Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, 1874-07-10
Selerteh Misrellany.
From the New York Observer.
LETTERS FROM THE ORIENT.
BY HON. \. F. GRAVES.

eve can reach in either direction, the
fine avenue is lined with palaces, tenn
pies. banks. club houses and elegant
bungalows, shaded by groves of palm
trees. The great ma orlty Of these
buildings are ornamentcd with col
umnS and towers. The government
buildings and the environments for the
soldiers make an imposing appearance.
They are all white, and at a little dis
lance glitter in the bright sunshine.
The buildings of all kinds are OF brick.
plaStered with cement, and when new
are as white is the driven snow. At
this season of the year the climate Is
delicious. The skies are bright. and
the air is fresh and balmy is our June,
but when the rainy season comes 1t Is
all changed. The sky Is then dark
and lowering. and the windows Of
heaven seem To be open and the rain
pourS down in torrents. At that sea-
son the thermometer hnges from 100
to 1870 degrees. Then the earth be-
comes saturated, and the dampncss
finds its way into every dwelling, and
into every closet, and everything that
the eve rests upon is covered with
mould. and everything looks rusty and
old. Some of the finest buildings in
the city that have been erected for only
two or three wears. look rs If they were
a hundred wears old. Some fine build
iEgs that have been finished since the
rainy season look like polished marble,
but all that have been through the
rainy season are stained and blacken-
ed. and look ancient enough. We
drove to the telegraph Office and sent
telegram to the Great Eastern Hotel
at Calcutta for rooms. The distance
is 81 miles. and it cost "A rupee ttifty
cents IL send message. We write
our message on "A blank given lis At the
office, and put OF rupee stamp, and
the operator writes a receipt aud tears
it Oft through the stamp. 1t is Ger
tainly thorough way To cancel a
stamp. We mailed some letters and
the Hindoo clerk weighed them three
times before he sold us the proper
stamps, and then we had to ask him
three t:;ales befor. We got back our
proper change: they always keep the
change if they can. In India person
age stamps on his letters. If he does
not the clerks may take them off and
sell them over again for their own
benefit, and iii that case the letters do
not 20. Il Is n cause Of complaint,
and 10 obyiatc the evil every one can
cells the stamps on his letters. The
native part of the city is filthy beyond
even IL Chinese city. but the European
part Is very clean, with broad. bcauti-
fully shaded streets. Most Of the Eu-
ropeans are single gentlemen. and live
IN their elegant club rooms, which are
said To b. the finest of any in the East
The dwellings of the Europeans are
generally very fine, with large grounds
filled with the beautiful trees and
shrubs of this sunny climate. All the
houses have wide ycraudahS. and the
grounds are surrounded with "A high
wall with broken glass on its top bed
ded in cement. The only entrance
through this wall Is in front by an
iron gate. and when that is closed the
place is sort Of fortress.
We are here in the coolest month of
the year, and we are led Ia entertain
the belief that if the Thermometer
ranges at 50 10 - daily IN january. it
must get rather warm in June and
July, and We have no desire to remain
until that time.
When the sun begins to lose his
force in the afternoon. hundreds of
gay equipages are ont on the Bund.
and make quite a display. The Eng
lish take the lead. but the Hindoo
and Mohammedan aris.ocracy join the
drives along the Bund, forming scene
of peculiar interest. The DAYS are
warm, but rs the sun lowers, a gentle
breeze sweeps in from the sca-making
the evening Il delight. The city is
lighted with gas, and all the streets
in the European part of the town are
very smooth and clean: and there can
hardly be any better macadamized
streets, but in the native part the
streets are in dry weather filled with
dust, and in wet weather with mud.
There are near twenty-five thousand
Europeans here, and they occupy more
territory than half a million natives.
Three-fourths Of the people here
are Hindoos. and about one-seventh
Mohammedans. 1t is one of the first
points in India occupied by the Eng
fish. The city is very ancient, and is
renowned in all the history of India.
The Weavers of lace in this city are
famous, and so are the workers in gold
and silver and they can hardly be sur
passed anywhere. Very curious furni-
ture is made here. carved out of the
tamarind wood. Fort st. George is
very large, and is considered very
strong. At all events it is so strong
that no one has undertaken to break
it down.
The University for the education of
native youths has been far more sue
cessful than the one at Calcutta, or