The Press., 1891-10-08
HINDOO KING ON BOARD
THE VESSEL STOPPED THREE HOURS
 THAT HE MIGHT PRAY

Mrs. David Ker Talks with a I:"yui Fer
 sonage from India -s",netiiipg About | savage's Jewels and His Large Es,
 cort-His Treatment of Americans.
 There was great stir and excitement among the passengers of the steamship Bewa when we heard at MadraS that his highness. the lnaharaj jah (great kiny) of | Vizianagram was coming on board our | steamer with sixty attendants. bound for | Calcutta.
 We were also told that his highuess had paid several thousand rupees to the steam ship company to have the steamer stopped for three hours the first night, on which | there was to be an eclipse of the moon this being an event of very great import ance to Hindoos, who celebrate it with many ancient and curious ceremonies. | Now the Maharaja of EiZiani. gram Is | one of the richest and most important o the native princes of India, so we were al delighted at the prospect of seeing him and crowded round the gangway all the morning neglccting for once the luXuriou. Anglo-Indian deck sofas, and even lunch con itself, so anxious were We to catch thu | first glimpse of the famous maharajah But like all eastern magnateS, he evi dently liked style, for it was long after tho appointed time that the guns were at lns | fired from the fort announcing his depart ure from Madras, and the royal boats wer, seen coming from the shore.
 ROYALTY ON ITS TRAVELS.
 We were not disappointed, for when tn, maharajah himself steppetfo on deck we al thought we had never seen such hand 1 some man.
 He is tall and very finely built, and ha. a most princely bearing. His skin, mucl lighter than that of the ordinary native, i! soft and fine. and his features are hand some and regular. His magnificent black eyes and thick mustache complete the beauty of his person. His hiyIne wor, loose drawers of fine Indian muslin, and vest, tunic and scarf of the same soft ant pretty material. On his head he wore , silver cap, and had beads around the neck The attendants were dressed in all sorts of gay colored costumes; and many o them wore very handsome jewels, ant seemed to be very important personages Our captain was of course at the gang way to receive the mahara jah, and to in troduce the first class passengers to him His highness shook lands with us all. ant was most gracious and pleasant The cap tain then showed him into the cabins pre- pared for his use, and we saw him no mor that day
 Well, Eve been to sea near forty years but I've never seen such gougS on as this, said an old quartermaster with whom w, often had a yarn, "this 'ere ships got t, stop three mortal hours tonight just to le a nigger king say what he calls his prayers He's a-going to draw up water with bucket with his own hands, and pour owe | md ha3., k@ x,t,, d. gold and three of silver into the sea t, | please the gods or some sich nonsense
 only wish l was a shark to gobble it up 1 that dor'
 | Sure enough, at midnight we wer, awakened by the engines suddenly stop l ping, but as no one but the mahnra ial and his attendants were allowed on decl we never got to know exactly what thu ceremonies were.
 TALKING WITH A kING | We heard next morning that steame | of another line passed Us in the night, ant thinking we were in u disabled condition | signaled to us to ask whether she Shoult take us in tow.
 The following evening we had Il concer on deck, and the maharajah was anon, | the audience. After it was over he cam up to me and paid me several kind compli ments on my singing, and then we had
 talk about music, and he told me that hi native singing was qslite on Il diiiercn principle from ours. He said the soun, was produced entirely by the throat an, | nose, and upon my expressing Il wish t. hear it, he immediately sent for his frs l singer, who, although in bed and aslee l when the message came, appeared on decl in few minutes.
 l The poor man squattegI down before us and began singing away to order Tn l performance consisted of trills and shakes 1 wonderfully well executed, but aS ther | was no tune it soon became very mOnoto 1 nous. Knowing that eastern concerts go ol l for hours and even days tossct her, after ex pressing my admiration, l suggested t the maharajah that the singer looked yer, tired, and asked if he might not be Hllowe. | to go to bed again. and his higness cour l teously assenteti.
 1 A day or two after this, one of the lad passengers persuaded the mahurajah | jewel keeper to show us his highness 1 jewelry, and we all crowded into the decl saloon to see the display. We were showl | several diamonds in rings and bracelets which were larger than a quarter, and on or two emeralds Especially one in q gnr 1 geous bracelet which had belonged to tn ! AxHPCAOA Aul uAs3ECUcj "cFc, hLl sure nearly as big as a half dollar. There wer ever SO many necklaces made of sapphire and emeralds and rubies strung together and many more of enormous pearls, ant | these, l think. were the most beautiful o 1 all
 l The jewel keeper told us that these wer only a few of the maharajahs ornaments which he took with him when travelling l and we heard afterWard that at bal l given at Government House his dress | which was ablaze with diamonds, was tn topic of conversation in society at Calc,ltt; ! for weeks.
 | Toward the end of the nine days voyag he began to look very weak and ill, and W were told that he was forbidden by his re ligion to eat any cooked food while at sei, so he ate nothing but dried figs and herb the whole voyage.
 l Before we parted the maharujah begged us to let him know when we should return l to Calcutta, for we were en route just thel 1 for Burmah. And when we did come bacl he entertained us most hospitably, an, l begged us when we returned to India t, visit his palace at ViZianagram. rs
 David Ker in New York Epoch. l A Sensible Rule of Behavior. 1 Each man a0d each nation-withiu cer tain bounds-to his and it's own taste. o, one side of the sea you may be roy;i