sweeper." The room "boy" is of higher caste than the bath "boy," and +the bath "boy" of higher caste than the "sweeper"; neither will do +work out of their caste position. Ceilings are high, and many hotels +are lighted by electricity. At sundown the room "boy" sees that the +bed is enclosed with mosquito netting, supported on a frame. Most of +the beds are of iron, with modern springs. + +One will not be in this city long before the large number of black +crows, with steel gray backs, flying about comes under observation. At +daylight their presence is forcibly brought home, the medley of "caws" +coming from these Indian scavengers preventing further sleep of a +newcomer. + +America was prominently represented here in a sewing-machine office, a +cash register office, and the ever-present American five-gallon oil +can. + +The native quarters is a black and busy place. Bombay is perhaps more +cosmopolitan than other Indian cities. Here are seen the Arab, Afghan, +Zanzibar negro, Persian, Beluchi, Chinaman, Japanese, Malay, and +representatives of other countries and other sections of India. +Bright-colored clothes appear occasionally, but the denizens of the +native quarters are more naked than dressed. The bazaars are located +here--the brass workers, coppersmiths, and jewelers; and here +everything native-made may be purchased. Candy makers are among the +"wallers" of India, and the smell from these shops and the native +cooking-places--well, if one were blind, and at all used to Indian +life, he would know he were in the bazaar by the odors. + +India is the home of the rupee. As stated earlier, its value is 32 +cents in United States money. Then there is the half rupee, 16 cents; +the anna, two cents; the pice, one-half a cent, and the pie, one-sixth +of a cent. Millions of people in India have never had a rupee in their +hands, being more familiar with the pice and pie coins and cowrie +shells, the latter being legal currency in some parts of India. The +value of cowrie shells varies from 80 to 85 to the pie, or 500 to the +American cent. + +European data in connection with Bombay and southwestern India is +taken from the year 1498, when Vasco da Gama, the daring Portuguese +explorer, sailed around Cape of Good Hope to Calicut. Portugal then +assumed control of this section for twelve years, when it was wrested +from her, again coming into her possession twenty-four years later. +In 1608 England appeared on the scene, and in 1661 Bombay was ceded to +Britain as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza. A few years +later the East India Company established itself here, and it has +remained a British possession ever since. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Our next move was by rail to Baroda, 248 miles north of Bombay. The +railroad coach was of the compartment type, but wide, the road gauge +being 5¼ feet. Fare in India is cheap, first-class being three cents a +mile, second-class a cent and a half a mile for short journeys and a +cent and a quarter for 300 miles or more, and third-class fare +one-sixth of a cent, or a pie, a mile. To learn what heavy passenger +travel is one must go to India and note the jammed condition of the +third-class cars. Natives seemed to travel on railway trains to show +their friends they had money to spend on luxuries. At certain towns a +sub-station is located near the regular station, where third-class +passengers cook their food and sleep until the train arrives. If they +oversleep, it matters little, as they camp out until the next train +stops. Some of the coaches are equipped with shower baths and +luxuriously furnished; all of the through trains are lighted by +electricity and provided with electric fans. To add to the comfort of +passengers, ice is carried to cool the drinks. The schedule time of +some trains is 40 miles an hour. Coaches are provided with free +sleeping berths, as in South Africa. + +My compartment companion was a sepoy (soldier) and a Mohammedan, who +had seen 24 years' military service, and spoke fairly good English. He +had laid in a supply of food before leaving Bombay, and, when eating +small cakes, offered to share them with his European traveling +companion; next a cigar was proffered, and, not being a smoker, this +kindness was also declined. Indians are vain concerning scented water, +and this sepoy had saturated himself so thoroughly with lavender or +rose-water that the compartment smelled like a perfume factory. He +next offered fragrant water to put on my handkerchief, but I did not +take kindly to his taste. He carried two pillows, and was disposed to +divide these with his companion. Some interesting facts concerning +Mohammedan customs were gathered from him during the journey, and when +Baroda was reached the sepoy asked, apologetically, if his presence +had been objectionable. In answer, he was handed a picture of one of +the high buildings in New York City. + +One-third of the area of India is composed of what are termed native +States, the State of Baroda being among these. The Gaekwar of Baroda +rules over 2,000,000 subjects, and is reputed to be the second +wealthiest man in India. The richest native ruler is the Nizam of the +State of Hyderabad (Deccan). + +A much better appearance was offered by the Gaekwar's subjects than by +the natives seen in Bombay. Baroda has a population of 100,000, and a +street-car line is among the city's attractions, the cars being drawn +by horses. Away from the bazaar, or business center, Baroda is +provided with good streets, with trees growing on each side. A +creditable park is located near the city, the grounds containing a +museum, an art gallery, and a zoo. + +A visit was made to the palace, in which is included the legislative +halls. We had been through palaces in Europe, but the Gaekwar's bed +was the most costly seen anywhere. It is of solid silver, the posts +being two inches in diameter, and everything else connected with this +democratic ruler's bed was fully in keeping with the silver frame. +Electric fans are placed throughout the palace; while mosaic-tiled +floors, mahogany furniture, most expensive rugs, and drapings were +also seen about this Indian ruler's dwelling-place. The palace is +surrounded by attractive grounds. + +Native rulers may govern their States, but England really holds the +reins of power. The ruler of the State of Mysore, for instance, had +his domain taken from him, but it was afterwards returned. That will +serve as an indication of what is likely to take place if a maharaja +opposes England's idea of how to conduct her dependencies. The Gaekwar +himself was scotched by the British whip for turning the wrong way in +the presence of the King of England at the Durbar held in Delhi +several years since. Previously the Gaekwar's standing had been +recognized by a royal salute of 21 guns, and seven of these were cut +off. He now receives but a 14-gun salute for his unfortunate turn at +the Durbar. + +Dak bungalows take the place of hotels in the smaller cities of India, +but even these are absent in remote towns. In order that European +visitors to Baroda may not be put to any inconvenience concerning +accommodation the Gaekwar has built a special hotel, called the Rest +House. Financially it is a loss, but the Gaekwar is too big-hearted to +allow his European friends to undergo any discomfort while staying at +his capital. + +Large monkeys, two feet high, inhabit the trees here. They are sacred +animals to the Hindu, and, although destroying garden and flower +plants, no Hindu would venture even to strike one of the tricky +animals. If one of them was killed by a European, that person, +probably, would not get out of the place alive. + +The next stop was at Ahmedabad, where some of the best temple and +mosque architecture in India is to be seen. The city has a quarter of +a million inhabitants, and is noted for its goldsmiths, jewelers, +ivory carvers, lacquer workers, cotton-cloth factories, calico +printing, gold and silver lace, and other industries that require high +skill. + +Feeding-places for birds--boxes on posts--ornamented with carving and +sometimes brightly painted, naturally arouse the curiosity of visitors +to Ahmedabad. A sect of the Hindu faith in this city is known as the +Jains; they erected the feeding-places and supply food for the birds. +This Buddhist sect believes all inorganic matter has a soul, and that +a man's soul may pass into stone; but it is their concern for animal +life, more than their other beliefs, that interests. They will not +kill an animal, bird or insect. To maintain life in flies, bedbugs, +mosquitoes, fowl, dogs, and monkeys is a strict tenet of their +religion; they also believe bodily penance is necessary to salvation. +This sect numbers a million and a half. + +The Jain temple--Hathi Singh Temple--is one of the prettiest church +buildings we have seen. Though it has not the imposing appearance of +the Cathedral of Milan, Italy, a view of the Jain temple of Ahmedabad +will long remain in one's mind. The church, built of white marble, +surmounted by 53 domes, will bring to mind, as a poor illustration, +the handsomely ornamented Christmas or wedding cakes seen in bakers' +windows. Woolen slippers must be worn on entering. The interior is in +keeping with the richness of the exterior. The gods in the temple +where the Jains worship seem to be made of gold, although they may be +of brass; they are two feet high, and some are ornamented with what +looks like precious stones. + +In a mosque of that city there is a marble window, with delicate +tracery on stone of stems and branches. This beautiful craftsmanship +is in every detail equal to what one would expect if the same design +was worked by a deft hand lace-worker. The window is six or seven feet +across, and of the same height. The tracery was executed nearly 300 +hundred years ago. Formerly there were two, but one was removed from +the mosque and taken to London, and is now in the British Museum. + +In all the larger centers of India a garrison, or cantonment, is +located just outside the city, some of them composed largely of native +soldiers, with European officers in charge. Europeans living in these +centers occupy homes near the cantonments. + +Ahmedabad streets are well shaded, and some of the houses, though none +too tidy in appearance, are beautifully ornamented on the outside with +wood carving. Beggars are numerous. A wall, in some sections 40 feet +high, with 12 entrances, surrounds the old city. A good park is +another feature, and the old wells are an example of art in a high +degree in the past. The necessity for these wells will be understood +when it is stated that rain does not fall from the termination of the +monsoons until rain is again due, a period of eight months; but the +sacred tamarind trees do not die. All the cities of India put one in +mind of a rosy apple rotten in the center: the outskirts are +beautified with nice parks, good roads, and shady trees, but the +inside is always spoiled by a dirty, bad-smelling bazaar. + +Packs of big monkeys and homeless dogs--pariah dogs, they are +called--stand on the roads in the suburbs until a horse almost steps +on them. They are waiting for the Jains to come with food. The pariah +dog is generally mangy, scaly, starved, and half mad when he is not +actually snapping. Though a menace to human life, if a European were +to kill one it might lead to an uprising in India. The mortality from +rabies is appalling. + +Lizards were seen sliding about the walls, crickets were piping from +the corners, and frogs were hopping about the floor of the room I +occupied in Ahmedabad. No one of this sect will kill a lizard, as he +is a house scavenger--puts in all his time catching flies and +mosquitoes. The lizard is evidently not a Jain. + +A 24-hour ride was ahead of us before Agra could be reached. The +country passed through was as level as a table, with patches of rice +growing on each side of the railway track. Now and again an irrigation +trench is seen, and trees in cultivated fields, while often separated +by considerable space, give the landscape a timbered appearance. Four +poles, from eight to ten feet above the ground, may be seen standing +in fields where grain is growing, on top of which a shaky platform has +been built. An Indian is assigned to this "look-out," to protect the +growing and ripening crops from invasions of destructive fowl and +animals. Rice will grow only in from three to twelve inches of water. +If the monsoons be limited, there will not be enough water to grow the +rice, and the dreaded famine results. Though the monsoons had been +good, the people looked half starved; so we have no desire to travel +through India in a famine year. The Indian plough is perhaps an +improvement on what was in use 5,000 years ago, as it has a pointed +iron bolt in a stick of wood, but in the murky past the point of the +plough might have been wood. Oxen, with big humps on their shoulders, +draw the stick and bolt, and two Indians--generally a woman and a +man--seem to be required to work the device. A long pole sticking in +the air, with half a dozen to a dozen Indians around--each woman with +a baby astraddle her hip--is scaled by two or three men, a cloth no +larger than a pocket handkerchief about their loins, the top of the +pole bending to the ground as the men approach the end of it. A sort +of bucket--generally of earthenware, but sometimes an American +five-gallon tin oil can--is seen appearing on the surface with water +dripping from it. This is the windmill of India. When the monsoons +fail them, this is their only hope of getting water from the wells to +nourish the rice "paddies," and it is borne on the head for long +distances for the purpose of maintaining life. + +Very few people drink water in India, as in most rivers it is polluted +by dead bodies, is used by "dobeys" (washermen), and in other ways +made unfit to drink, all of which causes typhoid fever. For this +reason much whisky, also soda water, is drunk. Soda water on trains +sells at four cents a bottle to a second-class passenger and eight +cents to a first-class passenger. In this country one pays according +to his position for any and everything he buys. + +Stations are not announced in India, and noticing "Agra" on a board, +in large letters, that place being a Mecca for travelers, we fell in +line with custom and left the train. + +The chief attraction of Agra is the Taj Mahal, the greatest tomb ever +erected to the memory of a woman, and this in a country where women +are looked upon as merely servants of men. The monument was erected by +Shah Jahan, Emperor of Delhi, to one of his wives, Mumtaz Mahal, "the +pride of the palace," as she was termed. Work began on the monument in +1630, which was completed in 1652, 22 years being required to finish +the grand pile of marble. The sum of money expended on its erection +was $10,000,000. + +The grounds in which the tomb stands are entered by an imposing gate +that would be a creditable monument in itself to any great personage. +When inside, the visitor is confronted with a beautiful garden. A +marble walk, in black and white, leads to the noted monument at the +other end, on the bank of the Jumna River, where it rises in striking +beauty, its stately marble dome, marble walls, and marble minarets +demonstrating the grandeur in architecture for which the Taj Mahal is +famed. The marble platform on which the tomb stands is 313 feet +square, and the top of the dome rises to a height of 213 feet. At each +corner of the tomb is a minaret of white marble, 137 feet high, +delineated by black lines. Some parts of the tomb are inlaid with +precious stones. Trellis work also plays a conspicuous part in this +magnificent monument. + +The fort of Agra, built of red sandstone and nearly 70 feet high, with +a circumference of a mile, contains some magnificent buildings of the +Moguls, although portions have been demolished. It was behind these +walls 6,000 Britishers took refuge during the Mutiny of 1857. The +walls of the fort and the buildings were erected between 1550 and +1640. Shah Jahan, the Emperor of Delhi, who built the Taj Mahal, also +erected the greater number of fine buildings here within the great +sandstone walls. Among the material used in the erection of the +palaces is white marble with blue and gray veins worked in with black +marble, and white marble inlaid with mosaic and valuable stones, rich +reliefs enhancing the design. As in Nero's day, there was an enclosure +built, in which wild beasts tore each other to pieces for the +amusement of the Mogul. Artificial flowers, made of valuable red gems, +inlaid in white marble; marble lattice work, treble marble domes, +marble fountains, walls embossed with gold--practically all +marble--beautified with red sandstone pillars and splendid vistas, +with green parrakeets flitting about the surroundings all the day, may +also be seen in this grand scheme of architecture. Such elegance, and +the vast amount of money spent in erecting these handsome buildings, +contrasted strongly with the dirty, squalid living quarters of the +poor, low-caste Indian, certainly indicates a striking disregard of +their interests. + +Here one finds a creditable park, good driveways, shade trees and +large lawns in front of Europeans' homes. These dwellings are +bungalows, one storied, high roofed, with wide verandas, and often +covered with grass or reeds. The kitchen is not inside, but a building +in the rear is used for that purpose. Nearly every one owns a horse +and trap of some sort, and there is a stable included in the +buildings. A fence generally surrounds the grounds, and the inclosure +is called a "compound." + +Agra has a population of 200,000, and the articles manufactured are +gold and silver embroidery, carving in soapstone and imitation of old +inlay work on white marble. + +The Mohammedan place of worship is a mosque, and the Hindu place of +worship is a temple. + +A Mohammedan may have four wives, besides concubine slaves. The +celebration of a Mohammedan marriage costs the father of the +bridegroom about $150, which is used to buy presents for the bride and +to furnish a feast for friends. Any prospective father-in-law +attempting to shave that sum would be thought little of by the +bridegroom's acquaintances. Mohammedans bury their dead, but use no +coffin. They place the corpse on the bottom of the grave, build over a +frame, which is covered with timber, cloth or stone, and then fill in +earth. Prayers are offered five times a day--at sunset, nightfall, +daybreak, noon, and afternoon. All work is abandoned at time for +prayers. Mohammedan priests use their voices to summon worshipers to +prayers, because Jews and Christians use bells and trumpets for the +same purpose. Mohammedans believe in a resurrection, heaven, and hell, +but also believe there is a separate heaven for women. The Koran +forbids the drinking of wine or eating of pork. This sect wash their +hands, mouth, and nose before eating or praying. Mohammed, the prophet +of Allah, was born in Mecca, Arabia, 570 A. D., his father being a +poor merchant. Sixty-three million of the population of India are +Mohammedans, and the Mogul dynasties prevailed from the fourteenth to +the sixteenth centuries. + +Unlike Mohammed and the mountain, if one does not go to the Indian +bazaar the bazaar is brought to him. On a visitor leaving his room, +there will be spread before his door on the wide veranda silk shawls, +silk dress goods, and souvenirs of the place; also waiting are snake +charmers, jugglers, photographers, "dobeys," tailors, shoemakers, +barbers, guides, hackmen, fellows offering themselves as servants--all +making salaams--speaking in a low voice, but persistently following +their business instincts. One never finds himself at a loss for some +one to do whatever he wants done. An Indian may not be within sight or +sound, yet if one should make his wants known, the man he requires +will immediately appear as if having come out of the ground. It is +said that no secret can be kept from the native--he seems to have the +power of extracting any treasured thought from the mind of a European. + +Since leaving Bombay we had not seen a sidewalk. + +We now head northward for Delhi, the country continuing flat, with the +same scenes, save for a deer appearing from grain fields on several +occasions as the train rolled along. Every time the train stopped a +native approached a coach that contained high-class Indians or +Europeans. He was a "boy" servant, waiting to learn if his master +needed his services. Nearly every one traveling in India takes a "boy" +with him, as it gives a person a better standing with both natives and +Europeans. The wages for these servants range from $5 to $7 a month. +If one rides first-class, the servant rides free in the third-class +cars. His duties are to wait incessantly on his employer, look after +the baggage, and act as interpreter for a European who cannot speak +the native language. When in a city the "boy" is no expense to his +master, as he provides himself with both food and lodging. + +Delhi, the old walled capital of the Moguls, is under course of +rebuilding for the ninth time in its history. Calcutta was the capital +of India until 1911, when the seat of government was changed to Delhi. +Seven years was the time allotted in which to build the government +offices. Owing to the prevalence of malarial fever, and the intense +heat of the plains, two capitals are maintained. Delhi is the official +city for five winter months of the year, and Simla, in the Himalayas +to the north, the summer capital for seven months. In one of the +burnings and sackings of this city, in 1756, Nadir Shah carried away +with him treasure amounting in value to half a billion of dollars, +including the Koh-i-Noor diamond. For a distance of six to eight miles +south of the city, pillars, earth depressions, and crumbled walls +attest the onetime greatness of the new capital. Delhi was founded by +the Aryans more than a thousand years before the Christian era, but +modern history dates from the year 1200. This city became British +territory in 1803, and a quarter of a million people live within its +lines. + +The financial year of married Europeans in India is nearer eighteen +months than twelve. Owing to one's business, a city home must be +maintained, and another, in addition, in the hills--as the mountains +of India are termed--for the wife and children, for six months of the +year, thus supporting a city home twelve and a mountain home six +months. The heat of the plains is so trying to European women and +children during the summer that they must go to a cooler climate. +Seldom are white children over 10 years of age seen; they are +generally taken to Europe at that age to receive schooling and to +acquire a sound constitution, thus burdening the husband with more +expense. Few Europeans become wealthy in India. + +From eight to twelve servants are required for a European's household. +The servant custom is maintained, even though there is only a Sahib +and Memsahib in a family, and one finds what seems a surplus of +servants about each home. In addition to the head servant, there is a +cook and dishwasher; the husband and wife each have their separate +"boy"; also a gardener, and the "sice," who looks after the horse; a +servant to cut grass for the horse, that not being the work of a +"sice"; a water-carrier, and a night watchman, or "chokeedar." Each +child in a household would have a nurse. The wages of these servants +range from $2.50 to $5 a month. One Indian will not do the work of +another--he will do only certain things he was engaged to do. One +often hears of tyranny of labor unions in America, but the system in +vogue in India of getting work places labor unions in the United +States in the light of philanthropists by comparison. + +An acquaintance who had been many years in India told of his traveling +by stage through a district inhabited by highwaymen. The friend he had +left assured him he need have no fear of danger, as one of the gang of +outlaws would be on the seat with the driver. While passing through +the highwaymen's lair the vehicle was stopped by the bandits a number +of times on plunder bent, when the member of the gang who had been +engaged to accompany the vehicle would say the word, and travelers +were allowed to proceed. That is another way Indians have of getting +work. + +It would be hard to find more attractive surroundings to any city than +the section of Delhi north of the walls. Parks, good roads, monuments, +and shade trees are in evidence. Among the interesting features of +Delhi is the monument to John Nicholson, the Mutiny hero. It is a fine +shaft of red granite, with a bronze bust of the great soldier. The +inscription, striking in its simplicity, is: "John Nicholson." Four +thousand brave white men were lost in the siege of that city. + +Shah Jahan, the Mogul Emperor who built most of the rich buildings in +the Agra Fort and palace, and also the Taj Mahal, built the Mogul Fort +and Palace in Delhi between the years 1638-48. He was every inch a +king, so far as spending money lavishly goes, as another building in +the Fort, 90 by 60 feet, built wholly of white marble, was inlaid with +precious stones, and the ceiling was of silver. One flooring a +building with $20 gold pieces in Shah Jahan's day evidently would be +looked upon as a cheap imitator. The great value of some of these +buildings is still in evidence, several being preserved; but +despoilers, during the mutiny, ruined much of the beauty of the palace +which Nadir Shah left after he had carried away the Koh-i-Noor diamond +and half a billion dollars in treasure. Some of these palaces are used +to-day as messrooms and for other purposes by British troops. + +Some of the splendid mosques here swarm with beggars. If a guide takes +a visitor to these he is allowed to go no further than the entrance. +At some of the churches shoes must be taken off in order to enter, and +at all of them the shoes must be covered, generally with canvas +slippers. Money has to be given to the fellow who puts on and ties the +slippers. The first usher takes the visitor to one portion of the +church, and when he has reached the end of his territory another usher +takes his place. At these boundary lines a fee is expected. When one +reaches the outside he has paid six fees, and even there he comes in +contact with sundry professional beggars. The guide, in the meantime, +must be paid, and the garrywaller as well. But such fees in India are +not heavy, and hack fare is only from 15 to 30 cents an hour. + +A prayer offered in a mosque is equal to 500 offered elsewhere, and +one prayer offered at Mecca is equal to 100,000 in other sections. + +The Kutab Minar, one of the grandest monuments in the world--a tower +of victory--is located seven miles from Delhi--where the capital once +stood. It is another of those wonderful works of the Moguls. Its +height is nearly 350 feet, and the width of the tower at its zenith is +nine feet. The diameter of the base is 47 feet, and it tapers +perfectly from that measurement to the top. The first three stories +are of red sandstone, with semi-circular and angular flutings. The +noble monument has five stories, the two upper ones being faced with +white marble. Balconies are built at the base of each story of the +tower, from which a good view may be had. + +As in Italy, holidays are numerous in India, and no work is done on a +holiday. It is on these occasions that the curtain is raised and a +broader insight of the people is obtained. Were one to collect all the +brightest colored cloth manufactured, and specially arrange these to +give the most gorgeous effect, the kaleidoscope would not surpass what +is seen in Delhi--in all India, in fact--in raiment worn by the people +on holiday occasions. + +I stood on the Chandi Chauk, the principal street of Delhi, while a +holiday procession passed. It took many hours--days, on certain +occasions--for the hundreds of thousands of people from that section +to squeeze their way through the street, and every coping, balcony, +roof and window above the street contained as many human beings as the +space would admit, all dressed in gaudy cloth. High-caste Indians, +dressed in silks and velvets, rode in handsome carriages, drawn, in +some instances, by snow-white horses; lower-caste citizens rode in +traps, with seating space on the sides, and drawn by donkeys and oxen; +throngs of barefooted, serious-faced natives mingled among these, +walking; further down the emblazoned street could be seen a brown head +appearing above the people, oxen and horses--a camel, between high +shafts, drawing a high-wheeled wagon, the occupants being concealed by +a large closed box, like a van; this contained Mohammedan women. +Hundreds of low palanquins, their dark curtains extending from the +roof down the four sides, borne on poles, between which were two men +at each end, flitted in and out of the narrow streets; these also +contained Mohammedan women. The big Afghan, or Kabuli, with his baggy +apparel and full beard, also mingled in the procession. Taboots, a +fantastic design of mosque and pagoda, the framework made of poles and +covered with bright-colored paper, lavishly decorated with tinsel and +gaudy ornaments, passed by, drawn by devotees of the Moslem faith. +Blare, grotesqueness, weird music from strange instruments, together +with the air of melancholy, induced by the beating of the Oriental +tomtoms--all very strange indeed. Holidays often last a week, and some +even extend to ten days. + +Army officers relate interesting stories of that country. For nearly a +century elephants had been used to move army transports. The food of +the elephants was large cakes made of wheat, and a dozen was a meal. +The mahout, or cook, might take a portion of the flour from the +apportioned quantity and keep it for his own use. Before eating the +cakes, the elephant lifted this food on his trunk; if the cakes were +short of his regular portion, he would set the food down and would not +touch it. A white officer, inspecting the animals at feeding-time, +seeing that the elephant did not look sick, would weigh the food, and +in every instance the scales verified the elephant's refusing to eat +because he had been cheated. + + [Illustration: TYPES OF INDIAN SOLDIERS. + THE SIKH. + THE GOORKHA. + See page 311.] + +Indian women often cooked the cakes for elephants in a mud fireplace, +and the big beast would sidle to where his food was being prepared. +The basket for the woman's baby to rest in was made of twigs, and a +bent bamboo pole served as a handle to the Indian "cradle." The Indian +mother would slip the handle over the elephant's trunk, and the +to-and-fro motion of the beast would rock, or lull, the baby to sleep +while the mother cooked the elephant's meal. + +House rent in Delhi is higher than in New York City. The rents were +increased a hundred per cent. when it was decided to remove the +capital from Calcutta. + +A number of European stores were found in the capital. Drug stores do +the best business in India, as well as in Africa. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +We did not go farther north at this time, but traveled easterly to +Aligarh. A college is located here, some 1,200 students being in +attendance. This seat of education was erected and is maintained by a +wealthy Indian. It is non-sectarian, and Mohammed, Hindu, Jain and all +other sects take advantage of the liberality of the benefactor. +Strange as it may seem, the educators are Europeans, and the language +of the institution is English. + +An American mission is located several miles from Aligarh, and the +Europeans living in that city and district get their bread from the +mission. Few people take kindly to eating bread made by Indians, as +they have so many skin and constitutional diseases and untidy habits +that one does not know what ailment he may contract from eating +native-made bread. A creamery is located near the city also, owned by +a Swede. Like the bread, Europeans prefer European-made butter, and as +a result there seems room for another white-conducted creamery. + +Living in this section is a remnant of a former wild tribe, who +existed from plundering and were being hunted by the authorities most +of the time. The Salvation Army obtained permission to use an old fort +as a mission, and most of these highwaymen have found peace within its +walls, being industriously engaged in weaving silk. This section of +India is termed the Doab. + +All white men in India own an evening-dress suit, generally worn at +dinner in their own homes. + +Every one carries a lantern at night. Snakes are so numerous and so +poisonous that one's life is in danger. Some of the Indian snakes are +small, are very dangerous at night, and their bite is almost certain +death. The fatality from bubonic plague, cholera, typhoid fever and +rabies is appalling, yet it is said more people die from snakebite in +India during the year than from any other single cause. + +The most commendable feature of India that came under observation was +the free service of the bhisti (bee-ste), or water-carrier. Men +engaged in that occupation have a guild, or union, and the rules of +the organization forbid them making a charge for water. The carrier's +water-bag is made of leather, in the shape of an inverted pig, and +contains from six to eight gallons. A strap is tied to both the hind +and front of the pig-shaped bag, which stretches across his right +shoulder, the bag being on the left side. A stopper is placed in the +mouth of the bag, which the carrier holds with his left hand. A cloth +is worn about the loins, and his legs are bare to the ground. He +usually wears a shirt, with short sleeves, and his head is covered +with a bulky piece of cloth wound round and round. Most of the bhistis +are bent forward and lean to the left, which is accounted for by their +carrying the bag on that side. He is a poor man, but will serve water +to either man or beast in need. He is generally found about railway +stations and other places where large numbers of people congregate. +Thirsty children may be seen running to the bhisti, with empty cups in +their hands, for water, when he withdraws the stopper, places the +spout above the cup, and releases the thumb of his left hand at the +mouth of the bag, filling it. The happy child drinks and walks away. A +mother, with a water vessel in her hand, calls him, when he pauses +until the woman catches up with him, and then supplies her need. The +Indian mother might leave with him a pie (one-sixth of a cent). As +stated earlier, rain does not fall in India at certain seasons of the +year for periods of from five to nine months, and water is water +during most of that time. Should the water-carrier pass an ox, a goat, +a dog, or a horse--anything in need of water--he at once eases his +thumb on the spout of the bag and relieves the suffering. He might +call at a compound with his bag full, and the master of the bungalow +would direct him to sprinkle the parched garden. After doing so he +walks away unless called to receive pay. The bhisti, in short, +practices what Red Cross societies aim to accomplish, and what +churches profess to do. He is the one star that shines brightly +through the dark, traditional sky of India--a messenger of life in a +land of suffering and death. + +Clay cups, saucers, plates, bowls, and buckets are made in the college +city, the smaller vessels containing oil, with a cloth dip added. +Cities are aflame with these on certain holidays, and from remote +sections millions of clay-saucer lights burn throughout the populous +country. + +Garlands are placed about the neck of guests when invited to partake +of an Indian's hospitality, these often extending to the waist. They +are made from flowers, leaves, paper, cloth, and on occasions are +composed of gold lace, and even more expensive material. + +No hotel or dak bungalow was found here; but on visiting places +without these conveniences, even if one be a stranger, some European +will extend an invitation to stop at his home. European hospitality is +another bright light that shines in this dark country. + +Wherever a few Europeans are found, a little English church has been +erected, and a bell will be heard ringing every Sunday morning. + +Cawnpore was the next stop. The first thing that attracted attention +was dust, which seemed six inches deep, quite a cloud arising from it. +When we left Bombay, sidewalks and paved streets were left behind. +This city has a population of 200,000. It is a leather manufacturing +place, and cotton mills are also quite numerous. We visited Cawnpore +chiefly to see the historical Massacre Well. + +Cow fat on cartridges, a desecration of the Hindu religion--the cow +being a sacred animal to the people of that faith--was the fuse that +ignited the mutiny bomb in 1857. Uprisings by native troops had taken +place at intervals for ninety years previous, during which the domains +of rulers had been taken from them, higher pay for the sepoys refused, +and pensions to the deposed rulers' heirs cut off, the army being +composed in a large degree of high-caste natives. + +Nana Sahib, heir to a ruler who had once been head of the Mahrattas, +was among those who did not succeed to the pension his adopted parent +received, $400,000 a year. At that time 40,000 British soldiers were +in India and 240,000 Indians, drilled in warfare by British officers. +At Cawnpore there were but 200 British soldiers, 30 officers and 3,000 +sepoys. On June 6 General Wheeler, who was in charge of the British +troops, was warned to expect an attack--the siege had begun. The +ground was so hard that good trenches could not be built, and the dirt +was so dry it would not pack. Nine hundred, the majority women and +children, took shelter in the crude trenches. Nana's forces were well +armed, and a murderous fire came from the enemy. The barracks of the +besieged comprised two buildings, one of which had a thatched roof, +and the well from which they got their water was exposed to the +enemy's fire. The thatched roof was set on fire and burned, and the +occupants were daily exposed to a sun varying from 120 to 140 degrees. +Deaths were taking place every day, and bodies were buried in another +well close to the barracks. An armistice was finally agreed to after a +20-day siege, during which 250 out of the 900 died. + +The terms of the armistice were that the British should leave their +guns and treasure behind, and that Nana Sahib would see them, +unmolested, to the river, where boats would be ready to take them down +the Ganges to safety. Four hundred and fifty were left, and the boats +were beached on bars of mud in the river. Instead of being towed down +stream, a murderous fire of grapeshot and musketry opened on all +sides. The boats were covered with thatched roofs, and, these taking +fire, many of the deceived survivors were suffocated by the smoke of +the burning grass. Following, the sepoys jumped into the water and +butchered others of the party. At last the Nana's heart temporarily +softened, and he ordered that no more women should be killed, and +about 125 women and children, wounded and half drowned, were then +taken to Cawnpore. The men on the boats were murdered. + +In two weeks' time General Havelock had reached Cawnpore with 2,000 +soldiers. A week later an engagement took place, in which the Nana +suffered a crushing defeat, and at a second engagement the mutineers +were again defeated. The Nana, learning that Havelock would soon be +reinforced, ordered the captives to be killed. The few men who were +among the women and children were brought out and put to death in the +Nana's presence. A party of sepoys were then ordered to shoot the +women and children in the building in which they had been placed, but +the soldiers fired at the ceiling of the room. The Nana, being in a +rage at his men refusing to shoot the white women, ordered a party of +butchers to put an end to the captives, and a short time after +entering the house his orders had been carried out. Next morning all +the bodies were thrown in an adjoining well--since that time termed +the Massacre Well. This took place on July 15, 1857. + +In the center of a beautiful garden a mound covers the well into which +the bodies of the 125 women and children were thrown. On the mound is +a memorial in the form of an octagonal Gothic screen, in the center of +which, on the actual well, is a white marble figure of the Angel of +the Resurrection, with arms across her breast, as if resigned to the +Almighty will, each hand holding a palm, the emblem of peace. Over the +arch is inscribed, "These are they which came out of great +tribulation." Indians, except park workers, are not allowed in the +Memorial Gardens. If they were, some of them might be taken to +hospitals from time to time, we fear, as Europeans feel bitter after +having visited the Massacre Well. + +Twelve years is the legal marriage of girls in India. Girls, however, +have a partner selected for them as early as two years of age, and, if +they do not wish to live with their husbands at the legal age, they +are taken from their father's home by force. No matter how young she +may have been when the parents married her, she is the man's wife from +that time. Should the husband die after marriage, the girl, according +to Indian custom, cannot marry again. She may be a widow when she is +8 or 10 years of age. She is looked down upon, her hair sometimes cut +off--in short, she becomes the drudge of the family. She is charged +with having done some very bad thing which caused her husband's death. +Nothing is worse treated than a Hindu widow. Fathers receive from $25 +to $200 for their daughter from the husband. Mothers 20 years of age +will have "married" daughters seven and eight years old. + +If a poor Hindu were eating his portion of rice, or other food, and a +European happened to pass between him and the sun, causing his shadow +to flit over the native's food, the hungry creature would not eat it, +firmly believing it had been polluted by the white man's shadow. +Natives eat with their fingers. + +Were a man or woman to drop in a faint, or from any cause, they would +prefer to die before accepting nourishment from one of lower caste, +and certainly no one of higher caste would lend aid. Only one of +similar caste could relieve their condition. + +Indians consider Europeans filthy who use a tooth-brush more than +once. They use a twig or sliver of wood that has been chewed to a +bushy end; it is thrown away after using. People who eat pork are +considered worse than dogs. + +Men who wear trousers and shirt place the shirt outside the trousers. +Those who wear shoes have no socks. + +Long, canoe-like boxes on cart wheels were in evidence in Cawnpore. +The oxen were hitched to a crosspiece at the end of the shafts, while +Indians, behind the oxen, were between the shafts and pushing with +their breasts against the crosspiece. + +A European carpenter shoves a plane from him, but an Indian carpenter +pulls the plane toward him. Mechanics do most of their work sitting, +and use their toes as a vise between which to hold a board while +planing it. Before shoeing an ox, the beast's legs are bound with +rope, when the animal will be thrown. The blacksmith then shoes the ox +while he is sitting down. The Indian can make as convenient use of his +toes as he does of his fingers. + +Lucknow, next visited, is well provided with large tracts of park +space, splendid roads and good shade. The city has a population of +300,000, and among this number were more Europeans than at Cawnpore. +Several good European stores have been established, and these seemed +to compete successfully with the native merchants. + +This city shared with Cawnpore in the horrors of the Mutiny, as 3,000 +souls were behind the historic walls of the Residency when the siege +began, and when relief came there were less than a thousand alive. + +Bedding is not generally furnished by hotels in India. Frequently, the +"bed" is only a bedstead and springs, or, as will be found in smaller +centers, strips of cowhide, lashed at sides, top and bottom, answer +for springs; again, there is a mattress on the springs, but no +bedclothing or pillows. At other times, only one sheet over the +mattress, and nothing else. Owing to this unusual custom, a bag for +carrying bedding is generally included in travelers' luggage. The +contrast between India and Germany in this respect is very marked, as +at a small hotel in Berlin at which I stopped the bed had a sheet and +a feather tick for a covering. It was summer-time, but the covering +would answer for Arctic weather. In one case the sheet was not +sufficient covering; in the other the tick was too much. + +One is more successful in beating down hotel rates in this country +than anywhere else. It is a place of haggle and barter, and the +business system aims to make a customer feel he has got the better of +the bargain, while the seller is satisfied with his profit, although +having come down from the original price one-half. There is always +doubt whether the customer really has got the better of the +transaction; but there is no question, however, about getting a +concession, when, after a hotelkeeper has asked six or seven rupees a +day, the traveler pays only five rupees ($1.60) a day. It seems to +break an Indian boniface's heart to see a prospective guest go to +another hotel. + +"Babus" are men engaged at clerical work, and one has to scan his +hotel bill closely before settling, as a babu may add an item to the +laundry list or for ice, or even charge for other things that go with +hotel accommodation. Many persons will overlook a small charge, and +well the babu knows it. Extras belong to him. + +The hotels are generally of one story, and all doors open on to a +covered veranda. Almost every one has a servant--a "boy"--with him. +Early in the evening and during the night, in front of room doors, may +be seen one, two and sometimes three "boys" sleeping. If their master +or any European should pass where they are lying they hurriedly arise +in their blankets, salaam and bow, then immediately lie down again, +remaining thus until another European footstep is heard, when up they +jump, offer another salaam, and quickly settle down again to sleep. As +few Indians wear shoes, they know when an European is approaching. + +When leaving a hotel there will be four to six servants helping the +guest and his luggage into a conveyance. As most of them look alike, +it becomes necessary to ask each one what part he played in adding to +one's comfort while making his stay. In answer to who's who, one will +say he is the table "boy," another the room "boy," another the bath +"boy," and yet another, the sweeper. Others are also present to see +one comfortably on his way, but gratuities may be limited to four. +Three rupees--a dollar--proportionately divided among the four is +generally given for a week's or ten days' stay. + +On entering the native quarters--the bazaars--of the Indian cities one +is generally escorted by "runners" of silk merchants, brass +manufacturers, lacquer merchants and others. A friend and myself rode +on a two-wheeled trap, the seat facing backward; and as we entered one +of the arteries of the Chauk Bazaar the crowd of people and merchants' +runners that filled the narrow street from house wall to house wall +was so dense that the garrywaller gave up trying to proceed further. +It took us some time to reach the entrance on foot. No holiday was +being celebrated--this was an every day occurrence. + +In all the cities of this section are sports grounds, a race track, a +church, and public library for Europeans. A large cantonment is +located in Lucknow. + +The country over which we had traveled was so flat that it looked as +if there was no necessity for grading or cutting in the railway of +even two feet for a hundred miles. The "windmill," the stick-and-bolt +plough, the irrigation trench, and an occasional tree; the oxen, with +humps on their shoulders; the mud huts; the sparsely clad and +half-starved natives were scenes of similarity from Lucknow to +Benares, the sacred city of the Hindu. Benares is to the Hindu what +Mecca, in Arabia, is to the Mohammedan. + +One beholds beggars, beggars, beggars--repulsive looking specimens of +humanity--and pariah dogs inside and outside the temples; some of the +enclosures of the temples alive with monkeys and goats; cattle +standing munching in front of golden images of Hindu gods, up to their +fetlocks in yellow flowers and tender leaves; bony and poorly dressed +women flitting in and out of narrow alleys and through doorways into +temples, carrying a brass or copper water-pot full of Ganges River +water; vagabond priests on the "ghats," resting on a platform covered +with a large sun-shade, receiving money from very poor people for +making clay marks on their forehead--caste marks--all sacred! Beastly +and idolatrous would be a better term to apply to Benares. + +Two-thirds of the population of India--207,000,000--are followers of +the Brahmanic faith, and even one of the lowest caste believes he is a +unit in the great universe as compared to an Indian who has no caste +distinction. + +People of the Brahmanic faith come from all parts of India to bathe in +the Ganges River at Benares, which, by the way, is nearly as muddy as +the Missouri River. Their hope of a peaceful hereafter is strengthened +by a visit to the sacred city, but the poverty and suffering entailed +through spending money for the trip by those living a great distance +away is keenly felt. + +At Durga, or Monkey Temple, which is surrounded by high walls, 350 +monkeys were climbing up the sides of the church, scampering about the +walls, but always keeping an eye on the visitor. Upon entering the +temple enclosure a priest insists on one buying popcorn or other food +for the monkeys; then a second priest slips a garland of flowers over +one's head, another method of getting a little money. Besides monkeys, +mangy dogs come close, expecting popcorn, and impudent goats rub their +noses against visitors' clothes. The temple is painted an ocher color, +symbolizing the character of the god Durga--blood. Many beggars were +inside the enclosure, and were very numerous outside. Everything about +the place bore an air the reverse of sacred or solemn. + +The Golden Temple, hidden among many buildings, is the most important +to pilgrims. Three domes, covered with plates of gold over plates of +copper, ornament this structure; the floor is said to be inlaid with +100,000 rupee pieces ($32,000). A narrow alley runs in front of the +temple, and only two persons can pass at a time. Flower stands, and +men selling flowers, are plentiful about the entrance and along the +passageway. Inside the building are several shrines; in front of one +stood a Brahmani bull, and in front of another a Brahmani cow, both +animals having humps on their shoulders. Near the shrines peacocks and +deer were also seen. People were streaming in and out of the temple +all the time, those going in carrying a water-pot, made of brass or +earth, filled with Ganges water, and a handful of yellow flowers and +tender leaves, bought outside. The flowers and leaves were fed to the +bull and cow, and the worshiper sprinkled the water over himself while +paying homage at the shrine. All the time a din from cymbals, tom-toms +and other harsh instruments was kept up, sounding more like a boiler +factory than anything else. Every one was in bare feet. Most of the +men wore only a loin cloth, and the prominent ribs and other bones of +their bodies suggested a doubt of their ever having had a square meal. +Around the women's ankles were rings, around the wrists were cheap +glass or pewter bangles; the ears contained cheap ornaments, and a +gewgaw pendant hung from the nose over the mouth, secured to the +nostrils' partition. At every point of vantage beggars and fakirs were +as thick as flies. The constantly inpouring crowd and weird music is +kept up the whole day, year in and year out. There is nothing doubtful +about the sacred water--every drop is taken from the historical river +and carried to the temple. In some of the shrines is an image of a +monkey, a cow, a peacock, or a double-headed beast of awful +appearance; and gods in flaring red represent fire and thunder. All +the time priests are collecting money from the worshipers. + +Many professional loafers, known as "jojees" or devotees, are seen in +India. They will hold up one of their arms for years until it has +become rigid and the fingernails have grown and twisted about the hand +like roots; some hang by one foot from a pole, like the flying foxes +of Tonga; or distort themselves in other unnatural positions. This is +done in accordance with their supposed religious belief as bodily +penance, and they are looked upon as martyrs. Some of them have ashes +on their bodies, which they sell, mostly to women. Rice and money are +thrown to these knotty-whiskered, filthy fakirs by poor people who +really cannot afford the gifts, but who think they are doing a +religious act. + +The view of Benares from the Ganges River is an unusually fine one. On +the high banks at this point stone steps have been built leading from +the top to the water. Above the steps and banks stand attractive +temples and palaces. At certain times of year the temples are used by +pilgrims who come from every point of India to worship. Sections of +the steps have proper names, which are called "ghats"--used for the +English word place, as Dandi Ghat (place). + +Over a million pilgrims journey to Benares each year, where they bathe +in the Ganges as a purifying tenet of their religion. Among others, +there is a small-pox ghat, where those suffering from small-pox may +bathe, in the hope of being healed; also bathing ghats for other +diseases, where purifying rites are carried out. On each ghat are +several raised platforms, having large sunshades, where men, their +legs half curled under them, are sitting. Every one leaving the water +stops at a platform, where caste marks are made on their foreheads, +each supplicant leaving money with the marker. Some have no money +coins and leave cowrie shells instead. These markers are priests. The +pilgrims then wend their way to a temple and worship either an idol +painted red, having three eyes, a silver scalp, or an elephant's trunk +covered with a yellow bib; the figure of a rat; a monkey of brass, +wood or iron, or some other image. At the temple the faithful make +another donation, tom-toms, cymbals and other instruments playing +meanwhile to awaken the gods of wood, brass or stone. + +A few hours after death a body is brought to a burning ghat, men being +covered with a white sheet and women with a red cloth. Smoke from a +dozen to fifty pyres may be seen rising from the ghat, and the ashes +are thrown into the Ganges just below. The fuel for a pyre costs +$1.60; wealthy Indians use sandalwood for this purpose. Children of +five years of age and under are not cremated, their bodies being cast +into the Ganges, with a weight attached. "Holy men" of the church are +not cremated; they are either buried or, like the children, cast into +the Ganges River. + +Every pilgrim, on leaving Benares, takes with him a quantity of Ganges +water, though he may live a thousand miles away. Were a European to +touch accidentally a pilgrim's water-pot, the Hindu would feel that +the sacred water had been defiled. + +Caste customs in India forbid intermarriage of one with another; they +must not eat nor drink together; must not partake of food prepared by +a lower caste, and shun even touching the clothes of those beneath +them. Were an Indian merchant to adopt the Christian religion, his +business would probably be ruined, his home possibly be surrounded by +a mob, and he would be fortunate to escape with his life, having +degraded his caste. A man may be poor, and yet of a higher caste than +some wealthy Indians. + +Women, with two blanks in their heads, may be seen begging in many +places. To raise her head when out walking as a man passed is +considered a violation of a wife's vow by her husband, for which +offense their eyes are sometimes literally gouged out. High-caste +women keep very much to their homes. + +A white woman would be thought little of by her servants were she to +do domestic duties, such as dusting and putting a finishing touch to +the interior. Here are instances of how helpless some Europeans +become when in India: Were a man to brush his own clothes, or even +lace his shoes, these acts would prove sources of unfavorable comment +by the servants. A man, wanting to know the hour, sometimes calls his +"boy"; the servant takes the watch from his master's pocket, holds the +timepiece level with his employer's eyes, replaces the watch in his +master's pocket, and leaves the room. When keeping an appointment with +a servant, the master must not be punctual, but keep the servant +waiting. If the Sahib was punctual, and the servant happened to be +late, the master would be looked down upon for waiting for his minion. + +The cow is revered, not only owing to its service in maintaining life +by its milk, but because some of the Hindu sects believe that, after +death, they will be borne across a river on the back of the cow to a +better country. Hindus who do not wear long hair have a tuft growing +from the crown, or a little below that point. In case the cow should +fail to be on hand to take him across, a mysterious arm is supposed to +reach down, take hold of his tuft of hair, and by that means place him +in the better land. One would be disgraced were the tuft of hair +removed. + +Much of the ornamental brasswork seen in many parts of the world comes +from Benares, for which the Hindu Mecca is famed. Small idols and +images in brass or other materials are made in large quantities. The +brassworkers sit down while turning out their product. + +Ruins of the temples of Benares are located at Sarnath, five miles +from the city; these evidences of the past are seen in crumbled walls +and earth depressions. Brick and stone was the material used in +building, but the brick was much thinner and longer than the +present-day block. The most striking remains standing of the ancient +city is the Dhamek Stupa, or tower, which consists of a stone +basement, 93 feet in diameter, the stones being clamped together with +iron bands to the height of 43 feet. Above that point the tower is of +brickwork, rising to a height of 128 feet. Niches built in projecting +faces of the tower contain the figure of Buddha, and encircling the +monument is a band of sculptured ornaments of much interest. There is +some doubt among authorities as to whether the stupa has stood all +these years; it is the only building of the ancient temples at present +standing. Another stupa, not as massive as the Dhamek, was passed +before reaching the ruins. At one place among the crumbled temples is +the Main Shrine, the whole standing on a concrete foundation, with a +rail on the upper part of the altar. Close by is the Asoka Pillar, +which is broken, but was at one time 50 feet high, and is believed to +mark the spot where Buddha preached his first sermon. + +Excavations are under way all the time at Sarnath, and a museum +located at that place contains a large variety of interesting +fragments of the early Buddhist temples. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +A start was next made for the Himalayas in a northeasterly direction, +seldom traversed by persons going to that section of the mountain +country. I was the only white man on the train, and in view of few +European travelers taking this route no provision had been made for +food. The third-class coaches were packed with natives. We passed +through the opium poppy growing country, the sugar-cane and indigo +fields, and, further along, reached the jute-growing country in +Bengal. The train had left Benares in the morning, but it was twelve +hours later before food was available. + +At a place known as Katihar I had to remain a day in order to make +through connections. One of the sub-stations, located a short distance +from the railway track, was alive with passengers, but no one seemed +to really care when the trains came and went. Natives eating rice, +wheat cakes, bananas, sticks of sugar-cane, thick pieces of candy, +rolls like crullers, smoking the hooka (a long pipe with two bowls, +through one of which, containing water, the smoke from the tobacco or +hemp passes to the stem), gambling, begging; the big Kabuli--who looks +like a storm in silent mood--offering for sale alleged rare coins; +women with one to three very small children, all untidy and +dirty--such is life in India. + +The train left Katihar in the evening for Silliguri. An Englishman got +in the same coach, and I was much pleased to have a white man with me. +This train was not lighted by electricity, and there were doubts about +the oil in the lamp being of American brand, for the light went out +before we reached the second station, and when the train stopped the +Englishman could be heard shouting from the coach for some one to +relight it. The trainman had got no further than the rear of the +train, when the lamp gave a final flicker. The Britisher again began +to shout, but the train was then moving. The three following stops +were a repetition of the first, and, the Englishman finally admitting +his defeat, we stretched out on berths for the night. Most trains in +India have berths in the passenger coaches, but every one furnishes +his own bedding. The next morning found us at Silliguri, and in front +were spread out the Himalayas. From here a start was made up the +mountains. + +The Himalaya Mountains rise abruptly out of the flat plains, a +striking contrast to those of other countries. One would expect the +base of the Indian mountains to be at an altitude of 3,000 to 6,000 +feet, but Silliguri, located a few miles from where the ascent begins, +is only 400 feet above sea-level. + +The interior of the Himalayas is reached by means of a train of small +cars, drawn by a ten-ton locomotive over a two-foot railway track. +There are three classes of travel--first, second and third. +First-class fare is 12 cents a mile, second-class 6 cents, and +third-class 3 cents. These fares include a very small baggage +allowance. First- and second-class coaches are of the compartment +type, third-class having curtained sides, with bare-seated benches +across. The schedule is ten miles an hour, either going up or coming +down the mountain. + +The engine soon starts up an incline through a row of trees on both +sides of the track, with every seat in the coaches occupied and the +baggage car filled with luggage. The narrow train turns to the left, +then to the right; another sharp turn, and puff, puff, puff, as a bend +in still another direction is made; down a decline next over culverts +spanning rippling brooks and under turnpike bridges, then up, when the +grandeur of the great range begins to unfold. Down grade again, the +train stopping, after traveling but a comparatively short distance, at +a precipitous wall. Backing out over a switchback--there being five of +these on the mountain railroad--we next creep up a steep, serpentine +grade. Houses above and houses and huts below, surrounded by +semi-tropical growth and cultivated ground--there being little rock in +the mountain--with stretches of low brush, laid out in regular rows, +below us, appear. A house and huts have been built in these bush-like +tracts of land; these are tea gardens. A screeching whistle diverts +the passengers' gaze from downward to forward--we were pulling into +Kurseong, the halfway station, where some passengers get off and +others board the train. The locomotive, being supplied with coal and +water, again begins to puff, puff, puff, up a steep grade for a short +distance, then eases down a decline. The mountain is now so steep that +the narrow train can worm its way no longer about the side, coming to +another switchback. Backing out and again ascending, a silver streak +is seen, far below, winding over the plains--the Teesta River. Above, +the sky appears to rest on green mountain-tops. Upward the little +locomotive climbs, seeming to make sharp bends at every hundred feet. +The mountainside has now become a great tea plantation, and through +the hazy atmosphere the plains are but dimly seen. The sky, which from +below seemed to be resting on the point now reached, is further +beyond. Approaching an ever-receding horizon at distant outposts from +time to time leads one occasionally to fancy he were bumping his +shoulders against the arch of the sky at sundry points of the outer +circle. The narrow train laboriously continues upward, while +passengers direct their gaze down gaping caverns, on the rim of which +the railway track sometimes rests. Further on, the grade gradually +reducing until traveling on a short, level stretch of road, the train +stops. We have reached Ghoom, the highest point on the line, where +more passengers leave and others get out of the coaches to stretch +their legs. Oh! a great white ridge, high above valleys and tea +gardens--it is Mount Kinchinjanga, whose summit seems to intrude far +into the sky. What seems like trespassing on the sky's domain is +explained when the height of the mountain is made known--28,156 feet. +The train again proceeds, but down grade now, still winding and +twisting--not over a quarter of a mile straight track along the +route--until a sharp bend is reached. Then, as far as the eye could +reach, the high, white, stalwart peaks of the Himalayas were revealed +in their grandest form. Further on the train stops. We are at +Darjeeling, the end of the mountain railway, 50 miles from Silliguri. + +Baden-Baden, Germany--where one can walk about the splendid grounds +for half a day and need not be exposed to the sun half an hour--had +appealed to me more than any other place visited during my journeyings +until Darjeeling was reached. Here in the State of Sikkim, India, +20,000 feet below the grandest mountain range in the world and built +on the woody sides of a lower range, are seen rippling streams on +their way to a parent river; attractively laid out tea gardens on +steep inclines; a panorama of dwellings spreading out to all points of +the city; deep, wooded valleys on either side, with rivers coursing +these, flanked by flowering orange groves; parks, botanical gardens, +and shady paths cut on the hillsides; observation points and splendid +vistas; then, seen through the blue atmosphere, over low mountains, +valleys, hills and trees, Jalapa La Pass--17,000 feet above sea +level--the route through the Himalayan fastnesses to Lhassa, Thibet; +and, now seen and then unseen, as the many-shaped clouds flitted over +and away, the noble galaxy of white mountains, half circular in form, +to the front and to the right--Darjeeling can claim and deserves a +better description. + +Everything seen in the mountain city was different to the plains. The +Bhutias, of decidedly Mongol cast--strong, lighter in color than the +plainsmen, with rosy cheeks--were numerous, and it was good for tired +sight to get away from slender, half-starved looking men, and women +without eyes. Living in this section is another sect, or tribe--the +Goorkhas--admired by all white men for their bravery and feared by +natives. The water here was fit to drink, a luxury in India, and the +air was free of the humidity of the plains; the haughty Bengali could +be seen at nearly every turn, strutting about bareheaded, his hair +tidily brushed; and well-groomed European military officers were +galloping about the hillside roads and paths on spirited steeds. + +The Bhutia woman is the "horse" or "ox" of Darjeeling. Like the +Mkikuyu woman, she carries her loads in a basket, a strap fastened to +each side, which loops on her forehead. Few level paths or roads are +found in that section of India, but the Bhutia woman can carry two +maunds (160 pounds) in weight up from tea factories miles below, and +the same amount of coal, provisions, or supplies from the cities to +the settlements on the mountain-sides and down to the valleys. She +appeared as strong as a Zulu woman, but not so big. The country is so +hilly that wagons can be drawn over it only in few sections. Bhutia +men are employed at ricksha work or carrying palanquins. On account of +the steepness of the surroundings, three Bhutias are required to pull +and push a ricksha--one between the thills and two at the back of the +vehicle. Seeing the Bhutias wearing boots was something unusual in +this country. Brakemen, engineers and firemen employed on the mountain +railroad do not wear shoes, and the same applies to natives engaged at +the same occupation on the plains. + +"Coolie, Sahib?" or "Coolie, Memsahib?" if man or woman, is the +language of the Bhutia woman when seeking work. Going toward the +market-place, one of these strong women, with strap about her head and +basket held by the ends, will approach a person and quietly say, +"Coolie, Memsahib?" "Yes," was the reply one received from a lady on +her way to market. The Mongol woman followed, engaged in knitting +socks. After vegetables had been bought, the Bhutia woman sidled to +the dealer, turned her back, when the grocer placed the vegetables in +her basket; but she kept on knitting, apparently unconscious of what +was taking place. One will not look back to see if she is following +when leaving a stall; but at the next vegetable stand, in another +section of the market, the Bhutia woman would be standing a short +distance away, still knitting. Every time articles were bought she +turned her basket to the dealer, had these added to the earlier +purchases, and when the marketing was finished she followed the +memsahib to her home, emptied the contents in the kitchen, received +four cents for her work, continuing with her knitting, as she +zigzagged down a steep incline in the direction of the market +district. Bhutia women are very unassuming in their manners. Some save +money, but most of this is spent on jewelry. Discs of gold as large as +the bottom of a saucer may be seen depending from the ears, and large +silver or gold bangles are worn about the wrist. This weakness for +display, however, often proves their downfall, as they are sometimes +found dead along the mountain paths, stripped of every ornament. + +Thousands of men and women are employed picking tea leaves during the +season. The tea is picked from the bushes mostly during the monsoon +season, as the new leaves sprout fast during rainy weather. They work +in wet clothes much of the time, but the mountain natives are hardy, +and pay little attention to such discomfort. Men tea-pickers receive +eight cents a day and women six cents. Hut rent, garden, and medical +service is free. Over 3,000 bushes grow to the acre. Sunday is a big +day with these mountain natives; every one working on the tea +plantations for miles around comes to town--Bhutians, Thibetans, +Nepales, and other tribes--when the market-place and bazaars literally +swarm with them. In the Darjeeling district are 60,000 acres of land +under tea cultivation, and the output is nearly 20,000,000 pounds a +year. + +The Goorkha is what is known as a "hill man," and is small-built. He +carries a short sword or long knife in a sheath at his side, but will +not show the weapon. It is an old maxim with the Goorkha that blood +must be drawn every time he unsheathes the knife. Were he assigned to +duty by a captain, and a colonel wished to pass, the Goorkha would not +allow the superior officer to go through the lines if he had not +received orders to do so by the officer who gave him his assignment. +He acknowledges only one order--that of the officer who gave it, be he +high or low. Where the big Sikh would run or surrender under a galling +fire, the Goorkha, knowing no fear, would advance and win a battle. +His highest aim in life is to have marked after his name when dead, +"Died in action." When mobs gather and a riot is threatened, if +Goorkhas are assigned to the scene and instructed to quell it, every +one seeks cover when it is announced, "The Goorkhas are coming." +Indians well know the Goorkha order will be followed. He is the +policeman of Darjeeling. + +"The only supplies that reached the starving people of India during +the famine were those sent from the United States," was the refreshing +information gathered from an Englishman when touching on Indian +matters. The supplies he referred to were kept from native officials +and looked after by American representatives. Men get rich in India +during famine years through selling relief supplies at a high +figure--sent to be distributed free to the starving. Very few +high-caste Indians have any feeling for the suffering of a poor or +hungry native. + +One eats five times a day in India. Tea or coffee is brought to the +room generally before one is up; breakfast is served from nine to ten +o'clock; luncheon at from one to three o'clock; tea at from five to +six, and dinner from eight to nine o'clock. Band music, bioscope, and +other amusements take place, but are finished before dinner. In hot +countries Europeans bathe from one to three times a day. + +Along the bank of a river, stream, or pond may be seen dozens of +Indians doing their washing, and clothes spread out on the grass to +dry. They are soaped and rolled together and juggled in the hands of +the "dobey," and the next stage sees the same fellow slamming them, +with all his strength, against a rock. One would look a long time for +a washboard in India. + + [Illustration: MOUNT KINCHINJANGA (HIMALAYAS). CENTER PEAK IN CIRCLE, + MOUNT EVEREST. + DARJEELING, INDIA. (Photo, Burlington.)] + +A trip was made to Tiger Hill, six miles from Darjeeling, from which +point of observation is seen the summit of Mount Everest, rising to a +height of 29,002 feet, located in the State of Nepal, India. The space +intervening between this point and Everest is over 100 miles, and only +a tip of the apex of this, the highest mountain in the world, appears +to view. But even a peep at that premier pile of earth, rock, ice and +snow will partially satisfy the heart of one who yearns to see +nature's best in its varied forms. Everest, as seen from Tiger Hill, +is flanked by a peak on each side, both of which appear superior to +the king of mountains; but that delusion is accounted for by the two +plainer-appearing sentinels being much nearer to the point of +observation than the center white peak, Everest. It is hard to believe +that, if Mounts Cook, Ruapehu and Kosciusko were placed one on top of +the other, the combined height of the three Australasian mountains +would be lower than the dome of Everest; or that, if Mount Aux +Sources was lifted on top of Kilimanjaro, these African mountains +would be only slightly higher than Everest. Also, that if Jungfrau was +raised on top of Mount Blanc--two prides of the Alps--Everest would be +only a few hundred feet lower than their combined height; and were two +of the most noted mountains of the Western Continent--Shasta and +Ranier--piled one on top of the other, the culminating point of these +would be several hundred feet below the climaxing point of Everest. +Then, from the corner of the eye, while focussing the gaze on Everest, +an imposing white pile of grandeur--Kinchinjanga--second only to +Everest, tempts one to divert his view to its plainer seen and +noteworthy proportions. About Kinchinjanga, which rises its icy dome +28,156 feet above sea-level, clusters a noble family of sons, the +Hercules of mountains. Janu comes first, towering to a height of +25,304 feet; Kabru next, 24,015 feet; then Simolchun, with 22,270 feet +to its credit, and Pandim, 22,017 feet. There are still other noble +peaks in the Himalaya range, plainly seen from this viewpoint, that +appear small when associated with the greater monuments of nature's +buildings. + +All the natural agencies of earth, and those under the earth, could +not impair the grandeur of Mounts Everest and Kinchinjanga. A fierce +attack of wind and storm would only amuse these giants, as the summits +would be enjoying sunshine during the day; in the afterglow, from the +frosty flakes on the snowy domes, would irradiate soft, golden gleams +of light, and at night from these flakes would also sparkle blue-white +beams--reflected from the stars above--while the elements would be +vainly centering their forces at invulnerable parts below. Lightning +could not disturb even a pebble on these climaxing monuments, for ice +and snow is so deep on their summits, and for several miles below, +that the rock-like, glacial crust would prevent the forked thongs from +penetrating to the surface soil. Earthquakes might center their +rending powers at these stupendous vouchers of God's greatness, but +the result, if any, would be merely deep, wide breaches, so cleaved, +mayhap, as to form the design of the Cross or other holy emblem on a +prominent escarpment, and serve only to enhance their present +nobleness to a greater degree of reverence. And if the fires under the +earth should unite to destroy these Colossi of the Himalayas, +mustering every vestige of force and centering all into one tremendous +avulsion--the fires' fury finally succeeding in forcing vents at the +vertexes of these sky-piercing peaks--even then, thus riven, Everest +and Kinchinjanga would gloatingly belch from their crowning domes +rivers of liquid fire and eject prodigious quantities of flaming rock +and scoria, spreading broadcast their sulphurous outpourings for +hundreds of miles around, their lurid streams coursing the sides--all +of which would only serve to draw people from every section of the +world to gaze on the fascinating and appalling spectacle, that would +measure second only in widespread flare at night to heaven's own +aurora in the early morning. + +The term "timber-line," referring to mountains, means the limit of +altitude at which vegetation grows. Timber-line in the United States +is marked at altitudes of 10,000 to 12,000 feet. On some peaks, this +line, often of stunted oaks six to twelve inches in height and one to +three inches thick, is as decided as a steel band around a circular +smokestack. Here and in Thibet, in an atmosphere refreshed by high, +snow-capped mountains, the force of the sun is apparent by trees, and +even vegetables, thriving at altitudes of 15,000 to 18,000 feet. +Helmets must be worn in the hill regions, as on the plains, to protect +one from sunstroke. + +The blue atmosphere--the sheen of the sky--in the Himalayas is of a +deeper color than that seen on the Blue Mountains of Australia. The +only place where a similar atmosphere was observed in America was from +Grand View, when looking into the marvelous maw of the Grand Canyon of +Arizona. + +Vegetation on the lower mountains was different to that of the plains. +The magnolia was seen, also the oleander, the chestnut tree, and the +oak; but the bark of the latter tree was different in color and shape +to that of the American variety, although the acorns were the same. + +A large number of British troops are stationed at Darjeeling, and +three forts have been built on the sides of a mountain facing Thibet. +Not even a goat could get through Jalapa La Pass if the guns of these +forts were trained on the noted mountain passageway. + +Darjeeling is a favorite vacation center for the people of India, both +European and native, in the summer season. In addition to the natural +attractiveness of this place, there is also a museum and a library. +Splendid mountain trips are at one's selection. + +Down the two-foot wide mountain railway we traveled to Silliguri, +boarded a passenger train, and were soon speeding over the flat plains +of Bengal, with Assam to the east. Palms grow in that section of +India, and the limbs at the bottom of the bushy tops had been freshly +cut and seemed to be scraped. The native drink--"toddy"--is partly +made from the juice of the palm after fermentation, when it is used as +an ingredient with distilled rice. Hemp, or jute, reeds were lying in +pools of water along the railway track to soften, when the fiber would +be stripped from the stalk and later made into rope. Sixteen hours +after leaving Silliguri the train pulled up at Sealdah Station, +Calcutta, the second largest city in the British Empire. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Calcutta, although having a population a quarter greater than Bombay, +does not measure up to the Parsi stronghold in architectural +appearance. Still, one of the best municipal parks in the world, the +Maidan, is located in the center of the city; it is two miles long, +one mile wide, and is bounded on one side by the Hooghly River and on +the other by one of the principal streets of Calcutta, Chowringhee +Road. The Maidan is ornamented by splendid monuments to men who took +part in the various mutinies, and those who, in the opinion of the +British government, wisely and bravely guided the affairs of this +country. + +We had again got to where street cars were running, where newspapers +were published, masts on ships were to be seen; hotels with two or +more stories, electric lights, and big buildings, also sidewalks--in +short, we were in the largest city of India. Fourteen hundred miles +separate Calcutta and Bombay. + +Street cars appeared better patronized by Europeans here than in +Bombay. There are two grades of travel to the city cars--first and +second class. The fare was cheap, first-class three cents and +second-class two cents. + +Calcutta is better managed than Bombay, notably, fewer beggars are +allowed on the streets; and some features that do not add credit to a +city were under better control. Official firmness in other ways was +also noticeable. It was in the Province of Bengal that the mutiny +started, in 1857. + +Modern machinery--linotype machines, web presses, and stereotyping +appliances--is in use on the daily newspapers of Calcutta, and very +creditable newspapers are published. But there is little saving in +modern machinery in India. An overseer of one of the printing plants +stated that they installed the linotype machines only to be modern, +but that there was no saving, in view of hand help being so cheap. The +wages paid run from $8 to $18 a month. The same applies to flour or +rice mills. Women may be seen in any part of India turning two stones +with which the rice and wheat are ground into flour. + +This city has a good business appearance, over 200 factories being +located within a short radius, a number of rope or jute mills among +them. Beside this native product, tea, opium, grain, indigo, raw silk, +and cotton are exported from Calcutta. Some of the streets are +literally packed with ox carts loaded with these articles of export. +Horses are used only for cabs, oxen being the beasts used for +vehicular traffic from one end of the country to the other. As in +Bombay, the joints in oxen's tails have been broken so often by the +drivers twisting them that they resemble threads of a large wooden +screw. + +The Black Hole of Calcutta, into which 146 human beings were forced on +June 20, 1756, and out of which 23 came alive the next morning, does +not compare in savagery with the Massacre Well at Cawnpore. Suraja +Dowlah, the Nwab of Murshedabad, had placed the 146 prisoners in the +building, the remainder of the British having made good their escape. +Contrary to general belief, the building called the Black Hole was not +a dungeon, but merely a lock-up for disorderly soldiers. The prison, +22 feet long by 14 feet wide, was too small for such a number of +people. The time being June, torrid at this season of the year, will +account for the deaths. No butchering took place, the detention was +for but one night, and, to give the Nwab his just due, the tragedy was +unintentional, according to some historians. Part of the space where +the old prison stood has been taken for a large building, and the +portion not occupied has been covered with black marble--the incident +inscribed on a slab of marble above--surrounded by a high, black wire +fence. + +The Hooghly River, so called by Europeans, but termed Ganges River by +natives, is a busy waterway, and the sea, or Bay of Bengal, is not +reached until a distance of 80 miles from Calcutta has been traveled. +This river is a large one, the water muddy, and very treacherous for +navigation. The same style of craft seen at Bombay--the dhow--is the +ship of the Hooghly, and is similar to that in use thousands of years +ago. It offers a picturesque, though archaic, appearance. Hooghly +water is considered sacred by the Hindus living in this section. + +Calcutta is not as interesting as Bombay, but there are three things +in the premier city of India that attract--the Maidan, museum and +botanical garden. Another feature, well known throughout British +territory, is the racecourse. The museum is a splendid building facing +the Maidan, and located on the principal street; the collection would +do credit to even larger cities than Calcutta. The zoo is a good one, +some native rhinoceros here seeming three times heavier than the +African breed. + +The botanical garden contains the great banyan tree, the remarkable +feature of which is that roots grow from the limbs of the tree +downward, take root on reaching the ground, and then grow into the +earth like a tree that starts from the ground. From these aërial roots +growing downward now stand over 200 trunks. The tree is not high, but +spreads widely, the distances separating the outer limbs from one side +to the other being 330 feet. The space intervening is studded with +tree trunks that, when young, had started from the limbs they now +support as props. The form of the banyan growth is circular, so would +be over 300 feet across from outer limb to outer limb from any point. +Around the circle of limbs the distance is over a thousand feet. It is +a beautiful tree, and well worth going to see. The botanical garden is +splendidly laid out, and contains many strange varieties of growth. + +European merchants have secured a foothold in Calcutta, and a visitor +is surprised to see the fine stores and large stocks of goods carried. +Even European barbers are found here, a rarity in India. + +Some European women, unfortunately, have married titled Indians in +the belief that a son or daughter would inherit their father's +possessions and title. High-caste women in India are seldom seen +walking about, as custom forbids such freedom; so, after the European +bride reaches her husband's country, her life is that of a +semi-prisoner. Her husband may be only a rajah, with title outweighing +rupees, in which event her home might be located behind an odorous +bazaar. Should she bear a daughter, little is thought of the event, +but should she bring a son into the world she is very fortunate, if +life by that time has any charm for her, if she and the son do not +accidentally die in child-birth. Such a contingency as a Eurasian +inheriting an Indian's title and estate is not to be thought of. Her +husband will have a native wife in addition to his white wife, and +should the latter fail to bear a son he would take still another +native wife, and should there be no male issue from the second native +union he may take yet a third native wife. Where a titled Indian is +not succeeded by a direct native heir the custom of adopting heirs is +common. A white wife's offspring, however, has no hope whatever of +becoming the reigning heir. + +The Eurasian is half Asiatic and half European. His social standing is +really pitiable, as Indians hate him because he is neither Indian nor +European, and white people, for the same reason, do not encourage +social equality. + +Kali Ghat, or Kali Temple, located some distance from the business +center of Calcutta, was dedicated to Kali, the wife of the god Shiva. +It is a terrible place. Mercenary priests, eager to obtain a fee, +almost fight for the privilege of showing one about the gruesome +premises. Two posts, a space of eight inches separating them, were +raised from the ground three feet, through which holes had been bored +to correspond. Two pins were put through the holes of both posts. To +the rear was a shed, in which were standing at least a hundred +half-grown male goats. The posts were located close to the entrance of +the temple. A goat was brought to the posts, the upper pin pulled out, +the goat's head placed between the posts, when the pin was inserted in +the holes, the space between the pins--about four inches--preventing +the goat from pulling his head backward. A brass pot, containing +water, rested on the ground, from which a man took a handful of water +and sprinkled it on the goat's neck. This was Ganges water--holy +water. Without ceremony, the man who had sprinkled the neck of the +goat swung a big knife over his head, and when it was brought down the +goat's head was severed. A woman squatted at the trunk end of the +severed neck, with a brass cup in her hand, catching the dripping +blood. When the first flush of blood ceased she quickly arose and +literally ran to the temple entrance. Inside, she offered the blood +sacrifice to the god Kali. All the time weird-sounding gongs and music +came from the interior of the temple, the heads of goats being severed +at frequent intervals in front of the entrance, each having been +bought by the disciple making the blood offering. From that scene the +priest takes a visitor to the burning ghat, and in the instance +related there were six pyres consuming dead, but none of the +"mourners" looking on gave the slightest intimation of grief. Two +hours' time is required for burning, and the price of wood for that +purpose was $1.15. The ashes are thrown in a lagoon of the Hooghly, or +Ganges, River. Church holidays in India are called "pujas," and great +crowds frequent Kali Temple on certain puja occasions. + +Large numbers of native babies are mortgaged before they are born. The +country swarms with baniyas, or money-lenders, who are a curse to +India. Parents who wish to visit Benares, the sacred city, borrow +money to defray expenses of the trip. Weddings often cost a +considerable sum for poor people--from $25 to $150--and, in order to +maintain their caste position, people borrow the necessary rupees. +Famine years, sickness and other causes also force the people to +borrow money. The rates of interest are very high. Land in India is of +hereditary ownership, and rajahs and maharajahs charge a high rental +to the worker. An income tax of 12 per cent. is collected on a yearly +income of $300 and above. + +Saugar Island is located at the delta of the Hooghly River, and Hindu +widows wend their way in large numbers to what the Hindu avers is a +sacred bathing place. As stated earlier, widows are held responsible +for the death of their husbands, although the wife might be but five +or six years of age when her husband died, and living with her +parents, and the husband from 20 to 60 years of age, having other +wives. The traditional, withering contempt and inhuman disregard for +these creatures cause widows to resort to any form of deprivation, +degradation and self-punishment--some of which are having their hair +shaved to the scalp, although they prize it highly; cast any money and +jewels they may have into the ocean, if a crafty priest does not catch +the arm and obtain, and retain, the treasure before it leaves their +hands; bathe in the waters, even though the breakers be mountain high, +knowing they will be swallowed by the sea; trudge from holy shrine to +sacred altar in various parts of India--all in the hope that their +sacrifices and atonement may satisfy the wrath of the gods they are +supposed to have provoked by taking away from earth the husband who +bought them from their father. A Hindu widow is thought much less of +than a pariah dog; she is the most pitiable object on earth. + +Leaving European and official sections of Calcutta, one comes to +street after street without sidewalks; with heavy ox-cart traffic; +natives as thick as flies, but no white people about; the usual vile +odors coming from the bazaar section; bony, half-dressed, ragged +people at every turn--all with somber faces. + +The native of the Province of Bengal is the proudest man in India, and +is said to need watching in transactions of every kind more than those +from other parts. He seldom wears head-covering, his hair is smoothly +dressed, he is erect, and walks with a pompous stride. One can always +tell a Bengali, as he appears neater in appearance than Indians from +other sections. His looks betoken his thoughts, for he entertains the +opinion that he is the essence of human kind in India, or even of the +world. As in all other cities of this country, the streets were poorly +lighted at night. Calcutta is a new city compared to other places in +India, as it dates back to only 1690. + +There being no rickshas in Calcutta, one of the means of getting about +is by palki, an upholstered box, seating one person. The box rests on +poles, and four coolies--two at each end--the poles resting on their +shoulders, lift the palki and fare and start off at a trot. They +receive 12 to 20 cents an hour for carrying a person--three or five +cents each. + +After crossing the Hooghly River bridge, a railway train was boarded +at Howrah Station, a modern and creditable building, for Madras, over +a thousand miles southward. The trains on that road were not as good +as some we had traveled on in other sections of India, but sleeping +berths were included with the equipment. The Indian reminds one of the +American negro in one respect--that of sleeping. He seemed to be at +home in any place, so far as sleep is concerned, for in the coaches +during the day the berth would be taken down in the compartment, and, +slipping off his sandals, he would soon be fast asleep. One peculiar +feature of this sleeping tendency, however, was that he would always +be awake when the train reached his destination, as stations are +seldom announced. + +Save for hills in the distance, the country was as flat as any passed +through while traveling over the Doab and other sections. Sugar-cane +was one of the crops seen during the journey, and peanuts was another. + +After 40 hours' travel the train stopped some distance outside of +Madras, as passengers had to be examined by a doctor for disease +indications, and the train was detained until that official duty had +been gone through. In most countries boat passengers must undergo a +medical examination when reaching port, but it was the first time we +had been subjected to a railway train examination. This precaution was +taken to keep out bubonic plague. + +The conquest of India by England, as it may be termed, had its +inception in Madras, for in that city British merchants first +established themselves. The East India Company grew more powerful as +time passed, first acquiring sections of land and later provinces. The +founding of the East India Company dates back to 1639. This section of +India is known as the Southeast Presidency, and is presided over by a +governor, appointed by the King of England, Madras being the capital. + +Madras, with a population of over half a million, is the prettiest +city in India we have seen. The River Cooum winds its way through the +Tamil metropolis by a very circuitous route, and the land for some +distance along the banks has been reserved for parks. The government +buildings are attractive, shade trees are numerous, and the city is +abundantly supplied with parks and driveways. We had reached the sea +again. A splendid drive and promenade has been built on the shore of +the Bay of Bengal. + +The natives in this part of India are known as Tamils, and it is from +here the Indians in South Africa and those in Fiji, and possibly those +in the United States, came. The reader will have gathered from my +earlier notes an idea of some of the miserable creatures encountered +during the journey, but the Tamils met with in Madras, those with whom +one comes in contact in the nature of servants, ricksha pullers, and +that class, were the worst in all India. One would no sooner have +stepped into a ricksha than the puller would place his hand on his +stomach and then to his mouth, which meant he was hungry. No doubt +they were in need of food--a majority of the people of India are not +half fed--but the striking feature of Madras was that every one who +did anything for a person was practically a beggar. + +The first Christian church built in India was St. Mary's, in Madras. +Elihu Yale, the benefactor of Yale College, is identified with St. +Mary's by his presenting to that building one piece of the church +plate. The United States also is represented by a splendid Y. M. C. A. +building of red sandstone, the benefactor being a noted merchant. + +It is really surprising, when one visits a city like Madras, so far +away from the more enlightened centers of the world, to find such a +large number of colleges and other means of education there. In +addition, this place is well supplied with a Y. M. C. A. building, +libraries, club buildings, churches of various Christian +denominations, a museum, a zoo and an aquarium. The same applies to +the larger centers of India in general, but not in such proportion as +those of this city. + +Titled Indians, when visiting England, are sometimes received by the +King and Queen, and are next entertained by lesser royalty, this +attention being given much publicity in the British press and also +cabled to other continents. But in India the social lines are not so +flexible. European clubs in the Far East are popular centers of +association, and a native sovereign's application to become a member +of one of these, though composed even of European clerks, would very +likely receive unfavorable consideration. + +The punkha is the fan in general use in India, except that in some +hotels in the larger cities electric fans are in service. Rods or +ropes are secured to screw-eyes driven in the ceiling, and to the end +of these a pole or wire is fastened that extends across a room. Canvas +or palm leaves are attached. This covering, which falls from the pole +a foot to eighteen inches, is the source of air when moved. There may +be a dozen of these "fans" stretching across a large dining room; and +tables are placed under the punkhas. These are connected by a string +or wire running from the first to the second punkha, and so on. A +stout rope, tied to the first punkha, is placed over a small pulley in +the wall or partition, extending outside the building. An Indian, +unseen, pulls the rope, when the fans in the room move, and air will +be stirring. Frequently the punkha puller dozes off, when the fans +will move slowly. One knows then he will soon be asleep. + +Thousands of half-starved coolies, nearly naked, with a squatty basket +made of bamboo strips in their hands or on their heads, may be seen in +any section of India. That basket is his "work-box," in which he +carries anything required. + +An umbrella is the sign of authority in this section of the world +where a group of natives are engaged at work. Whether the weather be +wet, cloudy, or clear, the Indian foreman is known by his holding an +umbrella. + +A finger bowl is placed at the side of every plate when serving food +in India. + +The word "calico" had its origin in India. The city of Calicut, +whence the word calico is derived, was a cotton goods manufacturing +center in early times. + +Madras, the third largest city in India, is composed mostly of Hindus, +and where that sect is found the sacred cows and bulls will be in +evidence, as well as the miserable widows, the burning ghats; the +mothers who give their young daughters to depraved priests who +persuade the parents they will gain special favor in the sight of the +gods for so doing; the goat-slaughtering places, the idols of monkeys, +snakes, and other characters, and juggernaut cars. The Hindu has +little to recommend him in either person or religion, and yet the +best-fed things we saw in that country were connected with the +church--the sacred bulls and cows. + +The native quarters and the temples were the same as have been touched +on in our Indian notes. The bazaars were the same, and there seemed to +be more nearly naked people, owing to the weather on the Coramandel +coast being warmer than that further north. One wonders how Europeans +stand the heat, as few cool breezes blow in the hot sections of that +country to refresh the jaded. + +Mention has been made on several occasions of the appalling mortality +from fevers and pestilence. A considerable portion of the mortality +may be accounted for, however, when the reader learns that there is +practically no sewerage from east to west and from south to north in +this thickly populated country. With no sewerage, and the habits of +the people as a race being the opposite of clean, together with all of +the Hindus holding in reverence venomous snakes and mad dogs, and some +sects bedbugs, mosquitoes, and vermin, the wonder is not at the great +number that fall victims to these various causes, but how to account +for so many being alive. + +Madras was the last stop in India, as a train was boarded for +Tuticorin. We passed through a country that is celebrated for its +splendid temples, which are strange to understand when one sees the +crude tools and archaic methods employed to do ordinary kinds of work. +In the artistic designs and richness of construction of some temples +and mosques one sees the acme of art, and in mechanism the mien. +Judging from the latter, it might seem that some skilled race of +people had made their abode in that country during the period of +construction of some of the buildings, and then had passed out, +unseen, as it were. The people of India, as they appear to Europeans, +with their marble and gold buildings, seem to be a contradiction. The +country was flat to Tuticorin, half of it being under water, the +monsoons just having ended. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +The sail from Tuticorin to Colombo, Ceylon, is 147 miles. The first +thing one notices in Colombo, the capital of Ceylon, is the large +number of natives wearing very little clothing. Ricksha pullers are as +numerous as flies and very annoying, as they follow one about the +streets for an hour in the hope that the visitor will patronize the +two-wheeled sulky. Where men and women are dressed, it is hard to tell +which from which, as a large number of the men wear long hair, tied at +the back in a knot. In addition, the high-caste Singhalese wears an +amber-colored comb just under the crown of his head; it is what women +call a backcomb. A great many of these are made from turtle shell and +are very expensive, based on the wealth of the wearer. Men's clothes +look more like a dress than man's apparel, so, when men are seen +wearing long hair, a backcomb, and a sort of dress, one looks on them +as half-women. The women are much given to wearing clothes of +flaring-colored cloth, but there is still a strong reflection of India +on all sides. The best way to appreciate Ceylon is to visit that +island before visiting India, for after one has passed through India +and then visits the lesser country he will not absorb some of the +beautiful and interesting things for which Ceylon is famed, because of +the noted mosques, temples, mountains, and teeming millions found in +the greater country. + +The congested population of Ceylon may be inferred from its +area--25,000 square miles--containing over 4,000,000 people. The +island is 270 miles long and 140 miles wide at its broadest part. +Since 1796 the island has been under British control. The exports are +interesting, as they include tea, coffee, cinnamon, cocoa, cocoanut +oil and rubber, besides other tropical products. Ceylon is +administered by a governor, who is subject to the Secretary of State +for the Colonies in London. + +Scaffolding used in Ceylon and other Eastern countries when erecting +buildings is odd. The supports to which the floors of the scaffolding +rest are bamboo poles, and the crosspieces and other material used to +work on are held together by rope, no nails being used. The +scaffolding is so bulky, crude and shaky that the walls of a building +look as if they were out of plumb, but the scaffolding nearly always +hides the new building entirely from view. + +Most of the ships plying Eastern seas stop at Colombo, and, with the +exception of Port Said, it is perhaps one of the most popular maritime +stations in the world. + +The buildings of Colombo would not suggest being in far-off Ceylon. +They are composed of brick, stone, and mortar, several stories in +height. The streets are clean. Colombo, however, is the rosy apple +with the decayed center, as a mile from the European or business +center is the Pettah, or native town, with its squalid quarters, +narrow streets, ox carts, absence of sidewalks, people barefooted, and +many of untidy appearance. More English is spoken in Ceylon than in +India. The population of Colombo is nearly 200,000. + +A splendid driveway and promenade runs along the ocean front, and is +paved from the city to a well-known hotel. Also a good park and museum +that is interesting. Cinnamon trees grow in the park, and from the +bark of the trees a cinnamon odor arises. There are two qualities of +the cinnamon, known as quills and bark. The quills look like bark +strips taken from a sapling, and are over a foot in length, tied in +bundles. The export of cinnamon from Ceylon is 120,000,000 pounds of +bark a year. All the vegetation about Colombo is tropical. + +One of the social gauges by which a European is measured is the class +of railway coach in which he travels. If it be a second-class coach he +is thought little of by the natives, and is apt to get the cold +shoulder from Europeans. When a white man has become a victim to the +liquor habit and loses self-respect in the black countries a +collection is generally taken up among Europeans to buy his passage to +some other country. + +Some 6,000 Europeans live in Ceylon, which accounts for the +newspapers being well patronized, both in the city and throughout the +island. + +One of the prettiest trips in the world is from Colombo to Kandy, 75 +miles separating the two cities. One meets with cocoanut palms and +other tropical growths in the hot countries along the sea coast, but +to travel through a tropical section on a railway train for that +distance is unusual. The train passes through a stretch of heavy +vegetation, then an open strip of country, with bright green-colored +rice paddies (fields or patches) on both sides of the track. Next the +train is flanked by groves of cocoanut palms, which disappear when the +train darts into a tunnel. Emerging, on the side of the hill will be +seen growing the broad-leafed breadfruit tree, and a similar looking +one, the jacfruit tree, with large, rough-looking shuck, is also a +product of the soil. Down in the valley the pale-green paddies will be +found, the rice growing in a foot of water. Into another tunnel the +train suddenly disappears, and an upward grade is traveled, when +short, stubby rows of tea bushes appear. Then, looking to the right, +rise mountains to a height of 2,000 feet. On another side natives may +be seen in a large grove, with small tin cups in their hands, devoting +their time to the trees; these are rubber-tree tappers and sap +collectors. The air has now become clearer and cooler than the humid +atmosphere of Colombo. Along the roads that parallel the railway track +may be seen a light wagon, or trap, with two fast-stepping bullocks +hitched to the vehicle. These are known as "trotting bullocks," and +are the fastest means of passenger transportation away from the more +populous centers. All landscape scenes and vistas on the route from +Colombo to Kandy are luxuriantly tropical. + +Kandy has a population of 25,000, but if the same place were located +in Europe or in the United States, considering its attractiveness, +half a million people would occupy one-story bungalows on the +verdure-drooping hillsides and the pretty valley would be lined by +homes of wealthy people far beyond the limited space now built upon. +Splendid roadways and paths, embowered with tropical leaves, have been +cut into the hillsides, and from these one looks down on a pretty +lake in the valley. When the beauty and attractiveness of places +cannot be truly portrayed by modern photographic appliances, it is +difficult to reflect their characteristics with the pen. The altitude +of Kandy is nearly 2,000 feet above sea-level, which insures a better +atmosphere than is usually found on the coast in tropical climes. + +Kandy was the capital of what was known as the Kandy Kingdom, and was +subjected to attacks by both the Portuguese and Dutch from the +sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, when England added that section +of Ceylon to her possessions, in 1815. + +Buddha's tooth and other sacred Hindu relics having been brought to +Kandy at an earlier date was the means of bringing that pretty place +in Ceylon to the fore. It has not been made clear whether Buddha had +but one molar or a full set, but the inference is that he had but one +tooth, as the sacred bone is referred to as Buddha's tooth. There is +no question about Buddha having been quite a traveler, as the imprints +of his foot will be shown visitors at places separated by many +hundreds of miles. And in connection with the foot imprint, it is +always designated as Buddha's foot, so, if the one-tooth theory is to +be entertained, his having but one foot, or one leg, would be equally +as tenable. The tooth, anyway, like the Koh-i-Noor diamond, was +considered a treasure, and for that precious reason it had been stolen +on several occasions, but the original molar seems to have got lost, +or some one is secreting it until the price of that particular bone +advances to a fabulous figure. But the Hindus of Ceylon had to have a +Buddha tooth, so an imitation "grinder" was made--a piece of +discolored ivory two inches long and about an inch in diameter, which +looks more like a crocodile's tooth than that of a man. The sacred +tooth is said to repose now under a golden lotus flower, and the +flower is hidden by seven metal shrines containing jewels in a sacred +building in the courtyard of Maligawa Temple. In front of the temple +is a tank containing tortoises, from whose "coverings," perhaps, the +Singhalese will make haircombs later. + +Taking a short trip from Kandy, a river was reached, and the ferry +boat was slowly pulled from one side to the other by men with ropes. +The boat was crowded with ox teams and almost naked natives. A short +distance from the ferry landing seven elephants were seen bathing in +the river. Continuing along a tropical overgrown road, at a bend we +were confronted with three elephants in charge of mahouts, each +carrying by its teeth four sacks of copra. A rope had been placed +around the center of the bags, was pulled tight, and a short end of it +was held by the elephants' grinders. The products were being brought +to the ferry by the big beasts, and oxen would then draw this to +Kandy, the nearest railroad center. By the same means tea and other +products are transported, and provisions from Kandy are delivered at +the other side of the river, from which point elephants advance the +wares beyond. The elephants are owned by an heir of the old Kandy +rulers, and on certain holidays they are brought to the city, when +they parade about the former capital fifteen times. + +Women standing in water nearly to their knees were engaged at +transplanting rice stalks in paddies. The paddies, or beds, which are +banked with earth from 6 to 12 inches on all sides to retain water, +range in area from a space six feet square to a plot containing acres. +In these the rice is sown, and when the stalks have grown to about a +foot high most of them are transplanted. In some parts of the paddy +the rice will be too thickly sowed, and in other sections not thick +enough. The stalks in the thickets will then be pulled out, those left +being the regular growth. The surplus stalks will next be transplanted +in thinly sowed places of the bed. By this means the paddy would be +equally sown; and it was interesting to observe the alertness with +which the work progressed. At a place in India a dozen men were seen +baling water from a ditch into a paddy with their hands, illustrating +the crude methods in use. Rice is the staple food of natives in +Ceylon. + +In both India and Ceylon one never sees a woman servant engaged at +housework in European homes or hotels. Men are exclusively employed at +this occupation, women doing the harder work in the fields, carrying +water, bricks, etc. + +The Royal Botanical Garden, located a few miles from Kandy, was the +most interesting one seen. We had visited the clove groves at +Zanzibar, and specimens were growing in the Kandy garden, but we had +not seen the nutmeg tree before. The nutmeg grows on a tree as large +as the buckeye, or horse chestnut, and is of the same nature, +differing in one respect, however, the nutmeg being protected by an +inner shuck. It falls from the tree, when the outer shuck cracks, but +is protected by the inner or second covering. It is then the size and +color of a pink peach, but when the second shuck has been removed the +nutmeg of commerce is seen. The vanilla bean hung from vines in the +garden; the pepper vine was seen among the plants growing; the sago +palm grew there, also the "candlestick" tree, besides other rare +growths. Some of the larger trees in this garden were bare of leaves, +which tropical oddity was accounted for by the presence of flying +foxes--the same as those mentioned in Leg Four--hanging by the claws +of one leg from the limbs during the day. There were thousands of +these large bats, and, as in Tonga, they were considered sacred, and +no one would kill them. + +In this part of Ceylon most of the land was under tea cultivation. Tea +exports from the island are nearly 190,000,000 pounds a year. + +While oxen are the means of transportation in both India and Ceylon, +automobiles may be seen skimming about the good roads in both +countries. + +A return was made to Colombo, where a ship, on which passage had been +engaged, was about due to leave that port. I had sailed on English, +Swedish and German vessels till I had reached Bombay; but from Colombo +I started east on a Japanese ship. + + + + +LEG SEVEN + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Hearing passengers refer to incidents that took place aboard ship +"three weeks ago" sounded far-fetched in these days of speedy travel, +yet those on this Japanese ship had been at sea over four weeks when +the vessel sailed from Colombo on her Far Eastern voyage. The European +passengers were nearly all English, and not a single American was met +with. Some Japanese and Chinese were traveling second-class, but +Europeans were assigned certain tables and the "yellow" men had tables +to themselves. Steamship fare is reasonable for long voyages, but the +fare from intermediate ports in this section of the world is +expensive. The ship was loaded to the water-line with cargo, and every +berth was occupied. The deck was covered with a double canvas as we +traveled through a tropical sun over the Indian Ocean. Some of the +passengers were going to Siam and Cochin-China, others to the +Federated Malay States, a few to Borneo, and a number to Java; also +others bound for Hongkong, Manila, and Shanghai, the southern Japanese +ports, and the remainder for Yokohama, Japan, the last stop. The +voyage was from Antwerp, Belgium, to Yokohama, a nine weeks' journey. + +Until recently marine insurance companies would not take any risk with +Japanese-manned ships, for which reason the merchant fleet of Japan +had been under the direction of British captains and chief engineers. +In order that Japanese could command Japanese ships, examinations for +the position of captain or chief engineer was made more severe than +that required by other countries. By this means the services of +British officers are gradually being dispensed with, insurance +companies now recognizing the efficiency of Japanese navigators. + +Three days out from Colombo land was seen to the south--Sumatra, a +Dutch possession, where the natives cause much trouble. Entering the +Straits of Malacca, bounded on the north by the Malay Peninsula and on +the south by Sumatra, for 500 miles--the length of the Straits--we +sailed in sight of land. (The Indian Ocean had been crossed and +recrossed on the trip to Australia and back to South Africa, then to +Mombasa and over to Bombay.) We have now left the Straits and the +Indian Ocean, and the ship is sailing through an island-dotted stretch +of sea; a city appears ahead--Singapore, the maritime junction of the +Far East. + +What a difference in the condition of the people in this city to those +seen in India and Ceylon! None looked starved, there were no deformed +people, no beggars, and the natives were tidier and better dressed. +The native Malay is much lighter in color than the Indian and +Singhalese. Though the Malay is the native of Singapore, Chinese far +outnumber them or any other race. + +The business section of Singapore is as flat as the Indian plains, and +when a heavy shower of rain falls some of the streets are under water +two feet. The population of the Straits Settlements metropolis is over +300,000 and, as in India, there is no sewerage in the city. The +streets in the native and Chinese quarters were better looked after +than those in Indian cities in similar sections. Some of the business +buildings are good and substantial, with elevators in the larger +structures. Many of the sidewalks are covered by balconies to +buildings in the business district, which is accounted for by the hot +weather in that section the year round, Singapore being located 80 +miles north of the equator. + +All vessels sailing in that part of the world stop at Singapore--those +going to Java, Borneo, Siam, Cochin-China, south or north of the +Philippine group, and vessels that continue to China and Japan. Some +vessels go no further east than Singapore, and again start from that +point west. + +The Straits Settlements comprise the island of Singapore, the Province +of Malacca and a number of other islands in that district. The +Federated Malay States are embraced in the Malay Peninsula, all of +which is under British rule. The governor of the Straits Settlements +also has jurisdiction over the Federated States. The city of Singapore +was selected as an English settlement by Stamford Raffles in 1819, at +that time a small native colony. Singapore island is 28 miles long and +14 miles wide. + +Irish potatoes do not grow in that section, and one seldom has fresh +milk, condensed milk being the lacteal generally used in many sections +of the tropics. It looked strange to see a big ship unloading for days +cases containing tins of milk, brought from Europe, to a country where +grass is always green. + +Thousands of acres of Singapore Island are under pineapple +cultivation, and large quantities of that fruit are shipped from this +port. The bountiful yield of this product has been brought about +almost entirely through the industriousness of Chinese. + +Passing a cocoanut grove, trees, almost uprooted, will be seen lying +flat on the ground, the fronds being as fresh and green as those +standing. Nothing can inspire hope so much as the cocoanut palm. It is +often blown down by storms, twisted and wrecked, but as long as there +is left even a thread of root the palm will continue to grow. As soon +as it has recovered from the shock, so to speak, the bushy top that +had been flattened on the earth from the fall will be seen pointing +upward. Pass the same dethroned palm later, and the fronds will be +found to be in a direct line with the rays of the sun at midday. Under +any adversity its head will be pointed straight upward. A large +tonnage of copra is also shipped from this port, there being extensive +cocoanut plantations on Singapore and adjacent islands. + +This part of the world is rubber mad. Rubber grows in some sections of +the Federated States better than anywhere else. Questionable rubber +companies operate here, however, stock being issued and dealt in, +after which the "sharpers" get aboard-ship and disappear. As much as +400 pounds of rubber an acre is gathered yearly, the price running +from $3 to $4 a pound. Much of the tin used in the world is mined in +this district, which, with rubber, are also staple exports from this +port. + +The currency of the Straits Settlements is the dollar, which in that +country equals 56 American cents; small coins are also termed cents. +Straits Settlements paper money--one-dollar, five-dollar bills, +etc.--is the dirtiest met with. The color of the bills is dark green, +and they are so soiled that it is often difficult to see the +denomination on the face. + +Hotel rates were higher here than we had been charged since leaving +Johannesburg. The cheapest accommodation in the city was $5 a day +($2.80 in American money). In Australasia hotel expenses did not +exceed $1.50 a day, and in India and Ceylon the same sum was not +exceeded. Singapore is what is termed a free port, which makes high +hotel rates even more difficult to understand. Articles generally were +more costly than in countries visited which levy a heavy import +tariff. + +A winter tourist ship stopped here which had among its passengers a +greater number of Americans than of any other nationality. A dinner +was served at the best hotel in the city, and a goodly stock of wine +and liquors had been provided for the occasion. To the surprise of the +boniface, most of the passengers asked for ice water when eating. The +small sum the tourists spent for liquids caused a general laugh in +that city. + +"Stengha," a word that sounds like "stinger," is spoken to a waiter +when ordering refreshments. Few persons living in the hot countries +drink water, so whisky and soda is very apt to be a "stengha." + +Some sections of Singapore are well shaded, and the streets are good. +Recreation grounds are very good, and churches are seen at every turn. +In addition, there is an interesting museum, and a short distance from +the city is located an attractive botanical garden. Rickshas are +numerous, drawn by Chinese, and the fare is reasonable. No one walks +in Singapore. To offset the glare of the sun, some of the sidewalks +have been covered with red soil. A good street-car system has been +installed, and the place is lighted by electricity. + +A load of live hogs, drawn by oxen yoked to a two-wheeled cart and +driven by a Chinaman, passed along a street. Each hog was encased in a +bamboo basket or barrel, with grass rope tied across the opening to +keep the porker from getting out of his "stall." There were ten hogs +to the load, stacked one on top of the other. + +A large number of wealthy Chinese live in the Straits Settlements. +When traveling through the islands there may be seen, carved on the +posts of large entrance gates of the Mongols' homes, peacocks, lions, +birds, and fantastic, hideous-looking figures. These residents may be +seen any time of day or evening riding about the city and island in +modern and sumptuous motor-cars. + +Some years ago a young American diplomat had been appointed consul at +Bangkok, Siam. A merchant of the Siamese capital owed an American a +large sum of money. Through the young consul the American sought to +recover the debt, whereupon the diplomat threatened the Siamese +merchant with the power of America. An American battleship later +anchored in Singapore harbor. Down from Siam came the young and ardent +consul, with but one aim in view--to persuade the captain of the +battleship to proceed to Bangkok with his vessel and scare the money +out of the debtor. The captain told the consul he had no objection to +doing so if he (the consul) would cable the War Department at +Washington, D. C., for instructions to that effect. A cable was sent +immediately, and a reply soon received, which read: "Explain why you +are absent from your post of duty." The consul walked floors, fearing +recall, and had to write several letters to the State Department +before he could entertain hope of retaining his post. + +What looks like a round bolster is found at the foot of every bed. +This equipment is to put under the body, to allow air to pass between +the body and mattress, as the nights are very hot. In other ways the +bolster is used to protect the flesh. This article of utility is +called a "Dutch wife." + +In the government printing office in Singapore were 150 printers, and +out of that number there was but one white man, the overseer. The +wages were $10 to $14 a month, which was $3 to $5 a month more than +was paid in India for similar work. There is much room for improvement +in the Singapore offices, although the hours worked are but seven a +day, the business hours of that city. + +Every one has his "boy" servant in Singapore. While getting money at a +bank the clerk had a "boy" to blot any writing he (the clerk) did. +Unmarried men often eat their meals in their room, which are brought +from the kitchen by a "boy" servant. Many have a ricksha puller for +their own use. Single men often have as many as three servants. + +Malaria and other tropical fevers impair the health of many settlers. +The heavy rainfall, hot sun, and low-lying land account for the +absence of fat men in that section of the world. + +Every one wears white clothes and helmet. Starched or dress shirts are +little worn. A high collar is attached to the white jacket, and under +the jacket is generally worn a thin woolen undershirt. + +As in India, one seldom sees a white child here. As soon as children +become able to run about they are sent to Europe to be educated and to +acquire a sound constitution. Nearly all the Europeans living in the +Straits Settlements and Federated States are Britishers. + +A great many Chinese find employment in carrying small restaurants +about the city on split bamboo poles. They shout as they travel along, +and stop when a customer indicates that he wants to eat. Chopsticks +are used in lieu of knife and fork. "Makan" is the Malays' word for +food. The Malay language is spoken by all classes. The native is not +burdened with energy, the prosperous condition of that country having +been brought about mainly by Chinamen. + +Singapore holds ninth place in the principal shipping ports of the +world, the harbor being crowded with large and small craft. + +An effort was made to travel direct from Singapore to Manila, but, +after waiting two weeks for a ship going to the Philippines' capital, +the plan was abandoned. A start was then made for Hongkong on a German +ship. Like the Japanese vessel that had brought me to Singapore from +Colombo, the German ship was weighed down to the water-line with +cargo, every berth in the cabins being occupied. The distance from +Singapore to Hongkong is 1,440 miles, and the fare, second-class, was +$31.50. + +Seeing a drawling American on this ship, a Britisher sized him up as +one who might be twitted. "What is your business, may I ask?" began +the Britisher. "Oh! I generally follow mining," drawled the "Yank." +"Is there much money in it?" asked the Britisher. "Oh, the usual thing +in mining--chicken one day and feathers the next," sluggishly answered +the American. "By the way," said the "Yank," perking up, "may I ask +what your business is?" "Oh, I'm a missionary," promptly answered John +Bull's subject. "Is there much money in it?" whipped back the +"Yankee." + +For two days out from Singapore the German ship rode the seas as +smoothly as a motor-car running over a well-tarred road. Then the +weather grew stormy and the ocean rough. We had entered the China Sea. +The time of year was the day before Christmas, and a Christmas tree +had been erected in the dining saloon, ornamented with bright-colored +tinsel balls, chocolate bars wrapped in tinfoil, colored candy +hatchets, lions, dogs and dolls; sprigs of holly with red berries, +rosy red apples hanging from bending boughs, candy wrapped in +vari-colored and fringed papers, wax candles hanging from limbs, with +medicated cotton and white powder scattered over the pine tree to +indicate snow. The sea had become rougher, and the steady ship of a +few days earlier was now rolling and pitching her heavy tonnage +against powerful waves, the propellers often revolving in unwatered +space. Few had interest in the tree this Christmas Eve, as most of the +passengers had become seasick. As a result, and the storm not having +abated, only half a dozen of the big list of passengers ate turkey +with cranberry sauce, mince pie, raisins, and nuts that Christmas Day +while sailing over the China Sea. The day following the sea became +quieter, and an island came in view, then more islands. The sea having +calmed, passengers became numerous on deck. Buildings, on the side of +a high, green island, were now seen--we had reached the island of +Hongkong, China. As the vessel neared the harbor, the city, resting +comfortably at the base of the mountain and stretching along the +shore, was clearly outlined. Being our initial visit to a Chinese +city, Johnson's lines came to mind-- + + "Let observation, with extensive view, + Survey mankind from China to Peru." + +Ho! There was an American flag flying from the mast of a ship at +anchor in the harbor--the fourth time the United States emblem was +seen waving from a ship's mast during a journey of over 60,000 miles, +most of which was by water. At Dunedin, N. Z., the first flag was seen +flying from a dilapidated schooner, and the other two from small +vessels at Apia, Samoa. + +Hongkong is a horseless and oxless town. This island city is far up in +the list of ports--perhaps fourth--and it is difficult to believe that +the cargo of great vessels could be moved almost entirely by human aid +alone; yet such is the fact. There would seem to be no obstacles that +the Chinaman cannot surmount. On a split bamboo pole Chinamen have +been known to carry 500 pounds' weight. Generally, what one man cannot +carry two will; but any weight too much for two would be moved along +by four Chinese, two at each end of a bamboo pole. Heavy loads that +cannot be moved by poles are placed on to a two-wheeled hand truck. +India and Ceylon looked unprogressive with the two-wheeled ox carts, +but when one reaches an important seaport city and finds neither +mules, horses, oxen or donkeys to move heavy traffic, that feature +must be classed among the world's oddities. + +The mountain behind the city rises to a height of nearly 2,000 feet. +Buildings have been built on the mountainside, and on the summit stand +the barracks, or fort, and the Governor-General's residence. Some of +these buildings, used for hospitals and other purposes, are big; yet +every brick, stone, pound of mortar, furniture--everything of which +the buildings and fort are made--had been carried up the roads and +footpaths cut in the sides of the mountain on the backs, shoulders, +or heads of Chinese, mostly women. A cable railway runs from nearly +the bottom to the top, but the company that built the line is +forbidden to carry other than passengers up the slope. That +restriction was placed on the company in order that the Chinese would +not be deprived of work necessitated by the demand for supplies and +provisions by those living in that section of Hongkong Island. + +The city appears on maps as the City of Victoria, but Hongkong is the +only name one hears. The island comprises an area of 29 square miles, +and was ceded to Great Britain in 1843. But England has acquired an +additional area of 380 square miles on the mainland opposite. The city +has a population of 300,000, but half a million inhabitants reside on +the island. Of this number 6,000 are Europeans, the remainder largely +Chinese. The water channel separating Hongkong from the mainland is a +mile wide, and opposite the city is Kowloon, where large vessels put +in at wharves and from which place the railway starts for Canton. + +Hongkong is reputed to have the most picturesque setting of any city +in the world, and the view seemed better than that offered by +Capetown, South Africa. A perpetually green mountain rises steeply +nearly 2,000 feet from the seashore, and the splendid roads and walks +cut in the sides might, seen from a distance, resemble the threads on +a mammoth screw. White brick buildings, covered with red-tile roofing, +rise from the verdured sides at frequent intervals. This +attractiveness continues to the summit, which is capped, as it were, +with the official residence and forts. From the summit the view seems +superior to that from below, as the ornamentation of the steep slope, +both by nature and man, with the city at the base, ships lolling at +anchor in the harbor and pretty islands dotting the haven from three +sides, all unite in maintaining the reputation the island bears. + +A boycott was issued by the Chinese against the street railway system +of Hongkong. The trouble came about through the railway company +refusing to accept Canton money for fares on the cars, and the boycott +resulted. The cars ran back and forth without Chinese passengers +during the period of the strike. + +Sedan chairs are the means of conveyance for people living on the +mountainside. The chair is box-shape with a seat, fastened to two long +bamboo poles. The passenger steps in, a Chinaman between the poles at +each end, and grunts are heard while raising the poles to their +shoulders. Off they start up the steep incline, no matter whether the +passenger be light or heavy, with as apparent ease as if a chicken +were inside the box. The charge for a long ride is 15 to 25 cents, +divided between the Chinamen. Rickshas are the conveyances used in the +city. A short ride costs three cents, and if hired by the hour the +charge is 15 cents. The rickshas in Hongkong, Colombo, and Singapore +are made to carry but one person, while the sulkies drawn by the Zulus +in Durban, South Africa, are built to hold two persons. Zulus go as +fast and as far with two fares as the pullers of other countries do +with one passenger. Both chair carriers and ricksha pullers are in +their bare feet. + +Hongkong is very substantially built, and it is doubtful if there is a +frame house on the island. No one who has not seen that city would +expect to find the splendid business blocks that so creditably adorn +the place. Some of these are seven and eight stories high. Most of the +sidewalks are covered with cement roofing, giving the walks a +half-arcade appearance, which is done when erecting buildings, as the +sun is hot in summer. + +Porcelain bath tubs and running hot water were found in Hongkong, the +first we noted since leaving South Africa. In British-East Africa, +Uganda, India, Ceylon, and Singapore round wooden tubs were in use, +and hot water was carried to the bath room by servants. + +The water-front of Hongkong was crowded with crudely designed boats, +called sampans. The craft has a mast, and when in use sails--sometimes +made of reeds--are pulled to the breeze. The quaint craft has a cabin, +and large families are born and reared on board, it being their home. +A large oar at the stern, rolled from one side to the other when the +craft is moving, helps to advance the sampan and acts as a rudder +besides; it has two oars at the sides also. In most cases the craft is +manned by women and their children. Frequently a Chinese woman, who +looks like a hunchback, is seen pulling an oar. The apparent deformity +proves to be a delusion, however, as, when she has reached shore and +secured the sampan, she unwraps a cloth and a ruddy-faced baby rolls +into her arms. What would be a heavy burden to women of other races a +Chinese woman does not seem to mind. + +The Hongkong policeman is unique. He wears a bright, yellow-colored +helmet, a jacket with brass buttons, knickerbockers, white leggings, +and the scow-shaped Chinese shoes. His bearing is decidedly military, +and he is unassuming when on duty. The Indian Sikh is also employed +for police duty, but is not so interesting as the native. + +Daily English newspapers are published in Hongkong, and linotype +machines are in use in some offices. In one place a Chinese linotype +operator could not speak a word of English, yet he could read English +copy and set a clean proof. The wage paid was $15 a month. Europeans +were in charge of the printing departments, but the mechanics were +Chinese. + +Mock Duck, Duck Mock, Fat Duck, Duck Fat, Wa Duck, Ho Duck were common +names observed on signs above the doors of business houses in +Hongkong. + +Chinamen seem to be eating most of the time, the portable restaurant, +as in Singapore, being in use here. Their food appeared to be mostly +fish, vegetables, and what looked like spaghetti, and tea was drunk at +eating-time. As all eat with chopsticks, table cutlery is little in +demand among the natives. "Chou" is their name for food. + +The dollar is the unit of money in Hongkong, but its value is much +lower than the Straits Settlements dollar, being that of the Mexican +dollar, which varies from 44 to 50 cents. Fractional coins are on the +cent basis, and are made of silver, nickel, and copper. + +When visiting a bank in Hongkong, hundreds of natives were seen at the +rear, with a clerk shouting something in Chinese. Inquiry as to what +occasioned so large a number of visitors at the bank, brought forth +the information "They had just come from America and were having +checks cashed." Every nation takes money out of America, the feeding +ground of the world. + +There is a large photograph gallery, or archive, in the American +consulate in Hongkong, which contains the portrait of every Chinaman +who has been to America and returned to China. + +A good botanical garden is located just above the business center of +the city, and parks, good public buildings, a museum, libraries, +churches and schools, and other public features are well represented. + +Mail from Europe will be longer traveling to Hongkong than to any +other port in the world, and vice versa. From centers north of +Hongkong mail is sent by way of Siberia, and the larger amount of mail +even from this city is, perhaps, carried over the Siberian railway. +Were one, however, to mail a letter in London, Paris, or Berlin to +Hongkong, by way of the Suez Canal--the main route from Europe to the +Far East--it would not reach the Chinese port earlier than six weeks' +time from date of mailing. From 40 days to six weeks is the regular +time required for passenger ships to travel from Europe to Hongkong. + +Hotel expenses were cheaper than at Singapore, being only two dollars +a day. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +A trip was made up the West River to Canton, a stretch of water in +which vessels are sometimes sacked by Chinese pirates. A half-dozen or +more of these daring Mongols will board a boat at the starting place +as passengers did, and when an opportunity offers they will overpower +the officers, when the ship will be at their mercy. Not long ago an +effective weapon called "stinkpot" was in use. These bad smelling +crocks were thrown about the decks of a boat, bursting, and the +nauseating odor from them would partly suffocate any who happened to +be near. The pirates well knew where to burst them to the best +advantage. To prevent successful piratical attacks to river craft, +English gunboats have been stationed at certain places of this large +river. Hongkong is the port for Canton and the great population in +Southern China, and no one who has not taken a sail up that river can +form a correct idea of the large number of people who crowd on the +boats, particularly in the third-class section. + +When the boat reaches Canton, and before it is alongside the wharf, +Chinese, emerging from rowboats, will be seen scaling the sides of the +vessel from stem to stern with the agility of monkeys. In a very short +time they throw their legs across the deck rails, every one of them on +the alert to earn a few cents by carrying a valise, directing a +passenger to his ricksha or sedan chair, or presenting to the visitors +business cards of silk, damascene, ivory, or other merchants. Guides +are also much in evidence, and if there is any city in the world where +a guide is needed it is surely Canton, China. + +Soon we are in a sedan chair--the only means, except afoot, of getting +about the city--with a Chinaman at each end, the poles resting on +their shoulders. The guide was in front, and in a short time we had +passed through an entrance in the city wall. All was different then, +and it is doubtful if a stranger could find his way out after having +gone not more than two city squares in Canton. The streets are from +three to fifteen feet wide, and boxes, tubs, tanks and pails, used by +storekeepers to show their goods, encroach even on this limited space. +Were one to go to a large ant-hill on a hot day, when the insects are +thick and moving about quickly, the mound would afford a fair +illustration of Canton within the walls. The city is one great human +ant-hill. We had been through the teeming streets of the native +quarters of some Indian cities, and concluded there could not be more +density of population anywhere, but that opinion soon changed after +stepping inside the walls of the metropolis of Southern China. Any one +who has visited Hongkong and thinks he has seen a typical Chinese city +would do well to pay a visit to Canton. + +"Hey-ho, ho-hey, yay-he-ho, ho-ye-hay," sounds something like what a +Chinaman sings or chants to make known his coming in the human-packed +streets. Bear in mind, there is neither horse, ox, mule, nor ricksha +puller traversing the streets--only men and women, with loads carried +on split bamboo poles. They all have a song, grunt or yawn to give +warning of their coming. Some of the streets are so narrow that two +sedan chairs, carried in opposite directions, cannot pass. On such +occasions the carriers of one chair must stop until the others squeeze +their way between the wall of a store and the people, who are +constantly passing to and fro. It is natural, when carrying burdens on +poles, to have poles resting on both shoulders, but the crowded +streets here will not permit of that. The load has to be carried on +one shoulder, the pole pointing in front. While the narrow streets and +teeming crowds make it much harder for men to bear loads in that +manner, how much more inconvenient it must be for a woman carrying the +same weight, with a baby tied to her back! There appeared to be as +many women as men with the weight-carrying poles over their shoulders, +and with both sexes coolie custom seemed to forbid walking, as all +moved at a trot when space permitted. + +Roasted pork, dried fish, and dried fowl were much in evidence in the +shops; and for long distances wooden tubs containing water and live +fish line a street. Butcher shops and vegetable stores are also seen +at every turn. Garbage from each store or dwelling is placed in the +street, and this is often kicked about before the garbage man takes it +away. Hydrants are numerous, and lines of people wait their turn to +get water. Wide boards, on which are written Chinese characters, often +meet from each side, and a reed covering placed above, and extending +across the street, drawn by ropes, shades people from the sun. Between +the grunts, yawns, and songs of the laborers, together with the +general conversation and the shouts from others at intruders on the +dried fish and fowl, it is dampness, noise, stench and jam from the +time one enters until he emerges outside the wall. In this large city +there is no sewerage. + +The street paving is composed of stones from two to three feet wide, +and in length the width of the street. As there are neither horses nor +wagons used in the city, most of the people in their bare feet, and, +as the sandals worn by others have soft soles, the pavement lasts a +long time, although some of the thick stones show signs of wear from +the millions of feet passing over them. Between the broad signs, other +signs printed on wide strips of canvas, together with the curtains +that cover the thoroughfares above the cramped space, the streets of +Canton resemble tunnels more than anything else. + +The City of the Dead, a burying place in Canton, differed from any +before seen. The coffins are logs, hewed out for a body, are of +cylindrical shape, with four corners, and appear as if four pieces of +lumber had been sealed together. The top quarter-piece is loose and +serves as the lid. Some of these odd-appearing coffins are expensive, +as they are heavily inlaid with mother-of-pearl and gold leaf. The +first resting-place consists of two rooms, and these are separated by +a matting curtain. In the second, or inside, chamber the coffin rests +on two supports as large as a washtub. In the outer, or reception +chamber, stands a table with flowers, an incense-stick pot, and a +glass containing oil, with a wick. The incense-stick was burning and +the wick was casting a dim flame. Every morning and afternoon a fresh +cup of tea is placed on the stand, together with fruit and fresh +flowers. The light was kept burning so the spirit of the dead could +find its way about, and, if it felt like eating, the food was ready. +The corpse rests in that place for six months, when the remains are +removed to a permanent burial ground and put under the earth. The +temporary--or six months'--resting place rents for $10 a month, or $60 +for the time allowed. Formerly the corpse remained in these +lying-in-state, or ancestral halls, for years, but that has been +changed to a six months' period. Only well-to-do Chinese are so laid +to rest. + +The wall encircling Canton is six miles round, but the city has +outgrown the old lines. At one place, just inside the wall, is the old +execution ground, where offenders against the law were beheaded, but +it is now used as a pottery. + +A hundred and twenty-four temples of the Confucius and Buddhist faiths +were found here, but, when visiting some of these, the growing grass, +dilapidated walks, dusty images, and general lack of care in evidence +at every turn suggested that the Chinaman has broken loose from old +religious moorings. In the Geneii Temple were 500 figures on one side +of the building, badly in need of dusting. A very good pagoda, five +stories high, is a feature of Canton. All the pagodas of China are of +odd stories--three, five or seven. + +The various manufacturing industries of the city are situated in one +quarter. A big business is done in jadestone, mostly made into rings, +and used as bracelets; but the stone is used also for other ornaments. +The jadestone industry is situated in a certain district; furniture +manufacturing is also centralized; the mother-of-pearl workers are +located in still another section; this applies also to the ivory, +damascene, jewelry, and tinware industries. Little or no machinery is +used, most of the work being done by hand. + +The city seemed to be free of loafers, everybody doing something. +Talking with a Chinese acquaintance on this point, he stated that the +only men out of work were gamblers, whose "occupation" had been taken +from them by official decree. They had never learned to do anything +else. The opium houses had also been closed. Not a queue was seen +hanging down the back of the males one met, the cutting off of the +pigtails being in compliance with a government edict. The hair from +the queues was shipped to other countries. + +"Sweating money" is a custom said to be much practiced in China. Gold +coins are placed in a sheet or cloth, which is then vigorously shaken. +The coins, clashing against each other, wear off the milling, which +remains in the sheet. When the coins are "sweated" to the satisfaction +of the "sweaters" the cloth is put in a kettle or retort, when the +gold dust, or milling, remains at the bottom. It is owing to this +"sweating" process that, when gold is required in transactions of +fifty dollars and much greater sums, bankers often determine the value +of the metal by weighing it rather than by accepting the coins at +their face value. + +Concerning the population of Canton, there seemed to be no official +figures. Some give the number at a million, others at two millions, +and even three millions of people are said to be residents of the +metropolis of Southern China. Statements of the Pearl River +population, however, seem to be authentic. Just think of half a +million people living on the water! The river is partly blocked with +native craft--sampans--and these are the homes of people numbering as +many as comprise the city of Baltimore, Md. Each owner of a sampan +pays a small license fee to the city; but they have no water rent to +pay or house rent bills. The sampan is the home of a great many +Chinese from birth until they die, generally at a ripe old age. The +Pearl River is called the West River at Hongkong. + +Missionaries living in the interior have enough bread baked at one +baking to last them a month. The bread is sliced, then toasted, and +taken to the mission. Toasting the bread keeps it from getting mouldy. + +An island, separated by a fork of the Pearl River, is known as the +Shameen, and here the few Europeans of Canton reside. The Shameen has +been leased from China by both France and England for a term of 99 +years. The area of the concession is but 69 acres, and 300 Europeans +make their home in that pretty place. The consulates of other European +countries also are located on the island, and the only European hotel +in Canton is among the few modern buildings seen in the old Chinese +city. Two bridges span the branch of water that forms the island on +the city side, and high, strong gates are located at each end of these +bridges. The approaches to the Shameen are guarded by policemen day +and night, and Chinese not employed by residents of that district, or +who have no business to attend to on the island, are not allowed to +cross the bridges. The gates are opened at 6 o'clock in the morning, +and are closed at 9 o'clock in the evening. Native servants or +employees having occasion to go out after dark must carry a light, and +among these one sees some odd designs. A small lantern but little +larger than a goose egg will be carried by one Chinaman, another will +be seen with a light burning in what looks like a soup bowl, the +regular European lantern will be carried by another, and the square, +colored-paper Chinese lantern will be lighting the way of still +another native. A Chinaman has no right to live in the Shameen; those +who do live on the island are there by sufferance of the two powers +who leased the land. + +The homes and business buildings of Canton do not exceed three +stories, most of them but one or two stories in height. The doors are +heavy, and iron bars protect some of the windows. Brick, stone, and +mortar are the material used in construction, with black tiling for +roofs. A marked air of privacy pervades the exterior of Chinese homes. + +Stones, pear-shaped, are used as seats by the Chinese. These may be +seen in tea gardens and places of quiet recreation. This custom of +using stones as seats is because they are cooler than any other +material. Occupants sit astride the stones. + +Canton, the capital of the Province of Kwangtung, is styled the "City +of Rams" from the legend of the five immortals who rode into the city +on the backs of five rams during the Chow dynasty, which ruled from +1112-255 B. C. The metropolis was made a treaty port in 1842. + + [Illustration: SMALL COLONY OF HALF A MILLION SAMPAN DWELLERS OF + PEARL RIVER; THESE WATER HOMES SAVE HOUSE RENT. CANTON, CHINA.] + +Two kinds of dollars are in use--the Hongkong and the Kwangtung--the +former in the Shameen and the latter in the city and province. The +Hongkong dollar is worth more than the Kwangtung, as the former is +backed by England and the other by the present unsettled China. The +cheapest hotel rate was $4 a day, and only Hongkong money was accepted +in payment. + +First-, second- and third-class cars are used on the railway line +running from Kowloon to Canton. The first-class coaches are of +European style--compartments--and the second- and third-class cars are +open, with an aisle and seats on both sides, like the American cars, +but without cushions. The fare for first-class travel was six cents a +mile, and three cents for second-class accommodation. The water +pirates, like hippopotami on a foraging expedition, sometimes take a +stroll from their river haunts and succeed in plundering the +passengers of the railway train. Along the line could be seen small, +level patches of ground, not over four feet in length in some +instances, banked on a hillside by stones to keep the soil from +washing away, on which grain and vegetables grew. Little land is +allowed to go to waste in China. + +Back I went to Hongkong. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +An American ship was boarded at Hongkong for Manila, P. I., but the +vessel had been built in Glasgow, Scotland. The distance from Hongkong +to Manila is 630 miles, and 60 hours' time is required to sail between +the two points. The fare, first-class, was $25--four cents a mile for +sea travel. One has little choice anent "class" on these boats, as +second-class is very inferior. First-class accommodation, however, was +good. After two days of rough sailing land was sighted, and next +morning the ship passed through the right channel of Corregidor Island +into Manila harbor. Thirty miles from the entrance is Manila. After +leaving the ship, it was the first time I had been on American +territory for nearly three years. + +What a marked difference in the appearance of streets in Manila to +other cities of the Far East. Instead of Chinese or natives moving +merchandise and other wares on split bamboo sticks or by ox carts, or +donkeys drawing two-wheeled vehicles, large, fat mules and horses were +hitched to big, four-wheeled trucks loaded with heavy wares, together +with big motor trucks taking part in the healthy business scene. +Besides, flitting about the streets were light, neat-appearing, +two-wheeled vehicles drawn by smart-moving ponies. The two-wheeled +trap, called a calesa, is the chief conveyance. The men driving these +were certainly a strange class of "cabbies," for they did not seem to +care whether they secured a fare or not. The calesas, numbering 3,000, +are both a handy and a cheap conveyance, the charge being 20 cents for +the first and 15 cents for each additional hour. + +The principal business street is known as the Escolta, and little can +be said in its favor. Most of the business houses are conducted by +Chinese, Indians and Arabs; and a great many of the buildings are +owned by these merchants, who would be satisfied to do business in a +pig pen so long as money came over the stye. The street is well paved, +well policed, and a good street-car line has been laid in the center. +But it is the lop-sided appearance of the thoroughfare that grates on +one. The sidewalk at the head of the street is eight feet wide, and +gets narrower and narrower until the walking space has been reduced to +eight inches. The Escolta being the Broadway of Manila, it is well +crowded with Filipinos, Chinamen and Americans. A better street might +be substituted for the Escolta, but that thoroughfare is owned by +Chinese. + +The only way to make a modern town out of Manila would be to destroy +the relics of Spanish "art" and rebuild on scientific lines. The best +way to accomplish this would be to have fires started in sections of +the city when a tornado is blowing a gale of 60 miles an hour, the +firemen devoting their energies to protecting people, but not putting +a hand to a hose to combat the ravages of the flames. + +A good street-car system courses the city and outlying districts, but +the fare, like the steamship charge, is too high. There are +first-class and second-class cars, and the fare for first-class is six +cents and second-class five cents. The United States and her colonies +are the only territories we have traveled in where a receipt is not +given a passenger for his street car fare. + +Manila has few good buildings, in which respect the Philippine capital +differs from cities in British colonies, but after Manila has been +under American control from 50 to 100 years there will no doubt be a +better showing in this respect. + +We had reached another place where potatoes do not grow, where one +gets only condensed milk for his coffee, where meat and flour are +imported from Australia, and cabbage, onions, celery and cauliflower +come from other countries; where vaccination is the first precaution +suggested for the preservation of life; where one is apt to become +sick if he drinks water that has not been boiled; where one dare not, +if life should be dear to him, eat a piece of raw carrot or other +vegetable, or even fruit, that grows near the earth; where every one +sleeps under netting at night to keep the mosquito from injecting +into his system malaria fever germs, and where one must not forget to +keep a weather-eye out for the bubonic flea. Everything unerringly +suggests that the tropics have been reached. + +Doctors say it is not necessary to drink whisky in the Philippines to +ward off disease, but as cooks are liable to forget to boil the water, +few of the old "tropicalians," while in sympathy with medical oracles, +seem to place faith in the mindfulness of island cooks. Convulsions +and consumption are, in order, the causes from which most people die +in Manila. The death rate per 1,000 of the total population is 39.61. + +New Year's eve was celebrated in the usual American style, with floats +on motor-cars and wagons moving about the streets. On one motor-car +was a large barrel, which looked like a street sprinkler. A white +canvas covered the sides and there was printed on the cloth in large +black letters, "Keep off the water wagon!" + +The hours of work are too long in that climate. In most hot countries +the working time does not exceed eight hours a day, and in other +tropical climes seven hours is the rule. But Americans work nine and +ten hours a day. + +On the Luneta, an inviting stretch of green sward, located along the +shore of the bay and between the walls of the old city and a +residential section, concerts are given by a good band six evenings +during the week. The entertainments continue for an hour, from 6 to 7 +o'clock, and, judging by the crowds in attendance, are much +appreciated. At these concerts the Filipino appears at his best, so +far as clothes go. He is vain as a negro in show of clothes, and if +European clothes meant advancement for native races the Filipino would +claim first place. He often appears much neater than the European. + +As with most colored races, the Filipinos are ingrates. They were +neglected under Spanish rule, it is safe to presume, and now, when a +stable system of government has been fixed, and schools, sound money, +sewerage, better water, better wages, better treatment, and a brighter +future have been provided, they still ask, "What is the United States +going to do for us?" All the governors of the provinces are natives, +but the treasurers of provinces are mostly Americans. This may be +changed in the future, but a return to the former custom--a white man +to handle the money--would soon follow, for very good reasons. + +The worst railroad trains ever ridden on were those running from +Manila. I traveled as far as San Fernando, 38 miles from the capital, +and the time required to cover that distance was 3 hours and 48 +minutes. Another trip was made from Cavite to Manila, 25 miles +separating the two points, and two and a half hours was the time it +took to cover that distance. In both instances the track was level. +The ten-ton engine drawing a train over a two-foot gauge up the +Himalaya mountains made as good time. Third-class fare is too high for +poor natives; two cents a mile is too much. Steamship fare for +coastwise ships is exorbitant. If the owners of railroad lines and +coastwise ship owners do not make money in the Philippines, it will +not be because they do not charge enough. + +Native women walking about smoking big, black cigars do not look very +edifying. They may be seen any time in the streets, puffing rings of +smoke from cigars or cigarettes. + +Unlike other countries visited, few of the natives in Manila were in +their bare feet--even the children wore neat-looking sandals. + +A starched, springy cloth is worn about the neck of the women, shaped +like a horse-collar. The "collar" is tied in front with a knot, and +rests on the shoulders and neck. In size and design it is larger than +a horse-collar, and the women are constantly touching it, first on one +side and next on the other, to keep it straight or in right position. +The "collars" are sometimes of silk and of varied colors. + +Windows without panes of glass are seen here, formed by upright +panels, an inch wide, nailed to a crosspiece three inches wide, each +having four such crosspieces. Intersecting the spaces made by the +panels and crosspieces are smaller pieces of lath, which form +three-inch squares in the window. In these three-inch squares flat +pieces of light-colored seashell are placed, which admit light, but +through which the hot sun cannot penetrate. The windows do not raise +or swing, but slide from side to side, when closing or opening. Panes +of glass are seen occasionally, but these are often painted a dark +color to keep out the sun. Sunshine seldom reaches a room, as windows +are closed on the sunny sides during the day. + +The natives' homes put one in mind of a squirrel's nest in a tree. +Often they are hid with banana bushes and other growths from every +side. The huts are built on poles from three to ten feet from the +ground. The frame is composed of round and split bamboo, and the +covering is generally of what is commonly known as nipa palm. They all +have a few chickens and a pig. Their food is mostly fish and rice. + +The presence of chickens about natives' homes is accounted for by +their weakness for cock fights. Cockpits are no longer allowed within +the city limits, but, as Manila does not cover a large area, from 15 +minutes to half an hour's ride in a calesa will find one at a pit +where the native sport is taking place. Gambling is the incentive for +that sport, and so long as a Filipino can gamble he will not work. + +Prize fights are not permitted in the Philippines, and it is a +criminal offense for a newspaper to publish a challenge for bouts. +Americans of sporting ilk find Manila an uncomfortable place to live +in. Every once in a while groups of free-and-easy characters are +rounded up by the authorities, taken to a ship sailing for the United +States, when they unwillingly bid good-by to Manila's shores. + +The climate of Manila differs from that of other countries the same +distance from the equator. A majority of Europeans wear the same kind +of hats as are worn in the States. Neither were white clothes much +worn. In other sections close to the equator one would fall from +sunstroke did he not wear a helmet or some other heavy head-covering. + +The city and country around Manila is flat and swampy. When a season +of heavy rain occurs the suburbs are partly under water, many of the +streets being in a deplorable condition. Both the sewerage and water +systems are modern, however, but some of the business streets are +poorly paved. + +Several daily newspapers are printed in the capital, but, aside from a +white man being in charge, the printers are mostly natives. The same +applies to the island printing office located in Manila. Wages paid +the native printers are from $18 to $25 a month. Laborers receive from +50 to 75 cents a day. American mechanics receive about the same wages +as those paid in the States. + +Soldiers, in khaki uniforms, are always to be seen about the streets +of Manila, a fort being located just outside the city. A similar +uniform is worn by the British troops in some of their colonies, but +the uniform worn by the American soldier looks neater, for the reason +that the American uniform is starched, while the Britisher's is +ironed. Both police and soldiers are gentlemanly fellows. + +Evicting the dead sounds strange, but this takes place in Paco +Cemetery, in Manila. The dead are placed in niches built in a wall, +from six to seven feet thick, which encloses an area of three acres of +land. The wall is perhaps eight feet high, and three niches, or burial +places, are built one under the other, with a wall partition between. +Rent must be paid for these niches, and when friends fail to meet the +bills the remains are taken out and placed in a heap with others +formerly evicted. One may pay rent for these burial vaults as long as +he wishes, but from five to ten years seemed to be the length of time +relatives retained regard for the departed. The graveyard is over a +hundred years old, but the dates appearing on the slabs of the vaults +bear record only of deaths within five to ten years. All the burial +places are not like Paco, however, as in a number of cemeteries the +dead are placed underground. The total number of vaults in Paco +Cemetery will accommodate 1,782 bodies. + +Hotel accommodation can be had for $2 a day. Boarding houses charge +from $40 to $60 a month. Similar articles cost considerably more in +Manila than they do in the States. No duty is levied on American +imports when brought to the islands in American ships. + +Manila is divided by the Pasig River, and a busy shipping place it is. +North of the Pasig is the business center of the city, and, save for +some shipping, there is little business on the other side of the +dividing water. The old walled city, however, is located south of the +Pasig. The wall itself is the oldest on American soil. Compared with +that at Canton, it is limited, as the Manila wall contains an area of +less than a mile. Its construction was started in 1591, but was not +completed until 1872. The Spaniards did not seem to be in much of a +hurry to finish the work. However, it served as a protection from +assaults by Chinese and by the Moros; but in 1762 the English led a +successful attack on this defense. Built in the walls are numerous +chambers which had been used as cells for prisoners, and in some of +these, after American occupation, were found instruments of torture, +and even human bones. The churches and convents still stand behind the +strong walls, and bear witness to the suffering, bravery and endurance +in the early history of the Philippines. Some of the buildings in +Intramuros are used as government offices. Originally seven gates led +to the enclosure, but the Americans decided these were not enough, and +two more openings were made. The fort and enclosure were built to +command a wide view of Manila Bay, allowing a good stretch of land to +intervene between the historic wall and the shore. + +Manila has a splendid fire department, good schools, numerous +churches, museums and libraries, theaters, sports grounds, hospitals, +charities organizations, a very good municipal ice manufacturing +plant, and club buildings. One will find in that far-off possession +most of the advantages to be had in the cities of the United States. + +Baseball games are played here the year round, and the Filipino clubs +make a good showing. + +Good steamship accommodation could formerly be had for $125 on +intermediate ships from Manila to San Francisco, but recently the rate +has advanced $50. On the larger ships, first-class, the fare is $250. +The sailing time between the two points is about a month, the distance +being 8,000 miles. Much cheaper rates can be had on Japanese ships, +second-class, but if one can afford the difference in price the $175 +rate is worth the increased sum in accommodation. The increase of $50 +on the intermediate vessels has diverted considerable travel from +American to Japanese ships, because many people cannot afford to pay +the higher sum. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +We left Manila with passage paid to San Francisco. Out through the +splendid bay we sailed, when the ship was headed for Hongkong, where +ships were changed. Leaving at night, a flare of light in the business +center of Hongkong gradually tapered up the side of the mountain to +the fort on the summit, nearly 2,000 feet. We had started for +Shanghai, China. Every ship that leaves Hongkong for San Francisco, of +whatever nationality, has Americans aboard. After two and a half days' +sailing the ship anchored off Wusung, where the sea was yellow with +the muddy water of the great Yangtse River delta. A ship tender was +boarded and a start made up the Huangpu River, which was crowded with +ships, and along and away from the banks smoke-stacks towered for 14 +miles, when the boat was made fast to a wharf at Shanghai. From the +wharf, looking over a strip of green, there rose a wall of big, solid, +clean-looking business buildings, nearly as good as one will find in +any city of the world. + +One has a varied choice of post offices in Shanghai, as there are +seven, representing as many nationalities. These are French, Russian, +German, American, British, Japanese and Chinese. Shanghai is another +Chinese city known as a "treaty port," which signifies that China had +granted land concessions to one or more nations, on which to build +cities--forts, if necessary--and collect revenues from imports, and in +some instances from exports, passing through the treaty port. Chinese +live in some of the concessions, but they make their home in these +districts only by sufferance of the country, or countries, to whom +these tracts have been granted. The Chinese residents have neither +voice nor vote in the smallest matters pertaining to the general +government of treaty settlements. Large numbers of Chinese living in +both the French and International Settlements found protection under +these flags during native wars, when their own country could not offer +them a place of safety. + +In 1843 British troops occupied Shanghai, and by that means a land +concession was gained from China. About the same time the United +States was granted a similar concession, and seven years later France +had also acquired a land grant there. The American and British +concessions were amalgamated in 1863, but France would not join the +two English-speaking nations in the formation of one foreign +settlement. The title of the American and English land tract is "The +Foreign Community of Shanghai North of the Yangkingpang," but the +territory is commonly termed "The International Settlement." Since the +pooling of interests by England and the United States additional +territory has been acquired from China, until the International +Settlement now comprises an area of 6,000 acres of land; while France, +choosing independence, has only the original concession, 358 acres. +Self-governing powers are exercised by the International Settlement, +which includes imposing taxation and policing the territory. A council +governs the Settlement, and the members are elected by European +residents who pay a house rental of $400 and by landowners whose +property valuation would bring that sum annually if rented. Land +cannot be bought outright for building or speculative purposes, as the +land was conceded on terms of perpetual lease. No matter how much +interests a Chinaman may have within the Settlement boundary he cannot +vote on municipal matters. Harbor dues, import and export taxes--any +revenue from commerce passing in or going out through the section of +the harbor owned by the respective countries--is collected by the +officials of that country. The United States has the better section of +the water-front, but English and Japanese ships practically control +the trade of that important port. + +Shanghai is the distributing center for the commerce of the thickly +populated sections on the Yangtse River. Large ships can travel on the +Yangtse in certain seasons of the year as far inland as Hankow, 600 +miles from the delta. Then smaller vessels go on to Ichang, 400 miles +still further inland, and river craft from there carry cargoes to +Soufu, 500 miles further, or 1,500 miles inland from Shanghai. The +total length of the Yangste, which rises in the mountains of Thibet, +with its tributaries, is 3,000 miles. The width of the river at the +delta is 30 miles. Shanghai is mentioned in history dating back 2,000 +years. + +Professional mourners, or weepers, at funerals is an occupation in +China that brings in a good fee, if the weeper be a good crier. +Preceding a funeral is what one may term a band, the instruments +producing noise being brass pans or trays, beaten by men. After the +pan-beaters come several Chinese, wearing high, fluffy hats. The +coffin, which is generally a log of wood shaped out and of cylindrical +form, follows the men wearing the strange headgear. The coffin is +borne on two bamboo poles, two Chinamen at each end--four carriers in +all. Relatives and friends of the deceased follow, either walking or +riding in a ricksha, wheelbarrow, or carriage. Among this group a +woman will be heard crying lustily. It is really touching to hear the +deep intonations of grief as vented in a loud, mournful sound, until +it becomes known that the apparently grief-stricken woman is a +professional mourner, never having known the deceased in life. + +Women and men do not play parts together on a Chinese theatrical +stage. The actresses generally wear long beards and mope around the +stage, showing no more life than that of a snake when the frost is +being thawed out of his body by an early springtime sun. To a European +the plot is long drawn out, lifeless, and even tedious. But the +Chinese have a way of overcoming this, as tea drinking seems to be as +much a factor of the playhouse as the performance. Small tables +resting on bamboo-pole legs are placed about the seating space of the +theater. One will no sooner have got settled in the seat than a waiter +will appear and place a teapot and cup and saucer before the +attendant. Neither milk nor sugar accompanies the tea, and the charge +is ten cents. In a short time another waiter, carrying in his hand a +stack of steaming towels, will stop at the table and lay a hot cloth +over the teapot. He pauses, for the price of the towel is five cents. +Later, still another towel fellow stops, removes the one the first man +placed over the teapot, puts a fresh steaming cloth over it, waits +until he has received the five cents, and walks on. The hot towel +serves a dual purpose--keeps the tea warm, and is used on the face and +hands to regale the weary theatergoers while enduring the mopy +performance. In the cheaper section of a theater, what looks like a +store counter is built, from which the "gallery gods" drink tea. + +The Chinese of Shanghai appeared to be in better circumstances than +those in Canton. The young women are very distinctive, and were seen +to better advantage than in other places. The millinery era has not +reached China, so far as applies to Chinese women, and for that reason +most of them go about without head covering. When one is seen wearing +anything on the head, it is generally a man's cap. Chinese women are +very particular about their hair, and, when not all combed back, it +rests on the forehead, like bangs. Hundreds of young women may be seen +with bare head, wearing a shiny silk jacket and snug-fitting trousers. +They are straight as an arrow, and their rosy cheeks, unassuming +manners, tidy hair, and generally neat appearance unite to their +credit. The Chinese boys are mischievous little fellows, and all the +children seemed fat and strong, with rosy cheeks. The "Chink kid" was +the most attractive we had met. All the children seemed to have double +the amount of clothes necessary, and most of them wore bulky shoes, +made of grass and reeds. + +Chinese cooks, as a rule, are paid no regular salary. They agree to +feed a family for a certain sum a month, and the money not used out of +the fixed food allowance is his. He does the marketing, and it is +needless to add there is some sharp bargaining between grocer and +butcher and the cook. For a European family of six a cook would agree +to furnish food for from $50 to $60 a month. Beef and mutton sold at +15 cents a pound. Vegetables, however, were proportionately cheaper. + +One of the courts of the Settlement is known as "the Mixed Court." A +Chinese judge presides, but there is always an American or an English +official sitting on the bench with the native judge. Punishment is +meted out to the native not as the Chinese authority would have it, +but as the white officials suggest. Most of the black and yellow races +prefer to be adjudged by a white man, for a white judge will have more +of the milk of human kindness in his heart than a colored official. +Like Indians, the upper class of Chinese seem to be little concerned +about the condition of the poor and starving. The well-to-do Chinese +give alms to the needy often, to be sure, but that apparently laudable +trait is practiced more out of fear of a beggar's curse, when evil +days would befall him. The high-caste Indian also gives to mendicants +to ward off evil days. + +The Native City is located outside the bounds of the Settlements +concession, where Chinese were as numerous, and the streets as narrow, +as some in Canton, but of much smaller area. Some of the territory +within the wall was under water--a pond--over which a bridge had been +built. The bridge was purposely built nearly zigzag to foil the Evil +One if he should pursue any of them. Beggars were very numerous in +that section of Shanghai, and the mothers, like those seen in Canton, +begged, at the same time holding up the little hand of a babe, in +which one might put any offering. The Long-Hau pagoda, seven stories +in height, located outside the city, is a credit to Chinese skill. + +Few horses were seen drawing loads in Shanghai. Most of the cartage +and trucking is done on bamboo poles by Chinamen and with hand trucks, +pulled by ropes and shoved. Five Chinese pull the same load a horse +would draw. + +The condition of the ricksha pullers of Shanghai is pitiable. Fifteen +thousand Chinese are engaged in this occupation, some of them so weak +that they frequently fall to the ground from exhaustion, caused by an +empty stomach. When a Chinaman quails under hard work it is because he +has not a fighting chance to make a showing. Chinese pay them two and +three cents for a ride, while Europeans pay five cents and over. The +owners of the rickshas pay 75 cents a month to the Settlement as a +license fee, and the puller must pay the owner 40 cents a day. Often, +when a puller has not earned the rental sum, 40 cents, he will remain +in the streets all day and most of the night in the hope of at least +earning the required charge. If he cannot pay the 40 cents he is +deprived of his occupation until he has settled for the last ricksha. + +The wheelbarrow of this city, used to carry passengers and move goods, +is the oddest device in use the world over. It differs from similar +vehicles in that the wheel is in the center of the frame instead of in +front. Above the wheel is also a frame, on which to carry articles of +light weight. A rope is tied to each end of the barrow handles, and +the loop rests on the Chinaman's neck, passing under his arms. A +Chinaman will wheel a weight of half a ton for miles on this crude +device. An article may weigh 500 pounds which cannot be divided--must +be carried on one side, the other side free of weight--yet he will +short-step along with the one-sided load until he has reached his +destination. The barrow will not tip over. On each side of the wheel +may often be seen sitting Chinese women with bare heads, wearing white +blouses with pink stripes about the sleeves, with baggy velvet +trousers, and snow-white stockings showing over neat, boat-shaped, +black or colored velvet shoes. Passengers get a long ride on the +wheelbarrow for from two to five cents. The owner pays a license fee +of 40 cents a month for his crude vehicle. + +Windows of Chinese temples, and sometimes other buildings, are the +same as those seen in Manila--light colored seashell. + +Both the dollar and the tael are in use in Shanghai, the former worth +from 40 to 50 cents and the tael about 65 cents. + +Chinese mechanics are paid from 20 to 40 cents a day. Printers receive +$10 to $18 a month. The working time is eight or nine hours a day. +Carpenters were on strike for an increase of from two to five cents a +day. If a Chinaman hod-carrier, or one working at unskilled labor, +should be taken sick, the wife will often take his place until her +husband is able to resume work. + +An unfriendly feeling seemed to be harbored toward Americans by other +Europeans living in the Chinese coast cities. It was claimed that +since American occupation of the Philippines the cost of living had +advanced 50 per cent., as the influx of Europeans to the islands had +created a greater demand for Chinese meat, vegetables and other +necessities. Hotel expenses were very reasonable in Shanghai, however, +as $1.50 a day only was paid. + +Bombay, India, was the most attractive city visited in the East, and +Shanghai, China, with a population of a million inhabitants, was the +second best city. Between the landing place on the river and the +splendid front of buildings that give a visitor his first impression +of the metropolis of the Yangtse is a stretch of green, grass-covered +land, known as the Bund. To the right, opening off the park strip, are +the Public Gardens. A good street car system is a feature of the city, +and electric lights are numerous. In any direction one may look, +enterprise and good management are in evidence. The river is teeming +with craft, large and small vessels loading and unloading at each side +of the waterway, and high smoke-stacks, rising from cotton and paper +mills and shipbuilding yards, add much to the thrifty surroundings; +then large oil tanks, busy warehouses, and the gunboats of great +nations anchored in the river give the place a metropolitan +appearance, while the buildings at every turn are good. The streets +are crowded with people, and the stores filled with purchasers, most +of the merchants in that section of the city being Europeans. The +attractive buildings on the Bund do not comprise all of the good +buildings of Shanghai, for some of the homes, built of red and +gray-colored brick, two and three stories in height, are good to look +at. Then there are sidewalks to the Shanghai streets, which are well +paved with asphalt and granite blocks, and these are kept clean. Many +churches are to be seen. Schools are frequently met with, and parks +have been placed at convenient sections; also a horse racecourse, +sports grounds, and good hospitals. In fact, both English and United +States officials have done well in the upbuilding of the International +Settlement. + +Down the Huangpu River, the channel walled by merchant ships and +gunboats, we sail to Wusung, where an American ship was boarded for +Japan. Most of the passengers came from Manila, and were returning to +the States to regain their health and seek employment in a country +where people can drink water and eat raw fruit or vegetables, whether +grown in the ground or on trees. The first thing noticed among the +passengers was the absence of strong drink during meals. Stimulants +are a feature at mealtime with almost every other nationality +traveling in the Far East. A day and a half's sail through the base of +the Yellow Sea brought us to Nagasaki, Japan. + +After the vessel had anchored, flat boats or scows loaded with coal, +and also with Japanese men and women, were seen heading toward her. +The women were to help load the ship with bunker coal. Each woman and +girl had over her head a white cloth, with large, black Japanese +characters stamped in the print. Grass baskets, that hold but a +shovelful, are used to coal ships at this Japanese port. The scows +have been made fast to the ship, the baskets are being filled, the +coal passing line is formed from the barge to the vessel, extending up +a ladder to a hatch over the bunkers. The tidy looking women are now +passing baskets from one to the other as quickly as one would hand a +plate to another if needed at once. A stream of these is constantly +being tossed from one to the other, and small girls are engaged at +returning the empty ones to the scow. Two, and even three, streams of +coal run into the bunkers from one scow by means of the handleless +baskets, and, as from three to five scows will be unloading at the +same time from both sides of the vessel, it will be understood what a +large quantity of fuel can be emptied into a ship from ten to fifteen +of these coal lines. The time required to furnish a vessel with bunker +coal in this manner is from four to five hours. The wages of the coal +passers are based on the amount of coal a ship takes on, as an equal +sum is paid the coalers. This amounts to from 15 to 25 cents each. As +many as 500 Japanese--mostly women--keep life in their bodies by this +means of employment. + +The harbor was attractively dotted with partly green islands, and in +front the country was hilly and mostly terraced. The terraced hills +are the "farms" of the people. Every inch of land that can be built up +with rock to a level surface is used to grow vegetables and other +products. + +Oxen, hitched to carts and wearing grass shoes, was something that had +not been seen--the grass shoes--in other countries. A grass string +passed between the hoofs, which was connected with another grass +string or rope wound about the fetlock. These held on the shoe, or +grass mat, protecting the hoofs from wear on the roads. + +In India boards are sawed from logs while sticking in the air at an +angle of 35 degrees, with one man on the log pulling a crosscut saw, +and another under, on a platform, pulling the saw downward after the +fellow on top had pulled the saw up. At Nagasaki boards were being cut +from logs by hand also, but the sawyer stood on the ground and ripped +the log from the side, in the same way that meat is carved. The saw +was two feet long and a foot wide, with deep teeth, and with that +implement slabs were being ripped off logs 20 feet in length. Like the +Indian, the Jap pulls a plane toward him, while a white carpenter +shoves a plane from him. Still, one may see any day in New York City +men "chopping" wood with granite blocks. + +While the rest of Japan was closed to foreigners, Nagasaki, for 200 +years before the country was thrown open to the world, was an open +port, and even then life was none too safe, as missionaries had been +killed in that section. Nagasaki has a population of 150,000, and most +of the people are engaged at coaling ships, working in a shipyard, or +in pottery works. The streets are narrow, but tidier than those seen +in some cities left behind, and the homes small, none higher than two +stories, mostly of wood construction. Ricksha pullers in this place +were a pest. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +Nagasaki was left behind when a start was made through the Inland Sea +for Kobe, a day's sail separating the two ports. The sail is an +attractive one, as this stretch of water is thickly dotted with +islands. Were the vegetation tropical it would favorably compare with +the journey through the Fiji group. The Inland Sea is generally calm, +and foreign ships, together with those of Japan's large fleet of +merchantmen, were winding and twisting about the islands in every +section of the noted land-locked waterway. The vessel we boarded at +Shanghai was the third one since leaving Manila. Our journey through +Japan from Kobe will be by rail. + +The ship anchored in the bay, and passengers were brought to the +wharves in tenders. Modern buildings were in evidence, and street cars +and railroad trains were running through the city. In general, Kobe +presents a much better appearance than Nagasaki. + +Almost every woman seen in Japan has a child on her back, the mother's +custom of carrying her babe, and most of the girls also wear a bulky +piece of cloth likewise, which is tied about the waist. On a farm +where there are no reckless boys, and the head of the family is +satisfied with the easier ways of life, a colt may be seen walking +about a pasture or enclosure with a sack of grain tied to its back; +this is put on the colt's back to break it in to ride. The bundles on +the girls' backs looked as if they had been placed there for the +initial lesson in carrying a baby. The knapsack-like cloth is called +the obi. Japanese fathers seemed to take more interest in their +children than Chinese parents, as we cannot recall seeing a Chinaman +carrying a child. + +The Japanese home is the flimsiest anywhere. Thin pine boards, with +paper windows and doors, generally one-story and attic, constitute +their shell-like dwelling. Low stools and mats are prominent household +accessories, but no chairs or tables. A mat on the floor serves as the +seat in a Japanese home, which is neat, and the people present a +favorable appearance. The roof is its most substantial feature, being +covered with black tiles. The doors slide to one side. Crosspieces and +upright panels compose the frames of doors, and the squares in +windows, which in Manila are of seashell, are covered with paper in +Japan. The paper is frequently broken, when new "window panes" replace +the torn ones. + +The household stove of Japan is a portable earthen bucket, generally +white in color, with a handle. Charcoal is the fuel generally used. +This stove cooks the food of the family and also provides heat in cold +weather. The family may be seen squatting about the white earthen +bucket with twice as many hands over the fire as there are members of +the household. A fan serves to coax the charcoal along. + +While the Japanese are poor, they seem to be well supplied with +clothing. The flimsy character of the homes may account for the +thickness of cloth worn, as the weather gets cold in Japan, ice and +snow being in evidence. The kimono is worn entirely by women, and +generally by men. Occasionally a man will be seen wearing European +clothes, but Japanese women are always dressed in the native garb. +Some of the small boys wear a helmet after the style worn with a coat +of mail, and look really warlike in them. + +Both Nagasaki and Kobe are located on hilly ground, which necessitates +the building of walls in frequent sections of the cities. These walls +are very sound, and a feature of them worth mentioning is that no +mortar appears to have been used in their construction. + +Most of the modern buildings here were built by firms from other +countries, but there are also modern native structures. The business +quarters have sidewalks, but away from that section there are none. No +street paving was seen either in Kobe or Nagasaki. On the hillsides +the soil seemed to be hard, and in the level sections loose gravel was +used for paving. + +No cabs were seen in Kobe, but street cars and rickshas were +plentiful. Street-car fare ranged from one and one-half to four cents. +The ricksha pullers of Kobe were an improvement on some of the starved +Chinese pullers of Shanghai. A great many of the pullers of Japan have +no shoes on their feet, but wear cloth, generally white, for +protection. Walking over gravel roads did not seem to bother the +Japanese ricksha pullers. + +Kobe has a population of nearly half a million, and is second to +Yokohama in importance as a seaport, much tea being exported from this +port. Behind the city rises a range of high hills, covered with pine +trees--a natural park. In front is a splendid bay, from which rises +many masts and smoke funnels from vessels at anchor. Some of the +streets are of good width and others are very narrow, but all are +clean. Attractive homes have been built on the hillsides, but the high +gates and fenced and walled enclosures lend to the dwellings the air +of a prison. + +Cloth grain sacks are never seen in the Orient. Anything of that +nature which contains goods is made of grass. + +In the railway stations of Japan are kept on file publications of +current dates. This unusual custom seems to be appreciated by the +traveling public, as many passengers may be seen turning page after +page of the periodicals while waiting for a train. The railways are +government owned, and the fare, first-class, is two cents, +second-class one cent, and third-class one half cent a mile. Some of +the first-class coaches contain wicker chairs, with observation +platform at the rear. Second- and third-class coaches are provided +with cushioned seats at the side of the car. The width of the tracks +is from three to four feet, and the fastest schedule is 35 miles an +hour. Meals on trains cost 50 cents. By paying a small additional sum, +through steamship passengers may travel by rail on their steamship +ticket from either Nagasaki or Kobe to Yokohama, or vice versa, with +stop-over privileges at any point. Many passengers take advantage of +this liberal concession. No stations are announced, but the name is +printed in big letters on a wide board. Strangers are informed of +their destination by a trainman shortly after the train has pulled +away from the preceding station. The signs at stations prove a better +guide to foreigners, as Europeans are termed in Japan, than announcing +them, for words sound so much different when spoken in the native +tongue. + +We have reached Osaka, the second largest city in Japan. This city has +a million inhabitants, and is a very important commercial center. Few +horses or oxen were seen here, most of the cartage being done on +two-wheeled trucks by men, women, and boys. Chinese truckmen pull +their loads with a rope passed over the shoulder, but the Japanese +pulls his load by his breast. A pad is laid across his chest and a +rope is put over, the ends of which are generally fastened to the axle +of the truck. It is hard to believe that human beings can do the work +of horses, mules, and motor trucks in a manufacturing city of a +million inhabitants, but they really do so. + +Carriages or taxicabs were not seen in the city. Ricksha is the means +by which luggage is carried and places reached when traveling other +than by street car. Street cars in Osaka are crowded all day. Unless a +car is boarded at its starting point, it is generally a case of +holding on to a strap. Four and a half cents is charged for a +street-car ticket, but there is a coupon to each, which is good for a +return journey--two and one-quarter cents a ride. Cars are numerous, +single-decked, and they travel fast. Traffic is so heavy that two +conductors are required to collect the fares. + +The theater district of Broadway, New York City, is termed the "Great +White Way," but some of the streets on which bioscope and other +theaters are located in Osaka also cast a great flare of light at +night. The attractions are printed on cloth of bright color, secured +to poles extending from buildings on each side. These signs, all +printed in Japanese characters, meet in the center of the street, and +large arc lights, some of them red instead of white, illuminate the +surroundings. This, together with music, noise, and the crowds packing +the streets from curb to curb, may appropriately be termed "The Great +Colored Way." It is a sidelight of life in another part of the world +that has to be seen to be understood. No expense is spared in lighting +in front of amusement buildings in Osaka. The price of admission is +five and ten cents, and the places are jammed during opening hours. + +The unit of money in Japan is the yen, which is 50 cents in American +coin. The half-yen is a silver piece; some of the lower coins are also +silver, others nickel and copper. Sen is used as the American cent, +and 100 sen makes a yen. The plural is never used in yen or sen, +always 30 sen and 20 yen. A sen is one-half of a cent. + +A few wide streets course the city, and modern business buildings show +up here and there, but aside from these the buildings are of wood and +the streets narrow. No paving, however, covered the streets, neither +were sidewalks in evidence. A river flows through the city, which +serves as good drainage to this populous center. + +The price of food is much higher in Japan than in India and China. +With the exception of Singapore and Canton, hotel expenses did not +exceed $2 a day, but $2.50 was the cheapest for accommodation in most +Japanese cities. Though all wanted $3 a day, a little haggling brought +the price down a yen. In our hotel in Osaka the room was heated by a +small charcoal stove, of an upright gas-stove shape, instead of the +bucket kind. On first sight it seemed a joke, but it took the chill +off the room in a short time nevertheless. + +A pleasant change in hotel service was met with here. With the +exception of Australia and New Zealand, and one place in Durban, South +Africa, at every place we stopped male servants were the rule. After +leaving South America these were black men. With two exceptions, Delhi +and Benares, there was no such personage as a woman housekeeper seen +about the hotels--men, men, men at every place. But in Osaka, a +rosy-cheeked Japanese girl, with the "training saddle" tied to her +back, placed the charcoal in the stove, and fiery embers were slid on +top from a dustpan shovel; in the dining-room, also, the girls, in +their counterless slippers, would shuffle, shuffle, shuffle their feet +from the dining-room to the kitchen, and soon shuffle back with the +ordered food--the sound of the girls' feet more amusing than annoying. +One wonders how hotels in some countries exist, for often not more +than half a dozen guests are living in a big hostelry. The trade seems +to come from foreigners only, for seldom is a Japanese seen about. + +Osaka was my first stop from Kobe, and, inquiring from a young man how +I might reach a certain point, he volunteered to show me about the +city. His kind offer was accepted. He proved to be a professional man, +could speak some English, and seemed to take delight in doing me the +slightest kindness. He took me to a splendid park and other places of +interest, and insisted on paying his own street car and ricksha fares. + +The working hours in Japan are ten a day. Mechanics receive 75 cents +and laborers from 30 to 40 cents a day. Rice, fish, and tea seemed to +be the principal food, and if the quantities of food were no larger in +proportion than some of the teacups in use, people live cheaply. A man +seen eating a bowl of fish and rice with chopsticks was asked what he +had paid for it, a vendor having just sold it; he said 30 sen--15 +cents. Ten cents would seem a big price for the same portion in +America. + +Osaka is intersected by canals, and over a thousand bridges within the +city lines cross these waterways, resembling Amsterdam, Holland, in +this respect. There are nearly 2,000 places of worship, hundreds of +schools, colleges, and academies, five daily newspapers, paper mills, +machine shops, and an arsenal. Tea, silk, and copper figure largely in +the exports from that busy center. + +If few modern buildings, narrow streets, latticed front and part paper +homes, one story in height, and shops located in these buildings, +illustrate Japanese progress, then Kyoto, next visited, is to the +fore. The old west capital, as Kyoto is termed, puts one in mind of a +pile of wood boxes that have been gathered together to make a bonfire. +This city is one huge tinder box. In size Kyoto is the third city of +Japan, with a population of half a million people, and it is the +bucket stove alone that saves the residents from becoming homeless +through the ravages of fire, for if wood and coal stoves were used +there would be frequent conflagrations. The roofs are covered with +black tiling, and the houses have no chimneys. + +The bazaars or shopping centers of these cities are busy places, and +resemble an arcade. These are formed by reed blinds being placed above +the street, which, pulled by ropes, roll on wires and stretch across, +preventing the sun from shining below--similar to those in Canton. +Meat is scarce about these shopping places, but rice, beans, dried +fish, and vegetables are much in evidence. Radishes serve the same +purpose in Japan as potatoes in America; they grow as large as a big +cucumber, and when numerous in vegetable stalls an unpleasant odor +arises from them. + +When a horse or an ox was seen drawing a truck, the driver was always +found at the side, or leading it by a rope; it seemed to be the custom +not to ride in a loaded vehicle. Cabs are not seen in the city, +ricksha pullers doing the hack work. A great many of the public +streets are too narrow for a carriage to pass through. Men do most of +the trucking. + +Pulling a rope depending from a bell, to warn the spirits that a +devotee has come to worship at a shrine, is a national religious +custom of Japan. In front of each temple a thick rope dangles from a +bell above, and, as the finger-soiled Bible indicates the owner's +studious religious tendencies, so does the frayed ropes attest the +frequency with which worshippers summon the spirits to bear witness to +the supplicant's invocations. + +Kyoto is well provided with attractive temples, built during the +residence in that city of the governing powers. These buildings, like +the homes, are constructed of wood, and as one walks about the +churches the floors often squeak. As in India, shoes must be covered +with canvas slippers before entering. The Japanese, also like Indian +worshipers, leave their clogs or sandals outside. Priests are in +attendance, and one of these escorts a stranger through the building. +If the temple be a Shinto place of worship the priests are considered +descendants of the Sun. In one respect there is no similarity between +the priests here and those met in India, as the Japanese officials +were free of the spirit of beggary. A fee is charged on +entering--generally from 10 to 25 cents--and that is all that is +expected. + +No seats, pianos or organs were seen in the temples, but the floors +were covered with mats, on which the worshipers kneel. Off the main +church are rooms, where tapestry, with holy figures outlined, hang on +the walls, and shrines are sometimes found in the cloisters. The +temples are generally located in attractive grounds, often used by +children at play. About the buildings are stone or cement posts, on +top of which is a four-cornered cap, with a roof or covering larger +than the pillar; these represent square lanterns. Under the roof the +inside is hollow, with four corners as supports. Lights, put in these, +radiate from the four openings. It is one of the sacred emblems of +Japan, and hundreds of these lanterns stand in temple enclosures, each +one the gift of a well-to-do adherent of the faith. The temples are +covered by a roof which seems out of proportion to the building. The +eaves are very deep, the supports often richly carved, the designs +generally typifying some feature of the religion. The entrance to a +Shinto temple is always marked by two stone or wood posts, one on each +side, from 12 to 18 feet in height. About two feet below the top a +long, straight beam of stone, from a foot to eighteen inches wide, +rests in mortises of the upright posts. As the cross stone is solid, +one end is placed in the mortise of one pillar and placed across to +enter the mortise in the opposite one, the ends extending from two to +four feet from the pillars. On top of these posts rest a wide stone +cap piece of warped appearance. The whole is called a torii, and +appears only at the entrance of a Shinto temple. For walks, the +enclosures are covered with gravel, like the streets, or the natural +soil serves the purpose of tiling or pavement. They bear no +resemblance to temples seen in the other countries visited, neither +are they as expensively fitted as some of the mosques and temples in +India. + +Poor people of other countries do not, as a rule, have two pairs of +shoes, but every Japanese seemed to possess that coveted number. When +we say shoes, we mean something--anything--to keep the feet from the +ground. The Japanese "shoes" are pieces of wood, a trifle longer than +the foot, arched at a point between the joint of the toes and instep, +with heavy braid. Another strip of braid, coming from the point of the +shapened wood on which the foot rests, is secured to the cross braid, +which fits in between the big toe and the next. Under the footboard +are fastened two other thin pieces of wood, two to three inches apart, +and sometimes three inches high, resembling the bridge of a violin. In +wet weather, high-bridged clogs are worn to keep the feet from the +ground, and in dry weather low-bridged clogs are used. Sandals are +worn by some Japanese, but the bridge clog is the shoe of Japan. +High-bridge clogs make more noise than low-bridge ones, and when a +dozen persons walk on a sidewalk wearing this footgear one knows the +Japanese are coming. The clogs cost from 30 to 50 cents a pair. + +Bathing in Japan is a custom that must not be overlooked. In the +country districts one tub--of wood--is used by a family. Often the +bathing takes place in a yard, and the members go through with the +custom, one after the other, while steam is on the water. The same +water answers the purpose of all. + +Small hens' eggs and two-wheeled vehicles go hand in hand in the +Orient, as in both respects, particularly in pigeon-sized eggs, the +Japanese products are the same as first met with in Bombay, India. + +Kyoto is flat, with a pine-tree covered hill behind, on which a number +of temples stand. Looking over the city from this elevation, it +reminds one of a huge lumber yard. By reason of fires having occurred +frequently, a few wide streets course the flat site, and not more than +half a dozen modern buildings rise above the one-story, flimsy homes. +Without these fire-swept tracts there would be no street cars in some +Japanese cities. In Osaka and other cities the ravages by fire are +being taken advantage of to replace the alleys with wide streets. +Dwarfed pines, fruit trees, bulbs, and other plants are seen at many +homes. The Japanese are poor, and are taxed heavily by the +government; still, the full, rosy cheeks of both women and children +would not suggest the hard conditions they are forced to endure to +keep body and soul together. + +Kyoto, the literary center of Japan, is also noted for its porcelain, +lacquer goods, cutlery, hardware, and silk manufactories. + +Comfortable chairs in a clean passenger coach, with an observation +compartment at the rear, and but four foreigners as passengers, was +the agreeable manner in which we started for Yokohama. At nearly every +stop the platforms of the coaches were not only swept but washed. +Nothing was lacking to insure comfort, and the train traveled at a +speed of 30 miles an hour; but, like the flimsy homes of the people, +the coach, which was a first-class one, was not the solid car that one +is accustomed to in other countries. The railway stations were of good +construction, however, being clean and tidy. + +Along the route women and girls were seen carrying bundles of coarse +grass and reeds from the hills. In China men are seen carrying on +their shoulders large numbers of shoes made from such material. In +rice fields, and where other grain had been cut, the stubble was level +with the ground--nothing allowed to go to waste. A great many of the +hills were terraced with stone walls in order to raise food to live +on. At one section of the road the train passed through a valley, +hills rising from each side. The soil was naturally rich and of +considerable depth. Women and men were engaged here in shoveling dirt +into grass baskets, which was carried up steep hills and deposited +near the top on small patches of land that had been made level by +building stone walls to prevent storms from washing the soil back +again into the valley. Often a Shinto shrine appeared, and peasants as +they passed bowed, bent their knees, and moved their lips. All seemed +to be warmly clad, had rosy cheeks, and none looked untidy; nor was +there any begging at the railway stations. On we went, winding about +hills, then through valleys, until, after rounding a sharp turn, a +white mountain loomed up in front and to the left--Mount Fujiyama, the +sacred mountain of Japan, which rises to a height of 12,365 feet, +located 86 miles from Yokohama. By early evening we had reached the +cradle of modern Japan. + +To Commodore M. C. Perry, of the United States Navy, credit is given +for starting a new era in the history of Japan, at Yokohama, in 1854. +Yokohama is to Japan what Shanghai and other cities are to China--a +world treaty port. Commodore Perry practically forced Japan to open +her gates to other nations of the world, after they had been locked +for 2,000 years against all, except the Dutch at Nagasaki. As in the +treaty ports of China, the hand of the white man is in evidence at +every turn in the good docks, warehouses, customs houses, splendid +postoffice building, good bank building, racecourse, public gardens; +wide streets, with pavement, some having walks; gas, electricity, +street cars, and other signs of progress. A short distance from the +concession strip of land the native city is located, with the usual +small frame dwellings and narrow, unpaved streets. In 1859 a foreign +settlement was established, where only a fishing village had stood +previously, but to-day Yokohama is the leading seaport city of Japan +and the terminus of ships sailing from European and American ports. + +Beyond the business center of the city, on an elevation known as the +Bluff, foreigners live. These residents have their churches, +libraries, clubs and societies, and are free from any interference. +Horses and oxen, instead of human beings, were found pulling loads of +merchandise, and cranes at the docks were used to load and unload the +thousands of vessels that come and go. A good railway station adds to +the appearance of this foreign city, but there is little native +interest to be observed compared to other typical Japanese centers. + +At Kamakura, an hour's ride from Yokohama, is located the great +Daibutsu, the Japanese Buddha, 49½ feet high, with a circumference of +nearly a hundred feet. The Daibutsu is composed of bronze plates, +brazed together, and has eyes, four feet in length, of gold. In the +center of the forehead is a silver ball, denoting wisdom. The ear +lobes are very long and the hair curly. This great image rests on a +stone foundation, and the position of the Buddha is that of sitting +down, hands folded, in reverential meditation, the feet being partly +under. It is hollow inside, and a shrine has been erected within for +worshipers. A ladder leads to the top of the Daibutsu. Kamakura has +been sacked by warfare, racked by volcanoes, and ravaged by fires on +various occasions, but for 600 years the great image has remained in +the same position. It is a striking work of art. From the twelfth to +the fifteenth centuries Kamakura was the capital of the Shogunate, and +at one time had a population of a million people, but to-day it is but +a seaside village. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +An hour's ride from Yokohama, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, is reached. +The water here is shallow, Yokohama being practically the port for the +official city of Japan. Tokyo has more open space than other native +cities, and street cars, rickshas and crowds of people about the +railway station gave ample evidence of having reached a large center. +One of the main streets of the capital city is wide, with sidewalks, +and good business buildings rise at frequent sections along the +thoroughfare. Goods were displayed in the windows, and clerks were on +their feet; whereas in other cities Japanese merchants, like the +Indians, were seen sitting down on an elevation or low counter, with +feet partly under and the sandals or clogs on the floor. Away from the +business street, however, are the one-story frame dwellings, with +latticed-like doors, having white paper in the window squares to admit +light. Outside the home are several pairs of clogs, as, again like the +East Indian, Japanese enter in stockinged feet. The same sliding doors +were here, too, and the streets were as narrow and as free of pavement +as those of Kyoto and other cities. The charcoal buckets were +surrounded by members of the family, each one seeming to take turn in +fanning the embers to a stronger heat. + +A visitor would find difficulty in getting about Tokyo, as the street +signs, where they appear, are printed in Japanese, and the same +applies to those on street cars. Large, modern street cars were in +use, and the travel was so heavy that two conductors, as in Osaka, +were kept busy collecting fares. The fare was the same as that in +other cities--4½ cents with a return coupon, or 2¼ cents a single +ride. Traffic keeps up from morning until late at night. A stranger +would do well to have written down in the Japanese language on a piece +of paper where he wishes to leave the car, as no English is spoken by +conductors, and the pronunciation of the names of places is not at all +as the spelling of the word would suggest in English. As many people +held on to the straps as were seated. + +Japanese believe in the merit of water, as was evidenced in the +sprinkling of streets, these being partly muddy all the time, which +suggests that high-bridge clogs are generally worn. Very few of the +streets were paved with asphalt or blocks, the paving peculiar to +Japan--loose gravel--being in evidence on most of them. Many canals +and a few rivers run through the city, and bridges are frequently met +with; some of these are of iron. + +One misses restaurants, bakeries, and similar stores when traveling +through the Far East. Not enough foreigners live in these parts of the +world to create a demand for such eating places. Rice is the principal +food, and one never sees a loaf of bread or a cake displayed in store +windows. Eating is confined to the home or hotel. + +Tokyo covers an area of 100 square miles, and good parks are included +within its boundaries. The grounds about the Mikado's palace and the +government buildings, the latter of European design, are in keeping +with a national capital. A high wall surrounds the grounds in which +the palace is situated, and a moat, containing clear water, separates +the wall from streets on each side. The effect that should accompany +an imperial residence is marred, however, as the entrance to the +passageway leading to the grounds was enclosed with an unshapely frame +structure, guarded by soldiers. The streets through that section of +the city were paved with loose gravel. Green stretches of grass and +park spaces, together with splendid vistas, characterize the scene +about the location of the imperial palace. Visitors are not allowed to +enter. + +The police and military systems of Japan are so perfect that a +foreigner's whereabouts while in the country will be accounted for by +the authorities to the minute. The officers have shelters to stand in +throughout the city, in which a telephone is placed. None seemed +officious, but they can put their hands on a visitor any time they +have occasion to do so. + +At one end of the city is located what is familiarly known as Asakusa +Temple, the church of the poor, the grounds and buildings of which are +nearly always crowded with people. On and near the grounds are seen +fortune tellers, fakirs, toy vendors, flaring advertisements, +observation towers, side shows, idols and altars, and the clatter of +clogs is loudly heard. In front of this temple are shrines, one of +them erected to Binguru, the helper of the sick. Binguru is made of +stone, and wears a pink bib. The people believe that by rubbing an +affected part of the body on the stone image they will be cured. As a +result, Binguru is growing less in weight from year to year by reason +of so many hands coming in contact with the stone god. Priests sell +pictures of the goddess Kwannon, which, the people believe, will bring +them good fortune--a baby boy to a home, for instance--and, in a +general sense, keep away evil days. Then the church treasury is +replenished by priests telling fortunes. The contribution box is +different to those seen in any other temple, being 6 feet long and 18 +inches deep, with strips of wood nailed across the top, one side +higher than the other. Between the strips over the top were openings +of two inches. A railing separates the money trough from worshipers. +Though the people are not burdened with money, the coins rattling in +that cattle-guard-like money-box sounded like rain dropping on a tin +roof. + +The amusement center of Tokyo is located a few squares from Asakusa +Temple. Hundreds of theaters stand within a short radius, and the life +of the Chinese and Japanese peoples reaches its zenith in these +districts. The streets are literally emblazoned from both sides with +vari-colored canvas, containing, in Japanese, an account of what is +going on inside the buildings. Pictures of the show are painted on +sheets of cloth in red, yellow, orange, black, blue--in fact, all +colors--and large lights hang thickly above these--truly a striking +combination of light and hues. The charge for these performances is +from 2½ to 10 cents. + +At one theater, where admission was five cents, foreigners' shoes had +to be covered with cloth. It seemed as if religious custom was being +carried too far to be halted by an attendant with a pair of canvas +slippers to conceal leather from the floor of a five-cent show house. +After leaving and walking a square's distance from the building, a man +stepped in front and offered 10 sen, the sum paid for admission, but, +having forfeited all claim to it, I continued on my way. But that +would not do, the usher refusing to leave until I had accepted the 10 +sen. Thereupon I returned to the theater, bought another ticket, and +submitted to slippers custom. + +A trench was being dug on one of the main streets away from the +business center, and a pile driver was used to drive heavy scantlings +for shoring. The iron weight was raised by ropes, pulled by women. +Pulleys were fastened to the top of the derrick, and ropes ran over +these. A dozen women were engaged at the work, each one with a rope in +her hand, and if the ropes had been colored the scene would have +resembled that of a Maypole gathering. They all pulled together when +the weight was to be raised, and some of the pullers, stepping back as +the weight came nearer the top, danced, hummed a keep-step song, and +joined in laughter at the same time. When the weight reached the top +of the derrick, all let go the ropes, and gave a shout as it hit the +top of the shoring post. + +Celebrating the advent of cherry blossoms is a religious custom of +Japan. One would naturally think cherries were a common luxury in that +country, but it happens that the trees only flower, and do not bear +fruit. In a general sense, flowers and trees figure largely in the +life of the Japanese nation, which suggests the deep-rooted growth +Shintoism has taken. In January, when it is cold, even plum and other +trees blossom, which proves a source of joy to the people. The pine +tree typifies long life, and the bamboo uprightness. The lotus is +another sacred plant of the Land of the Rising Sun, and the lesson +taught from that flower is that purity comes out of impurity. The +lotus will grow in dirty pools, but the open flower will be as pure as +if grown in a clear mountain stream. But the greatest nature festivals +take place during the cherry blossom season, and later, when the +chrysanthemum is in bloom. The wistaria is another sacred flower. +Girls and women dress themselves in their best kimonos and fasten on +their back their richest obi, all taking keen delight in parading +under the bowers of flowering trees and vines. + +In Japan a stranger will always find some one to speak to him, to bow, +to give him a smile, as in India. A card may be handed the visitor, +with an invitation to call at a certain address--a store, for +instance. The Japanese have acquired the highest science in lacquer +and in damascene work. Lacquer work is done by a varnish made of +dissolved shellac and other chemicals, and woodwork of various designs +are finished in a highly polished manner. Gold, silver, ivory, bronze, +and mother-of-pearl are often inlaid on the designs offered for sale. +The damascene work is ornamented metal, done by inlaying or +incorporating patterns, usually of another metal, and smoothing and +polishing the whole surface; or in engraving designs, with deep-cut +lines, inlaying gold wires, and rubbing these down level. Another form +of damascening is the making of small holes in a base metal, filling +these with gold, and then burnishing the article. There are also other +forms, and the Japanese and Chinese seem to have mastered that art to +a higher degree than other races. Runners for these merchants seldom +fail in meeting visitors. + +"Look," said a Japanese acquaintance, pointing to a small girl of the +same race. As Japanese bear a resemblance from one end of the islands +to the other, no difference could be seen in that particular girl from +others passing by. He then explained. The girl wore a long apron, the +sort American girls wear at school and about the home. Children +wearing aprons was an innovation in clothes, and American women +teachers in that country introduced the "style." + +Men with pads across their chests work like truck horses in Tokyo. +Women also were seen engaged at the same hard work. Aside from street +cars, rickshas were the conveyances mostly used to get about the city. +A great many of the pullers wear neither clogs nor sandals, their feet +being covered with a cloth slipper. Still, they seemed to be in better +circumstances than those seen in Shanghai. Fare, however, is higher +than in other countries passed through. Few automobiles were seen in +Japan. + +Tokyo is supplied with good temples, and the skill of the Japanese in +the lacquer art is shown in these buildings. The supports in some of +the churches have been treated to dozens of coats of lacquer, and the +ceilings richly inlaid with gold leaf, often worked in flower designs. +The carving on the enclosures and doors is good, but the more noted is +the handicraft of Chinese. Mats are used on the floors of the temples, +and valuable Japanese tapestry is shown to visitors. Some of the +church enclosures contain hundreds of stone lanterns. As in other +Japanese cities, there were no beggars. + +In one of several creditable city parks is a good museum, the building +being very imposing. The same ground, containing temples, has an +interesting zoo. In this park the principal cherry blossom +celebrations take place. Industrial museums are also found in other +sections of the city. A visit to the capital of the Mikado proves +interesting. + +The geisha is composed of women whose occupation is dancing and +entertaining. Through the artfulness of this class, the hand of the +geisha often reaches to the legislative halls of Parliament. + +Hari-kiri--one form of suicide in Japan--is putting one's self to +death at the suggestion of the government, to save disgrace, brought +about by his own acts, and the scorn of his countrymen. Disemboweling +is generally the method of hari-kiri. Self-destruction in this manner +mitigates, to a large extent, the disgrace that his family would +otherwise bear. + +Diamios are the landed class of Japan, and during the feudal system of +government they wielded much power with the Mikado and the Shogun. +Most of the stone lanterns seen about the temple grounds are gifts +from diamios. Samurai is the term used for the army. + +Women with blackened teeth are met with frequently in Japan. As an +even row of white molars often proves the means of gaining the +affections of a man, the green-eyed monster, jealousy, in the +Japanese husband prevents attention being paid to his wife by another +man by his making the teeth black. Yet it is better for a woman to +have her teeth blackened than to have her eyes dug out, as is the +custom in India. A husband goes and comes when he so desires, as his +liberty is not questioned by his wife. Everything is in favor of the +man in Japan; the woman must breast an opposing current of inferiority +almost from the time of birth until death. + +A saucy child is seldom met with in Japan, and it is a rare thing to +see a parent chastising one. Obedience of children--and women also--is +a national characteristic. Both Japanese and Chinese children are the +picture of health. The Japanese woman is the model wife and mother. + +After being invited to a home, and not seeing the hostess about, would +naturally seem very strange in most countries, but this is a custom in +Japan, lived up to in a great many instances. Only in the homes of +Japanese families where European customs have supplanted native +tradition does the hostess and daughters take part in entertaining +guests. Geisha girls are engaged to entertain visitors, the host and +hostess taking a very small part in the entertaining. Guests, whether +wearing shoes, clogs, or sandals, leave these outside, as it is a +universal custom to enter a home or temple in bare or cloth-covered +feet. + +In some Latin-American countries the customary salute, even by men, is +a hug, but in Japan it is a deliberate bow, then another, still +another, and the bowing does not cease until from eight to ten of +these salutes have been gone through. Judging by the requirements in +acknowledging pleasure at meeting a friend, time would not seem to be +at a premium in the land of the Mikado. + +The Japanese--whether high or low, rich or poor--are very polite. +Should any criticism be in order on this admirable trait, it would be +that the Japanese have a surfeit of politeness, perhaps enough for +themselves and their clever neighbors, the Chinese. But it is better +to have too much than not enough of so good a thing. Meeting some +countrymen away from home, and at home also, the fact bluntly occurs +that many Americans are behind people of other nations in this +attainment. As the fronds of a wrecked cocoanut palm inspires hope in +a greater degree than any other factor we know of, so in like measure +politeness will smooth harsh feelings and contribute more largely to +real happiness in life than any other of our social requirements. + +The island of Nippon is the largest of which the kingdom is formed. +The area of Japan is 150,000 square miles, and the population about +50,000,000. The Mikado (Son of Heaven) exercises monarchical powers, +although the two legislative bodies suggest the laws. Tokyo, with a +population of 3,000,000, has been the capital of the Empire since the +resignation of the late Shogun, in 1868. While Japan has made great +strides in maritime, naval and military affairs, and her schools, +still the home of the Japanese is not as good as the hut of the +Samoan. + +Ninety miles above Tokyo is located Nikko, held in the same degree of +reverence by Japanese as the Hindus do Benares and Mohammedans Mecca. +Temples, mausoleums, mountains, lakes, streams, and trees tend to make +this an attractive place. On leaving Tokyo for Nikko I had settled in +a government official's seat unknowingly. A trainman stood at the +side, his manners suggesting something had gone wrong. I asked him if +a mistake had been made, and just then the official stepped between +the seats and answered, in good English, "No mistake whatever." He +proved good company during the journey, and when I had quit the first +train to make connections for Nikko he accompanied me to the other one +and saw that I received the best accommodation the train afforded. Not +until I had reached my destination had it occurred to me that I had +occupied his seat. + +The lacquer merchants, damascene workers, and brass dealers were all +on hand, each extending invitations to give them a call before leaving +the city. + +Aside from the natural attractiveness of Nikko, the first object of +interest that meets the eye is a bridge, 40 feet long, spanning a +river. This is arched in design, painted a bright red color, but is +not generally used for crossing the stream. It is known as the Sacred +Bridge, and was originally built in 638 B. C. Only Shoguns were +privileged to use it, with the exception of twice a year, when +pilgrims to the shrines were allowed to pass over. The original bridge +was destroyed by a flood in 1902, but the same reverence is maintained +for the new one. Only the imperial family is now allowed to tread the +sacred boards. + +The gods of Japan range from dove-like images to demons of the most +savage type. A great many, much in evidence, have been carved out of +wood and are painted in flaring colors. The god of thunder is a +fierce-looking image, and monkeys and other images are brought plainly +to view with lavishness of bright-colored varnish. The tomb of +Iyeyasu, the great Shogun of Japan, is located in Nikko. It rests on a +stone base, with a bronze base above, is cylindrical in form, and +capped with a bronze cover representing the design of a roof over some +of the shrines. Another tomb, nearly as famous, is that of the great +Shogun's grandson, Iemitsu. It is over 300 years since these notables +were laid to rest in that attractive section. + +From some of the temples radiate a dazzling light when the sun is +shining, by reason of the rich gold-lacquering and the wood carving +being painted in flaring colors. Standing at the base of a pine +tree-covered hill, these temples are not imposing, yet, by reason of +no expense being spared in their embellishment, they are conspicuous, +and even famous. The greater wealth, contained in the holy of holies +section of the buildings, a stranger does not see. The colors are so +glaring and some of the gods so fierce looking, that, while +appreciating the great expense in creating the structures and images, +one would be safe in regarding the scene as depicting a savage art. + +While costly temples prove a magnet to both native and foreigner, +nature has been very liberal in dealing with Nikko. The stately +cryptomeria, or cedar, trees growing at the approach of and in the +temple grounds are admirable. An attractive avenue of these trees +embowers a highway passing through Nikko for 20 miles, some of which +rise to heights of over a hundred feet, and are from two to nine feet +in diameter. Three hundred years ago these trees were laid out and +planted so close that, save for openings above the lower trunk, where +the trees begin to narrow, the space on each side of the roadway is +solidly walled by cedar bases. We have seen nothing to compare, in +uniformity and distance, with the two rows of cryptomeria at and below +Nikko. Pine and other trees grow all about, and rivers, cascades, and +inviting glens all go to make the surroundings very attractive. + +Soap must be furnished by guests in some hotels, and matches as well. +While in India travelers generally furnish their own bedding and shoe +polish, in our Nikko hotel all these accessories were furnished, +together with a bath kimono and mat sandals. + +"Ahayo" is the word one will be greeted with when passing a group of +rosy-cheeked, slant-eyed, clothes-quilted, clog-shod Japanese +children. If the salute be returned a bow will be made by the happy +cherubs, when they will clatter on their noisy way. "Ahayo" is "good +day" in the English language. + +All accounts must be settled before New Year's Day, when a national +settlement takes place, or the debtor will be dishonored. If a +creditor feels disposed to extend debts, the debtor is saved from +disgrace. The most precious thing in a home must be sold to meet +obligations at the close of the year. This custom necessitates a great +fair being held just before New Year's Day, which occupies miles of +space in the larger cities. Both high and low visit these annual +fairs, and purchases are liberal, as every one knows the reason for +which the articles are put on sale. These fair districts are +illuminated with electric lights and native lanterns, and many +indigent Japanese become shopkeepers for the time being. + +In some districts of Japan a funeral, when the deceased is an aged or +respected person, assumes the form of a festival. Friends bring money, +cakes, saké (native drink), plums, sugar, edibles of all kinds, and +flowers. All bow before the home altar and assume a praying attitude +with the hands. Then the offerings are placed before the shrine. When +all the sympathizers have gathered, bowed, and deposited their +offerings, a feast is prepared, which often continues for two days. +The Japanese have no fear of the hereafter, and this custom is +maintained to honor the respectable dead. + +Nikko homes are similar to those seen in other sections of +Japan--small, one-story frame buildings, with paper-square doors. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +Returning to Tokyo, from that city we left for Yokohama, where the +fourth ship we had traveled on since leaving Manila was making ready +to start for Honolulu, 3,400 miles separating the Japanese seaport +from the Hawaiian capital. + +Sailing from Japan on a Japanese ship, second-class was the best +accommodation we could afford, which did not mean anything in the +nature of luxurious living. The butter--well, it was not the kind one +gets on a farm, and seemed to be made of at least three +constituents--olive oil, peanut flour, and colored lard. Twenty +foreigners were on the ship, the other passengers being Chinese, +Japanese, and Filipinos. A request was made of the captain, who was a +Britisher, to oil up the table, as it were, when luxuries like catsup +and pickles improved things somewhat; but the Oriental butter remained +true to its original taste and color. + +For the first two days out the ship sailed through the tail of a +typhoon, after which summery weather prevailed. A number of Chinese +sailors, with collapsible tables, appeared on the deck below, where, +in a half-circular space, on each side of a dividing line, were +printed the words, "High--Low." On the tables were small teacups, a +pair of dice alongside, and small piles of money--silver, gold, bills, +and nickel coins of several countries. A half-dozen of these gaming +tables did business part of the day, and some all day. This form of +gambling is common on most ships sailing in that part of the world. + +Nine days out from Yokohama a green island hove in sight--one of the +Hawaiian group. The next morning the ship lay to in a blue-water bay; +shortly afterwards she was being towed through a channel and was soon +alongside a wharf at Honolulu. + +One would be led to think from the questioning, ticket examination, +passport identification, and other immigration regulations, that the +streets of Honolulu were glistening with diamonds or other precious +material. Immigration officials take passengers' steamship tickets on +their leaving a vessel, and travelers regain them only when about to +enter the gangplank on leaving the islands. Thirty days is the longest +period allowed for a stop-over. Orientals, however, leave a ship by +hundreds. + +The most striking feature of the Hawaiian Islands is its +climate--perpetual summer. Most of the white people seen were +Americans, but whites are much in the minority. The street-car system +is good, the cars modern, and some large and roomy. No color line is +drawn, and Asiatics are seen at every turn. While Chinese and Japanese +merchants control the business in less prominent streets, American +business houses dominate the business center. Some of the stores are +good, although prices are higher than on the mainland, as the United +States is termed. + +Ice and bananas were the cheapest things quoted, the former selling at +half a cent a pound and bananas at 5 cents a dozen. Milk, on the other +hand, costs from 10 to 12 cents a quart, and butter was quoted at 40 +cents a pound. Beef, mutton, pork and veal sold at 22 to 26 cents a +pound. Turkey and chicken, live weight, sold at 35 to 40 cents a +pound. Fresh eggs brought from 50 to 75 cents a dozen. Potatoes are +sold by the pound, and cost 4 cents. At 60 pounds to the bushel, +potatoes cost $2.40. A 50-pound sack of good flour sells at $1.65 to +$1.75. Coal sells at $12 a ton, but little is used, as summer prevails +the year round. A cord of wood costs $14. Gas is $1.50 a thousand +feet, and electric light 17 cents a thousand watts. A furnished room +can be rented for $2 a week, however, and popular priced restaurant +food can be had for a dollar a day. Street-car fare is 5 cents. House +rent ranges in price from $20 a month upward. A house renting for $30 +a month includes ground containing cocoanut palms and other attractive +tropical growths. Wages paid are about the same as those on the +mainland. Street laborers, mainly Portuguese and Russians, are very +well paid, receiving from $1.60 to $2 a day. + +The percentage of motor-cars to population is very high. There are +about 1,200 in Honolulu, and, as the population is 50,000, it works +out an average of one motor-car to every 400 inhabitants. + +"Don't Spit" signs, printed in big type, are posted in rooms and at +public places, suggesting that lung trouble is prevalent. Honolulu is +similar to Los Angeles, Cal., in this respect, as many wealthy people +with that malady make their home in this pleasant climate, which may +account in a measure for the many motor-cars seen. + +With the exception of some business buildings, the later-built of +these being attractive structures, Honolulu is built of wood. The +lumber comes from the Pacific Coast, and, as the price for 1,000 feet +ranges from $37 upward, it is needless to add that it costs a good sum +to erect substantial buildings in the Hawaiian Islands. A great many +of the homes, however, like others in warm climates, offer a very +inviting appearance, as verandas are built all around, and, if two or +more stories in height, each floor has a porch attached. Flowering +vines grow over these, and in the home space is often found the +poinciana regia, a crimson-flowering tree, as gorgeous in color as the +flambeau growing in Durban, South Africa. Cocoanut palms and bamboo +also grow within the grounds, while the streets may be studded with +the trunks and arched with the long fronds of a different specie of +attractive palm tree. Together with flowers, pineapples, banyan and +mango trees, one has a setting nearly as good as that offered in the +metropolis of Natal, between which and Honolulu there is a marked +similarity. + +The temperature varies only about 30 degrees the year round. During +the summer the thermometer seldom rises higher than 90 degrees in the +shade, and rarely drops below 50 degrees during the winter. Wherever +the cocoanut palms are seen growing, one knows there will be no cold +weather. While the sun is hot during the day, one can sleep under bed +clothing at night. Nairobi, British-East Africa, and Entebbe, Uganda, +were other places visited where the nights were cool, though a hot sun +shone during the day. + +As in New Zealand, there are said to be no snakes nor poisonous +plants. Bees and yellow jackets, however, buzz about all day. +Mosquitos were unknown in the group before 1826, when a Mexican +whaling ship, it is said, started a "colony." + +Sugar-cane growing is the most prosperous industry here, +notwithstanding that it requires more care, cultivation and expense +than in other countries. Irrigation and fertilization are necessary to +insure crops in some parts of the group. All the soil is of volcanic +origin. + +The wages paid sugar plantation workers are from $18 to $26 a month, +with free house rent, cooking fuel, and medical attendance. In +addition to wages, a bonus is given to workers who remain to the end +of the season. The homes are built of lumber, rest on posts from two +to four feet above ground, and are whitewashed. We believe many white +persons in the United States would quickly accept an offer of work at +the wages paid, comforts included. + +Pineapple growing, which holds second place to the sugar industry, is +a new venture; and those familiar with the nature of the soil, and the +droughts, blights and pests that have to be combatted have not full +faith in the permanency of the pineapple industry here. Corn would do +well if a bug did not eat the heart out of the stalk when young; +cotton also, but for a pest; fruit would be abundant if trees were not +attacked by the Mediterranean or some other fly, and cattle thrive as +long as feed and water are available; but, owing to frequent droughts, +animals die on some of the islands nearly every year; Irish potatoes +would yield a good crop if a bug did not eat the vines--in short, +pests are so numerous that the government has sent scientists to many +parts of the world to seek parasitic insects that will destroy those +which now devastate the crops. On some islands where wells had been +bored for watering the cattle, it turned out so salty that the animals +would not drink it. + +The streets were full of "Thank you, ma'am." In some instances one +side of a street contained a walk and the other side the Oriental form +of sidewalk, native soil. One might walk about Honolulu for a day +without seeing more than three or four policemen. In such a mixed +population, with bumpty-bump streets the rule, and hop-step-and-jump +sidewalks numerous, it is safe to presume the city management might be +improved on. But a splendid municipal feature is the patrol wagon. +This "Black Maria" is an artistically painted, swift-geared, +smooth-running, attractively screened automobile. The smart appearance +of the "Maria" is enough to tempt poor people to commit an offense +against the law in order to get a ride in the handsome machine. + +No beggars were seen, which indicates there is little distress, +neither are there government almshouses. Refuges for old people to end +their days have been provided, however, maintained by public-spirited +citizens. In very few parts of the world will one find as comfortable +homes as those occupied by the laboring class of Honolulu. + +Save for music from the picking of strings of a guitar or banjo and +sounds of song coming from groups of Kanakas as they pass along the +streets in the evening, there is little native life left. With few +exceptions they wear European clothes, including shoes. Like all +natives living on the islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Kanaka is not +much given to work. When an ambitious feeling does come over him he +then wants to work, but when these moods are absent he cannot be +depended on. Like the negro, there is little push in him, and it is +said that there is not one successful business Kanaka in the group. +Japanese and Chinese have taken advantage of openings that Kanakas +should have accepted. When there is an easy job in sight, however, +Kanakas want to secure it, a majority of territorial positions being +filled by natives. There is little initiative in them, and one is safe +in asserting that it requires two to do one man's work. Withal, the +Kanaka, like other tribes of the Polynesian race, is a very agreeable, +peaceable, good-hearted, care-free person. + + [Illustration: PANORAMA OF HONOLULU, HAWAII.] + +A few of the native customs are still maintained, notably wearing +garlands, and, by way of show, a grass skirt may be seen worn by +women. A garland of white flowers encircles the head, and one of +red, lavender, yellow, or other color is worn about the neck. In +front, under the neck garland, a clump of orange leaves or some other +growth is worn. Their hair is straight, features regular, complexion +swarthy, and they are of good build. The mausoleums of the Kanaka +kings rest in a cemetery a short distance from Honolulu. + +High, pretty hills rise behind the metropolis to the shore on the +other side, and the view of the city obtained from some of these, +stretching out at the base and beyond to the turquoise blue sea, with +light green fields of sugar-cane to the right extending to Pearl +Harbor, and Diamond Head to the left; beautiful verdure and attractive +homes in between, together with the seductiveness of the balmy air and +tropical growth, holds one in Hawaii when better success might be +achieved in a more rugged clime. + +Among the attractions of Honolulu is its aquarium. Some of the +beautifully colored fish swimming about the glass tanks look more like +pretty birds than fish. There is also a good museum; a beach, where +natives, standing on boards, disport themselves while the breakers are +rolling in; parks scattered about the city, in one of which a native +band plays every evening; forts, which may be visited, located close +to the city, and a trip around Oahu Island is a very pleasant one. + +I was offered work at good wages, but as the time at my disposal could +be better utilized in familiarizing myself with the country, and +having no desire to remain, energy was reserved until the mainland was +reached. Two English dailies, four Japanese, one Chinese, and a +semi-weekly Portuguese newspaper are published in Honolulu. + +The Hawaiian Islands were discovered by Captain James Cook, the noted +navigator, in 1778, who had planted the English flag in Botany Bay, +near Sydney, Australia, seven years earlier, and who claimed Tasmania +and New Zealand for England; he also discovered the Tongan group. The +Kanaka, true to Polynesian custom, welcomed the captain and his crew +on their first visit. A year later, however, upon the return of the +skipper, he got in trouble with the natives, who killed him. A +monument is erected to the memory of the great navigator on the Island +of Hawaii. + +David Kalakaua was the last of the native kings; he died in San +Francisco, Cal., in 1891, his sister, Liliuokalani, being proclaimed +Queen. Two years later, in 1893, the Queen was deposed, when the +islands virtually became an American possession. In 1898 it became a +territory of the United States, with Sanford B. Dole as its first +governor. What was once the royal palace of the rulers of Hawaii is +now the capital building. Liliuokalani lived for years in Honolulu in +a white-painted house, built in beautiful grounds. + +Eight islands compose the group, namely, Kauai, Niihau, Oahu, Molokai, +Maui, Lanai, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii, the latter, from which the +territory takes its name, having an area of 4,015 square miles; the +other seven combined have not the area of Hawaii, the eight totalling +6,449 square miles. Captain James Cook first gave the name Sandwich +Islands--now obsolete--to the group. + +Leaving Honolulu for Kilauea crater, soon we rounded Diamond Head, and +some time later Molokai, on which the territorial leprosy colony is +located, appeared on our left. A portion of this island is utilized +for stock grazing purposes, but the grass was white from drought, and +cattle were dying for want of water. Maui was next reached, where what +should have proved a nice land view also was blighted by the drought. +Later we sailed alongside Hawaii, its vegetation offering a more +inviting scene than those left behind. A number of stops were made +during the journey, passengers leaving and others boarding the vessel. +Most of the white travelers were Americans. After several landings in +Hawaii, Hilo was reached, where all passengers left the ship. Hilo, +next in size to Honolulu, has a population of 7,000, mostly of color. +A large tonnage of sugar is shipped from this port, where the harbor, +the best in the group, has been improved by a good breakwater. + +From Hilo a start was made for Kilauea crater, which may be reached by +train or motor-car. The train was taken, and it proved even slower +than the ones traveled on during the short trips from Manila. Some +excuse might be offered for the Hilo train, as the route is up-grade, +while the railways in Luzon are as flat as a table. Finally the train +"stuck" at a steep grade, and the conductor, who was a Kanaka, did not +know what to do to get it started. He was "waiting for orders from +Hilo," he said. The train was later detached, however, and, when the +parts had been taken over the humpback and linked together again, it +crawled slowly through large sugar plantations, past tree ferns, and +other attractive landscape scenes, until we reached Glenwood, the end +of the railway line, where a mail motor car was ready to take +passengers to the hotel, nine miles beyond. An elevation of 4,000 feet +had been traveled from Hilo to the object of our mission. Many +passengers had wended their way to this place, and it seemed odd, +after having been in black countries for three years, to find every +one at the hotel locking the door to his room at midday. In some +countries passed through the room doors were not closed even at night. + +Looking down upon and over a depression in the earth, bastioned by +deep walls of rocks on each side, 7¾ miles in circumference and +containing an area of 4¼ square miles, there spreads out for three +miles a fissured, hillocked, corrugated, gnarled, steam-emitting +surface of slate-colored and black lava. This is the first view one +obtains of Kilauea crater. The scene is very unusual, and interest is +sharpened to a keen edge. Later a journey is taken over that strange +lava wake, when the leaven from the fire-boiling underworld suggested +the tremendous force contained below the sphere on which man treads. +We had looked at the teeming volumes of water being ejected from +geysers in Yellowstone Park; but water washes away and will eventually +become purified as the stream it joins leaves the geyser zone. But +here the lake-like, deep, black earth deposit remains, although, like +the water from the geysers, for a time it had been a moving stream +also. An acre of land area with similar deposit would attract +scientists from great distances, but here there are over four square +miles of that subterranean deposit. One obtains a side view, as it +were, of a portion of the world turned inside out by nature's force +at Kilauea crater. There was no soil, no rock, no trees--the substance +under, before, all about us was weirdly foreign to what is natural to +the upper crust of the earth and to the sky above. Further on the +fissures became wider, the hillocks higher, and the substance warm. +Still yet ahead steam--or white smoke--is issuing from the cracks in +the alien deposit, and when these are reached canny, hissing, and +gurgling sounds from underneath are heard. From every side appears +varied formations, molded while the lava was changing from liquid to +solid matter. Some of these resemble mummies, great coils of rope, +petrified trees, columns of iron, and other shapes. Beyond appears a +large volume of smoke, reminding one of a great geyser basin on a +calm, early morning. Approaching, the air becomes sulphur-laden, a +hand is put to the nostrils, and natural breathing for the time is +withheld, to prevent one from choking from the netherworld fumes. The +wind now whirls the noxious odors away, and a still further advance +finds one on the rim of a deep, yawning maw. Unearthly fumes again +envelop the onlooker, but a friendly breeze again wafts the poisonous +vapor to other parts, when the awful vent in Kilauea's deep, leaden +crust reappears. Boom! comes from below, and smoke envelops the gaping +chasm. A draught of wind sweeps the smoke from the pit of the fiery +abyss, and----A black and red stream of fire is seen swirling across +the strange floor below! It is Halemaumau, the greatest active volcano +in the world, termed "the safety valve of the Pacific." The volcano is +about a thousand feet in circumference, and the fire swirls several +hundred feet below the lava-crusted rim. How many persons have had the +rare privilege of looking into an active volcano? There it +was--Halemaumau, in Kilauea crater. + +Locating to the windward of the volcano, the demon-like river of fire +was, for the time being, holding revelry in quiet volcano fashion--but +volcanic fashion. Boom! came from below, as if from ordnance in action +nearby, and fiery rocks were hurled against the lava-scaled sides. Ah! +A clear stream of liquid fire now runs across the base as a river. +Then sulphurous smoke envelops all. There (after the smoke has +lifted) now runs what seems like a river of thick, black dirt; but +small explosions are taking place. A red seam next shows through the +volcanic dross. A clear red river of fire----Boom! The sides of the +crater, like icicles--flushed by the rays of a scarlet sun--on a +rock-faced coast, formed from a surging sea, are gorgeous with +dripping lava. Were a black panel implanted across a morning +aurora--that is how Halemaumau's strange river looks now. The current +runs but one way and comes from the same side of the fomenting maw. +Where does the lava stream come from? Into what outlet does it empty? +Boom! Boom! The burning depths seem to rise on a platform of fire. +Listen to the splash as the red, upheaved rocks fall back into the +furious maelstrom! What a pretty, clear stream of carmine liquid! It +has passed away, and the black, dross-like course has again taken the +red flow's place. + +There was no afterglow in the west, and the shades of evening were +soon enveloped in the scroll of night. See Halemaumau now! How grand +in the darkness! All about is flaming red. There is the same unspecked +fiery river, flowing in the same direction as before. Half black now, +and half red, but coming from the same invisible source and becoming +lost in the invisible outlet. A clear, red stream again, but appearing +further away. The liquid fire seems to have been sucked far below! An +abnormal expansion of the axis on which the world revolves takes +place. Boom! Boom! Boom! The tremendous force from contraction ejects +flaming substance from the nether-world high up against the sides, and +from Halemaumau's flare the sky above is aglow--an esplanade of fire +spanning the space between the infernal abyss and the vault of heaven! + + * * * * * + +The last stop has been reached on the long journey. From Honolulu, +after visiting Kilauea crater, I continued to San Francisco on an +American ship, the fifth vessel traveled on since leaving Manila. +After a stay of several weeks in San Francisco, in order to earn a +portion of the money necessary to secure railway passage to New York, +and borrowing $50, a start was made for the Atlantic seaboard, +stopping off a week at Washington, D. C. New York was reached May 1, +1913, having left Gotham nearly three years and three months earlier. + +In order to point out how cheaply one may travel, if economy be +practiced, this statement is offered: From the time of leaving New +York, February 9, 1910, until my return to New York, May 1, 1913, I +had been away 1,176 days. I had for the journey $1,350. My earnings in +South Africa amounted to $2,400, in San Francisco $60, in Washington, +D. C., $15, which, with the $50 borrowed, makes a total of $3,875 for +the entire time consumed by the tour. By dividing $3,875 by the number +of days--1,176--an average expense for everything of about $3.30 a day +is the result. The distance traveled was 73,689 miles, and the +itinerary and accompanying map indicate the course from place to +place. No wrecks or accidents were encountered--no such experience +having taken place in all my journeyings. I have often thought I +traveled under a lucky star. + + [Illustration] + + + + +ITINERARY + +Places at which stops were made and visited, and miles separating +each: + + 1910. Miles. + + New York to Liverpool 3,100 + Liverpool to London 200 + London to Southampton 81 + Southampton to Lisbon 936 + Lisbon to Madeira 542 + Madeira to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3,775 + Rio de Janeiro to Montevideo, Uruguay 1,094 + Montevideo to Buenos Aires, Argentine 124 + Buenos Aires to Durban, South Africa 4,500 + Durban to Johannesburg 482 + Johannesburg to Victoria Falls, Rhodesia, and return 2,416 + Warrenton to Kimberley and return 90 + Johannesburg to Pretoria and return 90 + Johannesburg to Bloemfontein 263 + Bloemfontein to Capetown 749 + Capetown to Durban (by rail) 1,253 + + + 1911. + + Durban to Fremantle, Australia 4,300 + Fremantle to Melbourne 1,700 + Melbourne to Launceston, Tasmania 280 + Launceston to Hobart 133 + Hobart to Dunedin, N. Z. 1,080 + Dunedin to Christchurch 230 + Christchurch to Wellington 175 + Wellington to Rotorua 393 + Rotorua to Auckland 171 + Auckland to Sydney, Australia 1,280 + Sydney to Jenolan Caves and return 224 + Sydney to Lautoka, Fiji 1,694 + Lautoka to Suva 118 + Suva to Levuka 60 + Levuka to Apia, Samoa 616 + Apia to Vavau, Tonga (Friendly Islands) 350 + Vavau to Haapai 80 + Haapai to Nukualofa 120 + Nukualofa to Auckland, N. Z. 1,093 + Auckland to Sydney 1,280 + Sydney to Melbourne 582 + Melbourne to Adelaide 483 + Adelaide to Ballarat 408 + Ballarat to Melbourne 75 + Melbourne to Hobart 464 + Hobart to Albany, West Australia 1,487 + Albany to Durban, South Africa 4,565 + Durban to Johannesburg and Pretoria 527 + Pretoria and Johannesburg to Durban 527 + Durban to Ginginhlovu, Zululand 93 + Ginginhlovu to Eshowe (stage) 17 + Eshowe to Melmoth (stage) 35 + Melmoth to Ginginhlovu (stage) 52 + Ginginhlovu to Durban 93 + + + 1912. + + Durban to East London 262 + East London to Cradock 228 + Cradock to Bloemfontein 269 + Bloemfontein to Kimberley 101 + Kimberley to Johannesburg 309 + Johannesburg to Pretoria and return 90 + Johannesburg to Pietermaritzburg 409 + Pietermaritzburg to Durban 73 + Durban to Lourenzo Marques, Portuguese-East Africa 320 + Lourenzo Marques to Beira 455 + Beira to Tanga, German-East Africa 1,210 + Tanga to Zanzibar 75 + Zanzibar to Dar-es-Salaam, German-East Africa 40 + Dar-es-Salaam to Tanga 115 + Tanga to Mombasa, British-East Africa 82 + Mombasa to Nairobi 327 + Nairobi to Port Florence 260 + Port Florence to Entebbe, Uganda 175 + Entebbe to Kampala 21 + Kampala to Jinja 63 + Jinja to Port Florence 132 + Port Florence to Nairobi 260 + Nairobi to Mombasa 327 + Mombasa to Mahé, Seychelles Islands 1,000 + Mahé to Bombay 2,000 + Bombay to Khandala (Thal Gauts) and return 156 + Bombay to Baroda 248 + Baroda to Ahmedabad 62 + Ahmedabad to Agra 539 + Agra to Delhi 120 + Delhi to Aligarh 79 + Aligarh to Cawnpore 192 + Cawnpore to Lucknow 46 + Lucknow to Benares 187 + Benares to Darjeeling 570 + Darjeeling to Calcutta 379 + Calcutta to Madras 1,032 + Madras to Tuticorin 447 + Tuticorin to Colombo, Ceylon 147 + Colombo to Kandy and return 150 + Colombo to Singapore, Straits Settlements 1,570 + Singapore to Hongkong, China 1,440 + Hongkong to Manila, P. I. 630 + + + 1913. + + Manila to Hongkong 630 + Hongkong to Canton and return 175 + Hongkong to Shanghai 820 + Shanghai to Nagasaki, Japan 444 + Nagasaki to Kobe 385 + Kobe to Osaka 20 + Osaka to Kyoto 26 + Kyoto to Yokohama 350 + Yokohama to Tokyo 25 + Tokyo to Nikko 90 + Nikko to Yokohama 115 + Yokohama to Honolulu, T. H. 3,400 + Honolulu to Hilo 200 + Hilo to Volcano Hotel and return 62 + Hilo to Honolulu 200 + Honolulu to San Francisco 2,100 + San Francisco to New York 3,570 + ------ + Total 73,689 + +THE END + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Seven Legs Across the Seas, by Samuel Murray + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 41508 *** |