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arc like dried grass, some like moss and some
sJiko loaves. The most remarkable of theso is
a loaf Insect which can scarcely he detected
from a loaf even after it has been pointed out.
Thoro is a mountain grouse which turns white
in the winter, and in some countries a hare which
undergoes tho same change. In Ceylon there
are crabs with logs like pieces of coral and. a
color closely resembling tho sand upon which
they crawl, but tho leaf insect surpasses them
all. Not only is its color identical with the leaf,
but its body and wings are veined and ribbed liko
a leaf; oven rust spots could be found on some
of them. We could hardly have believed our
own eyes had wo not seen some of theso insects
alive and some of tho young just hatched.
Tho botanical garden, while not equal in
variety or beauty to the gardens at Buitenzorg
and Kandy, has one object of growing interest,
viz., a gigantic banyan tree. This tree is nearly
a century and a half old and shades a spot of
ground almost a thousand feet in circumference.
Great armB run out from the pareut trunk and
theso are supported by four hundred' and sixty
four aerial roots or minor trunks, some of which
are several feet in diameter. Seen from a dis
tance the tree presents a very symmetrical ap
pearance, and, as it is still growing, it is likely
to become, if it is not already, the largest tree
in the world. -
Tho zoological garden contains some excel
lent specimens. We were especially interested
in the Bengal tigers, in a red-nosed African mand
rill (which looks like a cross between a hog and
an ape), and in the monkeys. Three of the lat
ter belong to the shouting variety -at least, they
do shout. When the attendant gives the cue
they set up such a chorus of ear-splitting yells
as one seldom hears. The echoing and re-echoing
makes a din bofore which the noise of a foot
ball game seems tame. While not a football en
thusiast, I venture the suggestion that an Amer
ican team would do well to secure the assistance
of these rooters, for they could work p the
necessary enthusiasm on short notice and with
n great saving to the throats of the students.
On the streets of Calcutta one sees Indian
life in all its forms. The coolies wear tho light
est possible clothing and carry enormous burdens
on, their heads. I saw eight of them hurrying
down the. street at a fast walk bearing a grand
liano on their heads. In another place one man
carried a large Saratoga trunk on his head down
the hotel stairs. Ho had to have assistance in
-lifting and lowering it, but when it was once
balanced upon his head he marched off with it
with apparent eas(o. The coolie women also
carry burdens upon their heads, water jars be
ing their specialty. Two and even three of these,
one on top of another, are sometimes carried
thus. The brass water pot is, by the way, never
out of sight in Indiaj.it is to be seen everywhere,
and the scouring of, these pots seems to give em
ployment for leisure moments.
While much carrying is done on the head
and on tho pole, carts of all kinds are numerous.
The water buffalo is to be found in India but
ho divides the honors with the Indian bullock
as a beast of burden. The Indian bullock is a
mild eyed beast, usually white or light in color
and has a hump on the shoulders which seems
to be made expressly for the yoke. There is a
small variety of tho bullock, which is used for
drawing passenger carts, and some of those are
so fast that they are entered in trotting races.
The merchants of India are a shrewd and
"wo"l" U,8S- inQy Iess their wares upon
one at tho hotels and in their shops, and the
purchaser never knows whether he is buying at
L mo?n n 1' imylng two or three Prices, ft is
not at all uncommon for tho dealer to begin ne
gotiations with the assertion that he has but
one price and that his conscience will not allow
by aimS n0? 5 fdr pr,c0' and
by selling ac a twenty-five or fifty per cent dis
count. It may bo that natives aro treated mflw
enly but the foreigner is likely to changed
"what tho trafile will bear." wmitea
You can not judge of the value of a mer
chant's stock by the size or appearance of his
W?thnHVnay h,aT a HttIe b00th oPon 1nfront,
with no show windows, but when he begins to
bring out his trunks and bundles, he may exhibit
jewelry worth a hundred thousand doHars or
rich embroideries worth their weight in gold
smeeadf,Cm;;nnSltS CV05S the flooand
br nS hiSim lG WarevS! wl!Ioh hIs Pendants
Tn!l'Qno ?oK.y0U U, WlUle With Stories Of
Loid So and So's purchase, or of Lady What's
handed him by an American millionaire'
Tho native buildite arc, as a rule neither
beautiful nor cleanly. Vlio little shops that opei
on tho street exhibit food and vegetables ar
ranged in heaps, tho vendor apparently indifferent
to dust and flies. The houses are generally of
adobe, plastered with mud and without floors.
In the warmer sections of tho country they are
built of matting and. bamboo. The rich Indians
live in substantial homes with high ceilings, tile
floors and spacious vorandas, but these are very
few compared with the mass of the poor.
The Indian women of the higher classes are
in seclusion all the time, They seldom leave
their homes and when they do venture out, they
travel in covered chairs or closed carriages. This
custom was brought into India by the Moham
medan conquerors, but it has been generally
adopted by Hindu society. There is. a growing
sentiment among the educated Hindus against
thin .practice, so burdensome to woman, but cus
tom yields slowly to new ideas. At Calcutta we met
several Indian ladies of high social rank who,
in their, home life, have felt the influence of west
ern ideas and who have to some extent lessened
the rigors of the zenana (seclusion). Two of
these ladies one a princess were daughters ofi
the famous Keshub Chunder Sen, the great Hindu
reformer, whose writings made a profound im
pression on. the religious thought of the world.
In the group was also a daughter-in-law of Mr.
Sen's, a brilliant woman who was left the widow
of a native prince at the age of thirteen, and who
recently shocked the orthodox Hindus by a sec
ond marriage. I' mention . these ladies because
they represent the highest type of Indian woman
hood, and it would be difficult to find in any
country, in a group of the same size, more beauty,
culture and refinement.
The "principal article of feminine dress is the
sarai, a long strip of cotton or silk, part of which
is wrapped about the body to form a skirt, while
the rest is draped over the head and shoulders in
graceful folds. This garment lends itself to orna
mentation and is usually embroidered along the
edges, sometimes with silver and gold. We have
not found in our travels a more becoming and
attractive costume.
The dress of the men I3 so varied that de
scription is impossible. One form of dress re
sembles the Roman toga. Many wear trousers
made by mysterious windings and foldings of a
long strip of clothr others wear loose panta
loons. The coats are as multiform, a long
close fitting one being the most popular.
But tho hat is the article to which most
care is given. While the fez is popular, it
is not so conspicuous ars the turban. The latter
is to bo seen in all colors, shapes and styles.
Some of the educated Indians have adopted the
European dress, but the change in costume has
not been rapid.
Calcutta is one of the educational centers
of India, and one finds in the city many of the
leaders of thought, educational and political. The
university of Calcutta grants degrees and affiliates
to itself the colleges whose students are prepar
ing for the university examinations. Besides the
university there are medical, law and technical
schools which draw young men from the entire
country. The position taken by Lord Curzon in
tho matter of higher education aroused so much
opposition among the native population that an'
association was formed two years ago for the
purpose of raising money to defray the expenses
-of students desiring to study abroad. Last year
fourteen students were selected and sent to dif
ferent countries. This year forty-four are going,
and I had the pleasure of meeting these at a
public reception given them at the town hall.
This meeting interested me very much. It
was opened with a prayer by Editor Sen, of the
Indian Mirror, a liberal Hindu, and it was such
a prayer as might have been offered in any
American church. It is so brief that I quote it
in full:
"Wo thank Thee, O God, that by Thy bless
ing those young men whom we sent abroad for
study last year are doing their work well, and
have by Thy grace been kept in the right path.
We are now met to bid farewell to a much larger
number of our youths, who are shortly leaving
these shores for Btudy in distant foreign lands.
We ask Thy abundant blessing on them, and we
humbly beseech Thee to protect -them in their
travels by sea and land and to bring them all
safely to their respective destinations. May they
be diligent in their studies, obedient to their
teachers, grateful to those by whose help they
are being sent abroad, and blameless in their
conduct. May the love and fear of God rule
their hearts, and may they return to us and to
those nearest and dearest to them in due course
crowned with full success and filled with an
earnest desire to .labor for the good of their
country and their poorer brethren. We commend
them to Thy gracious keeping as w'e now, bid them
a hearty farewell, and beseech Thee to help us
all to live and work for the glory of Thy name
and the good of our fellow men now and always."
Most of the students were going to Japan
one of the many indications of that country's in
creasing influence in the Orient some were go
ing to England and a few to America. Thoso
bound for America called upon me later at the
hotel, and I found -them an earnest and ambitious
group. They had, as all the Indians whom wo
met seemed to have, si high opinion of our coun
try and spoke with enthusiasm of the benefits
which they Hoped to derive from their stay in
the United States These and other students with
whom I came- into contact impressed me as ex
ceedingly patriotic .and anxious to turn their in
formation and their ability to the advantage of
their country.
In Calcutta there "nre a number of Indians
who have won prominence in various spheres of
activity. Editor Sen, to whom I have already
referred, is one of the most influential of the
native editors ancl writers; Editor Banerjee, of
the Bengalee is both a writer and an orator, and
the editor, of the Patrika has made his paper an
exponent of .advanced political thought. The
Tagore family ha3 furnished several men promi
nent in religious, literary and official life; edu
cation has found a patron in the Roy family, and
Dr. Bose hag won more than a national reputa
tion in science.
Those whp visit Calcutta can not afford to
miss the side trip to Darjeellng, a summer re
sort perched upon the foothills of the Himalayas.
The journey is rather fatiguing three hours to
the' Ganges, then an all night ride to the foot
of the range and "then an eight hour climb on a
two foot gauge up the mountain side, but it
amply repays the effort. We count this exper
ience among the richest that we have enjoyed.
The city of Darjeellng is about seven thousand
feet above the sea and. -the sides of the Himalayas
are so steep at this point that it is only fifty
miles down the zig-zag little railroad to the plain
where the elevation is but two or three hundred
feet. I do not know where one can find more
of the grand and picturesque in the same dis
tance than on this narrow gauge that threads
its way up the rocky sides of this most stupendous
of mountain ranges.
Darjeellng is so near Thibet, Nepal, SJkkim and
Bhutan that one finds here a motley variety of
types and sees something of the native life of
the forbidden land that stretches along the north
ern border of India. The mountain tribes are
sturdier in build, coarser in feature and lighter
in color than the people of the lowlands and
we saw some types that strongly resembled tho
American Indian.
But, to return to the mountains themselves;
the view from Darjeellng is unsurpassed. The
Kinchinjunga Peaks rise to a height of 28,156
feet above the sea, or nearly twice as high as
Pike's Peak, and though forty-five miles distant,
are clear and distinct. The summits, seen above
the clouds, seem to have no terrestial base, but
hang as if suspended in mid air. The best view
is obtained from Tiger Hill six miles from Dar
jeellng and two thousand feet higher. We made
this trip one morning, rising at three o'clock,
and reaching the observation point a little before
sunrise. I wish I were able to convey to the
reader the impression made upon us.
While all about us was yet in darkness, the
snowy robe which clothes the upper twelve thou
sand feet of the range, caught a tint of pearl from
the first rays of the sun, and, as we watched,
the orb of day, rising like a ruby globe from a
lake of dark blue mist, gilded peak after j)eak un
til at last we saw Mt. Everest, earth's loftiest
point, one hundred and twenty mileg away and
nearly a thousand feet higher than Kinchinjunga.
We saw the shadows fleeing from the light liko
hunted culprits and hiding in the deep ravines,
and wo marked the triumph of the dawn as it
swept down the valleys.
How. puny seem the works of man when
brought into comparison with majestic nature!
His groves, what pigmies when measured against
the virgin forest! His noblest temples, how in
significant when contrasted with the masonry of
tho hills! What canvas can imitate the dawn and
sunset! What inlaid work can match the mo
saics of the mountains!
Is it blind chance that gives these glimpses
of the sublime? And was it-blind chance that
clustered vast reservoirs about inaccessible sum
mits and stored water to refresh the thirsty
plains through hidden veins and surface streams?
No wonder man from the beginning of his
.tory has turned, to the heights for inspiration,
for here is "the spirit awed by the infinite and
luminal
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