Mabel Alberta Spicer

“ No one is in a hurry, and the train often waits quite long enough at stations for them to install their stoves on the platform, and cook a good dish of rice.
Most trains have first-, second-, and third-class carriages. Europeans and Americans usually travel first-class, for the best in India is bad enough when compared with the luxuries of travel in Western countries. Most of the carriages are about half as long as those in America, and divided into two compartments without a corridor, each having a lavatory at one end. ”

“ One secs these wretched-looking public carriages that can be hired for a few cents filled with lazy natives and pulled along by a poor little pony that looks as if it were half-starved. Contrasting with these poor, over-worked creatures are the thoroughbreds which literally die in the stables of the princes for lack of exercise. ”

“ Each time that the train stops, there is great confusion. The natives arrive at the station hours ahead of time. Here they squat patiently until the train arrives, when they quite lose their heads. In an attempt to find places in the crowded carriages, they run excitedly up and down the platform, clinging to one another, clutching at their clumsy luggage, and screaming at their servants and the trainmen. Equally agitated groups pour out of the cars and scurry off to find bullock carts or ekkas to drive them to the town, which is usually some distance from the station. ”

“ Also, here in America, where everybody is saying, “I have no time, I have no time!” it seems strange to think that there are countries where time has no value whatsoever, where people believe they have to live thousands and thousands of lives before they reach their heaven, and, consequently, have no regard for time. ”

“ My turbaned servant arranged my bedding on a bench in a compartment reserved for ladies, switched on an electric fan, salaamed, and went off to find his place in a servants’ compartment adjoining. Most trains have special compartments for servants. It is impossible to travel comfortably in India without native servants. ”

“ At Mpysore and several other places, we saw camel-carriages. They make a queer sight, these ungainly, loose-jointed animals shambling along in the harness. In Bikanir, we watched the camel corps drill. The natives in this part of India are very finely built men, and they look most imposing in their gaily colored uniforms
CAMEL-CARRIANGES OF THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE PUNJAB. and turbans as they sit erect on the arrogant camels who snub even their masters.
There are so many slow, lazy ways of traveling in India that it is difficult to say which is the slowest. ”

“ Of these, the most beautiful are the huge white bulls sacred to the Hindu god Shiva. These lead a life of leisure and luxury. They roam about the streets unmolested, eating from the fruit and vegetable stalls at will. ”

“ In Madras, we rode in rickshaws like those of China and Japan. In many parts of India, men take the place of animals, both in carrying people and in transporting cargo. Several times we were carried up mountains in dholies by coolies. ”

“ Here in the Western world, where everything is hustle and bustle, where express-trains, automobiles, telephones, telegraphs, pnceumatic tubes, and, most recently, aéroplancs save us hours of time, it is difficult to realize that on the other side of the world things are moving along at the same slow pace at which they did centuries ago. ”

“ Sometimes, to be sure, the chairs and noisy parrot are left at home, but quite as often golf-sticks and a folding cot are substituted. Native travelers often carry their cooking utensils and stoves with them. ”

“ Boys and women with sweets, fruit, drinking-water, toys, cheap.jewelry, and various articles of native production cry their wares at the car windows. Others sell newspapers, which are apt to be weeks old, if the purchaser does not insist upon seeing the date. ”

“ This noise is necessary to make the idlers who stroll along the streets hand in hand get out of the way of the carriages.
There are so many horses in India that one
A HAUGHTY MEMBER OF THE CAMEL CORPS. wonders why any one should ever walk, and, in fact, very few do. They are of all grades, differing as much as docs the shabbiest beggar from the most gorgeous raja. The conveyances to which they are harnessed range from the rickety public ekkas to the royal gold and silver coaches used
A PARTY OF AMERICANS MOUNTING AN ELEPHANT. on state occasions. ”

“ Running along each side of the compartment, just under the windows, is a long, leather-covered bench, which serves as a seat during the day, and a berth at night. It is equally uncomfortable in both capacities. ”

“ They are beautiful animals, and very different from those in America. Their skin is wonderfully soft and silky. Between their shoulders is a large gristly hump. From their chin down between their fore legs hangs a loose, flabby fold of skin. ”

“ They are carried by two or four men, who trot off up the hill with the poles resting on their shoulders, while the passenger dangles between them. They used to come down the mountains so fast that we were quite terrified. ”