The Coconino sun., 1925-04-17
ions on a third-class train.

SlaD ana SOiHe one else must 1u1nlSn
the bedding. don't know where they
got it, but it was meager and had an
odor that would gag a mothball. The
bed was a good sample of concrete
! i suppose it was made of concrete SO
in case a person accidently fell asleep,
he wouldn't break any of the furni-
ture. 1t was just as hard as concrete
to fall asleep on, at that.
If you happened to leave window
open natives or trainmen would come
along and stick their heads in to see
how you were getting along. When
you ran into station along in the
night one would think he had run into
an old time u. S. New Year celebra-
tion all de-Volsteaded and running at
will The natives all talk louder at
night and at all times talk like a tea
party in full blast.
This was the broad gauge railroad.
When we arrived along at Parabatio-
pur at a a. m. we were routed out to
change cars to the metre railroad.
That's a cross between the standard
gauge and the narrow. During this
sleepy exchange, we were served
early tea. Nope, you can't get away
from the different teas. We had
about three of these teas that morn
ing, then at about 10 o'clock changed
cars to the narrow gauge mountain
road at Siligura. We "tead" our way
along at Kurseong and other places
on our way up the mountain, arriving
at Darjeeling about p. m. and were
rickashaed up to Mt. Everest hotel.
At a. m. the live wires were
routed out of bed to go to Tiger Hill
and view possible sunrise on Mt.
Everest, the tallest mountain in the
world. Most of them wrapped up as
warm as they could and were taken
by ponies and four-men rickshas
through the night up to Tiger Hill, an
elevation of some $500 feet, to see
what would happen that day. didn't
go. Mrs. B. did. She said it was won
derful, but the sun didn't work and
Mt. Everest wouldn't show on account
Of atmospherical distractions at that
altitude. ! enjoyed her trip to Tiger
Hill very much. / had an extra blan-
ket on my bed while she was gone
It was a tough, sleepless, hard, un-
comfortable trip even to Darjeeling-
adding the sunrise at 2 a. m. and the
night rickasha ride over the noun
tains six miles up, made it more so.
Many people spoke of it. In fact there
was considerable conversation con-
corning it. However, having skipped
the proposed possible sunrise and
glimpse of Mt Everest, | can con-
scientiously aver that the trip up the
mountain-side was well worth while.
| never fully realized how high up
in the world Flagstaff was until we
started up on this narrow gauge road
from sea level and landed up at the
7000-foot level at Darjeeling. | doubt
if one can imagine it. The narrow
gauge road zig-zagged in and out
across the great ribs of the noun
tains, worming its way up like
giant snake. Switchbacks were neces-
sary here and there to get around
steep places and twice on the way up
the train ran plumb ring around
itself TO make the grade.
The astounding thing was that dur
ing all this constant climb we passed
through little villages hanging by an
eyebrow to the mountainside The
little American-made Baldwin engine
had to toot to warn the natives to
get close to their houses or more in
side while we passed through their
towns. Since there are some 300 mill
lion of these Indians, they must of
necessity crowd in any old place large
enough to squat down to rest
Coming out of Siliguri we ran
through great rice fields, all plated
off into squares and odd shapes with
here and there a cluster of grass and
bamboo huts, which reminded one
very much of the North American
Indian villages, though built of diff
ferent material. These people have
been landscaping this area for some
thousands of years, so naturally it is
used up to the last inch. The plowing
is done with native bulls or water
buffalo hitched to plow made of a
single crooked stick pointed with a
small piece of iron. The soil turned
over is of whitish color and looks
like decomposed limestone.
Further along, closer to the noun
tain, after leaving these plains we ran
into a real Bengal jungle. 1t was a.
mass of trees of all descriptions, with
a thick underground, where one natu-
rally figured the noted Bengal tiger
would make his home No, | cannot
tell lie No tiger leaped out of the
jungle and endeavored TO refresh him
self on a few passengers.
Climbing along upward, skirting
the edges of the great mountain ribs
where at places the little cars seemed
to hang over the side, one could look
down on the lower levels onto the vast
tea plantations spread like a giant
stairway down the steep slopes of the
mountains. These terraces run to the
last possible pinnacle up the noun
tain. As we moved in, out and around
these canyons, more and more tea
plantations came into view. Few
mountain sides were not plastered
with these green and white steps.
Little villages were scattered about
in places that seemed almost mac
cessable. Roads and paths criss-
crossed the mountain sides in every
direction. Looking down four OF. five
thousand feet, the headwaters of the
Ganges and other smaller streams
could be seen like yellow streaks
winding through the lower canyons
and out into the plains country.
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