The sun., 1895-02-24
SAILORMEN or THE EAST.
THE 7URBhNED LASCARS EOUNU
ON SOME british STEAIsHIPS.


bisns In the stoke Hole Goaneso whs
Grow Rich trom Tips Ne Steward.
One sees now and then along the New Yorh
water front thln-leggod dark brown men with
| small, velvcty black eyes and snaky black hair
| These are the lasCars. and they Invariably be
long to British ships trading to the East. Til,
lascar Is the sailorman OF the British East In
dies. The word means army servant in Hindus
tan. and the LascRrs have beon sailors for many
| generations. Those that now sail on the great
steamers trading between Great britain and
her Oriental possessions are descendants oi
those that sailed the ships OF John Company
The Lascars are Of Hindu origin hut arc devout
MOhammedans. They are hired wholesale from
native shipping agents In East Indian ports. and
many thousands OF them are afloat.
1t used to be that the native East Indisn sailo,
came no further west than Sue2, where west
bound travellers took caravan for Acxandris
before tho canal was dug. Only British sailor,
were found IN the Mediterranean. The change
came with II strike OF British sailors. when few
LascHrs were shipped in place of the strikere
and now the I.ascars have driven the whites out
OF all the ships trading to the East. The Lascar
has the virtues of sobriety and obedience. though
the British sailors say lie is a coward not to 10
trusted In shipwrcck. It is only fair to say that
there Ia n variety OF opinions this point and
the evidence is conflicting. The Lascar certain.
ly is a fatallst. and when he is convinced that
death is inevitable hs simply waits without ef-
fort FOR its approach.
The Lascnr as seen aboard ship Is a thinly
clad wiry man with bare feet He does won
ders with his toes. When a rope is to be picked
up he uses his toes for the purpose and he
ascends the mast by sticking his big toes In the
links of the great chains.
The boatswan is the leader OF the Lascars.
He is usually an oldish man. with gray hair and
n beard QYeu ed hru she heH in tha hay
struck-by lightning style He has q wonderful
Oriental whistle hung about his neck, and his
crew are absolutely obedient to It's notes. Ths
bontswain often becomes much attached to q
particular ship or Captain. and in turn
has many faithful Lascar followers so
that the favorte Captain is suro of
boatswain and crew. 1t is tho
rule to ship for the round voyage. and
the companies shrewdly endeavor to pay Oft in
the British Indian ports where the rupee is tho
unit money and is arbitrarily valued above its
worth in English money by the ships account-
ant. However. when the Lascar is paid off in q
Chinese port he is paid in dollars, and here the
gain is often on his side.
The Lascnr on a Sunday is an object OF pictur-
esque interest. The crew arc mustered on deck,
and every man appears clad in clean white
gown with gorgeous silk cummerbun or sash
az A. the waist and gay turben. The !.ascar is
native skin as he would at home. but ha usually
comes ABOARD IN rags and he possesses little or
quires however, that hi. employers shall ''S serve
out TO him warm garments, and accordingly,
you. yyou, see the Lascar going about the Londoi.
docks clad in a pea jacket. warm trousers, and
, D99ts' these last peculiar discomfort TO man
time; lie sticks to his turban. however, even in
London. and you him going about tho
crowded t, and disreputable thoroughfares Of tho
dock region, turban on head bearing all sorts
o. Oriental tribes for sale, for the Luscar is n
IA = ha a =
Lascar boy, who is the punka wallah. THAI
Is, 1t is his business to SIT on deck while the ship
that keeps the tans going in the saloon. These
children are scattered all over the Fast India
Rs hsy to father. be able Sasn
and parents are fed on the simplest food,
s"'i little % f% 'assT '"1e" Thafs T'e % ho% "~d
eyer, in every ships company tho sea lawyer
against the food, and woe TO the new purser
that weakly exhibits sympathy with the com
throughout The voyage. " brown :" and 'pr patiens
complainant will meet him at every turn, and
might follow the Tsers n9ysp hmnne I'M trouble
II must be understood that the Iascar is usu-
ally a an abb. able seaman and not stoker. Nnbians,
marvellous endurance. fill the stoke hole. They
are often men OF noble physique. though. accus-
time tim to time 70 be lifted limp from the stoke hole
seen about the gratincs over the boilers gam
bling with griiny cards They have the whttcst
n is fataist, and he suffers painfully from
vinced that death is inevitable. and though suf-
ferng from no physical disease he turns hisfacs
The ships surgeon can only give the cause OF
death tho learned name OF nostalgia. The
Nuolans are also Alohammedans, and they and
the l.ascars pray the set number of times every
day kTneeling on prayer rugs with their faces to-
of course the British ships are officered by
whites: whites: but the steward is usually a Goanese,
GeHon caSor Ms
from native ancestors. Goa, by the way, is tho
most Catholic Of Oriental cities, and it sti has
steward gets ri ch on tips and the ike, and be,
comes an important person at home. A British
merchant Captain on landing at Goa recognized
= former steward in a goreeousy caparisoned
fellow holding an official place OF some inn
portance under the Portuguese Government.
All this strange company on board the British
East Indian ships speaks, with more or less
Every officer anxious for promotion must learn
This odd iingud frdncd, or camp language, and it
really not language in the true sense OF the
word but sort OF mongrel tongue like the Yid-
of GuIerati, Maharatti, and other native Lam
gnages. and a liberal admixture of oddly trans
mel cries "mooEumdSh p which Hi is % merely 'V Who
comes there and there are many other recog-
that are tsttered quite out OF shape. vi" The Him HIM
dustani varies in different localities and with
men OF different occupations. The Lascars all
know il, apd many Of them probably speak no
other dialect. The Nubians, who doubtless
speak "a corrupt Arabic, pick up Hindustant
from the I.ascars.
Both the Lascars and the Nubians cheer UP AZ
The ship nears the tropics. but they suffer great
ly from the cold in temperate regions and
pecay in British ports They are negectfuI,
too, and one sometimes sees barefooted
iascar walking a snOw-covered deck In the
Thames The consequence is that many OF them
are carried OFF by lung diseases and n special
part OF n cemetery In the dreary dock end of
London is set apart for the burial OF these Or-
entails All burias. whether of officers or men,
are by contract, and the undertaken furnishes
funerals OF severa! classes down to the native"
which IL of a very cheap and simple sort. The
dead Lascars follows follow him to the grave
and perform over him some sort OF MUhamme-
dan ceremony, and the news travels back
through the Mediterranean and he Red Sea and
across the Indian Ocean 10 half-naked, dusky
household IN Bombay.