The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1902-01-23
A LETTER FROM INDIA.
+ From Mrs E. A. Fisher to her sister, Mrs
l. c. Sherman, of this city,

from here shall begin our travels We
are both well, but of course tired of
the boat, for we were sixteen days from
Marseilles to Bombay, and that with
the nine we were on the New England
makes twenty-five days on the boat
since leaving home We went on shore
at Port Said for an hour We arrived
here this morning, and today are rest
ing and enjoying the strange sights.
The steamer we came on, the Oriental,
was an old one, but very clean and with
lots of deck room, where we could sit
all day and until eleven at night under
a double canvas awning to screen us
from the hot sun by day and the dews
and dampness at night. We had head
winds all the way, which delayed us;
but did not suffer so much with heat as
they do sometimes on the Red Sea,
even at this time of year, when it is
more calm. We enjoyed the trip, for
all it was rather rough; for the people
were all so nice we could not help it.
l sometimes think that English people,
and especially the men, are the best
people in the world; they are all so well
bred. They did everything they could
to make the voyage pleasant. We had
several concerts, when the deck was
all draped with flags and we could hard
ly realize we were out of sight of land
The captain had them pass round claret,
soda water, cake and ice cream when
we had the concerts. Sometimes in
the day time they had sports on deck
with prizes for the ladies. Then there
was the betting on the run the ship had
made, which was sometimes quite eX-
citing. The food was very good
was very glad to step on land once
more. Our first sight OF Bombay this
morning was perfectly entran cling. We
arrived in the night and were anchored
at some distance from the shore We
had breakfast at seven o'clock, and
then went on deck to wait for the steam
tender that was to take us OH shore
The sun was just emerging from
bank Of clouds and lighting the distant
hills; making them blue, while those in
the foreground were a bright rose The
| blue sea was on one side of US and tie
city with its mosques and minarets On
the other. We took a carriage and
came directly to the hotel, which is
kept 10y Parsee and is very comforta-
| Dle. We each have room alone with
a bath room opening out of it. There
are two broad verandas, one arr q
other, around the hotel, and shaded by
large Banyan trees, so that you can al
ways find shady place. Opposite is a
large public garden filled with the most
beautiful plants and flowers. Musicians
and dancing girls have been performing
in front of the hotel in the street all day
unless driven away by the police. One
man had four little girls from four to
ten years of age and | wish | could
make you see their costumes-or want
OF costumes, except jeWelry. Their
ankles were adorned with various ank-
lets and chains, and their nose rings and
and breasts were covered with chains
and charms Then there We're several
snake charmers with those dreadful
cobras, which are so deadly. One man
had mongoOse, a queer looking Great
ure, which be wanted to have fight with
! a cobra
/ Dec. 18th. This afternoon we went
to the island Of Elephantne to see tile
caves, which were temples more than
thousand years ago. There We're
nine of us in the. party and we went on
steam launch, and as it is sail of an
hour and half, it was very pleasant,
but very hot. The great cave is what
the Hndus call SILVA Lingam Tenn
plea class of temples very common in
India. The natives say they are the
works of the sons of Pandre. They
say that the excavations are too mighty
| to have ever been done by mortals.
They are very wonderful
Dec. 18th. This morning we rose
early and after breakfast went to the
Arab stables, where there are more
than thousand of the most beautiful
Arab horses for sale. Some are owned
by the owners of the stables, but most
of them the Bedouins and Arabs bring
in to sell. They command very high
price. After our second breakfast we
went to the large market | have been
in many markets. but never in one so
large and fine. | never saw such fruit
and vegetables before Everything was
SO green and fresh, and the lowers
were lovely. From there we went to |
the Victoria gardens, where many ami I
mails are kept. 1t is the most beautiful
place | ever saw. Every known plant. .
tlower and tree was there. and we saw
palms with cocoanuts in every stage of
growth. Everything grows so large
here. ! never saw such flowers or such !
colors. After dinner we went to the /
Hindu burial ground, or burning CHAT. |
There were three fires where bodies .
were burning and they brought in an !