Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-04-03
A JOURNEY TO INDIA.
CONTRASTS OF THE OLD AND NEW
 WAYS OF MAKING THE TRIP.

the Latter.
 aYou recall perhaps said the re- turned East Indian, "that Colonel New como in making his final visit home from India came by the so called over land route, across the desert from the head of the Red sea to Cairo? Thacke- ray, himself an East Indian by birth, was sent to England as child, but he came by way of the cape of Good Hope and St Helena and caught glimpse of the exiled Napoleon. There must be yet few persons living who recall the time when Thaokeray's voyage was the one everybody made ill going from In dia to England. and there are, of course, thousands that have made the caravan journey, as it is only a quarter of cen tury since the opening of the Suez ca nal. That last even has done more than any other one thing to make life in British India endurable. for the cutting of the canal has reduced the journey home to a fortnight less and brought the round trip ticket down to e85. The price one way by the caravan route was
 
 around the world in our day. Thaoke- rays journey was a matter of months, Colonel Newcome's matter of weeks, that of the East Indian now matter of days.
 Lieutenant Waghorn was the man to lay down and establish the caravan route It soon became regular freight and passenger line. It was from Suez to Cairo, distance of 70 miles, usually made in about three days, The freight was carried on the backs of camels, and the passengers rode i'll rude diligence drawn by mules. There wore caravan saries every five miles, where the mules were changed, and at some of these there was food to be had. The great standby was 'spatohcook. When the na- tives in charge of 0 oaravansary spied an approaching caravan, they instantly rushed out, caught sosne fowls. wrung their necks, and an hour later served them, scarce dead, to the travellers; hence the name spatehoook. That jour ney across the desert was most trying to women and children, and the railroad from Suez to Cairo in 1859 was hailed as a vast improvement over the caravan method of travel.
 ..Ten years later came the canal. The digging of the canal practically de- stroyed Suez, for the port is some dis tanee from the city, and busy town with large hotel and many small ones has been transformed into dust heap in the desert. The canal, in destroying one town, built up the others, for Port Said and .Ismailia are creatures of the canal. The former used to be one of the worst places on earth, and at ordinary times one of the dulIest. The vicious Levantines, of all eastern races, and the equally vicious Europeans from ey- cry part of the continent seemed to wake into activity only at the approach of ship. Then danoehouses, gambling hells and every sort of evil resort opened wide their doors to the delayed traveller Perhaps it is better now, or possibly worse, for in these days single com- pany pays more than $1, 600, 900 year in tolls, and there is an almost oontin- uous procession of ships through the canal.
 ''The Suez canal is in some respects the most wonderful waterway in tho world. As soon as tho traveller enters it he realizes that he is in the hands of the French. A French speaking pilot takes possession of the ship. and all officers of the canal are Frenchmen. The gares, or turnouts, where ship waits to let an other pass. are ill tho charge of old French soldiers, and 1t is charming to see how they beautify their arid sur roundings. When tho sand of the desert is watered, it almost bursts with bow CTS, and at every gare are neatly paint ed little house and a blooming garden, while grass edges tho canal, and ths dreariest region on earth is transformea by French thrift One of tho most in- teresting sights to tho canal in early days was to see one ship meet another. The passengers on each crowded for ward with greetings and the waving of handkerchiefs. and there were tears from the outward bound at the thought of what the homeward bound were soon to see. The meeting of ships is now no longer novelty. I once encountered the Khedive Tewfik's yacht. with his harem on board. as we passed through the canal Of course we caught no glimpse of the ladies. but Tewfik and De Lesseps, who was his guest, came out on the sponsor beam to greet us, and we manned the yards with native sailors in honor of the two
 ''The canal passage is made in from IT to s4 hours and since the use of powerful electric lights has made night in the canal possible the journey from England to India is made with few serious delays. It used to be that all tho coal for ships traversing the Red sea was carried across the isth- mus on the backs sf eamels. Ships now commonly coal at Port Said. One of the curious. features of navigation in the canal and the Red sea is the absence of large sailing craft. The Red sea is so helamed in with mountains on either coast that the progress of large sailing ck sr xuo..l1 ha cl lOTu op1 t4t-