Around these stables were numerous cafés, and a collection of people of various nationalities were gathered in front and within them. Arabs, negroes, Bedouins, and others were consuming spicy2 drinks; a group of Persians in picturesque3 costumes were regaling themselves with great dough-balls, made of flour, sugar, and milk; and dirty visitors from Cabul were feeding themselves on dates.
Still in the Black Town, the carriages stopped at the Chinese Bazaar, though the tourists did not alight. It extended to the shore of the bay, and was crowded with all sorts of people. On the quays4 were no end of Asiatic goods, mostly of the coarser kind,--the horns of cattle, tortoise shells, elephants' tusks5, and bags of pepper, spices, and coffee.
"This looks like Constantinople," said Miss Blanche, as four big coolies, bearing a large box of goods suspended from a pole resting on their shoulders, passed them, struggling under the burden they bore.
"Oriental customs are much the same wherever you find them," replied Sir Modava.
"But if they had a hand-truck, such as they use in the stores of our country, they could do their work with far less labor," suggested Scott.
"Those coolies would not use them," added the Hindu gentleman. "I have seen them in London, and these laborers6 would regard them as an invention of the Evil One to lead them away from their religion."
Parsees and other merchants were circulating in the crowd, making notes of the prices; and the great variety of representatives of different countries was surprising to the visitors. Not far from this bazaar is the great mosque7 of the Mohammedans. After all the magnificent buildings of this kind the party had visited in Turkey, Egypt, and Algeria, it was not a great attraction. It was not to be compared with many mosques8 they had seen. As usual, the party were invited to remove their shoes, though the sight hardly paid for the trouble. The scene was the same as in others of the kind. A venerable Moollah was expounding9 the Koran to a group of true believers.
His audience were all seated on the pavement, and they seemed to be giving excellent attention to the discourse10. Sir Modava explained that the Mohammedans of Bombay were more orthodox, or strict, in the observance of the requirements of their religion than in Bengal; for a considerable proportion are direct descendants from the original stock who had emigrated to India from Persia. They are bitterly opposed to the Hindus, and a serious riot had occurred not long before.
There are many Hindu temples in Bombay, though not many of them are accessible to strangers; but the party drove to one in the Black Town. It had a low dome11 and a pyramidal spire12. Both of them were of the Indian style of architecture, very elaborate in ornamentation. It looked like a huge mass of filigree13 work.
The visitors next found themselves at Girgaum, which is a forest of cocoanut-trees extending from the Bazaars14 to Chowpatti, at the head of the Back Bay. Among the trees, as the carriages proceeded along the Queen's Road, they found a great number of Hindu huts, half hidden in the dense15 foliage16. They paused to look at one of them.
The walls were of bamboo and other tropical woods, and the roof was thatched with cocoanut leaves, which required poles to keep them in place. It had several doors, and cross-latticed windows. There was no particular shape to the structure, and certainly nothing of neatness or comeliness17 about it. A large banana tree grew near it; a woman stood at one of the doors, staring with wonder at the strangers, and a couple of half-naked coolies were at work farther away. The morality of the residents of this section could not be commended.
"In the evening this grove19 is lighted up with colored lamps," said the viscount. "Taverns20 and small cafés are in full blast, the sounds of music are heard, and a grand revel21 is in progress. Europeans, Malays, Arabs, Chinese, and Hindus frequent the grove. Far into the night this debauchery continues, and I trust the authorities will soon clean it out."
The carriages continued on their way to Malabar Hill, and made a thorough survey of the locality. At the southerly point they came to the village of Walkeshwar, whose pagoda-like towers they had seen from the ship, filled with residences, though not of the magnates of the city. Most of the buildings here were very plain. The hill is not a high one, but along its sides the elaborate bungalows22 of the merchants and others were erected23, all of them with fine gardens surrounding them.
Breach24 Candy, on the seashore, in front of Cumballa Hill, is the most aristocratic neighborhood, and contains the finest mansions26. Tramways, which is the English name for horse-cars, extend to this locality, as well as to most other important parts of the city; and there is a station on the steam railroad near it, though most of the wealthy residents ride back and forth27 in their own carriages.
The Tower of Silence, in which the Parsees expose their dead to be devoured28 by birds of prey29, was pointed30 out to them. No one but the priests are allowed to enter it; and the relatives leave the body at the door, from which they take it into the building. It is placed between two grates, which allow the vultures to tear off the flesh, but not to carry off the limbs. It made the Americans shudder31 when their guides told them about it more in detail than when it was described in the lecture.
Passing by the cemeteries32 of the English and the Mussulmans on their return to the city, they halted at the Hindu Burning-Ground, on the shore of the Back Bay. Here the natives are burned to ashes. For some distance they had noticed funeral processions on their way to this place. The remains33 are borne on open litters. A granite34 platform is the base of the funeral pyre, and the bodies wait their turn to be reduced to ashes; and the cremation35 is far more repulsive36 than that in our own country.
Dealers37 in wood for the combustion38 sell the article to the relatives. Some of them are cutting up fuel and arranging the pyre, while others seated on the walls play a lugubrious39 strain on the native instruments. The disposal of the body of an old man was in process while the tourists looked on; and the corpse40 was placed on the pile, the friends covering it with bits of wood till it was no longer in sight.
Then the eldest41 son came to the scene, howling his grief and beating his breast. Grasping a torch prepared for him, he set fire to the corners of the pile that covered the remains. The flames rose high in the air, and the attendants fed the fire by throwing on oil. Soon the body reappears, a blazing mass, which is soon reduced to ashes. Water is then thrown on the pyre, and a portion of the ashes cast into the sea.
There is nothing very repulsive in the rite42 of burning the dead; though the visitors had some difficulty in keeping out of the reach of the foul43 smoke, which brought with it a disagreeable odor. The carriages continued on their way to the city; and when they entered a street, Lord Tremlyn called the attention of those with him to a couple of native women who had stopped to look at them, for the party excited no little curiosity wherever they went. It had become known by this time that a dozen American ladies and gentlemen were circulating through the place, engaged in sight-seeing.
They had comely44 features of a brownish hue45, and were dressed in the loose robes of the country, reaching to the ground; one of the garments extended to cover the head, though not the face. Both of them wore heavy gold bangles on their arms, but both were barefoot.
"They are not Mohammedans," suggested Mrs. Woolridge.
"They may be for aught I know," replied his lordship. "The women of this sect18 here do not veil their faces as a rule."
"They are quite good-looking," added the New York magnate. "What caste or class do they belong to?"
"I should say they were in the Vaisya caste, agriculture and trade. They are well dressed, and therefore not Sudra. Probably they are the wife and daughter of a shopkeeper.
"What is this crowd in the square?" asked Morris, who had been looking about him.
"We will drive over there and see," replied the viscount as he directed the coachman.
"Festival of Serpents," said the driver through the window.
"You have an opportunity to see one of the sights of Bombay; but we shall be obliged to leave the carriages, for it is a great performance, and there will be a large crowd." They alighted at a convenient place, and moved towards the square. The ladies were in doubt as to whether or not they cared to see such an exhibition; but the three gentlemen who were accustomed to them declared that there was no danger.
"This affair is in the nature of a religious festival," said Sir Modava. "There are scores of snakes brought before you; but they have had their poison fangs46 extracted, and they could not harm you much more than a playful kitten. This is a day appointed to make prayers and offerings to the snakes, in order to conciliate them and to insure immunity47 from their bites. Though these occasions occur all over India, I don't believe there is a single bite the less for them."
"It is the anniversary of the killing48 of the great serpent Bindrabund, which was creating terrible havoc49 on the shores of the river Jumna, an event in Hindu mythology50, which is as true as any mythology," added Lord Tremlyn. "You observe that it calls together a great crowd of people of all classes, and you see fat Brahmin ladies here in palanquins, very richly dressed, and looking as sweet as sugar. You notice the rich standards and the torches, the trumpeters, and the girls playing on tom-toms and cymbals51. But we must get nearer to the centre of the show."
"Not too near," pleaded Mrs. Woolridge.
The crowd opened for the sahibs and the ladies, treating them with the utmost deference52, as though they were superior beings; and they obtained a position where they could see the entire performance. A group of sapwallahs, or serpent-charmers, each bearing a basket about fifteen inches in diameter at the bottom, but not more than ten at the top, each containing several cobras, marched into the centre of the crowd. Pious53 Hindus brought forward bowls of the milk of buffaloes54, of which the serpents are very fond, and placed them on the ground. The snakes were released from their confinement55, and they made for the bowls of milk without any delay.
Some of the tourists had never seen a cobra, though they are found in Egypt. The ladies shrank back when they appeared, and some of them shuddered56 at the sight of the reptiles57. The body was somewhat enlarged near the head, and the spectacles could be distinctly seen in this part. The instruments played, the standards and the torches were waved; but the snakes continued their milk feast undisturbed.
The principal sapwallah had a wand in his hand, which he flourished while he repeated a volume of gibberish which none of the party but Sir Modava could understand. When Mrs. Belgrave asked what he said; he replied that he was uttering invocations to the serpents, and entreating58 the whole tribe of snakes not to bite the people.
One of the sapwallahs, who wore nothing but a turban on his head and a fringed cloth about his loins, went to one of the bowls from which half a dozen cobras were feeding, and taking hold of one of them, pulled him away from the milk. The serpent thus treated was furious with anger, and instantly opened out his hood25, showing the spectacles in full. Another cobra was put in his place at the bowl, and his persecutor59 sat down on the ground with him, fooling with him as though he had been a kitten or a pet dog.
In turn the snakes remaining in the baskets were released, and allowed to feast on the milk as others were removed. There was a great crowd of sapwallahs in charge of them, and none of them were permitted to escape. The reptiles showed their temper as they were taken from the milk by spreading their hoods60; but they were so skilfully61 manipulated that they had no chance to bite.
"I think I have had enough of this thing," said Mr. Woolridge, with a look of disgust on his face. "There is no fun at all in it, and I should like to make them a target for my revolver."
"It is about time for tiffin, and we had better return to the hotel," added Lord Tremlyn. "I shall keep you busy this afternoon; and while you are resting you shall take in a Nautch dance, which is one of the institutions of this country. After that we shall go to the island of Elephanta."
The live boys of the party were rather pleased with the spectacle, though they had had enough of it; while the ladies, whose flesh had been "crawling" at the uncanny sight, were glad to escape. They all reached the hotel, and were hungry enough after the long jaunt62 of the forenoon to appreciate the "tiffin."
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1
bazaar
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| n.集市，商店集中区 | |
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spicy
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| adj.加香料的；辛辣的，有风味的 | |
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3
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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4
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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tusks
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| n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头 | |
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6
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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7
mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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mosques
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| 清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 ) | |
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9
expounding
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| 论述，详细讲解( expound的现在分词 ) | |
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discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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dome
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| n.圆屋顶，拱顶 | |
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12
spire
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| n.(教堂)尖顶，尖塔，高点 | |
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13
filigree
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| n.金银丝做的工艺品；v.用金银细丝饰品装饰；用华而不实的饰品装饰；adj.金银细丝工艺的 | |
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14
bazaars
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| （东方国家的）市场( bazaar的名词复数 )； 义卖； 义卖市场； （出售花哨商品等的）小商品市场 | |
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15
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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comeliness
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| n. 清秀, 美丽, 合宜 | |
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18
sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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grove
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| n.林子，小树林，园林 | |
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taverns
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| n.小旅馆，客栈，酒馆( tavern的名词复数 ) | |
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21
revel
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| vi.狂欢作乐，陶醉；n.作乐，狂欢 | |
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bungalows
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| n.平房( bungalow的名词复数 )；单层小屋，多于一层的小屋 | |
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23
ERECTED
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| adj. 直立的，竖立的，笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立，建立 | |
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24
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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25
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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26
mansions
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| n.宅第，公馆，大厦( mansion的名词复数 ) | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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30
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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31
shudder
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| v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动 | |
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32
cemeteries
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| n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 ) | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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cremation
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| n.火葬，火化 | |
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repulsive
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| adj.排斥的，使人反感的 | |
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dealers
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| n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者 | |
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combustion
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| n.燃烧；氧化；骚动 | |
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lugubrious
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| adj.悲哀的，忧郁的 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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41
eldest
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| adj.最年长的，最年老的 | |
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42
rite
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| n.典礼，惯例，习俗 | |
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43
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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44
comely
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| adj.漂亮的，合宜的 | |
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45
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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46
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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47
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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48
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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49
havoc
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| n.大破坏，浩劫，大混乱，大杂乱 | |
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50
mythology
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| n.神话，神话学，神话集 | |
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51
cymbals
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| pl.铙钹 | |
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52
deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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53
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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54
buffaloes
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| n.水牛（分非洲水牛和亚洲水牛两种）( buffalo的名词复数 )；（南非或北美的）野牛；威胁；恐吓 | |
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55
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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56
shuddered
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| v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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57
reptiles
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| n.爬行动物，爬虫( reptile的名词复数 ) | |
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58
entreating
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| 恳求，乞求( entreat的现在分词 ) | |
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persecutor
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| n. 迫害者 | |
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hoods
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| n.兜帽( hood的名词复数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩v.兜帽( hood的第三人称单数 )；头巾；（汽车、童车等的）折合式车篷；汽车发动机罩 | |
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61
skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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jaunt
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| v.短程旅游；n.游览 | |
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