The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1906-02-18
'INDIA--THE SIGHTS OF A QUAINT OLD LAND
Its Strange Towns and
Palaces and
Temples.

BOMBAI -Ind1a mas every right TO
be classed as one of the worlds great
show places. 1t offers some of the
most unrivalled works of nature and
many unequalled creations of man. It's
teeming millions OF people, speaking
their babel of tongues and wearing
their thousand marks of caste. afford
a spectacle that cannot be equall-d
anywhere. 1t is true that India pre-
sents the most regal splendor and tie
most grinding poverty known to 11an.
A recollection of a journey through
1t aIternates between mental visions of
pomp and narrowing scenes Of peg
gary.
Let US first consider some of its
natural wonders. In Calcutta there is
a banyan tree whose branches are
more than thousand feet in circum-
ference AT five and a half feet from
the ground the trunk of this giant IS
fifty-one feet in circumference Tt has
464 aerial roots, this number of shoots
having dropped from he parent bran
ches and become fixed N the ground.
The leafy canopy afforded by his
al thousand reoole can stand ben=aLl
1T without crowding. This rare freak
of nature is 136 years cid
HIGHEST ELEVATION ON EARTH.
India not only boasts the largest
tree, but also the highest mountain
range in the world. One of the most
sublime sights on earth is the tow
ering pile of rock and snow that en-
circles Darjeeling, the famed north
ern hill station that is the mecca of
mountain lovers and place-of-escape
for Anglo-Indians when life becomes
uncomfortable on the sultry plains. The
first view of the Hinalayas, rearing
their snow-clad wall of peaks to the
unequalled height of $4,000 feet, is to
that it leaves one almost
GREATNESS. The play of the sun upon
these veritable ramparts of heaven is
Incompatible. They flash and scintil-
late and change their hues as the cloud
wreaths roll over them. The mists and
shadows work constant alteration as
you look, and the effect is truly ma
jestic
Sometimes the traveller riusr wait
in Darjeeling for days while the
mountains sulk behind the clouds The
est, being over one hundred miles
away, is particularly shy in showing
itself. Of course the visitor wants to
say that he has seen the latter because
it is the highest elevation on earth"
but Kinchinjunga, 2S,15O feet high. is
only a little lower than Everest, au1
on account of it's nearness, is more
The point from which the
best views are obtained are difficult
of approach and most travellers are
carried to them in 'dandy"--a box
with poles which are supported on the
shoulders of coolies.
parjeeling itself would be interest
ing if il were not surrounded by the
greatest wall of mountains On the
globe. AS the little toy train crawls
upward through the jungles and can
ons the sheeted bare-footed Indians
begin to disappear and people with
high cheek bones and clothes of Chi {
nese cut come into evidence. One 4
knows without being told that he is (
approaching the border of Thibet, and 4
that these yellow, f1at-faced people he {
ong to the Mongol race. They wear Z
coarse garments, heavy boots, and I
nave vicious looking knives in their 4
belts. They look stolid and .rutal :
A
stories told of them. At one point the
rain passes within ninteen miles of
he Thibetan frontier.
AS IN THE OLDEN TIMES.
Every Sunday morning In the bazaar x
IT market place in Darjeeling there
S enacted a scene from ancient times
Iong before daylight the tribes of hill =
eople begin their journey to their =
weekly meeting in this center, bring Y
ng their produce to sell and wearing v
IL their fantastic holiday garb. The q
arly part of the day is devoted to m
ale and barter, and one sees every fl
ind of commodity: grain, vegetables, al
leat and furs of wild animals. tawdry q,
.welry, crude cloths from the looms -
mountain weavers, and yarn which 20
as spun by the woman Offering it as
ne walked the lonely trail to market.
AS the day wears on activity in the
larket begins to wane and business fr
ives way TO pleasure. The air rings di
18th the Clang of temple bells and the or
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