The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-08-28

| day the road that winds IRON Slfnld,
with sheer khud side above 1t and preci-
/ pices below, through the black tunnel OF
the Sanjaol bazaar, and out to the
Mashobra cedars, is one long stream OF
natives In holiday dress. Riding along
it one sees the men in clean white tur-
bans and shirt-like chupkans, with the
chudder or sheet that wraps their IONS
fresh from the wash, and Iron shod slip
pers rising into turnedup point in
front and drawn high behind, as If min
iature copies of the creaking craft that
| navigate the Jumna river in the plains
below. Nor must one forget the heavy,
iron tipped bamboo In each mans hand.
The prepondera ting color, however, is
white, against which the gorgeous Drill
! liancy of the native woman's dress
stands out in high relief. AS one over
takes her from behind one sees only the
great mass of carnation pink or gam
boge yellow, or, 1t may be, softest green
of the eari's folds, with which this gar
| lie smelling, but withal exceedingly
comely person, wraps herself from the
top of her shining black hair to just
above the bars, twinkling ankles, slung
with silver bangles, that surmount lit
tie pink dyed feet. The hill woman
slouches and there is no getting over
the fact, and, alas! she chews that red
astringent abomination they call pan.
The hill girl Is not like her purdah
hid relative of the plains. For though
| the sari is supposed to hide her face, as
a matter Of fact it does nothing of the
! kind, and big almond shaped eyes with
| soft brown irises and black stained
| lower lids. laugh at the sahib (English-
MANI as he passes on his pony, just as
they were laughing g. moment before
he appeared, in the chatter to husband
and sweethearts and brothers that goes
on continually on the journey and
makes the throng one Of the merriest to
| be found in northern India.
AS for the woman's ornaments, they
are so numerous 1t is not easy to de-
| scribe them. Here one must admit that
the older and the ugier she Is. the more
the probability Of finding a string of
| big uncut turquoises round her neck
and an amulet Of hieroglyphc marked
jade above the elbow. What strikes
one most, however, is the ring--alas!
too often of Birmingham lead or brass,
and sometimes three inches across-that
llllhieS Will an assortment OI THY pen
dants from her dainty nose. From the
wrist to the elbow she wears what
amounts to almost an armor plating of
glass bangles, so many are they and so
crammed upon one another, and her fin
gers glitter with silver rings. while
upon her bosom is a whole jewelers.
window full of shells and jade.
Then there are the children, wee tin
sci and trinket decked mites of sticky
greasiness, who are having as good
time as their elders, and whose tongues
go, if possible. more rapidly. They sit
astride on their mothers hip or balance
in rickety jnrickshaw, a vehicle that
has long established itself in these hills,
or sway from side to side In dandy,
slung below pole from mems Shout
ders, or trot contentedly along on their
own henna stained toes. Nobody ever
hears them crying, though they have
thelustiest of hill lungs for shouting,
when their mouths are not too full of
eweetmeats and laughing.
Then there are ragged urchins, with
chubby fingers tight clutched on a live
rat snake they have been given to show
to passers by-alweys with a view to
ultimate pice-for pice make the lever
that moves the hillman's world. Then
there Is the more orthodox snake
charmer, whom one sees mixed in the
gigantic coils of slow moving spotted
python crock snake) fifteen feet long,
or playing with a hooded cobra that
sits up out of a basket at his elbow, so
close to the path that one has an un-
comfortable feeling in the calf of ones
leg as one goes by.
Overhead the sun strikes down as
only Indian sun can strike, the fiercer
for the clear, rare mountain air that
cold and crisp itself, does but conduct
the rays the better.
And presently one gets past the bare,
scorching rocks and the pines cast their
shadow on the way. and the creepers
and wild roses droop overhead and ferns
and MOSES poke through the stones,
and all of a sudden a cuckoo strikes up
quite near and the note gives one a lit
tie homesick tug at ones heart as one
realizes that it is something apart from
the cruel squeal of the Himalayan kite
and the thankless cav Of the carrion
crow that represent bird life about bare
SanjaoH.
Then comes the Mashobra bazaar,
with its flies and dust, and little open
shades along the wayside, where grain
and sweetmeats and ghee Clarified
butter) are retailed. Further on the
road becomes a path, which In places
is also dry torrent bed or rough,
broken stones, and one begins to climb
down to Sipi. Here the crowd is thick
err, and from below comes up confused
murmur of shouting and tomtoms (na-
tive drun1s). and the long drawn boot
of an occasional conch shell, and with
it all a smell which is partly of dust
and partly of humanity, and Of cooking,
and good deal also Of wood smoke.
Yet thicker grows the crowd as one
descends past the spring where brass
lotahs are being filled and fires are
lighted for a meal. And presently one
is in the midst of the fair, pushing
through good natured throng. There,
opposite, is the elephant of the Rajah
of Koti, painted and decked for the oc-
casion, with half a dozen favored guests
upon its back: and all down one side Is
a great swndling forest of native mer-
ry-go-rounds, each carrying four scat
foldlike arms with platform to hold two
people, slung from the end, so as to rise
in the air az the great wheel revolves,
some two hundred people in all being
thus accommodated, swain and his fan
cee father and daughter mother and