Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1879-07-25

LEAVES FROM DE-. THAYER's JOURNALS SIGHTS
AND SCENES IL I';DIh.

DELHI, India Tuesday, March Is, 1879.
We have visited several places in Luck
now, Agra, and othertownsin India, to which
| shall refer again Our route has been IN
part through that section of India where the
famine of the last two years has produced
such mortality. 1t was terrible. Thousands
upon thousands died, and millions suffered
beyond description. A surgeon in charge oil
A hospital informed me that upwards Of To-
600 applied for relief in one month, and no
help could be given them and that the sad
dest sight of all was to see men, women and
children, who had travelled long dis
tances on foot, dragging themselves along
and assisting each other in every way they
could to reach places where the government
was dealing out provisions, only to find on
their arrival the supply OF food exhaust
ed, the hospitals over-crowded and hund-
reds dying daily in the shadows OF those
charitable institutions. At every railway
station, at our hotels and whenever we go
into the streets, men, women and children
throng around us for charity Although we
cannot understand word spoken by them,
their haggard appearance, walking skei-
etons they truly re,-and their nakedness
are not to be misunderstood. There IS moth
ing that detracts so much from the pleasure
of tour through India, as the sights oil des-
titution and misery that meet our eyes AT
every turn have often felt that ii would
be great relief TO be blind-folded, and set
down ut home There is no doubt that the
British Government has done much to amel-
ioraie human suffering in her Eastern En-
pire, and is doing more and more every yeai;
hut to afford the relief necessary to place her
subjects here on equal footing with those at
home would impoverish her treasury.
Notwithstanding their extreme poverty
and physical suffering. tleir religious devo-
ton has no bounds. One day We were driV-
ing out from Agra, on the Hindoo festival
where they make offerings 10 pr0plllale the
god of smallpox. The street was crowded
for miles with women on foot with children
astride their shoulders parties in the paian-
quins and in slings borne on coolies should
ers some in carts drawn by donkies or an
OK; and others upon the backs of camels and
elephants, all going To make sacrifice 10
protect them from the smallpox. All who
make an acceptable offering TO the idol
through the priest have II mark upon their
arm which is a sign OF their protection.
We met bridal party on their return from
the shrine visited by them on their nuptiai
day, where they offer sacrifice to living
idol-the only one We have seen, knowing II
to be such, except the bull and the cow ut
Benares. Our curiosity was excited enough
to induce lis to ascertain what power prom
ised peace, prosperity and increase to them
in their married relation. To our surprise
we found it TO be living snake OF large size
presided over by priest. What connection
there is, if any is claimed, between the
Hindoo snake god and the serpent that made
trouble in Eden we failed to ascertain.
The country over which We have travelled
since leaving Calcutta is vast plain, remind
ing us of the prairies in Western America,
susceptible of successful cultivation by irri-
cation only. In some sections the natural
streams are utilized for that purpose, but
they are sufficient only tc a limited extent
The main dependence is upon wells and
tanks, and hand distribution by coolies with
their water bags The wells are from SO TO
100 feet deep and from five to ten feet across
them Water tanks are excavations in the
earth from twenty to one hundred feet in
depth and from ten TO one thousand feet or
more square they are ordinarily walled
in by stone mason work The
rain fall varies in different seasons and
places. From sixty to upwards of one hun
dred inches fall, ordinarily in june and II
few following months, which is favorable Tor
the accumulation of large quantities of water
From some of the larger wells and tanks
they have conductors for the distribution OF
water, but mainly it is done by coolies. Out
side of the large cities the plains OF India are
dotted over by small villages and hamleis,
distant several miles from each other, con-
tanning from few hundred To thousand OF
more inhabitants, dwelling in small mud
huts, matched with straw or PUSHES. The
huts are huddled together without order,
with narrow lanes between them they are
ordinarily about l2 or Is feet square, with
out windows or openings i'll the walls except
a single doorway, which is never closed by
anything more than piece of mating. In
the midst Of these gatherings OF huts tenn
Pile is often seen built of stone or
marble, ordinarily about ten feet square
and eight or ten feet high, surmounted by
dome inside of which il an idol, and but
little more The furniture consists of "a
piece Of mating ON the ground upon which
they PROSTATE themselves before the idol.
In their dwellings, their furniture consists OF
u piece OF mating upon which To sleep and L
few brass bowls, and vessels made from the
shell of n cocoa nut bcdstcads tables and
chairs are not in use among them. Even
wealthy shawl merchants, and jewelry deal
Gro arc sound in small anartmepts transact
ing business sitting on tho ground We
bo,.. s.., establishments cnntninin. half n
million dollars worth of costly goods in
which there WAS neither chair nor table.
Goods are exhibited To purchasers, spread
out upon stone floors; book keepers and sales
n,., a, all their writing and figuring either
sitting ar living ON the floor.
Tn, nro,lucts of the country through
which we have been travelling for the past