St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1900-05-02
An East Indian Carnival.

An East Indian Carnival.
"Benares is an everlasting garden of
festivals" writes R. D. Mackenzi, in the
Nav Century, in a paper, illustrated
with pictures by the author, on "The
Maharaja's Water Carnival"
The hot afternoon slowly sank into
evening, the river being like a sheet of
class; one almost gasped for air. The
ffempled bank was slowly shrouded in
the GRAY veil of evening, and something
lie disappointment hung in the suItry
atmosphere, when suddenly the boat
men cried, Here they comel" With
diAiculty l could make out some small
GRAY spot about two miles up the river,
inst coming into view round the bend
from Ramnagar Fort, the residence of
the maharaja. Slowly they approached,
until at last they were close upon us.
The air seemed to grow cooler, and the
heat was forgotten. All attention was
6xed upon two lovely visions,-o could
not call them boats,-the foremost
nar of dappled gray horses rising COM
nIetely out OF the water, supporting a
canopy of red silk on silver poles, under
which were seated, on the long boat of
painted lotus flowers, the maharaia and
his princes, dressed in the most delicate
harmonies of Oriental color, silver, and
cold. in the midst Of which were a few
dashes of scarlet. The crew, with pink
bIaded oars, dipped into the liquid crys-
tai of the river. The second float rep
resented a gigantic peacock. carrying
on its long distended back a triple can
opv of kincob, strawberry and gold,
under which sat the maharaa's son and
heir, the ministers and other state Off
Gals. Close on every side were numer-
Gus small craft lowering in their wake
like dancing water-beetles.
The last glow of light was fading
away, the little Noah's arks that so
mysteriously disappeared in the morning
came quietly stealing out in clusters
from their hiding, until, by the time the
temples were reached, which it was the
purpose of the procession to visit
river was a chaotic mass of moving
color, over which the curtain of night
was rapidly falling. Without the least
warning, a torch famed up in the midst,
and for an instant blctted out the whole
spectacle in inky blackness. But gradu-
ally the eye became accustomed to the
change, the torch burned slowly down,
and in its place crimson, a green, and
yellow flare OF artificial fire burst forth
with spasmodic sputterings. illumina-
ting one boat in green, another in Grim
son, while another passed in sable shad-
ow. The deep. purple reflection from
the semiluminous sky alternated with
the crimson and green as the maharaja's
boats attempted to lead through the
haphazard mass back past the temples,
and out to the floating tents in mid.
stream-a carnival indeed, and full of
that picturesque accident which is seen
to such perfection in the unconvention-
atty of an Oriental gathering.
One by one the boats and barges at
tached themselves to the floating tents
until the mass assumed enormous pro-
portions; they were variously illumi-
mated with lanterns and crystal chande.
liers, of which the native of India is very
proud, The tents were crowded to their
utmost limit; the weird thin voices of
the nautch-girls were on the still night
air, with the perpetual accompaniment
oftheir bell anklets, stringed instruments,
and tom-toms. One of the most unique
features was the bazaar of sweetmeat-
sellers. Not to be done out of their bust
ness because the fete was isolated in the
middle of the Gauges, they took their en-
tire shops atioat, and the pyramids of
lght.brown Jumps of sugared cream
seemed to afford a continual source of
comfort to the festive.
Had | quietly withdrawn ten minutes
earlier | shonld have enjoyed the perfect
illusion of having lived an evening in the
sixteenth century; but alas the incon-
gruous ninteenth.century note so preva-
lent in the Orient was heard in crash of
rawhide and brass, and a blizzard of
metallic discord out of which was able
to pick up fragments of "We wont 60
home till morning" l besought the
boatmen, who seemed enchanted, to hurry
me away into the blackness Of the night.