St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-08-16
Correspondence
IN THE S.
Written for the CALEDoN1AN.l

10 NY coming 10 Hula. OiHSC Ludl
time, more than four years have
passed, filled, as years always are,
with varied experiences-some pleas
ant, some far from it, but all serving
to deepen my impression Of the wide
difference which exists between this
and the home land; a separation
distance which lies between the two
lands as by the characteristics of the
people and the absence of the one
thing which has made Western civ
ilization what it is, Christianity. l
think the one who wrote those ia
miliar words, Where every pros
pect pleases and only man is vile"
must have lived here in the midst OF
this beautiful scenery, perhaps stood
overcome by the grandeur of these
mountains piled tier on tier against
the horizon, only to have the reverie
rudely broken in upon by a party o
dirty, half-clad natives.
OHC H1Sl question, ou SSSluS
these steep mountain sides dotted
with dwelling houses, is how these
houses got where they are, for they
look as though they had been
thrown against the hill and might
any m fall off, it is every
where SO steep. The wonder is great
W. .1a~oo~4I --L4a 80 10@--- AI~4
every particle of the material used
has been carried to it's place on the
backs of natives. The houses are
usually built of stones laid together
with mortar, and plastered over, af-
ter which the walls are color wash
ed inside and outside. Very little
wood is used in their construction
for several reasons; one is because
insects destroy it SO quickly it is not
safe. The little particles of dust are
constantly falling from the ceiling,
for there is no arrangement of laths
and plastering, but the large
beams have nothing to hide them.
In some of our rooms, however, a
coat of white paint gives a neat ap-
p%earance to the ceiling. The great
difficulty in obtaining wood and
b consequent expense is another
reason why it is not used.
Toavoid both these difficulties, some
one conceived the idea of using old
iron rails no longer serviceable on
the car tracks. These painted white
answer the purpose very we'll. The
carpenter has his share of difficulties
too, for he has to begin with the log
and has only the most primitive
tools to work with.
Owing to the steep hillsides it is
impossible to make roads wide
enough for carriages, so our only
method of travelling, if the distance
be too far to walk, is to go in a dandy
or on horseback, if one dares to risk
the latter, though the former is not
without its dangers too. Imagine a
small canoe carried on the shoulders of
men, one in front and one at the
back if they keep step it is not un-
pleasant, but if not, one is quite apt
have an attack of seasickness. The
men who carry US, coolies we call
them, are trained from their child
hood to carry burdens, so that they
can go long distances without seem
ing to be tired. For an ordinary
dandy three men are required, so that
they can change from time to time,
but for very heavy people poles are
added, SO that our or even six men
carry them. The other day we went
for an outing and the army of men
we had was somewhat surprising.
Two of the party being very large
required six men each, so that for
seven people there were twenty
eight coolies, and it was most anus
ing to see US starting off, seven of
these canoes bobbing up and down
one after the other.
We went for six miles right out
into the mountains and still the road
seemed to stretch miles away in the
distance. Mussoorian is visited
usually to get a fine view of the
SHOWS which are indeed we'll worth
the trip; but though it was not
clear enough to see the SHOWS we en-
joyed the wild awfulness of the place
itself. While most of the path was
perfectly level, on either side it was
steep enough. In one place we saw
some D0tatoeS orOujnO uhera II