Across India; Or, Live Boys in the Far East, Oliver Optic [read along books TXT] 📗

visit, and in praise of the liberality of the kingly host's hospitality. Captain Ringgold returned his thanks quite eloquently.

The Guicowar again enlarged upon the service the commander had rendered to India in saving the lives of two of his best friends, who had also been the friends of his country, and his only regret was that the Americans could not remain longer. Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava could not in a lifetime discharge their obligations to their friends who had entertained them like princes on board of the Guardian-Mother.

The ladies did not make speeches; but they expressed their gratitude to his Highness in a less prominent manner for the kindness extended to them, and at the close of the entertainment Miss Blanche advanced to the king, and presented to him a package containing the photographs of the whole company, and that of General Noury, each with the autograph upon it.

"I am very sorry that our party are unable to present to your Highness a gift in keeping with the magnificence of the hospitality extended to us," said the beautiful young lady; "but this package contains the photograph of every member of our company, and we beg that you will accept them as the only tribute of our gratitude for your kindness which is available to us at this distance from our homes. We leave behind us our best wishes for the prosperity, health, and happiness of your Highness."

The Guicowar declared that he should value the gift more than all the gold and gems that could have been gathered together, and he should always remember with delight the fairy who had presented them to him, and it would afford him the greatest pleasure to look in the future upon the faces of those whose presence at the palace he had so greatly enjoyed.

The actual parting was the scene of a great deal of hand-shaking, mingled with pretty speeches. The Guicowar went with them to the station, and saw them seated in the great carriage that had been prepared for them. The train moved off, with handkerchiefs waving at every window, and with a profusion of gestures on the part of the magnificent host. It required some time to talk about the scenes at the court of the king, though all of the party were observing the country through the windows.

It was a strange country to the Americans; and they found something to look at all the time, though it was a wild and rugged region for the first two hours, with only a single town that was noticeable in that time. As they were passing out of Baroda, the viscount called their attention to a building at some distance from the road, and called it a "travellers' bungalow." It was a very comfortable house, where tourists may find hotel accommodations, though they are hardly hotels. They are provided by the government, and are to be found in all the travelled regions of India. They are sometimes free for the rooms, but the guest pays at a very low rate for his food.

"We are coming now to Ahmedabad, which is in Gujrat, or Goozerat, for you take your choice in regard to many of these Indian names; and this city is its chief town, and the second in the province of Bombay. It was formerly one of the largest and most magnificent cities of the East, as the ruins still indicate. It contains several elegant mosques, but the town has not more than a seventh part of its former population of nine hundred thousand," said Sir Modava, as he opened a travelling-bag, and took from it a large bundle of photographs.

"Oodeypore is the capital of a Rajputana state; and its palace is said to be the largest and most magnificent in India, though the town has a population of less than forty thousand. The maharajah entertained the Prince of Wales in it when he made his progress through the country. It is built in the mountains, and it would be a troublesome journey for us to reach it. The next city of any importance to which we shall come is Jeypore, and we shall dine there."

When the train stopped for water a lunch was sent to the compartments, to which all the passengers now retired for the rest of the day. At Jeypore dinner was served, good enough, though not elaborate. At the table Sir Modava passed around some photographs of the place, including the palace of the Maharajah, the Golden Kiosk, and the temples of the valley of Ambir. It was impossible to visit all the wonderful structures on the road without spending at least a year in the country; and a dozen volumes would hardly contain the description of them. The palace at Jeypore is half a mile long, and contains one seventh of the area of the town.

Though the railroad passed within fifty miles of Delhi, the train sped on its way to the north all night and nearly the whole of the next day, arriving at Lahore at five in the afternoon. No towns of any considerable importance were passed during this long stretch of 540 miles. Though Lord Tremlyn and Sir Modava, with their friends, were invited to the residence of the lieutenant-governor, the party went to the Victoria Hotel, for the viscount thought it would be an imposition to quarter them on the chief authority, being eighteen in number.

"We are now in the Punjab, the north-western corner of India," said the Hindu gentleman, when they were seated in the parlor of the hotel. "It is watered by the Indus and five of its branches, on one of which, the Ravi, Lahore is situated. Punjab means five rivers. It has a population of more than twenty-five million; and, General Noury, it has more Mohammedans than the whole of Morocco. I will not give you any more statistics, for I fear you would not remember them."

"Thank you, Sir Modava," added Mr. Woolridge.

"The manufactures of silk, cotton, and metals are very important; for the soil is not very fertile, though cotton, rice, sugar, indigo, and all kinds of grains and fruits, are raised. Lahore is the capital of the Punjab, and has a population of a hundred and seventy-seven thousand, though it once contained a million. At this point we are near the Himalaya Mountains. About a hundred and fifty miles east of Lahore is Simla, nearly eight thousand feet above the sea. This is a noted sanitarium; and in the hot season it is the resort of thousands of people, including the highest officers of the army and the government."

"Is this as near the Himalayas as we are to go?" asked Scott.

"About as near, though at Patna you will be about one hundred and fifty miles from Mount Everest, the highest peak on the earth."

"I should like to go there," added Scott.

"You couldn't climb it; and what good would it do you? I could mention a hundred places in India I should like to visit; but it is not practicable to do so," added the commander. "We can only take along with us a few specimens of the wonderful country, and make the best of them."

After dinner the party divided up according to their own fancy, and went out to walk, though some were too tired to do so. Louis invited Miss Blanche to go with him; and she was always glad to be in his company, especially as Sir Modava was to be his companion. The first sight they saw in the street was a regiment of Punjab sepoys, a well-drilled body of men, not very different from the soldiers they had seen in other countries.

They wore frock-coats, buttoned tight to the throat, and a sort of turban on the head. Their faces were swarthy, but none of them wore full beards. There were plenty of street sights after the regiment had passed. The different kinds of vehicles attracted their attention first. In a kind of gig drawn by a horse, two men and two women were crowded together. The driver seemed to be seated behind, and one of the women was on the floor in front of the two who were seated. By the side of the man on the seat was a girl of sixteen or eighteen, and she was very pretty.

In a two-wheeled cart drawn by a humped bullock were a couple of Hindu ladies, under a canopy supported by four poles. Then came a camel bearing two bearded men on his back. Two or three palanquins were seen; but they were an old story, and they turned their attention to the architecture of the houses that lined the street. There was an abundance of what we call bay-windows, and ornamented balconies. There was a great deal of variety in the construction of these appendages of the houses; and all of them were occupied by ladies, who wore no veils over their faces, though most of them were doubtless Mohammedans, and the yashmak had evidently gone out of fashion.

"There is the dak-bungalow," said the Hindu gentleman as they passed a building of considerable size.

"What is a dak-bungalow?" asked Louis.

"It is one which answers the purpose of a hotel. I pointed one out to you at Baroda. Sometimes they are free so far as the rooms are concerned; but here the guest pays two rupees a day, or fifty cents of your money, and the food is furnished at a low price."

"But this is not half so much of a place as I expected to find," said Louis, after they had walked an hour, and it was time to return to the hotel.

"It is a place of considerable importance, though there are not so many temples, mosques, tombs, and other fine structures, as in many other cities of India; and I wondered that the commander had placed it in his list of places to be visited. Jeypore and Oodeypore would have been far more interesting to your party," replied Sir Modava. "Yet you will see some of the finest structures in the country before you reach Calcutta."

The company returned to the hotel at an early hour, and all of them were tired enough to retire at once. But they were up at six in the morning, and the four boys went out to explore the city by themselves for a couple of hours. Even at this early hour the ladies, old and young, were in the balconies, and they were much occupied in observing the latter. Though the yashmak, or veil, was not often used to cover the face, it appeared to have been only thrown back upon the head.

After breakfast carriages were at the door to convey the party to the more interesting sights of the city. At the request of Lord Tremlyn, they were driven first to the office of the lieutenant-governor, to whom they were presented. The government buildings are in Lawrence Hall Gardens, where there is also a memorial building in honor of Lord John Lawrence, the first lieutenant-governor, who won his distinction in subduing and ruling over the Punjab.

They were next conveyed to the mosque of Jehanghir, built of red stone, and so much like a score of other mosques that they were not much interested in the building. The mosque of Vazir Khan pleased them more; for it was a beautiful edifice, though crumbling before the ravages of time. But even here they were more pleased on observing the loafers around the entrance and in the court in front of it. An old bald-headed Hindu, with a beard as white as snow, was a study to the boys; and perhaps it was fortunate that the subject of their remarks did not understand English, or there might have been another war in the Punjab.

The cook-shops in the street were instructive to them, and they watched the customers with interest; but, as they had attempted to eat in a Turkish restaurant in Constantinople, they were content with looking on. The minarets of the Vazir Khan pleased all the party, for they were certainly very beautiful. They went to the Golden Temple of Amritsar in the afternoon, and were impressed with the beauty of its surroundings.

Lahore was rather a disappointment to the tourists, though it would not have been if they had not spent some days in Bombay before visiting it. The train in which they had come from Baroda was to be used by them as far as Calcutta, and they were ready to leave that night. The journey was by a different route from that by which they had come, and through a more densely populated region. It was a bright moonlight night