The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1903-09-10
IN PICTURESQUE INDIA.
The Wonderful Sights to Be Seen
Along the Alipur Road.

els lostle ekkas hlled to oVerno"lng
with fat and complacent natives,
who seem gifted with some special
faculty for balancing themselves ona
few inches of splashboard; tongas.
too, with the wretched ponies which
decline to move at any other pace
than the gallop, and endless streams
Of transport and supply carts with
mules that lean in upon each other at
such an angle that you never cease
wondering how they manage to keep
their footing at all in the greasy
state of the road when the bhistimen
have just watcrcd it, says L. Raven
Hill, in the Pail Mall Magazine. A
most wonderful sight, that Alipur
road-evcry race in India passing
,long, and always in a hurry. As We
drew near the Frontier and Punjaub
camps, one remarked the difference
in the types seen on the road-tall.
h%ooknosed, fierce-looking men from
Cabul and Peshawar, with high COMIC
al caps. with black w%aistcoats or yell
low fur lined jackets over long shirts
and baggy trousers; loutish oyercoat-
ed tribes from Gilgit, looking more
ike Caucasians than inhabitants from
India, in their wooden caps and heel
less boots, seeming to terrify the
sightseeing Babus. who wandered
meekly, hand in hand. quite as inter-
ested as the English globe trottcr.
After breakfast with the political
agent the fanatical Akali Sikhs we're
shown us, with their strange blue
headdrcs$es, nearly three feet high,
ornamented with crescent shaped
knives, bearing axes, bows and ar
rows. spears. daggcrs and swords;
with their chain armcr. breastplatcs
and shields, they suggested a travel
ing museum rather than warriors.
Here. also. were the devil dancers
from the Tibetan border. wearing gro
tesque masks, whose clumsy dancing
suggested the rawlings of some virago
in an East end slum rather than any,
thing diabolic.
Every camp has something Pc
culiar in itself--kolah its najas. al
most nude sMordsmcn, whose bodies
are colored yellow; Rewar its rcSplen-
dent horsemcn whose stccds arc COW
cred with silver ornaments and hung
with silk drapcries. and from whose
saddles hang heavy yaks' tails. One
of the most pleasing camps of all
more so from the charm of its PEOPLE
than from the decoration of the tents,
was that of the Shan States of Upper
Burmah. They were delightful little
people,; even an official photographer,
who was placing them in the most
formal Of groups, and who tortured
them for over an hourin the regular
professional photographers way,
failed to damp their cheerfulness. al
though they fastened to divest them
selves of their stiff state garments the
moment the operation was over.
In the afternoon. in addition to the
usual polo. this day sawthe final of
the international Cup. There were
to be some exhibition games by the
Manipur teams. the criginators of the
polo game: also the Gilgit polo play
crs were going to show us their vari-
city of the sport. From the spcctac-
ular point of view the interest in the
manipur players was chiefly in the
curious appearance of their tiny
ponies. almost buried under huge
saddles with curved flaps to guard
their feet, and wooden balls attached
to every part of their brides; on the
other hand. the Gilgit teams played
a game that had to be seen to be be-
lieved. Starting from the end of a
narrow course boarded in at the sides,
some 20 galloped headlong down the.
field. the leading nan holding the
ball and throwing it up into the air
when half way between the goals.
From that moment the whole field
became a pandemonium of galloping
ponies and excited men, who worked
with arms and legs, and who seemed
capable of anything except falling
off. How any of them escaped de-
structlon was a marvel, but their
usual custom is to play the game up
end down their own streets. SO ponies
and men are used to charging at full
speed against a wall with an excited
crowd following them up. How the
ponies stood 20 minutes of the game
was little short of miraculous. Onco or
twof falls there were. but neither horse
o rider seemed at all inconvcn-
fenced by them.
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