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| author | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-05-22 06:21:06 -0700 |
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| committer | nfenwick <nfenwick@pglaf.org> | 2025-05-22 06:21:06 -0700 |
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diff --git a/old/orig2895-h/p5.htm b/old/orig2895-h/p5.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 50bc5d0..0000000 --- a/old/orig2895-h/p5.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4026 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> -<html> -<head> -<title>FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR, Part 5</title> -<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> - - - -<style type="text/css"> - <!-- - body {background:#faebd7; margin:10%; text-align:justify} - P { text-indent: 1em; - margin-top: .75em; - margin-bottom: .75em; } - H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } - HR { width: 33%; text-align: center; } - blockquote {font-size: 97% } - .figleft {float: left;} - .figright {float: right;} - .toc { margin-left: 15%; margin-bottom: 0em;} - CENTER { padding: 10px;} - --> -</style> - - - -</head> -<body> - - - -<center> -<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> -<tr><td> - <a href="p4.htm">Previous Part</a> -</td><td> - <a href="2895-h.htm">Main Index</a> -</td><td> - <a href="p6.htm">Next Part</a> - -</td></tr> -</table> -</center> - -<br><br><br><br> - -<center> - - - <h1>FOLLOWING</h1> - <h1>THE EQUATOR</h1> - <br><br><br> - <h3>Part 5.</h3> - <br><br><br> - <h2>A JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD</h2> - <h2>BY</h2> - <h2>MARK TWAIN</h2> - <br><br><br> - <h3>SAMUEL L. CLEMENS</h3> - <h3>HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT</h3> - - -</center> - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="bookcover.jpg (131K)" src="images/bookcover.jpg" height="918" width="650"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<center><img alt="bookspine.jpg (70K)" src="images/bookspine.jpg" height="918" width="265"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<center><img alt="booktitle.jpg (53K)" src="images/booktitle.jpg" height="1051" width="619"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<center><img alt="bookfront.jpg (50K)" src="images/bookfront.jpg" height="978" width="650"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<center><img alt="bookdedicate.jpg (13K)" src="images/bookdedicate.jpg" height="329" width="575"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<center><img alt="bookmaxim.jpg (16K)" src="images/bookmaxim.jpg" height="367" width="627"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - - - -<br><br><br><br> - - <center><h2>CONTENTS OF PART 5</h2></center> - -<br> -<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch39">CHAPTER XXXIX.</a></h3> -<p> -God Vishnu, 108 Names—Change of Titles or Hunting for an Heir—Bombay as -a Kaleidoscope—The Native's Man Servant—Servants' Recommendations—How -Manuel got his Name and his English—Satan—A Visit from God - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch40">CHAPTER XL.</a></h3> -<p> -The Government House at Malabar Point—Mansion of Kumar Shri Samatsin Hji -Bahadur—The Indian Princess—A Difficult Game—Wardrobe -and Jewels—Ceremonials—Decorations when Leaving—The Towers of Silence—A Funeral - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch41">CHAPTER XLI.</a></h3> -<p> -A Jain Temple—Mr. Roychand's Bungalow—A Decorated Six-Gun Prince—Human -Fireworks—European Dress, Past and Present—Complexions—Advantages with -the Zulu—Festivities at the Bungalow—Nautch Dancers—Entrance of the -Prince—Address to the Prince - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch42">CHAPTER XLII.</a></h3> -<p> -A Hindoo Betrothal, midnight, Sleepers on the ground, Home of the Bride -of Twelve Years Dressed as a Boy—Illumination—Nautch Girls—Imitating -Snakes—Later—Illuminated Porch Filled with Sleepers—The Plague - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch43">CHAPTER XLIII.</a></h3> -<p> -Murder Trial in Bombay—Confidence Swindlers—Some Specialities of -India—The Plague, Juggernaut, Suttee, etc.—Everything on Gigantic -Scale—India First in Everything—80 States, more Custom Houses than Cats—Rich -Ground for Thug Society - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch44">CHAPTER XLIV.</a></h3> -<p> -Official Thug Book—Supplies for Traveling, Bedding, and other Freight—Scene at -Railway Station—Making Way for White Man—Waiting Passengers, High and -Low Caste, Touch in the cars—Our Car—Beds made up—Dreaming of -Thugs—Baroda—Meet Friends—Indian Well—The Old Town—Narrow Streets—A Mad -Elephant - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch45">CHAPTER XLV.</a></h3> -<p> -Elephant Riding—Howdahs—The New Palace—The Prince's Excursion—Gold -and Silver Artillery—A Vice-royal Visit—Remarkable Dog—The Bench -Show—Augustin Daly's Back Door—Fakeer - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch46">CHAPTER XLVI.</a></h3> -<p> -The Thugs—Government Efforts to Exterminate them—Choking a Victim—A -Fakeer Spared—Thief Strangled - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch47">CHAPTER XLVII.</a></h3> -<p> -Thugs, Continued—Record of Murders—A Joy of Hunting and Killing -Men—Gordon Cumming—Killing an Elephant—Family Affection among -Thugs—Burial Places - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch48">CHAPTER XLVIII.</a></h3> -<p> -Starting for Allahabad—Lower Berths in Sleepers—Elderly Ladies have -Preference of Berths—An American Lady Takes One Anyhow—How Smythe Lost -his Berth—How He Got Even—The Suttee - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch49">CHAPTER XLIX.</a></h3> -<p> -Pyjamas—Day Scene in India—Clothed in a Turban and a Pocket -Handkerchief—Land Parceled Out—Established Village Servants—Witches in -Families—Hereditary Midwifery—Destruction of Girl Babies—Wedding -Display—Tiger-Persuader—Hailstorm Discouragers—The Tyranny of the -Sweeper—Elephant Driver—Water Carrier—Curious Rivers—Arrival at -Allahabad—English Quarter—Lecture Hall Like a Snowstorm—Private -Carriages—A Milliner—Early Morning—The Squatting Servant—A Religious -Fair - -<br><br><br> -<h3><a href="#ch50">CHAPTER L.</a></h3> -<p> -On the Road to Benares—Dust and Waiting—The Bejeweled Crowd—A Native -Prince and his Guard—Zenana Lady—The Extremes of Fashion—The Hotel at -Benares—An Annex a Mile Away—Doors in India—The Peepul Tree—Warning -against Cold Baths—A Strange Fruit—Description of Benares—The -Beginning of Creation—Pilgrims to Benares—A Priest with a Good Business -Stand—Protestant Missionary—The Trinity Brahma, Shiva, and -Vishnu—Religion the Business at Benares - -</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> - -<br><hr> -<br><br><br><br> - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch39"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h2> - -<p><i>By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. Another man's, -I mean.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>You soon find your long-ago dreams of India rising in a sort of vague and -luscious moonlight above the horizon-rim of your opaque consciousness, -and softly lighting up a thousand forgotten details which were parts of a -vision that had once been vivid to you when you were a boy, and steeped -your spirit in tales of the East. The barbaric gorgeousnesses, for -instance; and the princely titles, the sumptuous titles, the sounding -titles,—how good they taste in the mouth! The Nizam of Hyderabad; the -Maharajah of Travancore; the Nabob of Jubbelpore; the Begum of Bhopal; -the Nawab of Mysore; the Ranee of Gulnare; the Ahkoond of Swat's; the Rao -of Rohilkund; the Gaikwar of Baroda. Indeed, it is a country that runs -richly to name. The great god Vishnu has 108—108 special ones—108 -peculiarly holy ones—names just for Sunday use only. I learned the -whole of Vishnu's 108 by heart once, but they wouldn't stay; I don't -remember any of them now but John W. - -<p>And the romances connected with those princely native houses—to this -day they are always turning up, just as in the old, old times. They were -sweating out a romance in an English court in Bombay a while before we -were there. In this case a native prince, 16 1/2 years old, who has been -enjoying his titles and dignities and estates unmolested for fourteen -years, is suddenly haled into court on the charge that he is rightfully -no prince at all, but a pauper peasant; that the real prince died when -two and one-half years old; that the death was concealed, and a peasant -child smuggled into the royal cradle, and that this present incumbent was -that smuggled substitute. This is the very material that so many -oriental tales have been made of. - -<p>The case of that great prince, the Gaikwar of Baroda, is a reversal of -the theme. When that throne fell vacant, no heir could be found for some -time, but at last one was found in the person of a peasant child who was -making mud pies in a village street, and having an innocent good time. -But his pedigree was straight; he was the true prince, and he has reigned -ever since, with none to dispute his right. - -<p>Lately there was another hunt for an heir to another princely house, and -one was found who was circumstanced about as the Gaikwar had been. His -fathers were traced back, in humble life, along a branch of the ancestral -tree to the point where it joined the stem fourteen generations ago, and -his heirship was thereby squarely established. The tracing was done by -means of the records of one of the great Hindoo shrines, where princes on -pilgrimage record their names and the date of their visit. This is to -keep the prince's religious account straight, and his spiritual person -safe; but the record has the added value of keeping the pedigree -authentic, too. - -<p>When I think of Bombay now, at this distance of time, I seem to have a -kaleidoscope at my eye; and I hear the clash of the glass bits as the -splendid figures change, and fall apart, and flash into new forms, figure -after figure, and with the birth of each new form I feel my skin crinkle -and my nerve-web tingle with a new thrill of wonder and delight. These -remembered pictures float past me in a sequence of contracts; following -the same order always, and always whirling by and disappearing with the -swiftness of a dream, leaving me with the sense that the actuality was -the experience of an hour, at most, whereas it really covered days, I -think. - -<p>The series begins with the hiring of a "bearer"—native man-servant—a -person who should be selected with some care, because as long as he is in -your employ he will be about as near to you as your clothes. - -<p>In India your day may be said to begin with the "bearer's" knock on the -bedroom door, accompanied by a formula of words—a formula which is -intended to mean that the bath is ready. It doesn't really seem to mean -anything at all. But that is because you are not used to "bearer" -English. You will presently understand. - -<p>Where he gets his English is his own secret. There is nothing like it -elsewhere in the earth; or even in paradise, perhaps, but the other place -is probably full of it. You hire him as soon as you touch Indian soil; -for no matter what your sex is, you cannot do without him. He is -messenger, valet, chambermaid, table-waiter, lady's maid, courier—he is -everything. He carries a coarse linen clothes-bag and a quilt; he sleeps -on the stone floor outside your chamber door, and gets his meals you do -not know where nor when; you only know that he is not fed on the -premises, either when you are in a hotel or when you are a guest in a -private house. His wages are large—from an Indian point of view—and he -feeds and clothes himself out of them. We had three of him in two and a -half months. The first one's rate was thirty rupees a month that is to -say, twenty-seven cents a day; the rate of the others, Rs. 40 (40 rupees) -a month. A princely sum; for the native switchman on a railway and the -native servant in a private family get only Rs. 7 per month, and the -farm-hand only 4. The two former feed and clothe themselves and their -families on their $1.90 per month; but I cannot believe that the farmhand -has to feed himself on his $1.08. I think the farm probably feeds him, -and that the whole of his wages, except a trifle for the priest, go to -the support of his family. That is, to the feeding of his family; for -they live in a mud hut, hand-made, and, doubtless, rent-free, and they -wear no clothes; at least, nothing more than a rag. And not much of a -rag at that, in the case of the males. However, these are handsome times -for the farm-hand; he was not always the child of luxury that he is now. -The Chief Commissioner of the Central Provinces, in a recent official -utterance wherein he was rebuking a native deputation for complaining of -hard times, reminded them that they could easily remember when a -farm-hand's wages were only half a rupee (former value) a month—that is to -say, less than a cent a day; nearly $2.90 a year. If such a wage-earner -had a good deal of a family—and they all have that, for God is very good -to these poor natives in some ways—he would save a profit of fifteen -cents, clean and clear, out of his year's toil; I mean a frugal, thrifty -person would, not one given to display and ostentation. And if he owed -$13.50 and took good care of his health, he could pay it off in ninety -years. Then he could hold up his head, and look his creditors in the -face again. - -<p>Think of these facts and what they mean. India does not consist of -cities. There are no cities in India—to speak of. Its stupendous -population consists of farm-laborers. India is one vast farm—one almost -interminable stretch of fields with mud fences between. . . Think of the -above facts; and consider what an incredible aggregate of poverty they -place before you. - -<p>The first Bearer that applied, waited below and sent up his -recommendations. That was the first morning in Bombay. We read them -over; carefully, cautiously, thoughtfully. There was not a fault to find -with them—except one; they were all from Americans. Is that a slur? -If it is, it is a deserved one. In my experience, an American's -recommendation of a servant is not usually valuable. We are too -good-natured a race; we hate to say the unpleasant thing; we shrink from -speaking the unkind truth about a poor fellow whose bread depends upon -our verdict; so we speak of his good points only, thus not scrupling to -tell a lie—a silent lie—for in not mentioning his bad ones we as good -as say he hasn't any. The only difference that I know of between a -silent lie and a spoken one is, that the silent lie is a less respectable -one than the other. And it can deceive, whereas the other can't—as a -rule. We not only tell the silent lie as to a servant's faults, but we -sin in another way: we overpraise his merits; for when it comes to -writing recommendations of servants we are a nation of gushers. And we -have not the Frenchman's excuse. In France you must give the departing -servant a good recommendation; and you must conceal his faults; you have -no choice. If you mention his faults for the protection of the next -candidate for his services, he can sue you for damages; and the court -will award them, too; and, moreover, the judge will give you a sharp -dressing-down from the bench for trying to destroy a poor man's -character, and rob him of his bread. I do not state this on my own -authority, I got it from a French physician of fame and repute—a man who -was born in Paris, and had practiced there all his life. And he said -that he spoke not merely from common knowledge, but from exasperating -personal experience. - -<p>As I was saying, the Bearer's recommendations were all from American -tourists; and St. Peter would have admitted him to the fields of the -blest on them—I mean if he is as unfamiliar with our people and our ways -as I suppose he is. According to these recommendations, Manuel X. was -supreme in all the arts connected with his complex trade; and these -manifold arts were mentioned—and praised-in detail. His English was -spoken of in terms of warm admiration—admiration verging upon rapture. -I took pleased note of that, and hoped that some of it might be true. - -<p>We had to have some one right away; so the family went down stairs and -took him a week on trial; then sent him up to me and departed on their -affairs. I was shut up in my quarters with a bronchial cough, and glad -to have something fresh to look at, something new to play with. Manuel -filled the bill; Manuel was very welcome. He was toward fifty years old, -tall, slender, with a slight stoop—an artificial stoop, a deferential -stoop, a stoop rigidified by long habit—with face of European mould; -short hair intensely black; gentle black eyes, timid black eyes, indeed; -complexion very dark, nearly black in fact; face smooth-shaven. He was -bareheaded and barefooted, and was never otherwise while his week with us -lasted; his clothing was European, cheap, flimsy, and showed much wear. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p362.jpg (10K)" src="images/p362.jpg" height="501" width="267"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>He stood before me and inclined his head (and body) in the pathetic -Indian way, touching his forehead with the finger-ends of his right -hand, in salute. I said: - -<p>"Manuel, you are evidently Indian, but you seem to have a Spanish name -when you put it all together. How is that?" - -<p>A perplexed look gathered in his face; it was plain that he had not -understood—but he didn't let on. He spoke back placidly. - -<p>"Name, Manuel. Yes, master." - -<p>"I know; but how did you get the name?" - -<p>"Oh, yes, I suppose. Think happen so. Father same name, not mother." - -<p>I saw that I must simplify my language and spread my words apart, if I -would be understood by this English scholar. - -<p>"Well—then—how—did—your—father—get—his name?" - -<p>"Oh, he,"—brightening a little—"he Christian—Portygee; live in Goa; I -born Goa; mother not Portygee, mother native-high-caste Brahmin—Coolin -Brahmin; highest caste; no other so high caste. I high-caste Brahmin, -too. Christian, too, same like father; high-caste Christian Brahmin, -master—Salvation Army." - -<p>All this haltingly, and with difficulty. Then he had an inspiration, and -began to pour out a flood of words that I could make nothing of; so I -said: - -<p>"There—don't do that. I can't understand Hindostani." - -<p>"Not Hindostani, master—English. Always I speaking English sometimes -when I talking every day all the time at you." - -<p>"Very well, stick to that; that is intelligible. It is not up to my -hopes, it is not up to the promise of the recommendations, still it is -English, and I understand it. Don't elaborate it; I don't like -elaborations when they are crippled by uncertainty of touch." - -<p>"Master?" - -<p>"Oh, never mind; it was only a random thought; I didn't expect you to -understand it. How did you get your English; is it an acquirement, or -just a gift of God?" - -<p>After some hesitation—piously: - -<p>"Yes, he very good. Christian god very good, Hindoo god very good, too. -Two million Hindoo god, one Christian god—make two million and one. All -mine; two million and one god. I got a plenty. Sometime I pray all time -at those, keep it up, go all time every day; give something at shrine, -all good for me, make me better man; good for me, good for my family, dam -good." - -<p>Then he had another inspiration, and went rambling off into fervent -confusions and incoherencies, and I had to stop him again. I thought we -had talked enough, so I told him to go to the bathroom and clean it up -and remove the slops—this to get rid of him. He went away, seeming to -understand, and got out some of my clothes and began to brush them. I -repeated my desire several times, simplifying and re-simplifying it, and -at last he got the idea. Then he went away and put a coolie at the work, -and explained that he would lose caste if he did it himself; it would be -pollution, by the law of his caste, and it would cost him a deal of fuss -and trouble to purify himself and accomplish his rehabilitation. He said -that that kind of work was strictly forbidden to persons of caste, and as -strictly restricted to the very bottom layer of Hindoo society—the -despised 'Sudra' (the toiler, the laborer). He was right; and apparently -the poor Sudra has been content with his strange lot, his insulting -distinction, for ages and ages—clear back to the beginning of things, so -to speak. Buckle says that his name—laborer—is a term of contempt; -that it is ordained by the Institutes of Menu (900 B.C.) that if a Sudra -sit on a level with his superior he shall be exiled or branded—[Without -going into particulars I will remark that as a rule they wear no clothing -that would conceal the brand.—M. T.] . . . if he speak -contemptuously of his superior or insult him he shall suffer death; if he -listen to the reading of the sacred books he shall have burning oil -poured in his ears; if he memorize passages from them he shall be killed; -if he marry his daughter to a Brahmin the husband shall go to hell for -defiling himself by contact with a woman so infinitely his inferior; and -that it is forbidden to a Sudra to acquire wealth. "The bulk of the -population of India," says Bucklet—[Population to-day, -300,000,000.]—"is the Sudras—the workers, the farmers, the creators of wealth." - -<p>Manuel was a failure, poor old fellow. His age was against him. He was -desperately slow and phenomenally forgetful. When he went three blocks -on an errand he would be gone two hours, and then forget what it was he -went for. When he packed a trunk it took him forever, and the trunk's -contents were an unimaginable chaos when he got done. He couldn't wait -satisfactorily at table—a prime defect, for if you haven't your own -servant in an Indian hotel you are likely to have a slow time of it and -go away hungry. We couldn't understand his English; he couldn't -understand ours; and when we found that he couldn't understand his own, -it seemed time for us to part. I had to discharge him; there was no help -for it. But I did it as kindly as I could, and as gently. We must part, -said I, but I hoped we should meet again in a better world. It was not -true, but it was only a little thing to say, and saved his feelings and -cost me nothing. - -<p>But now that he was gone, and was off my mind and heart, my spirits began -to rise at once, and I was soon feeling brisk and ready to go out and -have adventures. Then his newly-hired successor flitted in, touched his -forehead, and began to fly around here, there, and everywhere, on his -velvet feet, and in five minutes he had everything in the room -"ship-shape and Bristol fashion," as the sailors say, and was standing at the -salute, waiting for orders. Dear me, what a rustler he was after the -slumbrous way of Manuel, poor old slug! All my heart, all my affection, -all my admiration, went out spontaneously to this frisky little forked -black thing, this compact and compressed incarnation of energy and force -and promptness and celerity and confidence, this smart, smily, engaging, -shiney-eyed little devil, feruled on his upper end by a gleaming -fire-coal of a fez with a red-hot tassel dangling from it. I said, with deep -satisfaction— - -<p>"You'll suit. What is your name?" - -<p>He reeled it mellowly off. - -<p>"Let me see if I can make a selection out of it—for business uses, I -mean; we will keep the rest for Sundays. Give it to me in installments." - -<p>He did it. But there did not seem to be any short ones, except -Mousa—which suggested mouse. It was out of character; it was too soft, -too quiet, too conservative; it didn't fit his splendid style. I -considered, and said— - -<p>"Mousa is short enough, but I don't quite like it. It seems -colorless—inharmonious—inadequate; and I am sensitive to such things. How do you -think Satan would do?" - -<p>"Yes, master. Satan do wair good." - -<p>It was his way of saying "very good." - -<p>There was a rap at the door. Satan covered the ground with a single -skip; there was a word or two of Hindostani, then he disappeared. Three -minutes later he was before me again, militarily erect, and waiting for -me to speak first. - -<p>"What is it, Satan?" - -<p>"God want to see you." - -<p>"Who?" - -<p>"God. I show him up, master?" - -<p>"Why, this is so unusual, that—that—well, you see indeed I am so -unprepared—I don't quite know what I do mean. Dear me, can't you -explain? Don't you see that this is a most ex——" - -<p>"Here his card, master." - -<p>Wasn't it curious—and amazing, and tremendous, and all that? Such a -personage going around calling on such as I, and sending up his card, -like a mortal—sending it up by Satan. It was a bewildering collision of -the impossibles. But this was the land of the Arabian Nights, this was -India! and what is it that cannot happen in India? - -<p>We had the interview. Satan was right—the Visitor was indeed a God in -the conviction of his multitudinous followers, and was worshiped by them -in sincerity and humble adoration. They are troubled by no doubts as to -his divine origin and office. They believe in him, they pray to him, -they make offerings to him, they beg of him remission of sins; to them -his person, together with everything connected with it, is sacred; from -his barber they buy the parings of his nails and set them in gold, and -wear them as precious amulets. - -<p>I tried to seem tranquilly conversational and at rest, but I was not. -Would you have been? I was in a suppressed frenzy of excitement and -curiosity and glad wonder. I could not keep my eyes off him. I was -looking upon a god, an actual god, a recognized and accepted god; and -every detail of his person and his dress had a consuming interest for me. -And the thought went floating through my head, "He is worshiped—think of -it—he is not a recipient of the pale homage called compliment, wherewith -the highest human clay must make shift to be satisfied, but of an -infinitely richer spiritual food: adoration, worship!—men and women lay -their cares and their griefs and their broken hearts at his feet; and he -gives them his peace; and they go away healed." - -<p>And just then the Awful Visitor said, in the simplest way—"There is a -feature of the philosophy of Huck Finn which"—and went luminously on -with the construction of a compact and nicely-discriminated literary -verdict. - -<p>It is a land of surprises—India! I had had my ambitions—I had hoped, -and almost expected, to be read by kings and presidents and emperors—but -I had never looked so high as That. It would be false modesty to pretend -that I was not inordinately pleased. I was. I was much more pleased -than I should have been with a compliment from a man. - -<p>He remained half an hour, and I found him a most courteous and charming -gentleman. The godship has been in his family a good while, but I do not -know how long. He is a Mohammedan deity; by earthly rank he is a prince; -not an Indian but a Persian prince. He is a direct descendant of the -Prophet's line. He is comely; also young—for a god; not forty, perhaps -not above thirty-five years old. He wears his immense honors with -tranquil grace, and with a dignity proper to his awful calling. He -speaks English with the ease and purity of a person born to it. I think -I am not overstating this. He was the only god I had ever seen, and I -was very favorably impressed. When he rose to say good-bye, the door -swung open and I caught the flash of a red fez, and heard these words, -reverently said— - -<p>"Satan see God out?" - -<p>"Yes." And these mis-mated Beings passed from view Satan in the lead and -The Other following after. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p368.jpg (19K)" src="images/p368.jpg" height="493" width="417"> -</center> - - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch40"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XL.</h2> - -<p><i>Few of us can stand prosperity. Another man's, I mean.</i> - <center> —Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>The next picture in my mind is Government House, on Malabar Point, with -the wide sea-view from the windows and broad balconies; abode of His -Excellency the Governor of the Bombay Presidency—a residence which is -European in everything but the native guards and servants, and is a home -and a palace of state harmoniously combined. - -<p>That was England, the English power, the English civilization, the modern -civilization—with the quiet elegancies and quiet colors and quiet tastes -and quiet dignity that are the outcome of the modern cultivation. And -following it came a picture of the ancient civilization of India—an hour -in the mansion of a native prince: Kumar Schri Samatsinhji Bahadur of the -Palitana State. - -<p>The young lad, his heir, was with the prince; also, the lad's sister, a -wee brown sprite, very pretty, very serious, very winning, delicately -moulded, costumed like the daintiest butterfly, a dear little fairyland -princess, gravely willing to be friendly with the strangers, but in the -beginning preferring to hold her father's hand until she could take stock -of them and determine how far they were to be trusted. She must have -been eight years old; so in the natural (Indian) order of things she -would be a bride in three or four years from now, and then this free -contact with the sun and the air and the other belongings of out-door -nature and comradeship with visiting male folk would end, and she would -shut herself up in the zenana for life, like her mother, and by inherited -habit of mind would be happy in that seclusion and not look upon it as an -irksome restraint and a weary captivity. - -<p>The game which the prince amuses his leisure with—however, never mind -it, I should never be able to describe it intelligibly. I tried to get -an idea of it while my wife and daughter visited the princess in the -zenana, a lady of charming graces and a fluent speaker of English, but I -did not make it out. It is a complicated game, and I believe it is said -that nobody can learn to play it well—but an Indian. And I was not able -to learn how to wind a turban. It seemed a simple art and easy; but that -was a deception. It is a piece of thin, delicate stuff a foot wide or -more, and forty or fifty feet long; and the exhibitor of the art takes -one end of it in his two hands, and winds it in and out intricately about his -head, twisting it as he goes, and in a minute or two the thing is -finished, and is neat and symmetrical and fits as snugly as a mould. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p370.jpg (13K)" src="images/p370.jpg" height="501" width="293"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>We were interested in the wardrobe and the jewels, and in the silverware, -and its grace of shape and beauty and delicacy of ornamentation. The -silverware is kept locked up, except at meal-times, and none but the -chief butler and the prince have keys to the safe. I did not clearly -understand why, but it was not for the protection of the silver. It was -either to protect the prince from the contamination which his caste would -suffer if the vessels were touched by low-caste hands, or it was to -protect his highness from poison. Possibly it was both. I believe a -salaried taster has to taste everything before the prince ventures it—an -ancient and judicious custom in the East, and has thinned out the tasters -a good deal, for of course it is the cook that puts the poison in. If I -were an Indian prince I would not go to the expense of a taster, I would -eat with the cook. - -<p>Ceremonials are always interesting; and I noted that the Indian -good-morning is a ceremonial, whereas ours doesn't amount to that. In -salutation the son reverently touches the father's forehead with a small -silver implement tipped with vermillion paste which leaves a red spot -there, and in return the son receives the father's blessing. Our good -morning is well enough for the rowdy West, perhaps, but would be too -brusque for the soft and ceremonious East. - -<p>After being properly necklaced, according to custom, with great garlands -made of yellow flowers, and provided with betel-nut to chew, this -pleasant visit closed, and we passed thence to a scene of a different -sort: from this glow of color and this sunny life to those grim -receptacles of the Parsee dead, the Towers of Silence. There is -something stately about that name, and an impressiveness which sinks -deep; the hush of death is in it. We have the Grave, the Tomb, the -Mausoleum, God's Acre, the Cemetery; and association has made them -eloquent with solemn meaning; but we have no name that is so majestic as -that one, or lingers upon the ear with such deep and haunting pathos. - -<p>On lofty ground, in the midst of a paradise of tropical foliage and -flowers, remote from the world and its turmoil and noise, they stood—the -Towers of Silence; and away below was spread the wide groves of cocoa -palms, then the city, mile on mile, then the ocean with its fleets of -creeping ships all steeped in a stillness as deep as the hush that -hallowed this high place of the dead. The vultures were there. They -stood close together in a great circle all around the rim of a massive -low tower—waiting; stood as motionless as sculptured ornaments, and -indeed almost deceived one into the belief that that was what they were. -Presently there was a slight stir among the score of persons present, and -all moved reverently out of the path and ceased from talking. A funeral -procession entered the great gate, marching two and two, and moved -silently by, toward the Tower. The corpse lay in a shallow shell, and -was under cover of a white cloth, but was otherwise naked. The bearers -of the body were separated by an interval of thirty feet from the -mourners. They, and also the mourners, were draped all in pure white, -and each couple of mourners was figuratively bound together by a piece of -white rope or a handkerchief—though they merely held the ends of it in -their hands. Behind the procession followed a dog, which was led in a -leash. When the mourners had reached the neighborhood of the -Tower—neither they nor any other human being but the bearers of the dead must -approach within thirty feet of it—they turned and went back to one of -the prayer-houses within the gates, to pray for the spirit of their dead. -The bearers unlocked the Tower's sole door and disappeared from view -within. In a little while they came out bringing the bier and the white -covering-cloth, and locked the door again. Then the ring of vultures -rose, flapping their wings, and swooped down into the Tower to devour the -body. Nothing was left of it but a clean-picked skeleton when they -flocked-out again a few minutes afterward. - - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p373.jpg (61K)" src="images/p373.jpg" height="406" width="650"> -</center> -<a href="images/p373.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>The principle which underlies and orders everything connected with a -Parsee funeral is Purity. By the tenets of the Zoroastrian religion, the -elements, Earth, Fire, and Water, are sacred, and must not be -contaminated by contact with a dead body. Hence corpses must not be -burned, neither must they be buried. None may touch the dead or enter -the Towers where they repose except certain men who are officially -appointed for that purpose. They receive high pay, but theirs is a -dismal life, for they must live apart from their species, because their -commerce with the dead defiles them, and any who should associate with -them would share their defilement. When they come out of the Tower the -clothes they are wearing are exchanged for others, in a building within -the grounds, and the ones which they have taken off are left behind, for -they are contaminated, and must never be used again or suffered to go -outside the grounds. These bearers come to every funeral in new -garments. So far as is known, no human being, other than an official -corpse-bearer—save one—has ever entered a Tower of Silence after its -consecration. Just a hundred years ago a European rushed in behind the -bearers and fed his brutal curiosity with a glimpse of the forbidden -mysteries of the place. This shabby savage's name is not given; his -quality is also concealed. These two details, taken in connection with -the fact that for his extraordinary offense the only punishment he got -from the East India Company's Government was a solemn official -"reprimand"—suggest the suspicion that he was a European of consequence. -The same public document which contained the reprimand gave warning that -future offenders of his sort, if in the Company's service, would be -dismissed; and if merchants, suffer revocation of license and exile to -England. - -<p>The Towers are not tall, but are low in proportion to their -circumference, like a gasometer. If you should fill a gasometer half way -up with solid granite masonry, then drive a wide and deep well down -through the center of this mass of masonry, you would have the idea of a -Tower of Silence. On the masonry surrounding the well the bodies lie, in -shallow trenches which radiate like wheel-spokes from the well. The -trenches slant toward the well and carry into it the rainfall. -Underground drains, with charcoal filters in them, carry off this water -from the bottom of the well. - -<p>When a skeleton has lain in the Tower exposed to the rain and the flaming -sun a month it is perfectly dry and clean. Then the same bearers that -brought it there come gloved and take it up with tongs and throw it into -the well. There it turns to dust. It is never seen again, never touched -again, in the world. Other peoples separate their dead, and preserve and -continue social distinctions in the grave—the skeletons of kings and -statesmen and generals in temples and pantheons proper to skeletons of -their degree, and the skeletons of the commonplace and the poor in places -suited to their meaner estate; but the Parsees hold that all men rank -alike in death—all are humble, all poor, all destitute. In sign of -their poverty they are sent to their grave naked, in sign of their -equality the bones of the rich, the poor, the illustrious and the obscure -are flung into the common well together. At a Parsee funeral there are -no vehicles; all concerned must walk, both rich and poor, howsoever great -the distance to be traversed may be. In the wells of the Five Towers of -Silence is mingled the dust of all the Parsee men and women and children -who have died in Bombay and its vicinity during the two centuries which -have elapsed since the Mohammedan conquerors drove the Parsees out of -Persia, and into that region of India. The earliest of the five towers -was built by the Modi family something more than 200 years ago, and it is -now reserved to the heirs of that house; none but the dead of that blood -are carried thither. - -<p>The origin of at least one of the details of a Parsee funeral is not now -known—the presence of the dog. Before a corpse is borne from the house -of mourning it must be uncovered and exposed to the gaze of a dog; a dog -must also be led in the rear of the funeral. Mr. Nusserwanjee Byramjee, -Secretary to the Parsee Punchayet, said that these formalities had once -had a meaning and a reason for their institution, but that they were -survivals whose origin none could now account for. Custom and tradition -continue them in force, antiquity hallows them. It is thought that in -ancient times in Persia the dog was a sacred animal and could guide souls -to heaven; also that his eye had the power of purifying objects which had -been contaminated by the touch of the dead; and that hence his presence -with the funeral cortege provides an ever-applicable remedy in case of -need. - -<p>The Parsees claim that their method of disposing of the dead is an -effective protection of the living; that it disseminates no corruption, -no impurities of any sort, no disease-germs; that no wrap, no garment -which has touched the dead is allowed to touch the living afterward; that -from the Towers of Silence nothing proceeds which can carry harm to the -outside world. These are just claims, I think. As a sanitary measure, -their system seems to be about the equivalent of cremation, and as sure. -We are drifting slowly—but hopefully—toward cremation in these days. -It could not be expected that this progress should be swift, but if it be -steady and continuous, even if slow, that will suffice. When cremation -becomes the rule we shall cease to shudder at it; we should shudder at -burial if we allowed ourselves to think what goes on in the grave. - -<p>The dog was an impressive figure to me, representing as he did a mystery -whose key is lost. He was humble, and apparently depressed; and he let -his head droop pensively, and looked as if he might be trying to call -back to his mind what it was that he had used to symbolize ages ago when -he began his function. There was another impressive thing close at hand, -but I was not privileged to see it. That was the sacred fire—a fire -which is supposed to have been burning without interruption for more than -two centuries; and so, living by the same heat that was imparted to it so -long ago. - -<p>The Parsees are a remarkable community. There are only about 60,000 in -Bombay, and only about half as many as that in the rest of India; but -they make up in importance what they lack in numbers. They are highly -educated, energetic, enterprising, progressive, rich, and the Jew himself -is not more lavish or catholic in his charities and benevolences. The -Parsees build and endow hospitals, for both men and animals; and they and -their womenkind keep an open purse for all great and good objects. They -are a political force, and a valued support to the government. They have -a pure and lofty religion, and they preserve it in its integrity and -order their lives by it. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p378.jpg (11K)" src="images/p378.jpg" height="439" width="259"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>We took a final sweep of the wonderful view of plain and city and ocean, -and so ended our visit to the garden and the Towers of Silence; and the -last thing I noticed was another symbol—a voluntary symbol this one; it -was a vulture standing on the sawed-off top of a tall and slender and -branchless palm in an open space in the ground; he was perfectly -motionless, and looked like a piece of sculpture on a pillar. And he had -a mortuary look, too, which was in keeping with the place. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch41"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLI.</h2> - -<p><i>There is an old-time toast which is golden for its beauty. -"When you ascend the hill of prosperity may you not meet a friend."</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>The next picture that drifts across the field of my memory is one which -is connected with religious things. We were taken by friends to see a -Jain temple. It was small, and had many flags or streamers flying from -poles standing above its roof; and its little battlements supported a -great many small idols or images. Upstairs, inside, a solitary Jain was -praying or reciting aloud in the middle of the room. Our presence did -not interrupt him, nor even incommode him or modify his fervor. Ten or -twelve feet in front of him was the idol, a small figure in a sitting -posture. It had the pinkish look of a wax doll, but lacked the doll's -roundness of limb and approximation to correctness of form and justness -of proportion. Mr. Gandhi explained every thing to us. He was delegate -to the Chicago Fair Congress of Religions. It was lucidly done, in -masterly English, but in time it faded from me, and now I have nothing -left of that episode but an impression: a dim idea of a religious belief -clothed in subtle intellectual forms, lofty and clean, barren of fleshly -grossnesses; and with this another dim impression which connects that -intellectual system somehow with that crude image, that inadequate -idol—how, I do not know. Properly they do not seem to belong together. -Apparently the idol symbolized a person who had become a saint or a god -through accessions of steadily augmenting holiness acquired through a -series of reincarnations and promotions extending over many ages; and was -now at last a saint and qualified to vicariously receive worship and -transmit it to heaven's chancellery. Was that it? - -<p>And thence we went to Mr. Premchand Roychand's bungalow, in Lovelane, -Byculla, where an Indian prince was to receive a deputation of the Jain -community who desired to congratulate him upon a high honor lately -conferred upon him by his sovereign, Victoria, Empress of India. She had -made him a knight of the order of the Star of India. It would seem that -even the grandest Indian prince is glad to add the modest title "Sir" to -his ancient native grandeurs, and is willing to do valuable service to -win it. He will remit taxes liberally, and will spend money freely upon -the betterment of the condition of his subjects, if there is a knighthood -to be gotten by it. And he will also do good work and a deal of it to -get a gun added to the salute allowed him by the British Government. -Every year the Empress distributes knighthoods and adds guns for public -services done by native princes. The salute of a small prince is three -or four guns; princes of greater consequence have salutes that run higher -and higher, gun by gun,—oh, clear away up to eleven; possibly more, but -I did not hear of any above eleven-gun princes. I was told that when a -four-gun prince gets a gun added, he is pretty troublesome for a while, -till the novelty wears off, for he likes the music, and keeps hunting up -pretexts to get himself saluted. It may be that supremely grand folk, -like the Nyzam of Hyderabad and the Gaikwar of Baroda, have more than -eleven guns, but I don't know. - -<p>When we arrived at the bungalow, the large hall on the ground floor was -already about full, and carriages were still flowing into the grounds. -The company present made a fine show, an exhibition of human fireworks, -so to speak, in the matters of costume and comminglings of brilliant -color. The variety of form noticeable in the display of turbans was -remarkable. We were told that the explanation of this was, that this -Jain delegation was drawn from many parts of India, and that each man -wore the turban that was in vogue in his own region. This diversity of -turbans made a beautiful effect. - -<p>I could have wished to start a rival exhibition there, of Christian hats -and clothes. I would have cleared one side of the room of its Indian -splendors and repacked the space with Christians drawn from America, -England, and the Colonies, dressed in the hats and habits of now, and of -twenty and forty and fifty years ago. It would have been a hideous -exhibition, a thoroughly devilish spectacle. Then there would have been -the added disadvantage of the white complexion. It is not an unbearably -unpleasant complexion when it keeps to itself, but when it comes into -competition with masses of brown and black the fact is betrayed that it -is endurable only because we are used to it. Nearly all black and brown -skins are beautiful, but a beautiful white skin is rare. How rare, one -may learn by walking down a street in Paris, New York, or London on a -week-day—particularly an unfashionable street—and keeping count of the -satisfactory complexions encountered in the course of a mile. Where dark -complexions are massed, they make the whites look bleached-out, -unwholesome, and sometimes frankly ghastly. I could notice this as a -boy, down South in the slavery days before the war. The splendid black -satin skin of the South African Zulus of Durban seemed to me to come very -close to perfection. I can see those Zulus yet—'ricksha athletes -waiting in front of the hotel for custom; handsome and intensely black -creatures, moderately clothed in loose summer stuffs whose snowy -whiteness made the black all the blacker by contrast. Keeping that group -in my mind, I can compare those complexions with the white ones which are -streaming past this London window now: - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p382.jpg (69K)" src="images/p382.jpg" height="987" width="623"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> A lady. Complexion, new parchment. Another lady. Complexion, old - parchment. - -<p> Another. Pink and white, very fine. - -<p> Man. Grayish skin, with purple areas. - -<p> Man. Unwholesome fish-belly skin. - -<p> Girl. Sallow face, sprinkled with freckles. - -<p> Old woman. Face whitey-gray. - -<p> Young butcher. Face a general red flush. - -<p> Jaundiced man—mustard yellow. - -<p> Elderly lady. Colorless skin, with two conspicuous moles. - -<p> Elderly man—a drinker. Boiled-cauliflower nose in a flabby face - veined with purple crinklings. - -<p> Healthy young gentleman. Fine fresh complexion. - -<p> Sick young man. His face a ghastly white. -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>No end of people whose skins are dull and characterless modifications of -the tint which we miscall white. Some of these faces are pimply; some -exhibit other signs of diseased blood; some show scars of a tint out of a -harmony with the surrounding shades of color. The white man's complexion -makes no concealments. It can't. It seemed to have been designed as a -catch-all for everything that can damage it. Ladies have to paint it, -and powder it, and cosmetic it, and diet it with arsenic, and enamel it, -and be always enticing it, and persuading it, and pestering it, and -fussing at it, to make it beautiful; and they do not succeed. But these -efforts show what they think of the natural complexion, as distributed. -As distributed it needs these helps. The complexion which they try to -counterfeit is one which nature restricts to the few—to the very few. -To ninety-nine persons she gives a bad complexion, to the hundredth a -good one. The hundredth can keep it—how long? Ten years, perhaps. - -<p>The advantage is with the Zulu, I think. He starts with a beautiful -complexion, and it will last him through. And as for the Indian -brown—firm, smooth, blemishless, pleasant and restful to the eye, afraid of no -color, harmonizing with all colors and adding a grace to them all—I -think there is no sort of chance for the average white complexion against -that rich and perfect tint. - -<p>To return to the bungalow. The most gorgeous costumes present were worn -by some children. They seemed to blaze, so bright were the colors, and -so brilliant the jewels strewing over the rich materials. These children -were professional nautch-dancers, and looked like girls, but they were -boys. They got up by ones and twos and fours, and danced and sang to an -accompaniment of weird music. Their posturings and gesturings were -elaborate and graceful, but their voices were stringently raspy and -unpleasant, and there was a good deal of monotony about the tune. - -<p>By and by there was a burst of shouts and cheers outside and the prince -with his train entered in fine dramatic style. He was a stately man, he -was ideally costumed, and fairly festooned with ropes of gems; some of -the ropes were of pearls, some were of uncut great emeralds—emeralds -renowned in Bombay for their quality and value. Their size was -marvelous, and enticing to the eye, those rocks. -A boy—a princeling—was with the prince, and he also was a radiant exhibition. - -<p>The ceremonies were not tedious. The prince strode to his throne with -the port and majesty—and the sternness—of a Julius Caesar coming to -receive and receipt for a back-country kingdom and have it over and get -out, and no fooling. There was a throne for the young prince, too, and -the two sat there, side by side, with their officers grouped at either -hand and most accurately and creditably reproducing the pictures which -one sees in the books—pictures which people in the prince's line of -business have been furnishing ever since Solomon received the Queen of -Sheba and showed her his things. The chief of the Jain delegation read -his paper of congratulations, then pushed it into a beautifully engraved -silver cylinder, which was delivered with ceremony into the prince's -hands and at once delivered by him without ceremony into the hands of an -officer. I will copy the address here. It is interesting, as showing -what an Indian prince's subject may have opportunity to thank him for in -these days of modern English rule, as contrasted with what his ancestor -would have given them opportunity to thank him for a century and a half -ago—the days of freedom unhampered by English interference. A century -and a half ago an address of thanks could have been put into small space. -It would have thanked the prince— -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> 1. For not slaughtering too many of his people upon mere caprice; - -<p> 2. For not stripping them bare by sudden and arbitrary tax levies, - and bringing famine upon them; - -<p> 3. For not upon empty pretext destroying the rich and seizing their - property; - -<p> 4. For not killing, blinding, imprisoning, or banishing the - relatives of the royal house to protect the throne from possible - plots; - -<p> 5. For not betraying the subject secretly, for a bribe, into the - hands of bands of professional Thugs, to be murdered and robbed in - the prince's back lot. -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>Those were rather common princely industries in the old times, but they -and some others of a harsh sort ceased long ago under English rule. -Better industries have taken their place, as this Address from the Jain -community will show: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Your Highness,—We the undersigned members of the Jain community of - Bombay have the pleasure to approach your Highness with the - expression of our heartfelt congratulations on the recent conference - on your Highness of the Knighthood of the Most Exalted Order of the - Star of India. Ten years ago we had the pleasure and privilege of - welcoming your Highness to this city under circumstances which have - made a memorable epoch in the history of your State, for had it not - been for a generous and reasonable spirit that your Highness - displayed in the negotiations between the Palitana Durbar and the - Jain community, the conciliatory spirit that animated our people - could not have borne fruit. That was the first step in your - Highness's administration, and it fitly elicited the praise of the - Jain community, and of the Bombay Government. A decade of your - Highness's administration, combined with the abilities, training, - and acquirements that your Highness brought to bear upon it, has - justly earned for your Highness the unique and honourable - distinction—the Knighthood of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of - India, which we understand your Highness is the first to enjoy among - Chiefs of your Highness's rank and standing. And we assure your - Highness that for this mark of honour that has been conferred on you - by Her Most Gracious Majesty, the Queen-Empress, we feel no less - proud than your Highness. Establishment of commercial factories, - schools, hospitals, etc., by your Highness in your State has marked - your Highness's career during these ten years, and we trust that - your Highness will be spared to rule over your people with wisdom - and foresight, and foster the many reforms that your Highness has - been pleased to introduce in your State. We again offer your - Highness our warmest felicitations for the honour that has been - conferred on you. We beg to remain your Highness's obedient - servants." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>Factories, schools, hospitals, reforms. The prince propagates that kind -of things in the modern times, and gets knighthood and guns for it. - -<p>After the address the prince responded with snap and brevity; spoke a -moment with half a dozen guests in English, and with an official or two -in a native tongue; then the garlands were distributed as usual, and the -function ended. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch42"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLII.</h2> - -<p><i>Each person is born to one possession which outvalues all his others—his -last breath.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>Toward midnight, that night, there was another function. This was a -Hindoo wedding—no, I think it was a betrothal ceremony. Always before, -we had driven through streets that were multitudinous and tumultuous with -picturesque native life, but now there was nothing of that. We seemed to -move through a city of the dead. There was hardly a suggestion of life -in those still and vacant streets. Even the crows were silent. But -everywhere on the ground lay sleeping natives-hundreds and hundreds. -They lay stretched at full length and tightly wrapped in blankets, heads -and all. Their attitude and their rigidity counterfeited death. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p387.jpg (41K)" src="images/p387.jpg" height="605" width="625"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>The -plague was not in Bombay then, but it is devastating the city now. The -shops are deserted, now, half of the people have fled, and of the -remainder the smitten perish by shoals every day. No doubt the city -looks now in the daytime as it looked then at night. When we had pierced -deep into the native quarter and were threading its narrow dim lanes, we -had to go carefully, for men were stretched asleep all about and there -was hardly room to drive between them. And every now and then a swarm of -rats would scamper across past the horses' feet in the vague light—the -forbears of the rats that are carrying the plague from house to house in -Bombay now. The shops were but sheds, little booths open to the street; -and the goods had been removed, and on the counters families were -sleeping, usually with an oil lamp present. Recurrent dead watches, it -looked like. - -<p>But at last we turned a corner and saw a great glare of light ahead. It -was the home of the bride, wrapped in a perfect conflagration of -illuminations,—mainly gas-work designs, gotten up specially for the -occasion. Within was abundance of brilliancy—flames, costumes, colors, -decorations, mirrors—it was another Aladdin show. - -<p>The bride was a trim and comely little thing of twelve years, dressed as -we would dress a boy, though more expensively than we should do it, of -course. She moved about very much at her ease, and stopped and talked -with the guests and allowed her wedding jewelry to be examined. It was -very fine. Particularly a rope of great diamonds, a lovely thing to look -at and handle. It had a great emerald hanging to it. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p388.jpg (82K)" src="images/p388.jpg" height="983" width="621"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>The bridegroom was not present. He was having betrothal festivities of -his own at his father's house. As I understood it, he and the bride were -to entertain company every night and nearly all night for a week or more, -then get married, if alive. Both of the children were a little elderly, -as brides and grooms go, in India—twelve; they ought to have been -married a year or two sooner; still to a stranger twelve seems quite -young enough. - -<p>A while after midnight a couple of celebrated and high-priced -nautch-girls appeared in the gorgeous place, and danced and sang. With them -were men who played upon strange instruments which made uncanny noises of -a sort to make one's flesh creep. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p389.jpg (15K)" src="images/p389.jpg" height="291" width="423"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>One of these instruments was a pipe, -and to its music the girls went through a performance which represented -snake charming. It seemed a doubtful sort of music to charm anything -with, but a native gentleman assured me that snakes like it and will come -out of their holes and listen to it with every evidence of refreshment -and gratitude. He said that at an entertainment in his grounds once, the -pipe brought out half a dozen snakes, and the music had to be stopped -before they would be persuaded to go. Nobody wanted their company, for -they were bold, familiar, and dangerous; but no one would kill them, of -course, for it is sinful for a Hindoo to kill any kind of a creature. - -<p>We withdrew from the festivities at two in the morning. Another picture, -then—but it has lodged itself in my memory rather as a stage-scene than -as a reality. It is of a porch and short flight of steps crowded with -dark faces and ghostly-white draperies flooded with the strong glare from -the dazzling concentration of illuminations; and midway of the steps one -conspicuous figure for accent—a turbaned giant, with a name according to -his size: Rao Bahadur Baskirao Balinkanje Pitale, Vakeel to his Highness -the Gaikwar of Baroda. Without him the picture would not have been -complete; and if his name had been merely Smith, he wouldn't have -answered. Close at hand on house-fronts on both sides of the narrow -street were illuminations of a kind commonly employed by the -natives—scores of glass tumblers (containing tapers) fastened a few inches -apart all over great latticed frames, forming starry constellations which -showed out vividly against their black backgrounds. As we drew away -into the distance down the dim lanes the illuminations gathered together -into a single mass, and glowed out of the enveloping darkness like a sun. - -<p>Then again the deep silence, the skurrying rats, the dim forms stretched -everywhere on the ground; and on either hand those open booths -counterfeiting sepulchres, with counterfeit corpses sleeping motionless -in the flicker of the counterfeit death lamps. And now, a year later, -when I read the cablegrams I seem to be reading of what I myself partly -saw—saw before it happened—in a prophetic dream, as it were. One -cablegram says, "Business in the native town is about suspended. Except -the wailing and the tramp of the funerals. There is but little life or -movement. The closed shops exceed in number those that remain open." -Another says that 325,000 of the people have fled the city and are -carrying the plague to the country. Three days later comes the news, -"The population is reduced by half." The refugees have carried the -disease to Karachi; "220 cases, 214 deaths." A day or two later, "52 -fresh cases, all of which proved fatal." - -<p>The plague carries with it a terror which no other disease can excite; -for of all diseases known to men it is the deadliest—by far the -deadliest. "Fifty-two fresh cases—all fatal." It is the Black Death -alone that slays like that. We can all imagine, after a fashion, the -desolation of a plague-stricken city, and the stupor of stillness broken -at intervals by distant bursts of wailing, marking the passing of -funerals, here and there and yonder, but I suppose it is not possible for -us to realize to ourselves the nightmare of dread and fear that possesses -the living who are present in such a place and cannot get away. That -half million fled from Bombay in a wild panic suggests to us something of -what they were feeling, but perhaps not even they could realize what the -half million were feeling whom they left stranded behind to face the -stalking horror without chance of escape. Kinglake was in Cairo many -years ago during an epidemic of the Black Death, and he has imagined the -terrors that creep into a man's heart at such a time and follow him until -they themselves breed the fatal sign in the armpit, and then the delirium -with confused images, and home-dreams, and reeling billiard-tables, and -then the sudden blank of death: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "To the contagionist, filled as he is with the dread of final - causes, having no faith in destiny, nor in the fixed will of God, - and with none of the devil-may-care indifference which might stand - him instead of creeds—to such one, every rag that shivers in the - breeze of a plague-stricken city has this sort of sublimity. If by - any terrible ordinance he be forced to venture forth, he sees death - dangling from every sleeve; and, as he creeps forward, he poises his - shuddering limbs between the imminent jacket that is stabbing at his - right elbow and the murderous pelisse that threatens to mow him - clean down as it sweeps along on his left. But most of all he - dreads that which most of all he should love—the touch of a woman's - dress; for mothers and wives, hurrying forth on kindly errands from - the bedsides of the dying, go slouching along through the streets - more willfully and less courteously than the men. For a while it - may be that the caution of the poor Levantine may enable him to - avoid contact, but sooner or later, perhaps, the dreaded chance - arrives; that bundle of linen, with the dark tearful eyes at the top - of it, that labors along with the voluptuous clumsiness of - Grisi—she has touched the poor Levantine with the hem of her sleeve! From - that dread moment his peace is gone; his mind for ever hanging upon - the fatal touch invites the blow which he fears; he watches for the - symptoms of plague so carefully, that sooner or later they come in - truth. The parched mouth is a sign—his mouth is parched; the - throbbing brain—his brain does throb; the rapid pulse—he touches - his own wrist (for he dares not ask counsel of any man lest he be - deserted), he touches his wrist, and feels how his frighted blood - goes galloping out of his heart. There is nothing but the fatal - swelling that is wanting to make his sad conviction complete; - immediately, he has an odd feel under the arm—no pain, but a little - straining of the skin; he would to God it were his fancy that were - strong enough to give him that sensation; this is the worst of all. - It now seems to him that he could be happy and contented with his - parched mouth, and his throbbing brain, and his rapid pulse, if only - he could know that there were no swelling under the left arm; but - dares he try?—in a moment of calmness and deliberation he dares - not; but when for a while he has writhed under the torture of - suspense, a sudden strength of will drives him to seek and know his - fate; he touches the gland, and finds the skin sane and sound but - under the cuticle there lies a small lump like a pistol-bullet, that - moves as he pushes it. Oh! but is this for all certainty, is this - the sentence of death? Feel the gland of the other arm. There is - not the same lump exactly, yet something a little like it. Have not - some people glands naturally enlarged?—would to heaven he were one! - So he does for himself the work of the plague, and when the Angel of - Death thus courted does indeed and in truth come, he has only to - finish that which has been so well begun; he passes his fiery hand - over the brain of the victim, and lets him rave for a season, but - all chance-wise, of people and things once dear, or of people and - things indifferent. Once more the poor fellow is back at his home - in fair Provence, and sees the sundial that stood in his childhood's - garden—sees his mother, and the long-since forgotten face of that - little dear sister—(he sees her, he says, on a Sunday morning, for - all the church bells are ringing); he looks up and down through the - universe, and owns it well piled with bales upon bales of cotton, - and cotton eternal—so much so that he feels—he knows—he swears he - could make that winning hazard, if the billiard-table would not - slant upwards, and if the cue were a cue worth playing with; but it - is not—it's a cue that won't move—his own arm won't move—in - short, there's the devil to pay in the brain of the poor Levantine; - and perhaps, the next night but one he becomes the 'life and the - soul' of some squalling jackal family, who fish him out by the foot - from his shallow and sandy grave." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch43"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLIII.</h2> - -<p><i>Hunger is the handmaid of genius</i> - <center> —Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>One day during our stay in Bombay there was a criminal trial of a most -interesting sort, a terribly realistic chapter out of the "Arabian -Nights," a strange mixture of simplicities and pieties and murderous -practicalities, which brought back the forgotten days of Thuggee and made -them live again; in fact, even made them believable. It was a case where -a young girl had been assassinated for the sake of her trifling -ornaments, things not worth a laborer's day's wages in America. This -thing could have been done in many other countries, but hardly with the -cold business-like depravity, absence of fear, absence of caution, -destitution of the sense of horror, repentance, remorse, exhibited in -this case. Elsewhere the murderer would have done his crime secretly, by -night, and without witnesses; his fears would have allowed him no peace -while the dead body was in his neighborhood; he would not have rested -until he had gotten it safe out of the way and hidden as effectually as -he could hide it. But this Indian murderer does his deed in the full -light of day, cares nothing for the society of witnesses, is in no way -incommoded by the presence of the corpse, takes his own time about -disposing of it, and the whole party are so indifferent, so phlegmatic, -that they take their regular sleep as if nothing was happening and no -halters hanging over them; and these five bland people close the episode -with a religious service. The thing reads like a Meadows-Taylor Thug-tale -of half a century ago, as may be seen by the official report of the -trial: - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "At the Mazagon Police Court yesterday, Superintendent Nolan again - charged Tookaram Suntoo Savat Baya, woman, her daughter Krishni, and - Gopal Vithoo Bhanayker, before Mr. Phiroze Hoshang Dastur, Fourth - Presidency Magistrate, under sections 302 and 109 of the Code, with - having on the night of the 30th of December last murdered a Hindoo - girl named Cassi, aged 12, by strangulation, in the room of a chawl - at Jakaria Bunder, on the Sewriroad, and also with aiding and - abetting each other in the commission of the offense. - -<p> "Mr. F. A. Little, Public Prosecutor, conducted the case on behalf - of the Crown, the accused being undefended. - -<p> "Mr. Little applied under the provisions of the Criminal Procedure - Code to tender pardon to one of the accused, Krishni, woman, aged - 22, on her undertaking to make a true and full statement of facts - under which the deceased girl Cassi was murdered. - -<p> "The Magistrate having granted the Public Prosecutor's application, - the accused Krishni went into the witness-box, and, on being - examined by Mr. Little, made the following confession:—I am a - mill-hand employed at the Jubilee Mill. I recollect the day (Tuesday); on - which the body of the deceased Cassi was found. Previous to that I - attended the mill for half a day, and then returned home at 3 in the - afternoon, when I saw five persons in the house, viz.: the first - accused Tookaram, who is my paramour, my mother, the second accused - Baya, the accused Gopal, and two guests named Ramji Daji and Annaji - Gungaram. Tookaram rented the room of the chawl situated at Jakaria - Bunder-road from its owner, Girdharilal Radhakishan, and in that - room I, my paramour, Tookaram, and his younger brother, Yesso - Mahadhoo, live. Since his arrival in Bombay from his native country - Yesso came and lived with us. When I returned from the mill on the - afternoon of that day, I saw the two guests seated on a cot in the - veranda, and a few minutes after the accused Gopal came and took his - seat by their side, while I and my mother were seated inside the - room. Tookaram, who had gone out to fetch some 'pan' and betelnuts, - on his return home had brought the two guests with him. After - returning home he gave them 'pan supari'. While they were eating it - my mother came out of the room and inquired of one of the guests, - Ramji, what had happened to his foot, when he replied that he had - tried many remedies, but they had done him no good. My mother then - took some rice in her hand and prophesied that the disease which - Ramji was suffering from would not be cured until he returned to his - native country. In the meantime the deceased Casi came from the - direction of an out-house, and stood in front on the threshold of - our room with a 'lota' in her hand. Tookaram then told his two - guests to leave the room, and they then went up the steps towards - the quarry. After the guests had gone away, Tookaram seized the - deceased, who had come into the room, and he afterwards put a - waistband around her, and tied her to a post which supports a loft. - After doing this, he pressed the girl's throat, and, having tied her - mouth with the 'dhotur' (now shown in Court), fastened it to the - post. Having killed the girl, Tookaram removed her gold head - ornament and a gold 'putlee', and also took charge of her 'lota'. - Besides these two ornaments Cassi had on her person ear-studs, a - nose-ring, some silver toe-rings, two necklaces, a pair of silver - anklets and bracelets. Tookaram afterwards tried to remove the - silver amulets, the ear-studs, and the nose-ring; but he failed in - his attempt. While he was doing so, I, my mother, and Gopal were - present. After removing the two gold ornaments, he handed them over - to Gopal, who was at the time standing near me. When he killed - Cassi, Tookaram threatened to strangle me also if I informed any one - of this. Gopal and myself were then standing at the door of our - room, and we both were threatened by Tookaram. My mother, Baya, had - seized the legs of the deceased at the time she was killed, and - whilst she was being tied to the post. Cassi then made a noise. - Tookaram and my mother took part in killing the girl. After the - murder her body was wrapped up in a mattress and kept on the loft - over the door of our room. When Cassi was strangled, the door of - the room was fastened from the inside by Tookaram. This deed was - committed shortly after my return home from work in the mill. - Tookaram put the body of the deceased in the mattress, and, after it - was left on the loft, he went to have his head shaved by a barber - named Sambhoo Raghoo, who lives only one door away from me. My - mother and myself then remained in the possession of the - information. I was slapped and threatened by my paramour, Tookaram, - and that was the only reason why I did not inform any one at that - time. When I told Tookaram that I would give information of the - occurrence, he slapped me. The accused Gopal was asked by Tookaram - to go back to his room, and he did so, taking away with him the two - gold ornaments and the 'lota'. Yesso Mahadhoo, a brother-in-law of - Tookaram, came to the house and asked Tookaram why he was washing, - the water-pipe being just opposite. Tookaram replied that he was - washing his dhotur, as a fowl had polluted it. About 6 o'clock of - the evening of that day my mother gave me three pice and asked me to - buy a cocoanut, and I gave the money to Yessoo, who went and fetched - a cocoanut and some betel leaves. When Yessoo and others were in - the room I was bathing, and, after I finished my bath, my mother - took the cocoanut and the betel leaves from Yessoo, and we five went - to the sea. The party consisted of Tookaram, my mother, Yessoo, - Tookaram's younger brother, and myself. On reaching the seashore, - my mother made the offering to the sea, and prayed to be pardoned - for what we had done. Before we went to the sea, some one came to - inquire after the girl Cassi. The police and other people came to - make these inquiries both before and after we left the house for the - seashore. The police questioned my mother about the girl, and she - replied that Cassi had come to her door, but had left. The next day - the police questioned Tookaram, and he, too, gave a similar reply. - This was said the same night when the search was made for the girl. - After the offering was made to the sea, we partook of the cocoanut - and returned home, when my mother gave me some food; but Tookaram - did not partake of any food that night. After dinner I and my - mother slept inside the room, and Tookaram slept on a cot near his - brother-in-law, Yessoo Mahadhoo, just outside the door. That was - not the usual place where Tookaram slept. He usually slept inside - the room. The body of the deceased remained on the loft when I went - to sleep. The room in which we slept was locked, and I heard that - my paramour, Tookaram, was restless outside. About 3 o'clock the - following morning Tookaram knocked at the door, when both myself and - my mother opened it. He then told me to go to the steps leading to - the quarry, and see if any one was about. Those steps lead to a - stable, through which we go to the quarry at the back of the - compound. When I got to the steps I saw no one there. Tookaram - asked me if any one was there, and I replied that I could see no one - about. He then took the body of the deceased from the loft, and - having wrapped it up in his saree, asked me to accompany him to the - steps of the quarry, and I did so. The 'saree' now produced here - was the same. Besides the 'saree', there was also a 'cholee' on the - body. He then carried the body in his arms, and went up the steps, - through the stable, and then to the right hand towards a Sahib's - bungalow, where Tookaram placed the body near a wall. All the time - I and my mother were with him. When the body was taken down, Yessoo - was lying on the cot. After depositing the body under the wall, we - all returned home, and soon after 5 a.m. the police again came and - took Tookaram away. About an hour after they returned and took me - and my mother away. We were questioned about it, when I made a - statement. Two hours later I was taken to the room, and I pointed - out this waistband, the 'dhotur', the mattress, and the wooden post - to Superintendent Nolan and Inspectors Roberts and Rashanali, in the - presence of my mother and Tookaram. Tookaram killed the girl Cassi - for her ornaments, which he wanted for the girl to whom he was - shortly going to be married. The body was found in the same place - where it was deposited by Tookaram." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>The criminal side of the native has always been picturesque, always -readable. The Thuggee and one or two other particularly outrageous -features of it have been suppressed by the English, but there is enough -of it left to keep it darkly interesting. One finds evidence of these -survivals in the newspapers. Macaulay has a light-throwing passage upon -this matter in his great historical sketch of Warren Hastings, where he -is describing some effects which followed the temporary paralysis of -Hastings' powerful government brought about by Sir Philip Francis and his -party: - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "The natives considered Hastings as a fallen man; and they acted - after their kind. Some of our readers may have seen, in India, a - cloud of crows pecking a sick vulture to death—no bad type of what - happens in that country as often as fortune deserts one who has been - great and dreaded. In an instant all the sycophants, who had lately - been ready to lie for him, to forge for him, to pander for him, to - poison for him, hasten to purchase the favor of his victorious - enemies by accusing him. An Indian government has only to let it be - understood that it wishes a particular man to be ruined, and in - twenty-four hours it will be furnished with grave charges, supported - by depositions so full and circumstantial that any person - unaccustomed to Asiatic mendacity would regard them as decisive. It - is well if the signature of the destined victim is not counterfeited - at the foot of some illegal compact, and if some treasonable paper - is not slipped into a hiding-place in his house." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>That was nearly a century and a quarter ago. An article in one of the -chief journals of India (the Pioneer) shows that in some respects the -native of to-day is just what his ancestor was then. Here are niceties -of so subtle and delicate a sort that they lift their breed of rascality -to a place among the fine arts, and almost entitle it to respect: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "The records of the Indian courts might certainly be relied upon to - prove that swindlers as a class in the East come very close to, if - they do not surpass, in brilliancy of execution and originality of - design the most expert of their fraternity in Europe and America. - India in especial is the home of forgery. There are some particular - districts which are noted as marts for the finest specimens of the - forger's handiwork. The business is carried on by firms who possess - stores of stamped papers to suit every emergency. They habitually - lay in a store of fresh stamped papers every year, and some of the - older and more thriving houses can supply documents for the past - forty years, bearing the proper water-mark and possessing the - genuine appearance of age. Other districts have earned notoriety - for skilled perjury, a pre-eminence that excites a respectful - admiration when one thinks of the universal prevalence of the art, - and persons desirous of succeeding in false suits are ready to pay - handsomely to avail themselves of the services of these local - experts as witnesses." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>Various instances illustrative of the methods of these swindlers are -given. They exhibit deep cunning and total depravity on the part of the -swindler and his pals, and more obtuseness on the part of the victim than -one would expect to find in a country where suspicion of your neighbor -must surely be one of the earliest things learned. The favorite subject -is the young fool who has just come into a fortune and is trying to see -how poor a use he can put it to. I will quote one example: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Sometimes another form of confidence trick is adopted, which is - invariably successful. The particular pigeon is spotted, and, his - acquaintance having been made, he is encouraged in every form of - vice. When the friendship is thoroughly established, the swindler - remarks to the young man that he has a brother who has asked him to - lend him Rs.10,000. The swindler says he has the money and would - lend it; but, as the borrower is his brother, he cannot charge - interest. So he proposes that he should hand the dupe the money, - and the latter should lend it to the swindler's brother, exacting a - heavy pre-payment of interest which, it is pointed out, they may - equally enjoy in dissipation. The dupe sees no objection, and on - the appointed day receives Rs.7,000 from the swindler, which he - hands over to the confederate. The latter is profuse in his thanks, - and executes a promissory note for Rs.10,000, payable to bearer. - The swindler allows the scheme to remain quiescent for a time, and - then suggests that, as the money has not been repaid and as it would - be unpleasant to sue his brother, it would be better to sell the - note in the bazaar. The dupe hands the note over, for the money he - advanced was not his, and, on being informed that it would be - necessary to have his signature on the back so as to render the - security negotiable, he signs without any hesitation. The swindler - passes it on to confederates, and the latter employ a respectable - firm of solicitors to ask the dupe if his signature is genuine. He - admits it at once, and his fate is sealed. A suit is filed by a - confederate against the dupe, two accomplices being made - co-defendants. They admit their Signatures as indorsers, and the one - swears he bought the note for value from the dupe The latter has no - defense, for no court would believe the apparently idle explanation - of the manner in which he came to endorse the note." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>There is only one India! It is the only country that has a monopoly of -grand and imposing specialties. When another country has a remarkable -thing, it cannot have it all to itself—some other country has a -duplicate. But India—that is different. Its marvels are its own; the -patents cannot be infringed; imitations are not possible. And think of -the size of them, the majesty of them, the weird and outlandish character -of the most of them! - -<p>There is the Plague, the Black Death: India invented it; India is the -cradle of that mighty birth. - -<p>The Car of Juggernaut was India's invention. - -<p>So was the Suttee; and within the time of men still living eight hundred -widows willingly, and, in fact, rejoicingly, burned themselves to death -on the bodies of their dead husbands in a single year. Eight hundred -would do it this year if the British government would let them. - -<p>Famine is India's specialty. Elsewhere famines are inconsequential -incidents—in India they are devastating cataclysms; in one case they -annihilate hundreds; in the other, millions. - -<p>India has 2,000,000 gods, and worships them all. In religion all other -countries are paupers; India is the only millionaire. - -<p>With her everything is on a giant scale—even her poverty; no other -country can show anything to compare with it. And she has been used to -wealth on so vast a scale that she has to shorten to single words the -expressions describing great sums. She describes 100,000 with one -word—a 'lahk'; she describes ten millions with one word—a 'crore'. - -<p>In the bowels of the granite mountains she has patiently carved out -dozens of vast temples, and made them glorious with sculptured colonnades -and stately groups of statuary, and has adorned the eternal walls with -noble paintings. She has built fortresses of such magnitude that the -show-strongholds of the rest of the world are but modest little things by -comparison; palaces that are wonders for rarity of materials, delicacy -and beauty of workmanship, and for cost; and one tomb which men go around -the globe to see. It takes eighty nations, speaking eighty languages, to -people her, and they number three hundred millions. - -<p>On top of all this she is the mother and home of that wonder of wonders—caste—and of that mystery of mysteries, the satanic brotherhood of the Thugs. - -<p>India had the start of the whole world in the beginning of things. She -had the first civilization; she had the first accumulation of material -wealth; she was populous with deep thinkers and subtle intellects; she -had mines, and woods, and a fruitful soil. It would seem as if she -should have kept the lead, and should be to-day not the meek dependent of -an alien master, but mistress of the world, and delivering law and -command to every tribe and nation in it. But, in truth, there was never -any possibility of such supremacy for her. If there had been but one -India and one language—but there were eighty of them! Where there are -eighty nations and several hundred governments, fighting and quarreling -must be the common business of life; unity of purpose and policy are -impossible; out of such elements supremacy in the world cannot come. -Even caste itself could have had the defeating effect of a multiplicity -of tongues, no doubt; for it separates a people into layers, and layers, -and still other layers, that have no community of feeling with each -other; and in such a condition of things as that, patriotism can have no -healthy growth. - -<p>It was the division of the country into so many States and nations that -made Thuggee possible and prosperous. It is difficult to realize the -situation. But perhaps one may approximate it by imagining the States of -our Union peopled by separate nations, speaking separate languages, with -guards and custom-houses strung along all frontiers, plenty of -interruptions for travelers and traders, interpreters able to handle all -the languages very rare or non-existent, and a few wars always going on -here and there and yonder as a further embarrassment to commerce and -excursioning. It would make intercommunication in a measure ungeneral. -India had eighty languages, and more custom-houses than cats. No clever -man with the instinct of a highway robber could fail to notice what a -chance for business was here offered. India was full of clever men with -the highwayman instinct, and so, quite naturally, the brotherhood of the -Thugs came into being to meet the long-felt want. - -<p>How long ago that was nobody knows—centuries, it is supposed. One of the -chiefest wonders connected with it was the success with which it kept its -secret. The English trader did business in India two hundred years and -more before he ever heard of it; and yet it was assassinating its -thousands all around him every year, the whole time. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch44"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLIV.</h2> - -<p><i>The old saw says, "Let a sleeping dog lie." Right.... Still, when there -is much at stake it is better to get a newspaper to do it.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>FROM DIARY: - -<p>January 28. I learned of an official Thug-book the other day. I was -not aware before that there was such a thing. I am allowed the temporary -use of it. We are making preparations for travel. Mainly the -preparations are purchases of bedding. This is to be used in sleeping -berths in the trains; in private houses sometimes; and in nine-tenths of -the hotels. It is not realizable; and yet it is true. It is a survival; -an apparently unnecessary thing which in some strange way has outlived -the conditions which once made it necessary. It comes down from a time -when the railway and the hotel did not exist; when the occasional white -traveler went horseback or by bullock-cart, and stopped over night in the -small dak-bungalow provided at easy distances by the government—a -shelter, merely, and nothing more. He had to carry bedding along, or do -without. The dwellings of the English residents are spacious and -comfortable and commodiously furnished, and surely it must be an odd -sight to see half a dozen guests come filing into such a place and -dumping blankets and pillows here and there and everywhere. But custom -makes incongruous things congruous. - -<p>One buys the bedding, with waterproof hold-all for it at almost any -shop—there is no difficulty about it. - -<p>January 30. What a spectacle the railway station was, at train-time! It -was a very large station, yet when we arrived it seemed as if the whole -world was present—half of it inside, the other half outside, and both -halves, bearing mountainous head-loads of bedding and other freight, -trying simultaneously to pass each other, in opposing floods, in one -narrow door. These opposing floods were patient, gentle, long-suffering -natives, with whites scattered among them at rare intervals; and wherever -a white man's native servant appeared, that native seemed to have put -aside his natural gentleness for the time and invested himself with the -white man's privilege of making a way for himself by promptly shoving all -intervening black things out of it. In these exhibitions of authority -Satan was scandalous. He was probably a Thug in one of his former -incarnations. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p402.jpg (59K)" src="images/p402.jpg" height="361" width="650"> -</center> -<a href="images/p402.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>Inside the great station, tides upon tides of rainbow-costumed natives -swept along, this way and that, in massed and bewildering confusion, -eager, anxious, belated, distressed; and washed up to the long trains and -flowed into them with their packs and bundles, and disappeared, followed -at once by the next wash, the next wave. And here and there, in the -midst of this hurly-burly, and seemingly undisturbed by it, sat great -groups of natives on the bare stone floor,—young, slender brown women, -old, gray wrinkled women, little soft brown babies, old men, young men, -boys; all poor people, but all the females among them, both big and -little, bejeweled with cheap and showy nose-rings, toe-rings, leglets, -and armlets, these things constituting all their wealth, no doubt. These -silent crowds sat there with their humble bundles and baskets and small -household gear about them, and patiently waited—for what? A train that -was to start at some time or other during the day or night! They hadn't -timed themselves well, but that was no matter—the thing had been so -ordered from on high, therefore why worry? There was plenty of time, -hours and hours of it, and the thing that was to happen would -happen—there was no hurrying it. - -<p>The natives traveled third class, and at marvelously cheap rates. They -were packed and crammed into cars that held each about fifty; and it was -said that often a Brahmin of the highest caste was thus brought into -personal touch, and consequent defilement, with persons of the lowest -castes—no doubt a very shocking thing if a body could understand it and -properly appreciate it. Yes, a Brahmin who didn't own a rupee and -couldn't borrow one, might have to touch elbows with a rich hereditary -lord of inferior caste, inheritor of an ancient title a couple of yards -long, and he would just have to stand it; for if either of the two was -allowed to go in the cars where the sacred white people were, it probably -wouldn't be the august poor Brahmin. There was an immense string of -those third-class cars, for the natives travel by hordes; and a weary -hard night of it the occupants would have, no doubt. - -<p>When we reached our car, Satan and Barney had already arrived there with -their train of porters carrying bedding and parasols and cigar boxes, and -were at work. We named him Barney for short; we couldn't use his real -name, there wasn't time. - -<p>It was a car that promised comfort; indeed, luxury. Yet the cost of -it—well, economy could no further go; even in France; not even in Italy. It -was built of the plainest and cheapest partially-smoothed boards, with a -coating of dull paint on them, and there was nowhere a thought of -decoration. The floor was bare, but would not long remain so when the -dust should begin to fly. Across one end of the compartment ran a -netting for the accommodation of hand-baggage; at the other end was a -door which would shut, upon compulsion, but wouldn't stay shut; it opened -into a narrow little closet which had a wash-bowl in one end of it, and a -place to put a towel, in case you had one with you—and you would be sure -to have towels, because you buy them with the bedding, knowing that the -railway doesn't furnish them. On each side of the car, and running fore -and aft, was a broad leather-covered sofa to sit on in the day and sleep -on at night. Over each sofa hung, by straps, a wide, flat, -leather-covered shelf—to sleep on. In the daytime you can hitch it up against -the wall, out of the way—and then you have a big unencumbered and most -comfortable room to spread out in. No car in any country is quite its -equal for comfort (and privacy) I think. For usually there are but two -persons in it; and even when there are four there is but little sense of -impaired privacy. Our own cars at home can surpass the railway world in -all details but that one: they have no cosiness; there are too many -people together. - -<p>At the foot of each sofa was a side-door, for entrance and exit. -Along the whole length of the sofa on each side of the car ran a row of -large single-plate windows, of a blue tint—blue to soften the bitter -glare of the sun and protect one's eyes from torture. These could be let -down out of the way when one wanted the breeze. In the roof were two oil -lamps which gave a light strong enough to read by; each had a green-cloth -attachment by which it could be covered when the light should be no -longer needed. - -<p>While we talked outside with friends, Barney and Satan placed the -hand-baggage, books, fruits, and soda-bottles in the racks, and the hold-alls -and heavy baggage in the closet, hung the overcoats and sun-helmets and -towels on the hooks, hoisted the two bed-shelves up out of the way, then -shouldered their bedding and retired to the third class. - -<p>Now then, you see what a handsome, spacious, light, airy, homelike place -it was, wherein to walk up and down, or sit and write, or stretch out and -read and smoke. A central door in the forward end of the compartment -opened into a similar compartment. It was occupied by my wife and -daughter. About nine in the evening, while we halted a while at a -station, Barney and Satan came and undid the clumsy big hold-alls, and -spread the bedding on the sofas in both compartments—mattresses, sheets, -gay coverlets, pillows, all complete; there are no chambermaids in -India—apparently it was an office that was never heard of. Then they closed -the communicating door, nimbly tidied up our place, put the -night-clothing on the beds and the slippers under them, then returned to their -own quarters. - -<p>January 31. It was novel and pleasant, and I stayed awake as long as I -could, to enjoy it, and to read about those strange people the Thugs. In -my sleep they remained with me, and tried to strangle me. The leader of -the gang was that giant Hindoo who was such a picture in the strong light -when we were leaving those Hindoo betrothal festivities at two o'clock in -the morning—Rao Bahadur Baskirao Balinkanje Pitale, Vakeel to the -Gaikwar of Baroda. It was he that brought me the invitation from his -master to go to Baroda and lecture to that prince—and now he was -misbehaving in my dreams. But all things can happen in dreams. It is -indeed as the Sweet Singer of Michigan says—irrelevantly, of course, for -the one and unfailing great quality which distinguishes her poetry from -Shakespeare's and makes it precious to us is its stern and simple -irrelevancy: - -<blockquote><blockquote><blockquote> -<p> My heart was gay and happy, -<p> This was ever in my mind, -<p> There is better times a coming, -<p> And I hope some day to find -<p> Myself capable of composing, -<p> It was my heart's delight -<p> To compose on a sentimental subject -<p> If it came in my mind just right. -</blockquote></blockquote></blockquote> -<p>—["The Sentimental Song Book," p. 49; theme, "The Author's Early Life," -19th stanza.] - -<p> -Barroda. Arrived at 7 this morning. The dawn was just beginning to -show. It was forlorn to have to turn out in a strange place at such a -time, and the blinking lights in the station made it seem night still. -But the gentlemen who had come to receive us were there with their -servants, and they make quick work; there was no lost time. We were soon -outside and moving swiftly through the soft gray light, and presently -were comfortably housed—with more servants to help than we were used to, -and with rather embarassingly important officials to direct them. But it -was custom; they spoke Ballarat English, their bearing was charming and -hospitable, and so all went well. - -<p>Breakfast was a satisfaction. Across the lawns was visible in the -distance through the open window an Indian well, with two oxen tramping -leisurely up and down long inclines, drawing water; and out of the -stillness came the suffering screech of the machinery—not quite musical, -and yet soothingly melancholy and dreamy and reposeful—a wail of lost -spirits, one might imagine. And commemorative and reminiscent, perhaps; -for of course the Thugs used to throw people down that well when they -were done with them. - -<p>After breakfast the day began, a sufficiently busy one. We were driven -by winding roads through a vast park, with noble forests of great trees, -and with tangles and jungles of lovely growths of a humbler sort; and at -one place three large gray apes came out and pranced across the road—a -good deal of a surprise and an unpleasant one, for such creatures belong -in the menagerie, and they look artificial and out of place in a -wilderness. - -<p>We came to the city, by and by, and drove all through it. Intensely -Indian, it was, and crumbly, and mouldering, and immemorially old, to all -appearance. And the houses—oh, indescribably quaint and curious they -were, with their fronts an elaborate lace-work of intricate and beautiful -wood-carving, and now and then further adorned with rude pictures of -elephants and princes and gods done in shouting colors; and all the -ground floors along these cramped and narrow lanes occupied as -shops—shops unbelievably small and impossibly packed with merchantable rubbish, -and with nine-tenths-naked natives squatting at their work of hammering, -pounding, brazing, soldering, sewing, designing, cooking, measuring out -grain, grinding it, repairing idols—and then the swarm of ragged and -noisy humanity under the horses' feet and everywhere, and the pervading -reek and fume and smell! It was all wonderful and delightful. - -<p>Imagine a file of elephants marching through such a crevice of a street -and scraping the paint off both sides of it with their hides. How big -they must look, and how little they must make the houses look; and when -the elephants are in their glittering court costume, what a contrast they -must make with the humble and sordid surroundings. And when a mad -elephant goes raging through, belting right and left with his trunk, how -do these swarms of people get out of the way? I suppose it is a thing -which happens now and then in the mad season (for elephants have a mad -season). - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p409.jpg (47K)" src="images/p409.jpg" height="953" width="485"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>I wonder how old the town is. There are patches of building—massive -structures, monuments, apparently—that are so battered and worn, and -seemingly so tired and so burdened with the weight of age, and so dulled -and stupefied with trying to remember things they forgot before history -began, that they give one the feeling that they must have been a part of -original Creation. This is indeed one of the oldest of the princedoms of -India, and has always been celebrated for its barbaric pomps and -splendors, and for the wealth of its princes. - -<br><br><br><br> - - -<br><br> -<center><img alt="p410.jpg (70K)" src="images/p410.jpg" height="943" width="621"> -</center> - - -<h2><a name="ch45"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLV.</h2> - -<p><i>It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the -heart; the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>Out of the town again; a long drive through open country, by winding -roads among secluded villages nestling in the inviting shade of tropic -vegetation, a Sabbath stillness everywhere, sometimes a pervading sense -of solitude, but always barefoot natives gliding by like spirits, without -sound of footfall, and others in the distance dissolving away and -vanishing like the creatures of dreams. Now and then a string of stately -camels passed by—always interesting things to look at—and they were -velvet-shod by nature, and made no noise. Indeed, there were no noises -of any sort in this paradise. Yes, once there was one, for a moment: a -file of native convicts passed along in charge of an officer, and we -caught the soft clink of their chains. In a retired spot, resting -himself under a tree, was a holy person—a naked black fakeer, thin and -skinny, and whitey-gray all over with ashes. - -<p>By and by to the elephant stables, and I took a ride; but it was by -request—I did not ask for it, and didn't want it; but I took it, because -otherwise they would have thought I was afraid, which I was. The -elephant kneels down, by command—one end of him at a time—and you climb -the ladder and get into the howdah, and then he gets up, one end at a -time, just as a ship gets up over a wave; and after that, as he strides -monstrously about, his motion is much like a ship's motion. The mahout -bores into the back of his head with a great iron prod and you wonder at -his temerity and at the elephant's patience, and you think that perhaps -the patience will not last; but it does, and nothing happens. The mahout -talks to the elephant in a low voice all the time, and the elephant seems -to understand it all and to be pleased with it; and he obeys every order -in the most contented and docile way. Among these twenty-five elephants -were two which were larger than any I had ever seen before, and if I had -thought I could learn to not be afraid, I would have taken one of them -while the police were not looking. - -<p>In the howdah-house there were many howdahs that were made of silver, one -of gold, and one of old ivory, and equipped with cushions and canopies of -rich and costly stuffs. The wardrobe of the elephants was there, too; -vast velvet covers stiff and heavy with gold embroidery; and bells of -silver and gold; and ropes of these metals for fastening the things on—harness, so to speak; and monster hoops of massive gold for the elephant -to wear on his ankles when he is out in procession on business of state. - -<p>But we did not see the treasury of crown jewels, and that was a -disappointment, for in mass and richness it ranks only second in India. -By mistake we were taken to see the new palace instead, and we used up -the last remnant of our spare time there. It was a pity, too; for the -new palace is mixed modern American-European, and has not a merit except -costliness. It is wholly foreign to India, and impudent and out of -place. The architect has escaped. This comes of overdoing the -suppression of the Thugs; they had their merits. The old palace is -oriental and charming, and in consonance with the country. The old -palace would still be great if there were nothing of it but the spacious -and lofty hall where the durbars are held. It is not a good place to -lecture in, on account of the echoes, but it is a good place to hold -durbars in and regulate the affairs of a kingdom, and that is what it is -for. If I had it I would have a durbar every day, instead of once or -twice a year. - -<p>The prince is an educated gentleman. His culture is European. He has -been in Europe five times. People say that this is costly amusement for -him, since in crossing the sea he must sometimes be obliged to drink -water from vessels that are more or less public, and thus damage his -caste. To get it purified again he must make pilgrimage to some renowned -Hindoo temples and contribute a fortune or two to them. His people are -like the other Hindoos, profoundly religious; and they could not be -content with a master who was impure. - -<p>We failed to see the jewels, but we saw the gold cannon and the silver -one—they seemed to be six-pounders. They were not designed for -business, but for salutes upon rare and particularly important state -occasions. An ancestor of the present Gaikwar had the silver one made, -and a subsequent ancestor had the gold one made, in order to outdo him. - -<p>This sort of artillery is in keeping with the traditions of Baroda, which -was of old famous for style and show. It used to entertain visiting -rajahs and viceroys with tiger-fights, elephant-fights, illuminations, -and elephant-processions of the most glittering and gorgeous character. - -<p>It makes the circus a pale, poor thing. - -<p>In the train, during a part of the return journey from Baroda, we had the -company of a gentleman who had with him a remarkable looking dog. I had -not seen one of its kind before, as far as I could remember; though of -course I might have seen one and not noticed it, for I am not acquainted -with dogs, but only with cats. This dog's coat was smooth and shiny and -black, and I think it had tan trimmings around the edges of the dog, and -perhaps underneath. It was a long, low dog, with very short, strange -legs—legs that curved inboard, something like parentheses turned the wrong way (. Indeed, it was made on the plan of a bench for length and lowness. It -seemed to be satisfied, but I thought the plan poor, and structurally -weak, on account of the distance between the forward supports and those -abaft. With age the dog's back was likely to sag; and it seemed to me -that it would have been a stronger and more practicable dog if it had had -some more legs. It had not begun to sag yet, but the shape of the legs -showed that the undue weight imposed upon them was beginning to tell. -It had a long nose, and floppy ears that hung down, and a resigned -expression of countenance. I did not like to ask what kind of a dog it -was, or how it came to be deformed, for it was plain that the gentleman -was very fond of it, and naturally he could be sensitive about it. From -delicacy I thought it best not to seem to notice it too much. No doubt a -man with a dog like that feels just as a person does who has a child that -is out of true. The gentleman was not merely fond of the dog, he was -also proud of it—just the same again, as a mother feels about her child -when it is an idiot. I could see that he was proud of it, -not-withstanding it was such a long dog and looked so resigned and pious. It -had been all over the world with him, and had been pilgriming like that -for years and years. It had traveled 50,000 miles by sea and rail, and -had ridden in front of him on his horse 8,000. It had a silver medal -from the Geographical Society of Great Britain for its travels, and I saw -it. It had won prizes in dog shows, both in India and in England—I saw -them. He said its pedigree was on record in the Kennel Club, and that it -was a well-known dog. He said a great many people in London could -recognize it the moment they saw it. I did not say anything, but I did -not think it anything strange; I should know that dog again, myself, yet -I am not careful about noticing dogs. He said that when he walked along -in London, people often stopped and looked at the dog. Of course I did -not say anything, for I did not want to hurt his feelings, but I could -have explained to him that if you take a great long low dog like that and -waddle it along the street anywhere in the world and not charge anything, -people will stop and look. He was gratified because the dog took prizes. -But that was nothing; if I were built like that I could take prizes -myself. I wished I knew what kind of a dog it was, and what it was for, -but I could not very well ask, for that would show that I did not know. -Not that I want a dog like that, but only to know the secret of its -birth. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p413.jpg (23K)" src="images/p413.jpg" height="328" width="610"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>I think he was going to hunt elephants with it, because I know, from -remarks dropped by him, that he has hunted large game in India and -Africa, and likes it. But I think that if he tries to hunt elephants -with it, he is going to be disappointed. - -<p>I do not believe that it is suited for elephants. It lacks energy, it -lacks force of character, it lacks bitterness. These things all show in -the meekness and resignation of its expression. It would not attack an -elephant, I am sure of it. It might not run if it saw one coming, but it -looked to me like a dog that would sit down and pray. - -<p>I wish he had told me what breed it was, if there are others; but I shall -know the dog next time, and then if I can bring myself to it I will put -delicacy aside and ask. If I seem strangely interested in dogs, I have a -reason for it; for a dog saved me from an embarrassing position once, and -that has made me grateful to these animals; and if by study I could learn -to tell some of the kinds from the others, I should be greatly pleased. -I only know one kind apart, yet, and that is the kind that saved me that -time. I always know that kind when I meet it, and if it is hungry or -lost I take care of it. The matter happened in this way: - -<p>It was years and years ago. I had received a note from Mr. Augustin Daly -of the Fifth Avenue Theatre, asking me to call the next time I should be -in New York. I was writing plays, in those days, and he was admiring -them and trying to get me a chance to get them played in Siberia. I took -the first train—the early one—the one that leaves Hartford at 8.29 in -the morning. At New Haven I bought a paper, and found it filled with -glaring display-lines about a "bench-show" there. I had often heard of -bench-shows, but had never felt any interest in them, because I supposed -they were lectures that were not well attended. It turned out, now, that -it was not that, but a dog-show. There was a double-leaded column about -the king-feature of this one, which was called a Saint Bernard, and was -worth $10,000, and was known to be the largest and finest of his species -in the world. I read all this with interest, because out of my -school-boy readings I dimly remembered how the priests and pilgrims of St. -Bernard used to go out in the storms and dig these dogs out of the -snowdrifts when lost and exhausted, and give them brandy and save their -lives, and drag them to the monastery and restore them with gruel. - -<p>Also, there was a picture of this prize-dog in the paper, a noble great -creature with a benignant countenance, standing by a table. He was -placed in that way so that one could get a right idea of his great -dimensions. You could see that he was just a shade higher than the -table—indeed, a huge fellow for a dog. Then there was a description -which went into the details. It gave his enormous weight—150 1/2 -pounds, and his length 4 feet 2 inches, from stem to stern-post; and his -height—3 feet 1 inch, to the top of his back. The pictures and the -figures so impressed me, that I could see the beautiful colossus before -me, and I kept on thinking about him for the next two hours; then I -reached New York, and he dropped out of my mind. - -<p>In the swirl and tumult of the hotel lobby I ran across Mr. Daly's -comedian, the late James Lewis, of beloved memory, and I casually -mentioned that I was going to call upon Mr. Daly in the evening at 8. -He looked surprised, and said he reckoned not. For answer I handed him -Mr. Daly's note. Its substance was: "Come to my private den, over the -theater, where we cannot be interrupted. And come by the back way, not -the front. No. 642 Sixth Avenue is a cigar shop; pass through it and you -are in a paved court, with high buildings all around; enter the second -door on the left, and come up stairs." - -<p>"Is this all?" - -<p>"Yes," I said. - -<p>"Well, you'll never get in" - -<p>"Why?" - -<p>"Because you won't. Or if you do you can draw on me for a hundred -dollars; for you will be the first man that has accomplished it in -twenty-five years. I can't think what Mr. Daly can have been absorbed -in. He has forgotten a most important detail, and he will feel -humiliated in the morning when he finds that you tried to get in and -couldn't." - -<p>"Why, what is the trouble?" - -<p>"I'll tell you. You see——" - -<p>At that point we were swept apart by the crowd, somebody detained me with -a moment's talk, and we did not get together again. But it did not -matter; I believed he was joking, anyway. - -<p>At eight in the evening I passed through the cigar shop and into the -court and knocked at the second door. - -<p>"Come in!" - -<p>I entered. It was a small room, carpetless, dusty, with a naked deal -table, and two cheap wooden chairs for furniture. A giant Irishman was -standing there, with shirt collar and vest unbuttoned, and no coat on. I -put my hat on the table, and was about to say something, when the -Irishman took the innings himself. And not with marked courtesy of tone: - -<p>"Well, sor, what will <i>you</i> have?" - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p418.jpg (45K)" src="images/p418.jpg" height="1017" width="393"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>I was a little disconcerted, and my easy confidence suffered a shrinkage. -The man stood as motionless as Gibraltar, and kept his unblinking eye -upon me. It was very embarrassing, very humiliating. I stammered at a -false start or two; then—— - -<p>"I have just run down from——" - -<p>"Av ye plaze, ye'll not smoke here, ye understand." - -<p>I laid my cigar on the window-ledge; chased my flighty thoughts a moment, -then said in a placating manner: - -<p>"I—I have come to see Mr. Daly." - -<p>"Oh, ye have, have ye?" - -<p>"Yes" - -<p>"Well, ye'll not see him." - -<p>"But he asked <i>me</i> to come." - -<p>"Oh, <i>he</i> did, did <i>he</i>?" - -<p>"Yes, <i>he</i> sent me this note, and——" - -<p>"Lemme see it." - -<p>For a moment I fancied there would be a change in the atmosphere, now; -but this idea was premature. The big man was examining the note -searchingly under the gas-jet. A glance showed me that he had it upside -down—disheartening evidence that he could not read. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p420.jpg (13K)" src="images/p420.jpg" height="427" width="331"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>"Is ut his own handwrite?" - -<p>"Yes—he wrote it himself." - -<p>"He did, did he?" - -<p>"Yes." - -<p>"H'm. Well, then, why ud he write it like that?" - -<p>"How do you mean?" - -<p>"I mane, why wudn't he put his naime to ut?" - -<p>"His name is to it. That's not it—you are looking at my name." - -<p>I thought that that was a home shot, but he did not betray that he had -been hit. He said: - -<p>"It's not an aisy one to spell; how do you pronounce ut?" - -<p>"Mark Twain." - -<p>"H'm. H'm. Mike Train. H'm. I don't remember ut. What is it ye want -to see him about?" - -<p>"It isn't I that want to see him, he wants to see me." - -<p>"Oh, he does, does he?" - -<p>"Yes." - -<p>"What does he want to see ye about?" - -<p>"I don't know." - -<p>"Ye don't know! And ye confess it, becod! Well, I can tell ye wan -thing—ye'll not see him. Are ye in the business?" - -<p>"What business?" - -<p>"The show business." - -<p>A fatal question. I recognized that I was defeated. If I answered no, -he would cut the matter short and wave me to the door without the grace -of a word—I saw it in his uncompromising eye; if I said I was a -lecturer, he would despise me, and dismiss me with opprobrious words; if -I said I was a dramatist, he would throw me out of the window. I saw -that my case was hopeless, so I chose the course which seemed least -humiliating: I would pocket my shame and glide out without answering. -The silence was growing lengthy. - -<p>"I'll ask ye again. Are ye in the show business yerself?" - -<p>"Yes!" - -<p>I said it with splendid confidence; for in that moment the very twin of -that grand New Haven dog loafed into the room, and I saw that Irishman's -eye light eloquently with pride and affection. - -<p>"Ye are? And what is it?" - -<p>"I've got a bench-show in New Haven." - -<p>The weather did change then. - -<p>"You don't say, sir! And that's your show, sir! Oh, it's a grand show, -it's a wonderful show, sir, and a proud man I am to see your honor this -day. And ye'll be an expert, sir, and ye'll know all about dogs—more -than ever they know theirselves, I'll take me oath to ut." - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p423.jpg (52K)" src="images/p423.jpg" height="945" width="555"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>I said, with modesty: - -<p>"I believe I have some reputation that way. In fact, my business -requires it." - -<p>"Ye have some reputation, your honor! Bedad I believe you! There's not -a jintleman in the worrld that can lay over ye in the judgmint of a dog, -sir. Now I'll vinture that your honor'll know that dog's dimensions -there better than he knows them his own self, and just by the casting of -your educated eye upon him. Would you mind giving a guess, if ye'll be -so good?" - -<p>I knew that upon my answer would depend my fate. If I made this dog -bigger than the prize-dog, it would be bad diplomacy, and suspicious; if -I fell too far short of the prizedog, that would be equally damaging. -The dog was standing by the table, and I believed I knew the difference -between him and the one whose picture I had seen in the newspaper to a -shade. I spoke promptly up and said: - -<p>"It's no trouble to guess this noble creature's figures: height, three -feet; length, four feet and three-quarters of an inch; weight, a hundred -and forty-eight and a quarter." - -<p>The man snatched his hat from its peg and danced on it with joy, -shouting: - -<p>"Ye've hardly missed it the hair's breadth, hardly the shade of a shade, -your honor! Oh, it's the miraculous eye ye've got, for the judgmint of a -dog!" - -<p>And still pouring out his admiration of my capacities, he snatched off -his vest and scoured off one of the wooden chairs with it, and scrubbed -it and polished it, and said: - -<p>"There, sit down, your honor, I'm ashamed of meself that I forgot ye were -standing all this time; and do put on your hat, ye mustn't take cold, -it's a drafty place; and here is your cigar, sir, a getting cold, I'll -give ye a light. There. The place is all yours, sir, and if ye'll just -put your feet on the table and make yourself at home, I'll stir around -and get a candle and light ye up the ould crazy stairs and see that ye -don't come to anny harm, for be this time Mr. Daly'll be that impatient -to see your honor that he'll be taking the roof off." - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p425.jpg (15K)" src="images/p425.jpg" height="499" width="359"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>He conducted me cautiously and tenderly up the stairs, lighting the way -and protecting me with friendly warnings, then pushed the door open and -bowed me in and went his way, mumbling hearty things about my wonderful -eye for points of a dog. Mr. Daly was writing and had his back to me. -He glanced over his shoulder presently, then jumped up and said— - -<p>"Oh, dear me, I forgot all about giving instructions. I was just writing -you to beg a thousand pardons. But how is it you are here? How did you -get by that Irishman? You are the first man that's done it in five and -twenty years. You didn't bribe him, I know that; there's not money -enough in New York to do it. And you didn't persuade him; he is all ice -and iron: there isn't a soft place nor a warm one in him anywhere. What -is your secret? Look here; you owe me a hundred dollars for -unintentionally giving you a chance to perform a miracle—for it is a -miracle that you've done." - -<p>"That is all right," I said, "collect it of Jimmy Lewis." - -<p>That good dog not only did me that good turn in the time of my need, but -he won for me the envious reputation among all the theatrical people from -the Atlantic to the Pacific of being the only man in history who had ever -run the blockade of Augustin Daly's back door. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch46"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLVI.</h2> - -<p><i>If the desire to kill and the opportunity to kill came always together, -who would escape hanging.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>On the Train. Fifty years ago, when I was a boy in the then remote and -sparsely peopled Mississippi valley, vague tales and rumors of a -mysterious body of professional murderers came wandering in from a -country which was constructively as far from us as the constellations -blinking in space—India; vague tales and rumors of a sect called Thugs, -who waylaid travelers in lonely places and killed them for the -contentment of a god whom they worshiped; tales which everybody liked to -listen to and nobody believed, except with reservations. It was -considered that the stories had gathered bulk on their travels. The -matter died down and a lull followed. Then Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew" -appeared, and made great talk for a while. One character in it was a -chief of Thugs—"Feringhea"—a mysterious and terrible Indian who was as -slippery and sly as a serpent, and as deadly; and he stirred up the Thug -interest once more. But it did not last. It presently died again this -time to stay dead. - -<p>At first glance it seems strange that this should have happened; but -really it was not strange—on the contrary—it was natural; I mean on -our side of the water. For the source whence the Thug tales mainly came -was a Government Report, and without doubt was not republished in -America; it was probably never even seen there. Government Reports have -no general circulation. They are distributed to the few, and are not -always read by those few. I heard of this Report for the first time a -day or two ago, and borrowed it. It is full of fascinations; and it -turns those dim, dark fairy tales of my boyhood days into realities. - -<p>The Report was made in 1839 by Major Sleeman, of the Indian Service, and -was printed in Calcutta in 1840. It is a clumsy, great, fat, poor sample -of the printer's art, but good enough for a government printing-office in -that old day and in that remote region, perhaps. To Major Sleeman was -given the general superintendence of the giant task of ridding India of -Thuggee, and he and his seventeen assistants accomplished it. It was the -Augean Stables over again. Captain Vallancey, writing in a Madras -journal in those old times, makes this remark: - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "The day that sees this far-spread evil eradicated from India and - known only in name, will greatly tend to immortalize British rule in - the East." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>He did not overestimate the magnitude and difficulty of the work, nor the -immensity of the credit which would justly be due to British rule in case -it was accomplished. - -<p>Thuggee became known to the British authorities in India about 1810, but -its wide prevalence was not suspected; it was not regarded as a serious -matter, and no systematic measures were taken for its suppression until -about 1830. About that time Major Sleeman captured Eugene Sue's -Thug-chief, "Feringhea," and got him to turn King's evidence. The revelations -were so stupefying that Sleeman was not able to believe them. Sleeman -thought he knew every criminal within his jurisdiction, and that the -worst of them were merely thieves; but Feringhea told him that he was in -reality living in the midst of a swarm of professional murderers; that -they had been all about him for many years, and that they buried their -dead close by. These seemed insane tales; but Feringhea said come and -see—and he took him to a grave and dug up a hundred bodies, and told him -all the circumstances of the killings, and named the Thugs who had done -the work. It was a staggering business. Sleeman captured some of these -Thugs and proceeded to examine them separately, and with proper -precautions against collusion; for he would not believe any Indian's -unsupported word. The evidence gathered proved the truth of what -Feringhea had said, and also revealed the fact that gangs of Thugs were -plying their trade all over India. The astonished government now took -hold of Thuggee, and for ten years made systematic and relentless war -upon it, and finally destroyed it. Gang after gang was captured, tried, -and punished. The Thugs were harried and hunted from one end of India to -the other. The government got all their secrets out of them; and also -got the names of the members of the bands, and recorded them in a book, -together with their birthplaces and places of residence. - -<p>The Thugs were worshipers of Bhowanee; and to this god they sacrificed -anybody that came handy; but they kept the dead man's things themselves, -for the god cared for nothing but the corpse. Men were initiated into -the sect with solemn ceremonies. Then they were taught how to strangle a -person with the sacred choke-cloth, but were not allowed to perform -officially with it until after long practice. No half-educated strangler -could choke a man to death quickly enough to keep him from uttering a -sound—a muffled scream, gurgle, gasp, moan, or something of the sort; -but the expert's work was instantaneous: the cloth was whipped around the -victim's neck, there was a sudden twist, and the head fell silently -forward, the eyes starting from the sockets; and all was over. The Thug -carefully guarded against resistance. It was usual to to get the victims -to sit down, for that was the handiest position for business. - -<p>If the Thug had planned India itself it could not have been more -conveniently arranged for the needs of his occupation. - -<p>There were no public conveyances. There were no conveyances for hire. -The traveler went on foot or in a bullock cart or on a horse which he -bought for the purpose. As soon as he was out of his own little State or -principality he was among strangers; nobody knew him, nobody took note of -him, and from that time his movements could no longer be traced. He did -not stop in towns or villages, but camped outside of them and sent his -servants in to buy provisions. There were no habitations between -villages. Whenever he was between villages he was an easy prey, -particularly as he usually traveled by night, to avoid the heat. He was -always being overtaken by strangers who offered him the protection of -their company, or asked for the protection of his—and these strangers -were often Thugs, as he presently found out to his cost. The -landholders, the native police, the petty princes, the village officials, -the customs officers were in many cases protectors and harborers of the -Thugs, and betrayed travelers to them for a share of the spoil. At first -this condition of things made it next to impossible for the government to -catch the marauders; they were spirited away by these watchful friends. -All through a vast continent, thus infested, helpless people of every -caste and kind moved along the paths and trails in couples and groups -silently by night, carrying the commerce of the country—treasure, -jewels, money, and petty batches of silks, spices, and all manner of -wares. It was a paradise for the Thug. - -<p>When the autumn opened, the Thugs began to gather together by -pre-concert. Other people had to have interpreters at every turn, but not -the Thugs; they could talk together, no matter how far apart they were -born, for they had a language of their own, and they had secret signs by -which they knew each other for Thugs; and they were always friends. Even -their diversities of religion and caste were sunk in devotion to their -calling, and the Moslem and the high-caste and low-caste Hindoo were -staunch and affectionate brothers in Thuggery. - -<p>When a gang had been assembled, they had religious worship, and waited -for an omen. They had definite notions about the omens. The cries of -certain animals were good omens, the cries of certain other creatures -were bad omens. A bad omen would stop proceedings and send the men home. - -<p>The sword and the strangling-cloth were sacred emblems. The Thugs -worshiped the sword at home before going out to the assembling-place; the -strangling-cloth was worshiped at the place of assembly. The chiefs of -most of the bands performed the religious ceremonies themselves; but the -Kaets delegated them to certain official stranglers (Chaurs). The rites -of the Kaets were so holy that no one but the Chaur was allowed to touch -the vessels and other things used in them. - -<p>Thug methods exhibit a curious mixture of caution and the absence of it; -cold business calculation and sudden, unreflecting impulse; but there -were two details which were constant, and not subject to caprice: patient -persistence in following up the prey, and pitilessness when the time came -to act. - -<p>Caution was exhibited in the strength of the bands. They never felt -comfortable and confident unless their strength exceeded that of any -party of travelers they were likely to meet by four or fivefold. Yet it -was never their purpose to attack openly, but only when the victims were -off their guard. When they got hold of a party of travelers they often -moved along in their company several days, using all manner of arts to -win their friendship and get their confidence. At last, when this was -accomplished to their satisfaction, the real business began. A few Thugs -were privately detached and sent forward in the dark to select a good -killing-place and dig the graves. When the rest reached the spot a halt -was called, for a rest or a smoke. The travelers were invited to sit. -By signs, the chief appointed certain Thugs to sit down in front of the -travelers as if to wait upon them, others to sit down beside them and -engage them in conversation, and certain expert stranglers to stand -behind the travelers and be ready when the signal was given. The signal -was usually some commonplace remark, like "Bring the tobacco." Sometimes -a considerable wait ensued after all the actors were in their places—the -chief was biding his time, in order to make everything sure. Meantime, -the talk droned on, dim figures moved about in the dull light, peace and -tranquility reigned, the travelers resigned themselves to the pleasant -reposefulness and comfort of the situation, unconscious of the -death-angels standing motionless at their backs. The time was ripe, now, and -the signal came: "Bring the tobacco." There was a mute swift movement, -all in the same instant the men at each victim's sides seized his hands, -the man in front seized his feet, and pulled, the man at his back whipped -the cloth around his neck and gave it a twist—the head sunk forward, the -tragedy was over. The bodies were stripped and covered up in the graves, -the spoil packed for transportation, then the Thugs gave pious thanks to -Bhowanee, and departed on further holy service. - -<p>The Report shows that the travelers moved in exceedingly small -groups—twos, threes, fours, as a rule; a party with a dozen in it was rare. The -Thugs themselves seem to have been the only people who moved in force. -They went about in gangs of 10, 15, 25, 40, 60, 100, 150, 200, 250, and -one gang of 310 is mentioned. Considering their numbers, their catch was -not extraordinary—particularly when you consider that they were not in -the least fastidious, but took anybody they could get, whether rich or -poor, and sometimes even killed children. Now and then they killed -women, but it was considered sinful to do it, and unlucky. The "season" -was six or eight months long. One season the half dozen Bundelkand and -Gwalior gangs aggregated 712 men, and they murdered 210 people. One -season the Malwa and Kandeish gangs aggregated 702 men, and they murdered -232. One season the Kandeish and Berar gangs aggregated 963 men, and -they murdered 385 people. - -<p>Here is the tally-sheet of a gang of sixty Thugs for a whole season—gang -under two noted chiefs, "Chotee and Sheik Nungoo from Gwalior": - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Left Poora, in Jhansee, and on arrival at Sarora murdered a - traveler. - -<p> "On nearly reaching Bhopal, met 3 Brahmins, and murdered them. - -<p> "Cross the Nerbudda; at a village called Hutteea, murdered a Hindoo. - -<p> "Went through Aurungabad to Walagow; there met a Havildar of the - barber caste and 5 sepoys (native soldiers); in the evening came to - Jokur, and in the morning killed them near the place where the - treasure-bearers were killed the year before. - -<p> "Between Jokur and Dholeea met a sepoy of the shepherd caste; killed - him in the jungle. - -<p> "Passed through Dholeea and lodged in a village; two miles beyond, - on the road to Indore, met a Byragee (beggar-holy mendicant); - murdered him at the Thapa. - -<p> "In the morning, beyond the Thapa, fell in with 3 Marwarie - travelers; murdered them. - -<p> "Near a village on the banks of the Taptee met 4 travelers and - killed them. - -<p> "Between Choupra and Dhoreea met a Marwarie; murdered him. - -<p> "At Dhoreea met 3 Marwaries; took them two miles and murdered them. - -<p> "Two miles further on, overtaken by three treasure-bearers; took - them two miles and murdered them in the jungle. - -<p> "Came on to Khurgore Bateesa in Indore, divided spoil, and - dispersed. - -<p> "A total of 27 men murdered on one expedition." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>Chotee (to save his neck) was informer, and furnished these facts. -Several things are noticeable about his resume. 1. Business brevity; -2, absence of emotion; 3, smallness of the parties encountered by the 60; -4, variety in character and quality of the game captured; 5, Hindoo and -Mohammedan chiefs in business together for Bhowanee; 6, the sacred caste -of the Brahmins not respected by either; 7, nor yet the character of that -mendicant, that Byragee. - -<p>A beggar is a holy creature, and some of the gangs spared him on that -account, no matter how slack business might be; but other gangs -slaughtered not only him, but even that sacredest of sacred creatures, -the fakeer—that repulsive skin-and-bone thing that goes around naked and -mats his bushy hair with dust and dirt, and so beflours his lean body -with ashes that he looks like a specter. Sometimes a fakeer trusted a -shade too far in the protection of his sacredness. In the middle of a -tally-sheet of Feringhea's, who had been out with forty Thugs, I find a -case of the kind. After the killing of thirty-nine men and one woman, -the fakeer appears on the scene: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Approaching Doregow, met 3 pundits; also a fakeer, mounted on a - pony; he was plastered over with sugar to collect flies, and was - covered with them. Drove off the fakeer, and killed the other - three. - -<p> "Leaving Doregow, the fakeer joined again, and went on in company to - Raojana; met 6 Khutries on their way from Bombay to Nagpore. Drove - off the fakeer with stones, and killed the 6 men in camp, and buried - them in the grove. - -<p> "Next day the fakeer joined again; made him leave at Mana. Beyond - there, fell in with two Kahars and a sepoy, and came on towards the - place selected for the murder. When near it, the fakeer came again. - Losing all patience with him, gave Mithoo, one of the gang, 5 rupees - ($2.50) to murder him, and take the sin upon himself. All four were - strangled, including the fakeer. Surprised to find among the - fakeer's effects 30 pounds of coral, 350 strings of small pearls, 15 - strings of large pearls, and a gilt necklace." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<p>It it curious, the little effect that time has upon a really interesting -circumstance. This one, so old, so long ago gone down into oblivion, -reads with the same freshness and charm that attach to the news in the -morning paper; one's spirits go up, then down, then up again, following -the chances which the fakeer is running; now you hope, now you despair, -now you hope again; and at last everything comes out right, and you feel -a great wave of personal satisfaction go weltering through you, and -without thinking, you put out your hand to pat Mithoo on the back, -when—puff! the whole thing has vanished away, there is nothing there; Mithoo -and all the crowd have been dust and ashes and forgotten, oh, so many, -many, many lagging years! And then comes a sense of injury: you don't -know whether Mithoo got the swag, along with the sin, or had to divide up -the swag and keep all the sin himself. There is no literary art about a -government report. It stops a story right in the most interesting place. - -<p>These reports of Thug expeditions run along interminably in one -monotonous tune: "Met a sepoy—killed him; met 5 pundits—killed them; -met 4 Rajpoots and a woman—killed them"—and so on, till the statistics -get to be pretty dry. But this small trip of Feringhea's Forty had some -little variety about it. Once they came across a man hiding in a -grave—a thief; he had stolen 1,100 rupees from Dhunroj Seith of Parowtee. They -strangled him and took the money. They had no patience with thieves. -They killed two treasure-bearers, and got 4,000 rupees. They came across -two bullocks "laden with copper pice," and killed the four drivers and -took the money. There must have been half a ton of it. I think it takes -a double handful of pice to make an anna, and 16 annas to make a rupee; -and even in those days the rupee was worth only half a dollar. Coming -back over their tracks from Baroda, they had another picturesque stroke -of luck: "'The Lohars of Oodeypore' put a traveler in their charge for -safety." Dear, dear, across this abyssmal gulf of time we still see -Feringhea's lips uncover his teeth, and through the dim haze we catch the -incandescent glimmer of his smile. He accepted that trust, good man; and -so we know what went with the traveler. - -<p>Even Rajahs had no terrors for Feringhea; he came across an -elephant-driver belonging to the Rajah of Oodeypore and promptly strangled him. - -<p>"A total of 100 men and 5 women murdered on this expedition." - -<p>Among the reports of expeditions we find mention of victims of almost -every quality and estate: -<pre> - Native soldiers. - Fakeers. - Mendicants. - Holy-water carriers. - Carpenters. - Peddlers. - Tailors. - Blacksmiths. - Policemen (native). - Pastry cooks. - Grooms. - Mecca pilgrims. - Chuprassies. - Treasure-bearers. - Children. - Cowherds. - Gardeners. - Shopkeepers. - Palanquin-bearers. - Farmers. - Bullock-drivers. - Male servants seeking work. - Women servants seeking work. - Shepherds. - Archers. - Table-waiters. - Weavers. - Priests. - Bankers. - Boatmen. - Merchants. - Grass-cutters. -</pre> - - -<p>Also a prince's cook; and even the water-carrier of that sublime lord of -lords and king of kings, the Governor-General of India! How broad they -were in their tastes! They also murdered actors—poor wandering -barnstormers. There are two instances recorded; the first one by a gang -of Thugs under a chief who soils a great name borne by a better -man—Kipling's deathless "Gungadin": - -<p> "After murdering 4 sepoys, going on toward Indore, met 4 strolling - players, and persuaded them to come with us, on the pretense that we - would see their performance at the next stage. Murdered them at a - temple near Bhopal." - -<p>Second instance: - -<p> "At Deohuttee, joined by comedians. Murdered them eastward of that - place." - -<p>But this gang was a particularly bad crew. On that expedition they -murdered a fakeer and twelve beggars. And yet Bhowanee protected them; -for once when they were strangling a man in a wood when a crowd was going -by close at hand and the noose slipped and the man screamed, Bhowanee -made a camel burst out at the same moment with a roar that drowned the -scream; and before the man could repeat it the breath was choked out of -his body. - -<p>The cow is so sacred in India that to kill her keeper is an awful -sacrilege, and even the Thugs recognized this; yet now and then the lust -for blood was too strong, and so they did kill a few cow-keepers. In one -of these instances the witness who killed the cowherd said, "In Thuggee -this is strictly forbidden, and is an act from which no good can come. I -was ill of a fever for ten days afterward. I do believe that evil will -follow the murder of a man with a cow. If there be no cow it does not -signify." Another Thug said he held the cowherd's feet while this -witness did the strangling. He felt no concern, "because the bad fortune -of such a deed is upon the strangler and not upon the assistants; even if -there should be a hundred of them." - -<p>There were thousands of Thugs roving over India constantly, during many -generations. They made Thuggee a hereditary vocation and taught it to -their sons and to their son's sons. Boys were in full membership as -early as 16 years of age; veterans were still at work at 70. What was -the fascination, what was the impulse? Apparently, it was partly piety, -largely gain, and there is reason to suspect that the sport afforded was -the chiefest fascination of all. Meadows Taylor makes a Thug in one of -his books claim that the pleasure of killing men was the white man's -beast-hunting instinct enlarged, refined, ennobled. I will quote the -passage: - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch47"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLVII.</h2> - -<p><i>Simple rules for saving money: To save half, when you are fired by an -eager impulse to contribute to a charity, wait, and count forty. To save -three-quarters, count sixty. To save it all, count sixty-five.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>The Thug said: - -<p>"How many of you English are passionately devoted to sporting! Your days -and months are passed in its excitement. A tiger, a panther, a buffalo -or a hog rouses your utmost energies for its destruction—you even risk -your lives in its pursuit. How much higher game is a Thug's!" - -<p>That must really be the secret of the rise and development of Thuggee. -The joy of killing! the joy of seeing killing done—these are traits of -the human race at large. We white people are merely modified Thugs; -Thugs fretting under the restraints of a not very thick skin of -civilization; Thugs who long ago enjoyed the slaughter of the Roman -arena, and later the burning of doubtful Christians by authentic -Christians in the public squares, and who now, with the Thugs of Spain -and Nimes, flock to enjoy the blood and misery of the bullring. We have -no tourists of either sex or any religion who are able to resist the -delights of the bull-ring when opportunity offers; and we are gentle -Thugs in the hunting-season, and love to chase a tame rabbit and kill it. -Still, we have made some progress-microscopic, and in truth scarcely -worth mentioning, and certainly nothing to be proud of—still, it is -progress: we no longer take pleasure in slaughtering or burning helpless -men. We have reached a little altitude where we may look down upon the -Indian Thugs with a complacent shudder; and we may even hope for a day, -many centuries hence, when our posterity will look down upon us in the -same way. - -<p>There are many indications that the Thug often hunted men for the mere -sport of it; that the fright and pain of the quarry were no more to him -than are the fright and pain of the rabbit or the stag to us; and that he -was no more ashamed of beguiling his game with deceits and abusing its -trust than are we when we have imitated a wild animal's call and shot it -when it honored us with its confidence and came to see what we wanted: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Madara, son of Nihal, and I, Ramzam, set out from Kotdee in the - cold weather and followed the high road for about twenty days in - search of travelers, until we came to Selempore, where we met a very - old man going to the east. We won his confidence in this manner: he - carried a load which was too heavy for his old age; I said to him, - 'You are an old man, I will aid you in carrying your load, as you - are from my part of the country.' He said, 'Very well, take me with - you.' So we took him with us to Selempore, where we slept that - night. We woke him next morning before dawn and set out, and at the - distance of three miles we seated him to rest while it was still - very dark. Madara was ready behind him, and strangled him. He - never spoke a word. He was about 60 or 70 years of age." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>Another gang fell in with a couple of barbers and persuaded them to come -along in their company by promising them the job of shaving the whole -crew—30 Thugs. At the place appointed for the murder 15 got shaved, and -actually paid the barbers for their work. Then killed them and took back -the money. - -<p>A gang of forty-two Thugs came across two Brahmins and a shopkeeper on -the road, beguiled them into a grove and got up a concert for their -entertainment. While these poor fellows were listening to the music the -stranglers were standing behind them; and at the proper moment for -dramatic effect they applied the noose. - -<p>The most devoted fisherman must have a bite at least as often as once a -week or his passion will cool and he will put up his tackle. The -tiger-sportsman must find a tiger at least once a fortnight or he will get -tired and quit. The elephant-hunter's enthusiasm will waste away little -by little, and his zeal will perish at last if he plod around a month -without finding a member of that noble family to assassinate. - -<p>But when the lust in the hunter's heart is for the noblest of all -quarries, man, how different is the case! and how watery and poor is the -zeal and how childish the endurance of those other hunters by comparison. -Then, neither hunger, nor thirst, nor fatigue, nor deferred hope, nor -monotonous disappointment, nor leaden-footed lapse of time can conquer -the hunter's patience or weaken the joy of his quest or cool the splendid -rage of his desire. Of all the hunting-passions that burn in the breast -of man, there is none that can lift him superior to discouragements like -these but the one—the royal sport, the supreme sport, whose quarry is -his brother. By comparison, tiger-hunting is a colorless poor thing, for -all it has been so bragged about. - -<p>Why, the Thug was content to tramp patiently along, afoot, in the wasting -heat of India, week after week, at an average of nine or ten miles a day, -if he might but hope to find game some time or other and refresh his -longing soul with blood. Here is an instance: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "I (Ramzam) and Hyder set out, for the purpose of strangling - travelers, from Guddapore, and proceeded via the Fort of Julalabad, - Newulgunge, Bangermow, on the banks of the Ganges (upwards of 100 - miles), from whence we returned by another route. Still no - travelers! till we reached Bowaneegunge, where we fell in with a - traveler, a boatman; we inveigled him and about two miles east of - there Hyder strangled him as he stood—for he was troubled and - afraid, and would not sit. We then made a long journey (about 130 - miles) and reached Hussunpore Bundwa, where at the tank we fell in - with a traveler—he slept there that night; next morning we followed - him and tried to win his confidence; at the distance of two miles we - endeavored to induce him to sit down—but he would not, having - become aware of us. I attempted to strangle him as he walked along, - but did not succeed; both of us then fell upon him, he made a great - outcry, 'They are murdering me!' at length we strangled him and - flung his body into a well. After this we returned to our homes, - having been out a month and traveled about 260 miles. A total of - two men murdered on the expedition." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>And here is another case-related by the terrible Futty Khan, a man with a -tremendous record, to be re-mentioned by and by: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "I, with three others, traveled for about 45 days a distance of - about 200 miles in search of victims along the highway to Bundwa and - returned by Davodpore (another 200 miles) during which journey we - had only one murder, which happened in this manner. Four miles to - the east of Noubustaghat we fell in with a traveler, an old man. I, - with Koshal and Hyder, inveigled him and accompanied him that day - within 3 miles of Rampoor, where, after dark, in a lonely place, we - got him to sit down and rest; and while I kept him in talk, seated - before him, Hyder behind strangled him: he made no resistance. - Koshal stabbed him under the arms and in the throat, and we flung - the body into a running stream. We got about 4 or 5 rupees each ($2 - or $2.50). We then proceeded homewards. A total of one man - murdered on this expedition." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>There. They tramped 400 miles, were gone about three months, and -harvested two dollars and a half apiece. But the mere pleasure of the -hunt was sufficient. That was pay enough. They did no grumbling. - -<p>Every now and then in this big book one comes across that pathetic -remark: "we tried to get him to sit down but he would not." It tells the -whole story. Some accident had awakened the suspicion in him that these -smooth friends who had been petting and coddling him and making him feel -so safe and so fortunate after his forlorn and lonely wanderings were the -dreaded Thugs; and now their ghastly invitation to "sit and rest" had -confirmed its truth. He knew there was no help for him, and that he was -looking his last upon earthly things, but "he would not sit." No, not -that—it was too awful to think of! - -<p>There are a number of instances which indicate that when a man had once -tasted the regal joys of man-hunting he could not be content with the -dull monotony of a crimeless life after ward. Example, from a Thug's -testimony: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "We passed through to Kurnaul, where we found a former Thug named - Junooa, an old comrade of ours, who had turned religious mendicant - and become a disciple and holy. He came to us in the serai and - weeping with joy returned to his old trade." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>Neither wealth nor honors nor dignities could satisfy a reformed Thug for -long. He would throw them all away, someday, and go back to the lurid -pleasures of hunting men, and being hunted himself by the British. - -<p>Ramzam was taken into a great native grandee's service and given -authority over five villages. "My authority extended over these people -to summons them to my presence, to make them stand or sit. I dressed -well, rode my pony, and had two sepoys, a scribe and a village guard to -attend me. During three years I used to pay each village a monthly -visit, and no one suspected that I was a Thug! The chief man used to -wait on me to transact business, and as I passed along, old and young -made their salaam to me." - -<p>And yet during that very three years he got leave of absence "to attend a -wedding," and instead went off on a Thugging lark with six other Thugs -and hunted the highway for fifteen days!—with satisfactory results. - -<p>Afterwards he held a great office under a Rajah. There he had ten miles -of country under his command and a military guard of fifteen men, with -authority to call out 2,000 more upon occasion. But the British got on -his track, and they crowded him so that he had to give himself up. See -what a figure he was when he was gotten up for style and had all his -things on: "I was fully armed—a sword, shield, pistols, a matchlock -musket and a flint gun, for I was fond of being thus arrayed, and when so -armed feared not though forty men stood before me." - -<p>He gave himself up and proudly proclaimed himself a Thug. Then by -request he agreed to betray his friend and pal, Buhram, a Thug with the -most tremendous record in India. "I went to the house where Buhram slept -(often has he led our gangs!) I woke him, he knew me well, and came -outside to me. It was a cold night, so under pretence of warming myself, -but in reality to have light for his seizure by the guards, I lighted -some straw and made a blaze. We were warming our hands. The guards drew -around us. I said to them, 'This is Buhram,' and he was seized just as a -cat seizes a mouse. Then Buhram said, 'I am a Thug! my father was a -Thug, my grandfather was a Thug, and I have thugged with many!'" - -<p>So spoke the mighty hunter, the mightiest of the mighty, the Gordon -Cumming of his day. Not much regret noticeable in it.—["Having planted -a bullet in the shoulder-bone of an elephant, and caused the agonized -creature to lean for support against a tree, I proceeded to brew some -coffee. Having refreshed myself, taking observations of the elephant's -spasms and writhings between the sips, I resolved to make experiments on -vulnerable points, and, approaching very near, I fired several bullets at -different parts of his enormous skull. He only acknowledged the shots by -a salaam-like movement of his trunk, with the point of which he gently -touched the wounds with a striking and peculiar action. Surprised and -shocked to find that I was only prolonging the suffering of the noble -beast, which bore its trials with such dignified composure, I resolved to -finish the proceeding with all possible despatch, and accordingly opened -fire upon him from the left side. Aiming at the shoulder, I fired six -shots with the two-grooved rifle, which must have eventually proved -mortal, after which I fired six shots at the same part with the Dutch -six-founder. Large tears now trickled down from his eyes, which he -slowly shut and opened, his colossal frame shivered convulsively, and -falling on his side he expired."—Gordon Cumming.] - -<p>So many many times this Official Report leaves one's curiosity -unsatisfied. For instance, here is a little paragraph out of the record -of a certain band of 193 Thugs, which has that defect: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Fell in with Lall Sing Subahdar and his family, consisting of nine - persons. Traveled with them two days, and the third put them all to - death except the two children, little boys of one and a half years - old." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>There it stops. What did they do with those poor little fellows? What -was their subsequent history? Did they purpose training them up as -Thugs? How could they take care of such little creatures on a march -which stretched over several months? No one seems to have cared to ask -any questions about the babies. But I do wish I knew. - -<p>One would be apt to imagine that the Thugs were utterly callous, utterly -destitute of human feelings, heartless toward their own families as well -as toward other people's; but this was not so. Like all other Indians, -they had a passionate love for their kin. A shrewd British officer who -knew the Indian character, took that characteristic into account in -laying his plans for the capture of Eugene Sue's famous Feringhea. He -found out Feringhea's hiding-place, and sent a guard by night to seize -him, but the squad was awkward and he got away. However, they got the -rest of the family—the mother, wife, child, and brother—and brought -them to the officer, at Jubbulpore; the officer did not fret, but bided -his time: "I knew Feringhea would not go far while links so dear to him -were in my hands." He was right. Feringhea knew all the danger he was -running by staying in the neighborhood, still he could not tear himself -away. The officer found that he divided his time between five villages -where be had relatives and friends who could get news for him from his -family in Jubbulpore jail; and that he never slept two consecutive nights -in the same village. The officer traced out his several haunts, then -pounced upon all the five villages on the one night and at the same hour, -and got his man. - -<p>Another example of family affection. A little while previously to the -capture of Feringhea's family, the British officer had captured -Feringhea's foster-brother, leader of a gang of ten, and had tried the -eleven and condemned them to be hanged. Feringhea's captured family -arrived at the jail the day before the execution was to take place. The -foster-brother, Jhurhoo, entreated to be allowed to see the aged mother -and the others. The prayer was granted, and this is what took place—it -is the British officer who speaks: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "In the morning, just before going to the scaffold, the interview - took place before me. He fell at the old woman's feet and begged - that she would relieve him from the obligations of the milk with - which she had nourished him from infancy, as he was about to die - before he could fulfill any of them. She placed her hands on his - head, and he knelt, and she said she forgave him all, and bid him - die like a man." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>If a capable artist should make a picture of it, it would be full of -dignity and solemnity and pathos; and it could touch you. You would -imagine it to be anything but what it was. There is reverence there, and -tenderness, and gratefulness, and compassion, and resignation, and -fortitude, and self-respect—and no sense of disgrace, no thought of -dishonor. Everything is there that goes to make a noble parting, and -give it a moving grace and beauty and dignity. And yet one of these -people is a Thug and the other a mother of Thugs! The incongruities of -our human nature seem to reach their limit here. - -<p>I wish to make note of one curious thing while I think of it. One of the -very commonest remarks to be found in this bewildering array of Thug -confessions is this: - -<p>"Strangled him and threw him in a well!" In one case they threw sixteen -into a well—and they had thrown others in the same well before. It -makes a body thirsty to read about it. - -<p>And there is another very curious thing. The bands of Thugs had private -graveyards. They did not like to kill and bury at random, here and there -and everywhere. They preferred to wait, and toll the victims along, and -get to one of their regular burying-places ('bheels') if they could. In -the little kingdom of Oude, which was about half as big as Ireland and -about as big as the State of Maine, they had two hundred and seventy-four -'bheels'. They were scattered along fourteen hundred miles of road, at -an average of only five miles apart, and the British government traced -out and located each and every one of them and set them down on the map. - -<p>The Oude bands seldom went out of their own country, but they did a -thriving business within its borders. So did outside bands who came in -and helped. Some of the Thug leaders of Oude were noted for their -successful careers. Each of four of them confessed to above 300 murders; -another to nearly 400; our friend Ramzam to 604—he is the one who got -leave of absence to attend a wedding and went thugging instead; and he is -also the one who betrayed Buhram to the British. - -<p>But the biggest records of all were the murder-lists of Futty Khan and -Buhram. Futty Khan's number is smaller than Ramzam's, but he is placed -at the head because his average is the best in Oude-Thug history per year -of service. His slaughter was 508 men in twenty years, and he was still -a young man when the British stopped his industry. Buhram's list was 931 -murders, but it took him forty years. His average was one man and nearly -all of another man per month for forty years, but Futty Khan's average -was two men and a little of another man per month during his twenty years -of usefulness. - -<p>There is one very striking thing which I wish to call attention to. You -have surmised from the listed callings followed by the victims of the -Thugs that nobody could travel the Indian roads unprotected and live to -get through; that the Thugs respected no quality, no vocation, no -religion, nobody; that they killed every unarmed man that came in their -way. That is wholly true—with one reservation. In all the long file of -Thug confessions an English traveler is mentioned but once—and this is -what the Thug says of the circumstance: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "He was on his way from Mhow to Bombay. We studiously avoided him. - He proceeded next morning with a number of travelers who had sought - his protection, and they took the road to Baroda." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>We do not know who he was; he flits across the page of this rusty old -book and disappears in the obscurity beyond; but he is an impressive -figure, moving through that valley of death serene and unafraid, clothed -in the might of the English name. - -<p>We have now followed the big official book through, and we understand -what Thuggee was, what a bloody terror it was, what a desolating scourge -it was. In 1830 the English found this cancerous organization imbedded -in the vitals of the empire, doing its devastating work in secrecy, and -assisted, protected, sheltered, and hidden by innumerable -confederates—big and little native chiefs, customs officers, village officials, and -native police, all ready to lie for it, and the mass of the people, -through fear, persistently pretending to know nothing about its doings; -and this condition of things had existed for generations, and was -formidable with the sanctions of age and old custom. If ever there was -an unpromising task, if ever there was a hopeless task in the world, -surely it was offered here—the task of conquering Thuggee. But that -little handful of English officials in India set their sturdy and -confident grip upon it, and ripped it out, root and branch! How modest -do Captain Vallancey's words sound now, when we read them again, knowing -what we know: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "The day that sees this far-spread evil completely eradicated from - India, and known only in name, will greatly tend to immortalize - British rule in the East." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>It would be hard to word a claim more modestly than that for this most -noble work. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch48"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h2> - -<p><i>Grief can take care of itself; but to get the full value of a joy you -must have somebody to divide it with.</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>We left Bombay for Allahabad by a night train. It is the custom of the -country to avoid day travel when it can conveniently be done. But there -is one trouble: while you can seemingly "secure" the two lower berths by -making early application, there is no ticket as witness of it, and no -other producible evidence in case your proprietorship shall chance to be -challenged. The word "engaged" appears on the window, but it doesn't -state who the compartment is engaged, for. If your Satan and your Barney -arrive before somebody else's servants, and spread the bedding on the two -sofas and then stand guard till you come, all will be well; but if they -step aside on an errand, they may find the beds promoted to the two -shelves, and somebody else's demons standing guard over their master's -beds, which in the meantime have been spread upon your sofas. - -<p>You do not pay anything extra for your sleeping place; that is where the -trouble lies. If you buy a fare-ticket and fail to use it, there is room -thus made available for someone else; but if the place were secured to -you it would remain vacant, and yet your ticket would secure you another -place when you were presently ready to travel. - -<p>However, no explanation of such a system can make it seem quite rational -to a person who has been used to a more rational system. If our people -had the arranging of it, we should charge extra for securing the place, -and then the road would suffer no loss if the purchaser did not occupy -it. - -<p>The present system encourages good manners—and also discourages them. -If a young girl has a lower berth and an elderly lady comes in, it is -usual for the girl to offer her place to this late comer; and it is usual -for the late comer to thank her courteously and take it. But the thing -happens differently sometimes. When we were ready to leave Bombay my -daughter's satchels were holding possession of her berth—a lower one. -At the last moment, a middle-aged American lady swarmed into the -compartment, followed by native porters laden with her baggage. She was -growling and snarling and scolding, and trying to make herself -phenomenally disagreeable; and succeeding. Without a word, she hoisted -the satchels into the hanging shelf, and took possession of that lower -berth. - -<p>On one of our trips Mr. Smythe and I got out at a station to walk up and -down, and when we came back Smythe's bed was in the hanging shelf and an -English cavalry officer was in bed on the sofa which he had lately been -occupying. It was mean to be glad about it, but it is the way we are -made; I could not have been gladder if it had been my enemy that had -suffered this misfortune. We all like to see people in trouble, if it -doesn't cost us anything. I was so happy over Mr. Smythe's chagrin that -I couldn't go to sleep for thinking of it and enjoying it. I knew he -supposed the officer had committed the robbery himself, whereas without a -doubt the officer's servant had done it without his knowledge. Mr. -Smythe kept this incident warm in his heart, and longed for a chance to -get even with somebody for it. Sometime afterward the opportunity came, -in Calcutta. We were leaving on a 24-hour journey to Darjeeling. Mr. -Barclay, the general superintendent, has made special provision for our -accommodation, Mr. Smythe said; so there was no need to hurry about -getting to the train; consequently, we were a little late. - -<p>When we arrived, the usual immense turmoil and confusion of a great -Indian station were in full blast. It was an immoderately long train, -for all the natives of India were going by it somewhither, and the native -officials were being pestered to frenzy by belated and anxious people. -They didn't know where our car was, and couldn't remember having received -any orders about it. It was a deep disappointment; moreover, it looked -as if our half of our party would be left behind altogether. Then Satan -came running and said he had found a compartment with one shelf and one -sofa unoccupied, and had made our beds and had stowed our baggage. We -rushed to the place, and just as the train was ready to pull out and the -porters were slamming the doors to, all down the line, an officer of the -Indian Civil Service, a good friend of ours, put his head in and said:— - -<p>"I have been hunting for you everywhere. What are you doing here? Don't -you know——" - -<p>The train started before he could finish. Mr. Smythe's opportunity was -come. His bedding, on the shelf, at once changed places with the -bedding—a stranger's—that was occupying the sofa that was opposite to -mine. About ten o'clock we stopped somewhere, and a large Englishman of -official military bearing stepped in. We pretended to be asleep. The -lamps were covered, but there was light enough for us to note his look of -surprise. He stood there, grand and fine, peering down at Smythe, and -wondering in silence at the situation. After a bit he said:— - -<p>"Well!" And that was all. - -<p>But that was enough. It was easy to understand. It meant: "This is -extraordinary. This is high-handed. I haven't had an experience like -this before." - -<p>He sat down on his baggage, and for twenty minutes we watched him through -our eyelashes, rocking and swaying there to the motion of the train. -Then we came to a station, and he got up and went out, muttering: "I must -find a lower berth, or wait over." His servant came presently and carried -away his things. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p450.jpg (41K)" src="images/p450.jpg" height="457" width="629"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>Mr. Smythe's sore place was healed, his hunger for revenge was satisfied. -But he couldn't sleep, and neither could I; for this was a venerable old -car, and nothing about it was taut. The closet door slammed all night, -and defied every fastening we could invent. We got up very much jaded, -at dawn, and stepped out at a way station; and, while we were taking a -cup of coffee, that Englishman ranged up alongside, and somebody said to -him: - -<p>"So you didn't stop off, after all?" - -<p>"No. The guard found a place for me that had been engaged and not -occupied. I had a whole saloon car all to myself—oh, quite palatial! -I never had such luck in my life." - -<p>That was our car, you see. We moved into it, straight off, the family -and all. But I asked the English gentleman to remain, and he did. A -pleasant man, an infantry colonel; and doesn't know, yet, that Smythe -robbed him of his berth, but thinks it was done by Smythe's servant -without Smythe's knowledge. He was assisted in gathering this -impression. - -<p>The Indian trains are manned by natives exclusively. The Indian stations -except very large and important ones—are manned entirely by natives, and -so are the posts and telegraphs. The rank and file of the police are -natives. All these people are pleasant and accommodating. One day I -left an express train to lounge about in that perennially ravishing show, -the ebb and flow and whirl of gaudy natives, that is always surging up -and down the spacious platform of a great Indian station; and I lost -myself in the ecstasy of it, and when I turned, the train was moving -swiftly away. I was going to sit down and wait for another train, as I -would have done at home; I had no thought of any other course. But a -native official, who had a green flag in his hand, saw me, and said -politely: - -<p>"Don't you belong in the train, sir?" - -<p>"Yes." I said. - -<p>He waved his flag, and the train came back! And he put me aboard with as -much ceremony as if I had been the General Superintendent. They are -kindly people, the natives. The face and the bearing that indicate a -surly spirit and a bad heart seemed to me to be so rare among Indians—so -nearly non-existent, in fact—that I sometimes wondered if Thuggee wasn't -a dream, and not a reality. The bad hearts are there, but I believe that -they are in a small, poor minority. One thing is sure: They are much the -most interesting people in the world—and the nearest to being -incomprehensible. At any rate, the hardest to account for. Their -character and their history, their customs and their religion, confront -you with riddles at every turn-riddles which are a trifle more perplexing -after they are explained than they were before. You can get the facts of -a custom—like caste, and Suttee, and Thuggee, and so on—and with the -facts a theory which tries to explain, but never quite does it to your -satisfaction. You can never quite understand how so strange a thing -could have been born, nor why. - -<p>For instance—the Suttee. This is the explanation of it: - -<p>A woman who throws away her life when her husband dies is instantly -joined to him again, and is forever afterward happy with him in heaven; -her family will build a little monument to her, or a temple, and will -hold her in honor, and, indeed, worship her memory always; they will -themselves be held in honor by the public; the woman's self-sacrifice has -conferred a noble and lasting distinction upon her posterity. And, -besides, see what she has escaped: If she had elected to live, she would -be a disgraced person; she could not remarry; her family would despise -her and disown her; she would be a friendless outcast, and miserable all -her days. - -<p>Very well, you say, but the explanation is not complete yet. How did -people come to drift into such a strange custom? What was the origin of -the idea? "Well, nobody knows; it was probably a revelation sent down by -the gods." One more thing: Why was such a cruel death chosen—why -wouldn't a gentle one have answered? "Nobody knows; maybe that was a -revelation, too." - -<p>No—you can never understand it. It all seems impossible. You resolve -to believe that a widow never burnt herself willingly, but went to her -death because she was afraid to defy public opinion. But you are not -able to keep that position. History drives you from it. Major Sleeman -has a convincing case in one of his books. In his government on the -Nerbudda he made a brave attempt on the 28th of March, 1828, to put down -Suttee on his own hook and without warrant from the Supreme Government of -India. He could not foresee that the Government would put it down itself -eight months later. The only backing he had was a bold nature and a -compassionate heart. He issued his proclamation abolishing the Suttee in -his district. On the morning of Tuesday—note the day of the week—the -24th of the following November, Ummed Singh Upadhya, head of the most -respectable and most extensive Brahmin family in the district, died, and -presently came a deputation of his sons and grandsons to beg that his old -widow might be allowed to burn herself upon his pyre. Sleeman threatened -to enforce his order, and punish severely any man who assisted; and he -placed a police guard to see that no one did so. From the early morning -the old widow of sixty-five had been sitting on the bank of the sacred -river by her dead, waiting through the long hours for the permission; and -at last the refusal came instead. In one little sentence Sleeman gives -you a pathetic picture of this lonely old gray figure: all day and all -night "she remained sitting by the edge of the water without eating or -drinking." The next morning the body of the husband was burned to ashes -in a pit eight feet square and three or four feet deep, in the view of -several thousand spectators. Then the widow waded out to a bare rock in -the river, and everybody went away but her sons and other relations. All -day she sat there on her rock in the blazing sun without food or drink, -and with no clothing but a sheet over her shoulders. - -<p>The relatives remained with her and all tried to persuade her to desist -from her purpose, for they deeply loved her. She steadily refused. Then -a part of the family went to Sleeman's house, ten miles away, and tried -again to get him to let her burn herself. He refused, hoping to save her -yet. - -<p>All that day she scorched in her sheet on the rock, and all that night -she kept her vigil there in the bitter cold. Thursday morning, in the -sight of her relatives, she went through a ceremonial which said more to -them than any words could have done; she put on the dhaja (a coarse red -turban) and broke her bracelets in pieces. By these acts she became a -dead person in the eye of the law, and excluded from her caste forever. -By the iron rule of ancient custom, if she should now choose to live she -could never return to her family. Sleeman was in deep trouble. If she -starved herself to death her family would be disgraced; and, moreover, -starving would be a more lingering misery than the death by fire. He -went back in the evening thoroughly worried. The old woman remained on -her rock, and there in the morning he found her with her dhaja still on -her head. "She talked very collectedly, telling me that she had -determined to mix her ashes with those of her departed husband, and -should patiently wait my permission to do so, assured that God would -enable her to sustain life till that was given, though she dared not eat -or drink. Looking at the sun, then rising before her over a long and -beautiful reach of the river, she said calmly, 'My soul has been for five -days with my husband's near that sun; nothing but my earthly frame is -left; and this, I know, you will in time suffer to be mixed with his -ashes in yonder pit, because it is not in your nature or usage wantonly -to prolong the miseries of a poor old woman.'" - -<p>He assured her that it was his desire and duty to save her, and to urge -her to live, and to keep her family from the disgrace of being thought -her murderers. But she said she "was not afraid of their being thought -so; that they had all, like good children, done everything in their power -to induce her to live, and to abide with them; and if I should consent I -know they would love and honor me, but my duties to them have now ended. -I commit them all to your care, and I go to attend my husband, Ummed -Singh Upadhya, with whose ashes on the funeral pile mine have been -already three times mixed." - -<p>She believed that she and he had been upon the earth three several times -as wife and husband, and that she had burned herself to death three times -upon his pyre. That is why she said that strange thing. Since she had -broken her bracelets and put on the red turban she regarded herself as a -corpse; otherwise she would not have allowed herself to do her husband -the irreverence of pronouncing his name. "This was the first time in her -long life that she had ever uttered her husband's name, for in India no -woman, high or low, ever pronounces the name of her husband." - -<p>Major Sleeman still tried to shake her purpose. He promised to build her -a fine house among the temples of her ancestors upon the bank of the -river and make handsome provision for her out of rent-free lands if she -would consent to live; and if she wouldn't he would allow no stone or -brick to ever mark the place where she died. But she only smiled and -said, "My pulse has long ceased to beat, my spirit has departed; I shall -suffer nothing in the burning; and if you wish proof, order some fire and -you shall see this arm consumed without giving me any pain." - -<p>Sleeman was now satisfied that he could not alter her purpose. He sent -for all the chief members of the family and said he would suffer her to -burn herself if they would enter into a written engagement to abandon the -suttee in their family thenceforth. They agreed; the papers were drawn -out and signed, and at noon, Saturday, word was sent to the poor old -woman. She seemed greatly pleased. The ceremonies of bathing were gone -through with, and by three o'clock she was ready and the fire was briskly -burning in the pit. She had now gone without food or drink during more -than four days and a half. She came ashore from her rock, first wetting -her sheet in the waters of the sacred river, for without that safeguard -any shadow which might fall upon her would convey impurity to her; then -she walked to the pit, leaning upon one of her sons and a nephew—the -distance was a hundred and fifty yards. - -<p>"I had sentries placed all around, and no other person was allowed to -approach within five paces. She came on with a calm and cheerful -countenance, stopped once, and casting her eyes upwards, said, 'Why have -they kept me five days from thee, my husband?' On coming to the sentries -her supporters stopped and remained standing; she moved on, and walked -once around the pit, paused a moment, and while muttering a prayer, threw -some flowers into the fire. She then walked up deliberately and steadily -to the brink, stepped into the centre of the flame, sat down, and leaning -back in the midst as if reposing upon a couch, was consumed without -uttering a shriek or betraying one sign of agony." - -<p>It is fine and beautiful. It compels one's reverence and respect—no, -has it freely, and without compulsion. We see how the custom, once -started, could continue, for the soul of it is that stupendous power, -Faith; faith brought to the pitch of effectiveness by the cumulative -force of example and long use and custom; but we cannot understand how -the first widows came to take to it. That is a perplexing detail. - -<p>Sleeman says that it was usual to play music at the suttee, but that the -white man's notion that this was to drown the screams of the martyr is -not correct; that it had a quite different purpose. It was believed that -the martyr died prophecying; that the prophecies sometimes foretold -disaster, and it was considered a kindness to those upon whom it was to -fall to drown the voice and keep them in ignorance of the misfortune that -was to come. - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch49"></a><br><br>CHAPTER XLIX.</h2> - -<p><i>He had had much experience of physicians, and said "the only way to keep -your health is to eat what you don't want, drink what you don't like, -and do what you'd druther not."</i> - <center>—Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>It was a long journey—two nights, one day, and part of another day, from -Bombay eastward to Allahabad; but it was always interesting, and it was -not fatiguing. At first the night travel promised to be fatiguing, but -that was on account of pyjamas. This foolish night-dress consists of -jacket and drawers. Sometimes they are made of silk, sometimes of a -raspy, scratchy, slazy woolen material with a sandpaper surface. The -drawers are loose elephant-legged and elephant-waisted things, and -instead of buttoning around the body there is a drawstring to produce the -required shrinkage. The jacket is roomy, and one buttons it in front. -Pyjamas are hot on a hot night and cold on a cold night—defects which a -nightshirt is free from. I tried the pyjamas in order to be in the -fashion; but I was obliged to give them up, I couldn't stand them. There -was no sufficient change from day-gear to night-gear. I missed the -refreshing and luxurious sense, induced by the night-gown, of being -undressed, emancipated, set free from restraints and trammels. In place -of that, I had the worried, confined, oppressed, suffocated sense of -being abed with my clothes on. All through the warm half of the night -the coarse surfaces irritated my skin and made it feel baked and -feverish, and the dreams which came in the fitful flurries of slumber -were such as distress the sleep of the damned, or ought to; and all -through the cold other half of the night I could get no time for sleep -because I had to employ it all in stealing blankets. But blankets are of -no value at such a time; the higher they are piled the more effectively -they cork the cold in and keep it from getting out. The result is that -your legs are ice, and you know how you will feel by and by when you are -buried. In a sane interval I discarded the pyjamas, and led a rational -and comfortable life thenceforth. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p458.jpg (40K)" src="images/p458.jpg" height="977" width="611"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>Out in the country in India, the day begins early. One sees a plain, -perfectly flat, dust-colored and brick-yardy, stretching limitlessly away -on every side in the dim gray light, striped everywhere with hard-beaten -narrow paths, the vast flatness broken at wide intervals by bunches of -spectral trees that mark where villages are; and along all the paths are -slender women and the black forms of lanky naked men moving, to their -work, the women with brass water-jars on their heads, the men carrying -hoes. The man is not entirely naked; always there is a bit of white rag, -a loin-cloth; it amounts to a bandage, and is a white accent on his black -person, like the silver band around the middle of a pipe-stem. Sometimes -he also wears a fluffy and voluminous white turban, and this adds a -second accent. He then answers properly to Miss Gordon Cumming's -flash-light picture of him—as a person who is dressed in "a turban and a -pocket handkerchief." - -<p>All day long one has this monotony of dust-colored dead levels and -scattering bunches of trees and mud villages. You soon realize that -India is not beautiful; still there is an enchantment about it that is -beguiling, and which does not pall. You cannot tell just what it is that -makes the spell, perhaps, but you feel it and confess it, nevertheless. -Of course, at bottom, you know in a vague way that it is history; it is -that that affects you, a haunting sense of the myriads of human lives -that have blossomed, and withered, and perished here, repeating and -repeating and repeating, century after century, and age after age, the -barren and meaningless process; it is this sense that gives to this -forlorn, uncomely land power to speak to the spirit and make friends with -it; to speak to it with a voice bitter with satire, but eloquent with -melancholy. The deserts of Australia and the ice-barrens of Greenland -have no speech, for they have no venerable history; with nothing to tell -of man and his vanities, his fleeting glories and his miseries, they have -nothing wherewith to spiritualize their ugliness and veil it with a -charm. - -<p>There is nothing pretty about an Indian village—a mud one—and I do not -remember that we saw any but mud ones on that long flight to Allahabad. -It is a little bunch of dirt-colored mud hovels jammed together within a -mud wall. As a rule, the rains had beaten down parts of some of the -houses, and this gave the village the aspect of a mouldering and hoary -ruin. I believe the cattle and the vermin live inside the wall; for I -saw cattle coming out and cattle going in; and whenever I saw a villager, -he was scratching. This last is only circumstantial evidence, but I -think it has value. The village has a battered little temple or two, big -enough to hold an idol, and with custom enough to fat-up a priest and -keep him comfortable. Where there are Mohammedans there are generally a -few sorry tombs outside the village that have a decayed and neglected -look. The villages interested me because of things which Major Sleeman -says about them in his books—particularly what he says about the -division of labor in them. He says that the whole face of India is -parceled out into estates of villages; that nine-tenths of the vast -population of the land consist of cultivators of the soil; that it is -these cultivators who inhabit the villages; that there are certain -"established" village servants—mechanics and others who are apparently -paid a wage by the village at large, and whose callings remain in certain -families and are handed down from father to son, like an estate. He -gives a list of these established servants: Priest, blacksmith, -carpenter, accountant, washerman, basketmaker, potter, watchman, barber, -shoemaker, brazier, confectioner, weaver, dyer, etc. In his day witches -abounded, and it was not thought good business wisdom for a man to marry -his daughter into a family that hadn't a witch in it, for she would need -a witch on the premises to protect her children from the evil spells -which would certainly be cast upon them by the witches connected with the -neighboring families. - -<p>The office of midwife was hereditary in the family of the basket-maker. -It belonged to his wife. She might not be competent, but the office was -hers, anyway. Her pay was not high—25 cents for a boy, and half as much -for a girl. The girl was not desired, because she would be a disastrous -expense by and by. As soon as she should be old enough to begin to wear -clothes for propriety's sake, it would be a disgrace to the family if she -were not married; and to marry her meant financial ruin; for by custom -the father must spend upon feasting and wedding-display everything he had -and all he could borrow—in fact, reduce himself to a condition of -poverty which he might never more recover from. - -<p>It was the dread of this prospective ruin which made the killing of -girl-babies so prevalent in India in the old days before England laid the iron -hand of her prohibitions upon the piteous slaughter. One may judge of -how prevalent the custom was, by one of Sleeman's casual electrical -remarks, when he speaks of children at play in villages—<i>where -girl-voices were never heard!</i> - -<p>The wedding-display folly is still in full force in India, and by -consequence the destruction of girl-babies is still furtively practiced; -but not largely, because of the vigilance of the government and the -sternness of the penalties it levies. - -<p>In some parts of India the village keeps in its pay three other servants: -an astrologer to tell the villager when he may plant his crop, or make a -journey, or marry a wife, or strangle a child, or borrow a dog, or climb -a tree, or catch a rat, or swindle a neighbor, without offending the -alert and solicitous heavens; and what his dream means, if he has had one -and was not bright enough to interpret it himself by the details of his -dinner; the two other established servants were the tiger-persuader and -the hailstorm discourager. The one kept away the tigers if he could, and -collected the wages anyway, and the other kept off the hailstorms, or -explained why he failed. He charged the same for explaining a failure -that he did for scoring a success. A man is an idiot who can't earn a -living in India. - -<p>Major Sleeman reveals the fact that the trade union and the boycott are -antiquities in India. India seems to have originated everything. The -"sweeper" belongs to the bottom caste; he is the lowest of the low—all -other castes despise him and scorn his office. But that does not trouble -him. His caste is a caste, and that is sufficient for him, and so he is -proud of it, not ashamed. Sleeman says: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "It is perhaps not known to many of my countrymen, even in India, - that in every town and city in the country the right of sweeping the - houses and streets is a monopoly, and is supported entirely by the - pride of castes among the scavengers, who are all of the lowest - class. The right of sweeping within a certain range is recognized - by the caste to belong to a certain member; and if any other member - presumes to sweep within that range, he is excommunicated—no other - member will smoke out of his pipe or drink out of his jug; and he - can get restored to caste only by a feast to the whole body of - sweepers. If any housekeeper within a particular circle happens to - offend the sweeper of that range, none of his filth will be removed - till he pacifies him, because no other sweeper will dare to touch - it; and the people of a town are often more tyrannized over by these - people than by any other." -</blockquote></blockquote> - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p463.jpg (10K)" src="images/p463.jpg" height="439" width="303"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>A footnote by Major Sleeman's editor, Mr. Vincent Arthur Smith, says that -in our day this tyranny of the sweepers' guild is one of the many -difficulties which bar the progress of Indian sanitary reform. Think of -this: -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "The sweepers cannot be readily coerced, because no Hindoo or - Mussulman would do their work to save his life, nor will he pollute - himself by beating the refractory scavenger." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>They certainly do seem to have the whip-hand; it would be difficult to -imagine a more impregnable position. "The vested rights described in the -text are so fully recognized in practice that they are frequently the -subject of sale or mortgage." - -<p>Just like a milk-route; or like a London crossing-sweepership. It is -said that the London crossing-sweeper's right to his crossing is -recognized by the rest of the guild; that they protect him in its -possession; that certain choice crossings are valuable property, and are -saleable at high figures. I have noticed that the man who sweeps in -front of the Army and Navy Stores has a wealthy South African -aristocratic style about him; and when he is off his guard, he has -exactly that look on his face which you always see in the face of a man -who is saving up his daughter to marry her to a duke. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p464.jpg (5K)" src="images/p464.jpg" height="228" width="145"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>It appears from Sleeman that in India the occupation of elephant-driver -is confined to Mohammedans. I wonder why that is. The water-carrier -('bheestie') is a Mohammedan, but it is said that the reason of that is, -that the Hindoo's religion does not allow him to touch the skin of dead -kine, and that is what the water-sack is made of; it would defile him. -And it doesn't allow him to eat meat; the animal that furnished the meat -was murdered, and to take any creature's life is a sin. It is a good and -gentle religion, but inconvenient. - -<p>A great Indian river, at low water, suggests the familiar anatomical -picture of a skinned human body, the intricate mesh of interwoven muscles -and tendons to stand for water-channels, and the archipelagoes of fat and -flesh inclosed by them to stand for the sandbars. Somewhere on this -journey we passed such a river, and on a later journey we saw in the -Sutlej the duplicate of that river. Curious rivers they are; low shores -a dizzy distance apart, with nothing between but an enormous acreage of -sand-flats with sluggish little veins of water dribbling around amongst -them; Saharas of sand, smallpox-pitted with footprints punctured in belts -as straight as the equator clear from the one shore to the other (barring -the channel-interruptions)—a dry-shod ferry, you see. Long railway -bridges are required for this sort of rivers, and India has them. You -approach Allahabad by a very long one. It was now carrying us across the -bed of the Jumna, a bed which did not seem to have been slept in for one -while or more. It wasn't all river-bed—most of it was overflow ground. - -<p>Allahabad means "City of God." I get this from the books. From a printed -curiosity—a letter written by one of those brave and confident Hindoo -strugglers with the English tongue, called a "babu"—I got a more -compressed translation: "Godville." It is perfectly correct, but that is -the most that can be said for it. - -<p>We arrived in the forenoon, and short-handed; for Satan got left behind -somewhere that morning, and did not overtake us until after nightfall. -It seemed very peaceful without him. The world seemed asleep and -dreaming. - -<p>I did not see the native town, I think. I do not remember why; for an -incident connects it with the Great Mutiny, and that is enough to make -any place interesting. But I saw the English part of the city. It is a -town of wide avenues and noble distances, and is comely and alluring, and -full of suggestions of comfort and leisure, and of the serenity which a -good conscience buttressed by a sufficient bank account gives. The -bungalows (dwellings) stand well back in the seclusion and privacy of -large enclosed compounds (private grounds, as we should say) and in the -shade and shelter of trees. Even the photographer and the prosperous -merchant ply their industries in the elegant reserve of big compounds, -and the citizens drive in there upon their business occasions. And not in -cabs—no; in the Indian cities cabs are for the drifting stranger; all -the white citizens have private carriages; and each carriage has a flock -of white-turbaned black footmen and drivers all over it. The vicinity of -a lecture-hall looks like a snowstorm,—and makes the lecturer feel like -an opera. India has many names, and they are correctly descriptive. It -is the Land of Contradictions, the Land of Subtlety and Superstition, the -Land of Wealth and Poverty, the Land of Splendor and Desolation, the Land -of Plague and Famine, the Land of the Thug and the Poisoner, and of the -Meek and the Patient, the Land of the Suttee, the Land of the -Unreinstatable Widow, the Land where All Life is Holy, the Land of -Cremation, the Land where the Vulture is a Grave and a Monument, the Land -of the Multitudinous Gods; and if signs go for anything, it is the Land -of the Private Carriage. - -<p>In Bombay the forewoman of a millinery shop came to the hotel in her -private carriage to take the measure for a gown—not for me, but for -another. She had come out to India to make a temporary stay, but was -extending it indefinitely; indeed, she was purposing to end her days -there. In London, she said, her work had been hard, her hours long; for -economy's sake she had had to live in shabby rooms and far away from the -shop, watch the pennies, deny herself many of the common comforts of -life, restrict herself in effect to its bare necessities, eschew cabs, -travel third-class by underground train to and from her work, swallowing -coal-smoke and cinders all the way, and sometimes troubled with the -society of men and women who were less desirable than the smoke and the -cinders. But in Bombay, on almost any kind of wages, she could live in -comfort, and keep her carriage, and have six servants in place of the -woman-of-all-work she had had in her English home. Later, in Calcutta, I -found that the Standard Oil clerks had small one-horse vehicles, and did -no walking; and I was told that the clerks of the other large concerns -there had the like equipment. But to return to Allahabad. - -<p>I was up at dawn, the next morning. In India the tourist's servant does -not sleep in a room in the hotel, but rolls himself up head and ears in -his blanket and stretches himself on the veranda, across the front of his -master's door, and spends the night there. I don't believe anybody's -servant occupies a room. Apparently, the bungalow servants sleep on the -veranda; it is roomy, and goes all around the house. I speak of -menservants; I saw none of the other sex. I think there are none, except -child-nurses. I was up at dawn, and walked around the veranda, past the -rows of sleepers. In front of one door a Hindoo servant was squatting, -waiting for his master to call him. He had polished the yellow shoes and -placed them by the door, and now he had nothing to do but wait. It was -freezing cold, but there he was, as motionless as a sculptured image, and -as patient. It troubled me. I wanted to say to him, "Don't crouch there -like that and freeze; nobody requires it of you; stir around and get -warm." But I hadn't the words. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p468.jpg (33K)" src="images/p468.jpg" height="421" width="625"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>I thought of saying 'jeldy jow', but I -couldn't remember what it meant, so I didn't say it. I knew another -phrase, but it wouldn't come to my mind. I moved on, purposing to -dismiss him from my thoughts, but his bare legs and bare feet kept him -there. They kept drawing me back from the sunny side to a point whence I -could see him. At the end of an hour he had not changed his attitude in -the least degree. It was a curious and impressive exhibition of meekness -and patience, or fortitude or indifference, I did not know which. But it -worried me, and it was spoiling my morning. In fact, it spoiled two -hours of it quite thoroughly. I quitted this vicinity, then, and left -him to punish himself as much as he might want to. But up to that time -the man had not changed his attitude a hair. He will always remain with -me, I suppose; his figure never grows vague in my memory. Whenever I -read of Indian resignation, Indian patience under wrongs, hardships, and -misfortunes, he comes before me. He becomes a personification, and -stands for India in trouble. And for untold ages India in trouble has -been pursued with the very remark which I was going to utter but didn't, -because its meaning had slipped me: "Jeldy jow!" ("Come, shove along!") - -<p>Why, it was the very thing. - -<p>In the early brightness we made a long drive out to the Fort. Part of -the way was beautiful. It led under stately trees and through groups of -native houses and by the usual village well, where the picturesque gangs -are always flocking to and fro and laughing and chattering; and this time -brawny men were deluging their bronze bodies with the limpid water, and -making a refreshing and enticing show of it; enticing, for the sun was -already transacting business, firing India up for the day. There was -plenty of this early bathing going on, for it was getting toward -breakfast time, and with an unpurified body the Hindoo must not eat. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p472.jpg (54K)" src="images/p472.jpg" height="402" width="650"> -</center> -<a href="images/p472.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Full Size" src="images/enlarge.jpg"></a> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>Then we struck into the hot plain, and found the roads crowded with -pilgrims of both sexes, for one of the great religious fairs of India was -being held, just beyond the Fort, at the junction of the sacred rivers, -the Ganges and the Jumna. Three sacred rivers, I should have said, for -there is a subterranean one. Nobody has seen it, but that doesn't -signify. The fact that it is there is enough. These pilgrims had come -from all over India; some of them had been months on the way, plodding -patiently along in the heat and dust, worn, poor, hungry, but supported -and sustained by an unwavering faith and belief; they were supremely -happy and content, now; their full and sufficient reward was at hand; -they were going to be cleansed from every vestige of sin and corruption -by these holy waters which make utterly pure whatsoever thing they touch, -even the dead and rotten. It is wonderful, the power of a faith like -that, that can make multitudes upon multitudes of the old and weak and -the young and frail enter without hesitation or complaint upon such -incredible journeys and endure the resultant miseries without repining. -It is done in love, or it is done in fear; I do not know which it is. -No matter what the impulse is, the act born of it is beyond imagination -marvelous to our kind of people, the cold whites. There are choice great -natures among us that could exhibit the equivalent of this prodigious -self-sacrifice, but the rest of us know that we should not be equal to -anything approaching it. Still, we all talk self-sacrifice, and this -makes me hope that we are large enough to honor it in the Hindoo. - -<p>Two millions of natives arrive at this fair every year. How many start, -and die on the road, from age and fatigue and disease and scanty -nourishment, and how many die on the return, from the same causes, no one -knows; but the tale is great, one may say enormous. Every twelfth year -is held to be a year of peculiar grace; a greatly augmented volume of -pilgrims results then. The twelfth year has held this distinction since -the remotest times, it is said. It is said also that there is to be but -one more twelfth year—for the Ganges. After that, that holiest of all -sacred rivers will cease to be holy, and will be abandoned by the pilgrim -for many centuries; how many, the wise men have not stated. At the end -of that interval it will become holy again. Meantime, the data will be -arranged by those people who have charge of all such matters, the great -chief Brahmins. It will be like shutting down a mint. At a first glance -it looks most unbrahminically uncommercial, but I am not disturbed, being -soothed and tranquilized by their reputation. "Brer fox he lay low," as -Uncle Remus says; and at the judicious time he will spring something on -the Indian public which will show that he was not financially asleep when -he took the Ganges out of the market. - -<p>Great numbers of the natives along the roads were bringing away holy -water from the rivers. They would carry it far and wide in India and -sell it. Tavernier, the French traveler (17th century), notes that -Ganges water is often given at weddings, "each guest receiving a cup or -two, according to the liberality of the host; sometimes 2,000 or 3,000 -rupees' worth of it is consumed at a wedding." - -<p>The Fort is a huge old structure, and has had a large experience in -religions. In its great court stands a monolith which was placed there -more than 2,000 years ago to preach (Budhism) by its pious inscription; -the Fort was built three centuries ago by a Mohammedan Emperor—a -resanctification of the place in the interest of that religion. There is -a Hindoo temple, too, with subterranean ramifications stocked with -shrines and idols; and now the Fort belongs to the English, it contains a -Christian Church. Insured in all the companies. - -<p>From the lofty ramparts one has a fine view of the sacred rivers. They -join at that point—the pale blue Jumna, apparently clean and clear, and -the muddy Ganges, dull yellow and not clean. On a long curved spit -between the rivers, towns of tents were visible, with a multitude of -fluttering pennons, and a mighty swarm of pilgrims. It was a troublesome -place to get down to, and not a quiet place when you arrived; but it was -interesting. There was a world of activity and turmoil and noise, partly -religious, partly commercial; for the Mohammedans were there to curse and -sell, and the Hindoos to buy and pray. It is a fair as well as a -religious festival. Crowds were bathing, praying, and drinking the -purifying waters, and many sick pilgrims had come long journeys in -palanquins to be healed of their maladies by a bath; or if that might not -be, then to die on the blessed banks and so make sure of heaven. There -were fakeers in plenty, with their bodies dusted over with ashes and -their long hair caked together with cow-dung; for the cow is holy and so -is the rest of it; so holy that the good Hindoo peasant frescoes the -walls of his hut with this refuse, and also constructs ornamental figures -out of it for the gracing of his dirt floor. There were seated families, -fearfully and wonderfully painted, who by attitude and grouping -represented the families of certain great gods. There was a holy man who -sat naked by the day and by the week on a cluster of iron spikes, and did -not seem to mind it; and another holy man, who stood all day holding his -withered arms motionless aloft, and was said to have been doing it for -years. All of these performers have a cloth on the ground beside them -for the reception of contributions, and even the poorest of the people -give a trifle and hope that the sacrifice will be blessed to him. At -last came a procession of naked holy people marching by and chanting, and -I wrenched myself away. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p474.jpg (11K)" src="images/p474.jpg" height="325" width="500"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<br><br><br><br> -<h2><a name="ch50"></a><br><br>CHAPTER L.</h2> - -<p><i>The man who is ostentatious of his modesty is twin to the statue that -wears a fig-leaf.</i> - <center> —Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar.</center> - -<p>The journey to Benares was all in daylight, and occupied but a few hours. -It was admirably dusty. The dust settled upon you in a thick ashy layer -and turned you into a fakeer, with nothing lacking to the role but the -cow manure and the sense of holiness. There was a change of cars about -mid-afternoon at Moghul-serai—if that was the name—and a wait of two -hours there for the Benares train. We could have found a carriage and -driven to the sacred city, but we should have lost the wait. In other -countries a long wait at a station is a dull thing and tedious, but one -has no right to have that feeling in India. You have the monster crowd -of bejeweled natives, the stir, the bustle, the confusion, the shifting -splendors of the costumes—dear me, the delight of it, the charm of it -are beyond speech. The two-hour wait was over too soon. Among other -satisfying things to look at was a minor native prince from the backwoods -somewhere, with his guard of honor, a ragged but wonderfully gaudy gang -of fifty dark barbarians armed with rusty flint-lock muskets. The -general show came so near to exhausting variety that one would have said -that no addition to it could be conspicuous, but when this Falstaff and -his motleys marched through it one saw that that seeming impossibility -had happened. - -<p>We got away by and by, and soon reached the outer edge of Benares; then -there was another wait; but, as usual, with something to look at. This -was a cluster of little canvas-boxes—palanquins. A canvas-box is not much -of a sight—when empty; but when there is a lady in it, it is an object -of interest. These boxes were grouped apart, in the full blaze of the -terrible sun during the three-quarters of an hour that we tarried there. -They contained zenana ladies. They had to sit up; there was not room -enough to stretch out. They probably did not mind it. They are used to -the close captivity of their dwellings all their lives; when they go a -journey they are carried to the train in these boxes; in the train they -have to be secluded from inspection. Many people pity them, and I always -did it myself and never charged anything; but it is doubtful if this -compassion is valued. While we were in India some good-hearted Europeans -in one of the cities proposed to restrict a large park to the use of -zenana ladies, so that they could go there and in assured privacy go -about unveiled and enjoy the sunshine and air as they had never enjoyed -them before. The good intentions back of the proposition were -recognized, and sincere thanks returned for it, but the proposition -itself met with a prompt declination at the hands of those who were -authorized to speak for the zenana ladies. Apparently, the idea was -shocking to the ladies—indeed, it was quite manifestly shocking. Was -that proposition the equivalent of inviting European ladies to assemble -scantily and scandalously clothed in the seclusion of a private park? It -seemed to be about that. - -<p>Without doubt modesty is nothing less than a holy feeling; and without -doubt the person whose rule of modesty has been transgressed feels the -same sort of wound that he would feel if something made holy to him by -his religion had suffered a desecration. I say "rule of modesty" because -there are about a million rules in the world, and this makes a million -standards to be looked out for. Major Sleeman mentions the case of some -high-caste veiled ladies who were profoundly scandalized when some -English young ladies passed by with faces bare to the world; so -scandalized that they spoke out with strong indignation and wondered that -people could be so shameless as to expose their persons like that. And -yet "the legs of the objectors were naked to mid-thigh." Both parties -were clean-minded and irreproachably modest, while abiding by their -separate rules, but they couldn't have traded rules for a change without -suffering considerable discomfort. All human rules are more or less -idiotic, I suppose. It is best so, no doubt. The way it is now, the -asylums can hold the sane people, but if we tried to shut up the insane -we should run out of building materials. - -<p>You have a long drive through the outskirts of Benares before you get to -the hotel. And all the aspects are melancholy. It is a vision of dusty -sterility, decaying temples, crumbling tombs, broken mud walls, shabby -huts. The whole region seems to ache with age and penury. It must take -ten thousand years of want to produce such an aspect. We were still -outside of the great native city when we reached the hotel. It was a -quiet and homelike house, inviting, and manifestly comfortable. But we -liked its annex better, and went thither. It was a mile away, perhaps, -and stood in the midst of a large compound, and was built bungalow -fashion, everything on the ground floor, and a veranda all around. They -have doors in India, but I don't know why. They don't fasten, and they -stand open, as a rule, with a curtain hanging in the doorspace to keep -out the glare of the sun. Still, there is plenty of privacy, for no -white person will come in without notice, of course. The native men -servants will, but they don't seem to count. They glide in, barefoot and -noiseless, and are in the midst before one knows it. At first this is a -shock, and sometimes it is an embarrassment; but one has to get used to -it, and does. - -<p>There was one tree in the compound, and a monkey lived in it. At first I -was strongly interested in the tree, for I was told that it was the -renowned peepul—the tree in whose shadow you cannot tell a lie. This -one failed to stand the test, and I went away from it disappointed. -There was a softly creaking well close by, and a couple of oxen drew -water from it by the hour, superintended by two natives dressed in the -usual "turban and pocket-handkerchief." The tree and the well were the -only scenery, and so the compound was a soothing and lonesome and -satisfying place; and very restful after so many activities. There was -nobody in our bungalow but ourselves; the other guests were in the next -one, where the table d'hote was furnished. A body could not be more -pleasantly situated. Each room had the customary bath attached—a room -ten or twelve feet square, with a roomy stone-paved pit in it and -abundance of water. One could not easily improve upon this arrangement, -except by furnishing it with cold water and excluding the hot, in -deference to the fervency of the climate; but that is forbidden. It -would damage the bather's health. The stranger is warned against taking -cold baths in India, but even the most intelligent strangers are fools, -and they do not obey, and so they presently get laid up. I was the most -intelligent fool that passed through, that year. But I am still more -intelligent now. Now that it is too late. - -<p>I wonder if the 'dorian', if that is the name of it, is another -superstition, like the peepul tree. There was a great abundance and -variety of tropical fruits, but the dorian was never in evidence. It was -never the season for the dorian. It was always going to arrive from -Burma sometime or other, but it never did. By all accounts it was a most -strange fruit, and incomparably delicious to the taste, but not to the -smell. Its rind was said to exude a stench of so atrocious a nature that -when a dorian was in the room even the presence of a polecat was a -refreshment. We found many who had eaten the dorian, and they all spoke -of it with a sort of rapture. They said that if you could hold your nose -until the fruit was in your mouth a sacred joy would suffuse you from -head to foot that would make you oblivious to the smell of the rind, but -that if your grip slipped and you caught the smell of the rind before the -fruit was in your mouth, you would faint. There is a fortune in that -rind. Some day somebody will import it into Europe and sell it for -cheese. - -<br><br><br><br> -<center><img alt="p479.jpg (19K)" src="images/p479.jpg" height="525" width="295"> -</center> -<br><br><br><br> - -<p>Benares was not a disappointment. It justified its reputation as a -curiosity. It is on high ground, and overhangs a grand curve of the -Ganges. It is a vast mass of building, compactly crusting a hill, and is -cloven in all directions by an intricate confusion of cracks which stand -for streets. Tall, slim minarets and beflagged temple-spires rise out of -it and give it picturesqueness, viewed from the river. The city is as -busy as an ant-hill, and the hurly-burly of human life swarming along the -web of narrow streets reminds one of the ants. The sacred cow swarms -along, too, and goes whither she pleases, and takes toll of the -grain-shops, and is very much in the way, and is a good deal of a nuisance, -since she must not be molested. - -<p>Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than -legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together. From a -Hindoo statement quoted in Rev. Mr. Parker's compact and lucid Guide to -Benares, I find that the site of the town was the beginning-place of the -Creation. It was merely an upright "lingam," at first, no larger than a -stove-pipe, and stood in the midst of a shoreless ocean. This was the -work of the God Vishnu. Later he spread the lingam out till its surface -was ten miles across. Still it was not large enough for the business; -therefore he presently built the globe around it. Benares is thus the -center of the earth. This is considered an advantage. - -<p>It has had a tumultuous history, both materially and spiritually. It -started Brahminically, many ages ago; then by and by Buddha came in -recent times 2,500 years ago, and after that it was Buddhist during many -centuries—twelve, perhaps—but the Brahmins got the upper hand again, -then, and have held it ever since. It is unspeakably sacred in Hindoo -eyes, and is as unsanitary as it is sacred, and smells like the rind of -the dorian. It is the headquarters of the Brahmin faith, and one-eighth -of the population are priests of that church. But it is not an -overstock, for they have all India as a prey. All India flocks thither -on pilgrimage, and pours its savings into the pockets of the priests in a -generous stream, which never fails. A priest with a good stand on the -shore of the Ganges is much better off than the sweeper of the best -crossing in London. A good stand is worth a world of money. The holy -proprietor of it sits under his grand spectacular umbrella and blesses -people all his life, and collects his commission, and grows fat and rich; -and the stand passes from father to son, down and down and down through -the ages, and remains a permanent and lucrative estate in the family. As -Mr. Parker suggests, it can become a subject of dispute, at one time or -another, and then the matter will be settled, not by prayer and fasting -and consultations with Vishnu, but by the intervention of a much more -puissant power—an English court. In Bombay I was told by an American -missionary that in India there are 640 Protestant missionaries at work. -At first it seemed an immense force, but of course that was a thoughtless -idea. One missionary to 500,000 natives—no, that is not a force; it is -the reverse of it; 640 marching against an intrenched camp of -300,000,000—the odds are too great. A force of 640 in Benares alone -would have its hands over-full with 8,000 Brahmin priests for adversary. -Missionaries need to be well equipped with hope and confidence, and this -equipment they seem to have always had in all parts of the world. Mr. -Parker has it. It enables him to get a favorable outlook out of -statistics which might add up differently with other mathematicians. For -instance: - -<p>"During the past few years competent observers declare that the number of -pilgrims to Benares has increased." - -<p>And then he adds up this fact and gets this conclusion: - -<p>"But the revival, if so it may be called, has in it the marks of death. -It is a spasmodic struggle before dissolution." - -<p>In this world we have seen the Roman Catholic power dying, upon these -same terms, for many centuries. Many a time we have gotten all ready for -the funeral and found it postponed again, on account of the weather or -something. Taught by experience, we ought not to put on our things for -this Brahminical one till we see the procession move. Apparently one of -the most uncertain things in the world is the funeral of a religion. - -<p>I should have been glad to acquire some sort of idea of Hindoo theology, -but the difficulties were too great, the matter was too intricate. Even -the mere A, B, C of it is baffling. - -<p>There is a trinity—Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu—independent powers, -apparently, though one cannot feel quite sure of that, because in one of -the temples there is an image where an attempt has been made to -concentrate the three in one person. The three have other names and -plenty of them, and this makes confusion in one's mind. The three have -wives and the wives have several names, and this increases the confusion. -There are children, the children have many names, and thus the confusion -goes on and on. It is not worth while to try to get any grip upon the -cloud of minor gods, there are too many of them. - -<p>It is even a justifiable economy to leave Brahma, the chiefest god of -all, out of your studies, for he seems to cut no great figure in India. -The vast bulk of the national worship is lavished upon Shiva and Vishnu -and their families. Shiva's symbol—the "lingam" with which Vishnu began -the Creation—is worshiped by everybody, apparently. It is the commonest -object in Benares. It is on view everywhere, it is garlanded with -flowers, offerings are made to it, it suffers no neglect. Commonly it is -an upright stone, shaped like a thimble—sometimes like an elongated -thimble. This priapus-worship, then, is older than history. Mr. Parker -says that the lingams in Benares "outnumber the inhabitants." - -<p>In Benares there are many Mohammedan mosques. There are Hindoo temples -without number—these quaintly shaped and elaborately sculptured little -stone jugs crowd all the lanes. The Ganges itself and every individual -drop of water in it are temples. Religion, then, is the business of -Benares, just as gold-production is the business of Johannesburg. Other -industries count for nothing as compared with the vast and all-absorbing -rush and drive and boom of the town's specialty. Benares is the -sacredest of sacred cities. The moment you step across the -sharply-defined line which separates it from the rest of the globe, you stand -upon ineffably and unspeakably holy ground. Mr. Parker says: "It is -impossible to convey any adequate idea of the intense feelings of -veneration and affection with which the pious Hindoo regards 'Holy Kashi' -(Benares)." And then he gives you this vivid and moving picture: - -<blockquote><blockquote> -<p> "Let a Hindoo regiment be marched through the district, and as soon - as they cross the line and enter the limits of the holy place they - rend the air with cries of 'Kashi ji ki jai jai jai! (Holy - Kashi! Hail to thee! Hail! Hail! Hail)'. The weary pilgrim - scarcely able to stand, with age and weakness, blinded by the dust - and heat, and almost dead with fatigue, crawls out of the oven-like - railway carriage and as soon as his feet touch the ground he lifts - up his withered hands and utters the same pious exclamation. Let a - European in some distant city in casual talk in the bazar mention - the fact that he has lived at Benares, and at once voices will be - raised to call down blessings on his head, for a dweller in Benares - is of all men most blessed." -</blockquote></blockquote> -<p>It makes our own religious enthusiasm seem pale and cold. Inasmuch as -the life of religion is in the heart, not the head, Mr. Parker's touching -picture seems to promise a sort of indefinite postponement of that -funeral. - - -<br><br> - -<br><br> - - -<center> -<table summary="" cellPadding=4 border=3> -<tr><td> - <a href="p4.htm">Previous Part</a> -</td><td> - <a href="2895-h.htm">Main Index</a> -</td><td> - <a href="p6.htm">Next Part</a> - -</td></tr> -</table> -</center> - -</body> -</html> - - |