Morning journal and courier., 1884-04-16

they are not the least interesting of the
| things to be seen in Calcutta. myriad diff
/ ferent castles are represented by myriad
| different modes of ornamentation GO by
means of paste marks upon cheeks, fore
head, arms and chest. I have seen this
| method of distinction carried so far that a
| man would be whitewashed from his ankles
| clear mp to the crown of his head. The eff
| fects produced in this way are often gro
tesque in the extreme-nsver attractive No
circus clown ever daubed his grinning phiz
| more Enthusiastically.
| Burdens are of COURSE carried upon the
head What would you think of seeing q
man balance a trunk upon his head and start
| off down the street at dog trot? 1 have
seen a man carrying half a dozen small emp
| ty trunks upon his head, the trunks being
contained in bamboo basket some six feet
in diameter that terminated il s eonical base
| which just fitted upon the head. [ have
also seen four coolies carrying s huge piano
upon their heads.
The people are u4uaIIy fiisEy In their psr-
| sonal habits, hE& the dark oel0E oe the Indian
skin hides tbs appearance of filth TO SONS
extent t tile natives are dirty il is not be-
cause they Go not baEhe often enough The
river banks ara constantly lined with people
of all grades and castles who are induiging ia
a bath The wealthy bring sheit servants
with them, and are oiled from head to foot
before they enter the muddy strsam. The
man lies down on the ground, while the SER
want pours oil upon his hands and commen-
ces rubbing his master lengthwise 6rom head
to foot It is needless to say that the dirt rolls
off in cakes resembling sausage6-
If there are two ways of doing thing,
one wrong and the other right, an Indiaman
is sure to choose the wrong one. 1t there
are two right ways, one respectable and
straightforward the other awkward and not
decent, the Indiaman instinctively chooses
the latter. Yet they serve faithfully, even
| abjectly. Sometimes it gives me twinge of
conscience to see full-bearded, elderly ma
| tive blacking my boots, while [ am young
and strong; yet such things are common
| here and even if the man is old enough to
be my grandfather, am supposed to order
him around at my lordly pleasure. One may
be called tfSahib'' here by his own servant
| for very trihing draught upon bis purse
The model servant is supposed to improve
upon the record made by Moses for meek
ness. Rather than ask you to move, he will
stand idle for an hour or ignominiously
crawl under the table.
Ox-tail soup seems to be great dish here
i in the East, and especially in Calcutta. 1t is
said that in the suburbs of this city there
may be seen hundreds of tailless cattle
| wandering around and bearing mute testimo-
ny to the public fondness for this delicacy.
I have not personally investigated the truth
of this statement, however, and should not
care to go on record as cerroborating it. I
believe the Calcutta egg broth possesses some
reputation also. This inviting dish consists
of the wetsr in which eggs have been boiled.
This is considered rich dish and should be
eaten with moderation As for the natives,
they prefer not to eat flesh unless the animal
has died a natural death. Most of the reIi-
eions of India teach this. Fish is tacitly ex-
cluded from this rule in many places. But
let a famine come, and the starving people
will seek to sustain life by resOrting to any
carrion Alas famines are not uncommon
T,,3i
deal. It means that the people will throw
their children into the juDgles and rivers to
perish It means that many will die when
thew have the money with which to purchase
food, Just because the grain merchants shut
down and refuse to sell until the situation
has become very aggravated This inhuman
course on the part of the grain merchants is
at last but all too tardily, beginning to
ceive the attention of the government. In
times of want there are many people who at
tempt to subsist upon the entrails of animals
and all sorts of other abominabIe articles of
diet.
There seems to be great deal of deformi-
ty in India Men and women may bs seen
by the wayside exhibiting malformstions of
the most sickening description. Enlarge
ment of the arms and feet are common.
Some Raen have fpgers as large around an
ordinary PERSONS arm. Skin diseases are
common. saw one black woman who had
patches of white flesh all over her body. Ii
is curious that the government does not make
greater effort to check these degrading exhi-
bitions This is doubtless one of the long
catalogue of shortcomings which the Faro
peen non-official citizens are laying at the
door of the government. The feeling which
but short time ago ripened into tumultuous
isering when the viceroy passed through the
treets is still most bitter, and many people
fear revolt. Where there is smoke there
must be some fire, and not 3 Gss residents in
India are comparing theiE situation 10 that of
the American coleni&s 5yLeu aha tcR was
thrown overheard il Ises+ao hGrbor. / think
there nrs grievances deserving Esd.sss. The
non official cisi4ons are IN tbs minority; they
have no representation In Parliament, aod
the Indian government haa Ghcwa a dlspGsi
ton to override their liberties many tinles
before this odious Itb6gt bin had been con
ceiYed. The popular dissatisfaction las gone |
SO far that an Anglo Indian Defense aocisty |
has been formed, and has its of8cs at No. |
Old Court House street.
When a person reaches India the home of |
cremation, he is seized with an insane desire |
to spsiI his appetite by Witnessing the burn |
ing operation Yesterday morning I sailed |
forth in quest of the principal burning place |
in this city. I proceeded to ths Strand and /
took one of the street north bound. |
Calcutta is full of steam aud horse tramwsys |
which are operated with great pecuniary |
profit, notwithstanding the low prices |
and half) and was carried two or three |
miles without being able to see either tsrmi- |
nus. These cars are ell open With seats |
across instead of langthwise like those used |
in American cities in the summer The dIi |
yer and conductor are always natives, and |
nine-tenths of the passengers eae uEnally ma
tives also. As we ratified along the pavement |
there were many novel and Interesting sights |
to shorten the trip. The bulldogs on either |
side were now exclusively native, and the
sides of the houses were almost hidden from |
sights by cakes of cow-dung, which had been |
gathered and stuck there by the Indian lass |
ee, whose principal duty is in this line. These |
cakes of manure are used for fuel when |
thoroughly dry, and it Is said that their heat |
producing quality Is only second to that of |
coke Fancy the novelty of living in a house |
thus freecOed
Occasionally q building wonld bs seen
built on tho European plan, while in front of
it the baboo, or enterpFising rative proprie
tor, might be seen standing, and directing
tue work of a score of coolies. These
baboos usualIy speak English, and are there
fore q convenience at times. 30 far as
have seen th4y dress in native style.
Back of the buildings on the left might be
seen a regular Jungle of nlasts and steamer
tunnels, testifyinR to the immense commerce
of Calcutta There are half dozen lines of
fne passenger steamers which run to Eng
land direct via Columbo, Ceylon bat the
bulk of the travel is from London to Bonn
bay. and thence overland to this city. We
passed the barracks of several bodies of In
dian troops. The car stopped directly in
front of one of these, where an ofiser, got
ten up in great style, was complacently
sitting in chair and exhibiting his magnif-
cent proportions. Noticing me on the car,
he made low bow and remarked 'Sslaam p
He manifestlY admired himself and his gors
peous uniform immensely believe inha-
tion is said to be born of little brief au-
thority the world over.
Then there were the palanqains or palana
keens see this word is now being spelled
in two ways, like most of the words of com-
mon usage here. The palsnquin is black
box, borne by two or four coolies upon
heavy pole. There is a window in the end
where your feet ride, and doors at the sides
by means of which you enter. You have to
crawl into this black prison Ia most undig-
nified way, and unless you leave the sliding
doors open can see absolutely nothing but
the backs of the head coolies The pGlan-
ouin is to my notion, unmitigated huns
r.