The Republican journal., 1873-11-06
What an American Lady Saw in India


"ence in the future, for letters have long been
called polite kind Of literature for our sex.
To the ladies, then, do chiefly pen thi, cpi>tle,
" th the hope that a description Of the manners
and customs of lhc east will not be without in
trrc~t to them.
There are but two seasons here, summer and
winter, these are governed by winds called the
northeast and Southwest monsoons. The
northeast monsoon is the fine season, and is 20
called from the fact that the winds blow chiefly
from that direction during SIX months Of the
year while the Southwest monsoon il the rc-
verse.
Among the tropical fruits are lanana>, man
goes, pine-applcS, oranges, sc. The bananas
are delicious breakfast dish. pccled, cut open
lengthwisc and fried in butter: hiit the most
luscious OF all are the mangoe~. a long yellow
kind. and 50 juicy that il is recommended to Get
into a tub 10 eat hem.
Cotton, rice, lii seed and cutch, 4 substance
resembling glue, are the chief articles OF export.
Coffee is also cultivated here it is considered OF
an inferior quality 10 that grown i'll Japan and
Mocha. Many of the latie, dare not drink this
delicious beverage. ,cin@ influenced by the fear
and 9warthy a> their darker hucd sisters
may As we'll say herr that the races frequently
intermalry. An English resident. for instance
marric> an East Indian. who is copper colored.
with black eyes. and straight black hair; the
consequence is that some OF the children inhe, =
ltin@ the European complexion. are fair a> lilies
while the others. an exact counterpart Of the
fair
complexion i matter of Importance to them
This delightful harbour, one OF the finest in
the world, is surrounded by high hills and in
terSper>ed with numerous little islands. Close
by and facing the town is an island where Grim
lnais We're formerly executed, Il view not pleas
ant to think of or look upon. Elephanta is the
name of another island on the opposite side OF
the bay; it is So called from the stone elephant
which the Portuguese found there. about Iwice
the size Of life. Part WaE "r H. hgu.c,i oi the
tWo hills on this island. is "A wonderful cave
temple, hcWn out Of the solid rock. 1t ht,
four rows Of columns which support the roof.
and these form three splendid avenues, In The
centre. i, the grand idol. composed OF three
gigantic heads united to one body about four
teen fact in height from the floor nearly to the
roof. II represent, Trimurt on the Hidoo
Trinity, named Brahms. Ni>hu and ~iyu. 1t
may not generally hc known, perhaps, that the
meaning Of Trimmt i, Three Forms, and i
used 10 point out thc>" three gods ~ the Creator
the Prc>crNcr and the DESTROYER Of all things
Ihi~ image and other groups too numerous To
mention. the gigantic figure, standing ont on
the walls, and the columns, are all formed OF
stone. 1t j. moi known how long ago or by
whom it wa, done, but the >uppo>tion i that
il was either the work Of the Egyptians or the
Ilindo">. 1t Wa~ more likely the latter As the
stone being sacred to them and wor>hippcd a>
one of their gods TO this day, it il not improb-
able that they designed it q, = hal.owcd place
Of worship. such astounding kill and prr>c-
ycrance H. il >h~Vn NJ the :nrru- i wonder
tul to Sar.
The city "t bomhal il pleasantly situated ON
an island OF thr same name. on the western
coast of India, bordering ON the Arabian sea.
ii WAS built by the Portuguese with the extern
oiNc fort which commands ihr entrancr. and :
wall strongly built rnrlo~.- the wh"l,. quite
around. The English "nk possession Of il
daring the sixteenth century, and afterwards
transferred il to the East India Company.
MANY of the public buildings are very fine IN
point Of architecture. \ new custom house
ld- lately been completed ri Il cost of sixty
thousand rupees. \ rupee il about fifty cents a.
uur money The Christian churches. IF which
there are several, are very modest ia appear
aucc, while the MohHmmcdan With it, innll-
mrrablc little >teeple~. j. cons ~picupu~ lor its
ma%niliccucr. Near the park is /; three story
stone building: over the door is a -ignboard on
which is painted in familiar lrlttrS. Tudor Ice
CompanN." II i 4 branch of that extensive
hou>c in Boston, and large amount of ice is
daily disposed of under tile supcrntendence OF
Mr. thalle, Rrc>ton 4 native Of Maine 1t is
invaluable and refreshing To the sick now the
heat j, % intense. the sun being nearly over.
hc:d and approaching it, greatest northern de-
cGnati"n. \ large ship is soon expected 10
arrive with 4 cargo ol lee and Boston apples.
DID you ever hcar of punkah. pronounced
runher: II is the Indian name Tor fan, and it,
construction is a> simple as il is ingenious. \
board about four feet or more in length. depend
ing on the size of the room. i, suspended hori
1ontallv from the ceiling. \ cord is attached
Il
pendulum i, the >erN ants till delightful air is
produced. This machine covered With a cloth
and surrounded hy a frill, is to be seen in every
house. from the church to the hotel In the
church, where there arr several, they present 4
novel appearance, fer thg natives keep tho
whole in motion tlIroughoGt.thc service by pull
ing tn" ends of the ropes from the outside. De
EObt L hax
Fancy ones hair lust arranged with crimpS anC
curl> in booming ami stylish manner, and
then blown about by one of those artificial
gales of wind in the most annoy ing way vet
can conceive.
According to The last crn~u, the city number
ed a mixed population Of six hundred and for
tv-four thousand. All climcs are reprcsentc,
here. Christians. Jews, Turks, japanese, Chin
ese Parsees, Sc. Each OF them are di>tin-
gll,hed by their costume and governed by caste
as we in measure are influenced by style Il
home. Caste is name first given by the Por
tugue,c in Hindostan, and signifies division
of classes in society. II Is against caste tor The
IIindoo to drink water from a Christians house
lie must carry his own food and drink wherev-
4
curry seems to supply all his eating needs A
servant TO do general house work is difficult tC
| obtain. If there is such an unfortunate he il
looked upon As Il vagabond, and not in caste
| \ large number Of them in a family seem neces
sarv for one servant will on no account into I
ferc with the othe"'s duties. \ dhobee, pro
bounced dobcy. would as soon drown himself :
| to aS sumo the buffers office The dhobecs ar
washcrmcn, for the men do the washing here
| And oh such Washington they do not i'll real
| ity wash the clothes but pound and beat then
| to their destruction. SO that, i'll consequence
some of the gentlemen, especially bachelors
who usually dress in white, unless on stat
occasions. frequently appear on the street wit
fringed coats and pants, openworked stocking
and buttonless shirts. The English and Amer
lean residents are under the influence of cast
as we'll as the Hindoo. arguing that in Rom
one must do as the Romans do. The ladies a.
ways ride and must never be seen walking alon
else they are nobodie> and not III caste. 1t ]
not unusual to see them accompanied by thel
gentlemen friends with lanterns PLAYING crouue