Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21

We were not ourselves. practical. everyday
beings, but the discoveries OF Chumba, the
romantfc!-the first to behold its beauty
and listen to its bells.
II 1t looks from a distance like a scene
| In picture, 1t looks equally SO when one
reaches 1t, except for the modern-looking
bridge across the river. We went down
the steep hillside and found that the flow
ers and ferns were in character quite diff
ferent the lower We got, and the valley it.
self looked rather like ones green houses
at home, with wild bananas, orchids, huge
| ferns and tropical flowers.
The Lantana Hedges.
There were hedges of Iantana In really
pretty colors, and large wild roses covered
the trees. The river was, for a wonder,
| clear, lovely Whitley green. the first clear
| river we have seen in India. We crossed
| over the very fine bridge. paid our toll. on
entering Kashmir once more, and started
up the very steepest road that we had yet
come across. Broad and well kept, 1t looked
almost straight up and down.
At the top was an ancient Jain temple
all carved from top to bottom in deepest
relief, and beside 1t a beautiful arch OF
carved stone, under which we rode and
came out on what appeared to be huge
village green, around which the bazaar is
built.
We made at once for the dak bungalow
and found it prettily situated on the edge
of the cliff, but were told that 1t was full,
not q room to be had. Now, it is a rule in
India that the latest conner at dak bun
galow has the right of way, so to speak
and can turn any one out and seize upon
the room, but this we had always hoped
would never become our necessity, and 1t
had not thus far
There were four rooms, two of them oc-
cupied by a party of natives, nine in all,
an unheard-of thing in a dak bungalow,
but the head of the party proved to be an
| INN fav,f off Of al r hny yrh O.
counted for his presence there.
English Hospitality.
In the other rooms were two English
gentlemen. We were tired and filled with
dismay, and were loath to exercise our
rights, and, fortunately for US, one of the
English gentlemen arrived at that mo-
ment and Immediately suggested turning
out for US. So tent was pitched on the
lawn for him, and we gratefully betook
ourselves to his former ROOM Chumba
seems an enchanted spot when one re-
members 1t.
The women are all handsome and their
dress the prettiest in India, short yoke,
from which hangs an accordion-p leated
skirt, eighteen yards of 1t and always OF
some lovely shade, either a glowing rose
red or lavender or pink Over the yoke Is
worn little bolero jacket of cotton. en-
tirely covered with embroidery, in lovely
colors, several of which We bought, for
s cents each.
On the head is a little embroidered cap
with long point falling behind, and over
this is chudda of some lovely shade OF
cotton edged with a gold braid. We were
very ANXIOUS to get the whole costume to
take away with us, and not knowing what
to pay stopped a pretty young woman IN
the bazaar, and after adrniring her count
less silver ornaments, asked her what such
a dress ought to cost. She answered in
Hindustanee that she did not know.
We begged her to tell us the price of
hers. and she shrugged her shoulders with
know? This dress was bought for me when
I was a little child, so how can remem-
ber?" 1t was rather short, and had faded
into a lovely pale red, but as the woman
looked fully thirty. we decided that 1t mad
worn very we'll indeed
No Wash Day Bothers.
It very evidently had not had much wash
ing. We wandered around the bazaar, where
everything was terribly dear, to our sur
prise, and into the quaint temples, the old
est Of all having a stone courtyard with
three rows of small temples, each contain
ing it's own shrine. Old Hanuman. the
monkey god, was there in great form, a
huge image of him entirely painted red.
AS we were told that in half an hour the
greatest shrine, that of the goddess Lach-
Smi would be open, we lowered about I'M
til we heard great changing of bells and
were beckoned by a very much unclothed
worshiper to the scene of action. There is
so little reverence in the worship or
Hindu that one is tempted to believe that
1t is entirely a matter of form with them.
One after another came up, knelt on the
marble pavement just outside the temple
and, informing a lovely minor wall touched
their foreheads to the cold marble or rub
bed their poor noses violently over it,
glancing at us all the time. Pretty women.
in their clouds of floating color, came up
carrying on their heads lovely brass bowls
full of rice or some other thing as an Of
fer.ng to the goddess. and always stopped
to stare at the strangers and laugh.
Romp With His Baby.
young man with his baby boy astride
of his shoulder threw himself down nearby
and had a romp with the little brown
thing, who shouted with laughter as he
was tossed into the air. The shrine was a
mass of rather odoriferous marigolds, and
under them, about the neck, was a necklace
of lovely pearls. Hideous goddess that
she was, we felt pang Of envy at sight
of her ornament. We stood in the shade
of the carved marble canopy, watching it
all Silently, until at last the bell tangled
again and the huge doors of the temple
closed with clang. The brown baby
shouted and cooed, the priest murmured
his last prayer for the day, the brass bowls
shone in the sunlight and the women went
gaily off in their lovely colored dresses and
we walked dreamily out into the sunshine.
were presented with necklace of jasm ne,
for which, of course, we paid. and walked
up once more and with regret to every
day life in the practical present
MARGARET STIRLING.