National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-02-12
THE SUEZ CANAL.
THROUGH IT'S ENTIRE LENGTH.
Port Said and Aden-ArriTaI In BOmbay-DeseriH-
ton OF the City and Some OF Its People
Beautiful GsrdeRs-Sacred Cat
tle-The Parsees.
speelal C0responde1.ce Of The ReprNicnr.

SPECIAL Correspondence of The Republican,
BOMBAY, Jan. 5.-Port Said is at the en-
trance of the Suez Canal The passage through the
canal is very slow and tedious. There are eighty
seven miles OF canal to be passed through, and
! usually not much more than thirty miles are &C.
| eOmplished in day. Whenever we passed Largo
boats were tied up at the side Oft the canal. No
! boats are allowed to run at night. There is no
scenery to dispel the tediouSneSs of the journey,
| for the canal runs through the midst of desert
I There is not so much sand as might be imagined
| by the term desert but the ground is hard and
rocky, and blades of grass few and far between.
When the harbors of the Red Sea were in the
hands of the Ph9nicians, and they sailed Arabia
| to enrich themselves with produce Pharaoh Necho
| projected and made plans for Suez canal, but
never carried out his designs. Perhaps. if the
nal had been built in his time it might have been
On larger scale, some quicker means of transit
suggested than is row in use. Suez is surrounded
by barren wilderness and is itself dirty, filthy
little Arab town, the chief product of which seems
| to be flies ndvermin. We feel exceedingly thank
/ full that Ouryiew of the dirt and Arabs and that
the attraction Of the other products to is limited
to a very short space. Ike Red Sea seems delight
fully lovely and refreshing after the dSasreeable-
ness of Suez. The water is of blue-green color,
and not red, as we had imagined in childhood
ably it takes its from the banks, which are of
a dull red. In ancient times the Egyptians or
Erythrseans were called the red people and Egypt
| the red country.
ADEN
Alden is in Arabia at the foot of the Red Sea. Al
though quite large city, it is but of little impOr
tance, save as military post Some other Majestys
native Indian trrops are quartered here. The
only paStimcs of the Europeans is shooting,
boating. and guarding against the treachery of the
Arabs. 1t is solitary, dreary looking place.
Here We saw African coolies, with the proverbaI
thick Hat noses and shaped features of the face
Many of them, probably for the same reason that
50 many of our society bellies have bleached their
| hair have dyed theirs white 1t does not make
them more progressing, but adds to their general
hdeousness. This is our last stopping place be-
| fore reaching
| BOMBAY.
| One of the most remarkable features of Bombay
are its portable houses and gardens. These houses
are surrounded by verandahs, and the whole of the
house is painted to represent brick. The garden is
surrounded by high palingS. and each plant and
tree is settled in a huge pot, some of them being
very heavy When the monsoOns approach or the
heated season, instead of simply packing their
trunks and departing they set out with their
/ houses and gardens and transport them to more
agreeable quarters. The cool season approaehesi in
:
| play on the esplanade which runs parallel with
/ the sea. Beauty and fashion, such as the city
| affords, the military citizens, and the civilians,
gather around the band, stand to listen to the
music, and have quiet chat over the latest
European news, very much as we do i'll the White
| House grounds at home on Saturday evening.
There are nearly 100000 inhabitants in Bombay,
| only very small per cent. of whom are Euro
peans. The lower classes are very poor and miser-
| able.
THEY ARE NEARLY NAKED,
wearing only the merest apology for clothing.
They sleep in the streets, the sidewalks or any
| place where there is vacant space. They can be
| hired for service at very small prices. For in
stance, gentleman may have a native barber
come to his house and shave him every day for one
rupee a month, about fifty cents in our money.
Your importance caste is decided by the natives
according TO the number of servants you keep. Ii
you only keep one or two they will conclude, in
the parlance OfOur Southern negroes, that you are
"poor white trash Tropical fruits such cocoa
nuts, pine apples, mangoeS, dates, and bananas,
are now growing and ripening. Most beau
| tiful flowers are blooming, and creeping
vines with fame-colored and pink flowers
| Chamber over the verandah Deep blue
eonvolvulus and the legend haunted moon flower
coyly lift up their petals. The most lovely of the
| flowers are the roses. They grow to an immense
and vivid crimson. If you are living in a bunga-
lowyOur glalel gardener will, while you are taking
your coffee, present you with a small, shallow bas
ket containing the vegetables and flowers for the
days food. The flowers are very prettily arranged
on the top Of the basket The gardens are quite
beautiful, and have i'll them
THE GOLDEN POWERED
Babul tree and tamarinds, birds such rs the
crested hOOpOe. doves, and sparrOws and last, but
not least, crows, fit about in the trees. The
stranger is at first astonshed at the great numbered
crows, but his establishment ceases when he learns
that crows are considered sacred birds, and are
| never killed When ParSee dies his body is ex-
posed on high, open platform, surrounded by a
! high fence and the crows come and eat off the
! flesh. These birds are very tame and very auda-
cious They often fly into the open windows,
especially if there is food them. If you should
be foolish enough when the coffee and bread of
| the morning have been placed upon the table to
leave the room for a moment, you would on your
return, find your bread minus, and great crow
| leisurely eating it in the gargen. At this
| time of the year it is very pleasant. in
| the houses anywhere iii the shade, but you
would not think of going on the veTandah or in the
1 street without umbrella The not weather
! commences the last Of February; then the govern
ment and the people flee to the hills and do no
business, except early in the morning or late in
the evening. The YicerOy of India, Lord Ripon,
has been very i'll OF fever at Calcutta, but was
much better AT last adviceS. Oxen are much used
for carrying freights, and also for carriage for
carrying passengers to and from the boats and rail-
road deDOts. These oxen are of a peculiar kind,
! and have hump on theirShOulders similar TO the
American buffalo. Theyare called
SACRED CATTLE.
The dung which they drop in the streets is swept
I'D by the natives dried, and used for fuel In fact,
this is the principal fuel used both in India and
| Egypt. The Mohurrum holidays took place on the
| 18th of December. and the festivals commemorate
| events somewhat similar to our Christmas. An
order issued closing all the dram-shOps at that
time but in spite of this many of the followers Of
the Prophet found in state of besstly intOxi-
cation. The cause was traced to drinking cologne
water, which to be very good substitute for
liquor 1t is proposed hereafter to include cologne
water in alcoholic beverages.
| EXAMINATION OF 4 YOUNG PARsEE LADY.
| Miss PuItibye DhunjeebhOy Wadja appeared attic
matriculation examination of the Bombay Uni
| versity and is the first Parsee lady who has ap-
/ peared at such an examination on the western
side of India. In English literature she received
sixty-seven marks out of one hundred and fifty,
| and forty out Of fifty on the oral examination.
! Her pronunciation of English wGs very good,
| plain, and distinct. She considered to have
passed very creditabe examination. She is only
sixteen years Old has never attended school. but
has been carefully taught at home by her father,
Mr.. DhunjeebhOy. L.
1t Should Reflect.
| Tho pavf fiD,a tho OuJOn Oneo{1Inp foald