Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1903-12-04

G0 4OOO DuAlCC VI LuC A1lCot ~ OAAA6
on earth.
1t is made of kunkar, a kind of stony
growth found on sandy ground and re
sembling sandstone. When ground
fine and mixed with water, this yields
a mortar-like substance which gives
a surface to the road as hard and
smooth as a billiard table.
But once this surface is worn
through the kunkar reyerts to its
native sand. Hence the centre of tn,
Grand Trunk road, which is always
kept In repair for light traffic, is like
asphalt, while on each side of thi:
track is a broad lane for heavy coun
try traffic, where the dry sand lies
foot thick and the broad-wheeled OK
carts raise q pillar of dust as they
proceed and leave a trail like the wake
Of a ship behind them.
On each side of the main track Is 8
row Of trees, and on each side Of the
side track is yet another row. There
are thus four rows of trees in all tt
shield the wayfarers from the intol
cradle heat and glare Of the vertica.
sun.
Along this great highway the many
sided life of India flows and eddies
1t is peopled almost entirely by the
natives in their dirty cotton clothing
with bare brown legs showing be-
meath.
The sahib keeps to his iron railroad
and leaves the people of the country
Of progress. Here and there the Grim
son garments of the lower class women
and the different hued trousers of the
Mohammedan women in special, make
q splash Of color amid the crowd OF
white-robed pilgrims.
There goes the graceful figure of q
woman, straight as a dart beneath her
brass fotah of water. Better, however,
not to look at her face; very few of the
Indian peasant women have any beau
ty Of feature, and the hard labor of
work in the fields under an Eastern
sun leaves them old and shriyeled up
before their time.
Here comes a native lady in a burka,
and you could not look upon her fea-
lures If you would. The burka is a
long, shapeless garment Of ~unbleached
calico, which completely envelops the
figure from the crown of the head to
the feet; it has a lacework mask for
the face, through which only the eyes
are visible. 1t is astonishing how sell
dom this or any other native raiment
seems to get washed.
A herd Of goats struggle INTENDED
down the highway. Farther along
some immense cattle with branching
horns block the traffic. A fast trot-
ting little bullock of the hump-backed
breed. harnessed to an ekka, bumps
merrily along the centre of the road.
A boy flying a kite cannons into the
passersby. Two professional singers,
surrounded by a small crowd of women
and children, stand under q branching
pipal tree, opening and shutting their
mouths alternately as they give vent
to a mo~notonous chant.
A fakir stalks by, clothed only In
q loin cloth. with long matted hair
and his head and body covered with
ashes, a withered arm held straight
In front Of him. Look at those Pathan
soldiers with their baggy white
breeches and huge black puggaris,
staggering through the crowd with
the contempt of the warrior for the
country pumpkin.
Along the portion of the Grand
Trunk which lies between Allahabad
and Benares, one day in late Septem-
Der two Englishmen were strolling
at their ease. 1t was just at the
change Of the seasons when there was
still some bite in the sun in the day
time. and 1t was not too cold to sleep
in the open air at night. The two men
were clad In native garb Of dhoti and
puggari, partly for lightness and ease
in travelling. and partly to conceal their
fallen fortunes from their own COM
patriots.
But though their faces were burnt
to the hue of the natives themselves,
their nationality was evident at a
glance to the passersby. There is
something in the swing Of an Eng
lishman's walk that distinguishes him
from the down-trodden Hindu, while
the size of his chest and calves alone
would mark him out from the narrow
built, red-shanked natives of the
plains.
The simple villagers salaamed to
them as they passed, the Mohammedan
women with trousers tight from the
knee to the ankle. the sign of 'the
oldest profession in the world" be-
slowed on them the leer specially re-
served for the 'sahibs,' and even the
soldiers saluted them. Although they
were but two penniless tramps. their
progress was that of the conqueror
through a conquered land.
The men. whose names were Spen.
Ger and Mitchell, were a conjuror
and his advance agent. They had been
engaged in an up-country tour when
the hot weather came on, audiences
were not to be found, funds were ex-
hausted. and finally they were obliged
to take to the road.
With the homing instinct of Eng
llshmen they were making for Cal
cutta and the sea. They levied their
living from the country through which
they passed. The fields OF wheat and
grain by the roadside furnished them
with grain. which they ground between
two stones and baked into chupatties,
The mango tops yielded their luscious
fruit to add a to the frugal meal.
AS it grew toward midday and the
heat Of the sun became overpower-
ing. the two travellers took refuge in q
shady grove. while the villagers re.
tired to their houses for their midday
sleep. Spencer remarked as they sank
down under a tree:
"Tm deuced hungry. A vegetarian