The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1910-04-07

remembered and as we sailed away at
sunset a wonderful rainbow spread
It's span over island and sea seeming
to bid us Goodbye and God speed"
From Gibraltar around to Hong
Kong we were travelling in the tropics
all the time but the real heated term
began at Suez and lasted till we
reached and left Manila. The Cleye-
land passengers left the ship at Port
Said, the northern entrance to the
canal and went by rail through sand
and heat to Cairo where we spent
most delightful days seeing all the
wonderful and interesting things
which are there. Then on to SueZ
where we met once more our good
ship, which had made successful
though an anxious passage through
the canal The Cleveland was the
largest vessel, or had the largest
draught of any, which had ever pass
ed through this world-famous water
way and our captain was somewhat
sceptical about making it successful
ly. With the added weight of the $50
passengers on board it would have
been impossible to do this The toll
exacted by the canal company was
$4,000 and it would have been two
dollars more for each passenger car
ried Perhaps this was one reason
why we were sent overland"
We embarked at Suez for a nine
days run to Bombay. Nine days
through torrid heat. Some say the
Red Sea is so called on account of the
red sand or silt which is blown across
its surface by the winds from the
Arabian desert on one side and the
Sahara on the other. Others tell us
that the original word was an Arabic
one meaning red hot, and that it has
since been contracted into Red. Be
that as it may it was red hot!
Staying anywhere but in the open
air was nearly intolerable and for
that reason two decks were set apart
for sleeping apartments. One for Ia
dies and one for gentlemen. The la
dies were assigned to the upper aft
deck, and some of us tried sleeping
out one night. 1t was beautiful for a
while, the sea like a mirror and the
moon. big and silvery, and then the
cinders came down and covered us
till it seemed as If we were being sub
merged by an eruption of Vesuvius.
When the deck hands came out at
five a. m. to scrub the decks I'VE fold
ed our tents like the Arabs" and
silently stole down to our steaming
cabins.
We reached Bombay, the chief COM
mercial city of India, on Nov IA. From
the ship when she came to anchor
Bombay looked like any great Euro
pean or American city Tall, impos-
ing buildings broke the horizon with
jagged line. Warships, launches
steamers and all sorts of craft were
everywhere in evidence The natives
were alongside as soon as we ceased
to move, in long narrow boats pro-
PEELED by several pairs of oars look
ing like long poles with discs OF
metal on the end Some OF these discs
were shaped like an ordinary kettle
cover and not much larger, and some
had one end elongated like a tennis
racquet or a snow-shoe. These ma
tives looked black and greasy and
dirty, and their clothing, what little
they wore, looked as If 1t were hun
dred years old. My first and last i'm
pressions of the native Indian was not
prepossessing one though some OF
them were interesting in their way
While waiting to land, fakirs in
their boats, gave exhibitions of slight
of hand, snake charming, etc. One
native had evidently learned several
English phrases and these he kept re-