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Section 18 of A Woman's Journey Round the World. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. A Woman's Journey Round the World by Ida Laura Pfeiffer Chapter 11 Madras and Calcutta

Part 1 Departure from Ceylon, Madras, Calcutta, Mode of Life of the Europeans, the Hindus, Principle Objects of Interest in the Town, Visit to Ababu, Religious Festivals of the Hindus, House of Death and Places for Burning the Dead, Muhammadiyan and European Marriage Ceremonies. On the afternoon of the 27th of October, I went on board the steamship Ben Ting of 500

horsepower, but we did not wave the anchor much before evening. Among the passengers was an Indian prince of the name Shadatthan, who had been made prisoner by the English for breaking peace he had concluded with them. He was treated with all respect due to his rank, and he was allowed his two companions, His Mundushi or secretary, and six of his servants.

They were all dressed in the Oriental fashion. Only, instead of turbans, they wore high round caps composed of pasteboard covered with gold and silver stuff. They wore also luxuriant long black hair and beards. The companions of the prince took their meals with the servants.

A carpet was spread out on the deck and two large dishes, one containing boiled fowls, and the other pilav were placed upon it. The company used their hands for knives and forks. 28th October. We still were in sight of the fine dark mountain regions of Ceylon.

Now and then, too, some huge detached groups of rocks would be visible towering above the waves. 29th October. Saw no land. A few whales betrayed their presence by the showers of spray they spotted out, and immense

forms of flying fish were startled by the noise of our engines. On the morning of 30th October, we came in sight of the Indian continent. We soon approached near enough to the shore to distinguish what it was particularly remarkable for its beauty. Being flat and partly covered with yellow sand, in the background were chains of low

hills. At 1 o'clock pm, we anchored at a considerable distance, 6 miles, from Madras. The anchoring place here is the most dangerous in the world. The groundswell being so strong that at no time can large vessels approach near the town, and many weeks often pass without even a boat being able to do so.

Ships consequently only stop a very short time, and there are rarely more than a dozen to be seen riding at anchor. Large boats, rowed by 10 or 12 men, come alongside them to take passengers, letters, and merchandise ashore. The steamer stops here 8 hours, which may be spent in viewing the town.

So anyone so doing runs a chance of being left behind, as the wind is constantly changing. I trusted to the good luck which had always attended me during my travels, and made one of the party that disembarked. But we had not got more than our fate to lend when I was punished for my curiosity. It began to rain most fearfully, and we were very soon wet to the skin.

We took refugee in a coffee house we saw, situated at Watersedge. The rain had now assumed a tropical character, and we were unable to leave our asylum. As soon as the storm had passed by, a cry was raised for us to return as quickly as possible, as there was no knowing what might follow. A speculative baker of Madras had come out in the first boat that reached the steamer

with ice and biscuits for sale, which he disposed off very much to his profit. The angry Evans at length took compassion on us and cleared up before sunset. We were then enabled to see palace-like dwellings of the Europeans, built half in the Grecian and half in the Italian style of architecture, stretching along the shore beautifully lighted by the sun.

Besides these, there were others standing outside the town in the midst of magnificent gardens. Before we left, a number of natives ventured to us in small boats, with fruit, fish and other trifles. Their boats were constructed of the trunks of four small trees, tightly bound together

with thin ropes made of fibres of the coca tree. A long piece of wood served as an oar. The waves broke so completely over them that I imagined every instant that both boats and men were irretrievably lost. The good people were almost in a state of nature and seemed to bestow all their care

on their heads, which were covered with pieces of cloth, turbans, cloth or straw caps, or very high and peaked straw hats. The more respectable, among whom may be Reck and the boatman who brought the passengers and mails, were however in many cases very tastily dressed. They had on neat jackets and large long pieces of cloth covered round their bodies.

Both the cloths and the jackets were white, with a border of blue stripes. On their heads they wore tightly fitting white caps, with a long flap hanging down as far as their shoulders. These caps too had a blue border. The complexion of the natives was a dark brown or coffee colour.

Late in the evening a native woman came on board with her two children. She had paid second class fare and was shown a small dark berth not far from the first cabin places. Her angered child had unfortunately a bad cough, which prevented some rich English lady, who had likewise a child with her, from sleeping.

Perhaps the exaggerated tenderness which this lady manifested for her little son caused her to believe that the cough might be catching. But be as it may, the first thing she did on the following morning was to bet the captain would transfer mother and children to the deck, which the noble-hearted humane captain immediately did.

Neither the lady nor himself caring in the least whether the poor mother had or had not even a warm cover led to protect her sick child from the night cold and frequent heavy showers. Not that this rich English lady's child had only been ill and exposed with her to the foggy night air that she might herself have experienced what it was to be thus harshly

treated. A person of any heart must almost feel ashamed at belonging to a class of beings who allow themselves to be far surpassed in humanity and kindness by those who are termed savages. No savages would have thus thrust forth the poor woman with the sick child, but would on the contrary have taken care of both.

It is only Europeans who have been brought up by the Christian principles who assume the right of treating colored people according as their whim or fancy may dictate. On the 1st and 2nd November, we caught occasional glimpses of the mainland as well as of several little islands, but all was flat and sandy without the least pretensions of natural beauty. Ten or twelve ships, some of them East Indian men of the largest size, were pursuing the

same route as ourselves. On the morning of the 3rd of November, the sea had already lost its own beautiful color and had taken that of dirty yellow ganges. Towards evening, we had approached pretty close to the mouth of this monster river. For some miles previous to our entering which, the water had a sweet flavor.

I filled a glass from the holy stream and drank it to the health of all those who are near and dear to me at home. At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, we cast anchor before Kashiere at the entrance of the Ganges, it being too late to proceed to Kolkata which is 60 nautical mile distant. The stream at this point was several miles broad so that the dark line of the only one

of its bank was to be seen. 4th November. In the morning we entered the Hooghly, one of the seven moats of the Ganges. A succession of apparently boundless plains lay stretched along the both sides of the river. Fields of rice were alternated with sugar plantations, white palm, bamboo and other

trees sprung between and the vegetation extended, in waxed and luxuriant, down to the very water's edge. The only objects wanting to complete the picture near villages and human beings, but it was not until we were within about 5 and 20 miles of Kolkata that we saw now and then a wretched village of few half-naked men. The huts were formed of clay, bamboo or palm branches and covered with tiles, rice straw

or palm leaves. The larger boats of the natives struck me as very remarkable and differed entirely from those I saw at Madras. The front portion was almost flat, being elevated hardly half a foot above the water, while the stern was about 7 feet high.

The first grand looking building, a cotton mill, is situated 15 miles below Kolkata and a cheerful dwelling house is attached. From this point up to Kolkata, both the banks of the Hooghly are lined with palaces built in Greco-Italian style and richly covered with pillars and terraces. We flew too quickly by, unfortunately, to obtain more than a mere passing glimpse of them.

Number of large vessels either passed us or were sailing in the same direction and steamer after steamer flitted by, tugging vessels after them. The scene became more busy and more strange every moment and everything gave signs that we were approaching an Asiatic city of the first magnitude. We anchored at Garden Ridge, 4 miles below Kolkata.

Nothing gave me more trouble during my travels than finding lodgings, as it was at some times impossible by mere signs and gestures to make the natives understand where I wanted to go. In the present instance, one of the engineers interested himself so far, in my behalf as to land with me, and to hire a palanquin and direct the natives where to take me.

I was overpowered by the feelings of the most disagreeable kind the first time I used a palanquin. I could not help feeling how degrading it was to human beings to employ them as beasts of burden. The palanquins are 5 feet long and 3 feet high with sliding doors and geloses.

In the inside they are provided with mattresses and cushions so that a person can lie down in them as in a bed. Four porters are enough to carry one of them aboard the town, but eight are required for a long excursion. They relieve each other at short intervals and run so quickly that they go 4 miles in

an hour or even in three quarters of an hour. These palanquins being painted black looked like so many stretchers carrying corpses to the churchyard or patients to the hospital. On the road to the town I was particularly struck with the magnificent gods, Piazzas, situated on the banks of the Hooghly, and from which broad flights of steps led down

to the river. Before these gods are numerous pleasure and other boats. The most magnificent palaces lay around in the midst of splendid gardens, into one of barrows turned and set me down under handsome portico before the house of the herb Heliges, to whom I had brought letters of recommendation.

The young and amiable mistress of the house greeted me as a country woman. She was from the north and I am from the south of Germany, and received me most cordially. I was lodged with Indian luxury, having a drawing room, a bedroom, and a bathroom especially assigned to me. I happened to arrive at Kolkata at the most unfavorable period possible.

Three years of unfruitfulness through almost the whole of Europe had been followed by a commercial crisis which threatened the town with entire destruction. Every male from Europe brought intelligence of some failure, in which the richest firms here were involved. No merchant could say I am worth so much.

The next post might inform him that he was a beggar, a feeding of dread and anxiety had seized every family. The sums already lost in England and this place were reckoned at 30 millions of pounds sterling and yet the crisis was far from being at an end. Misfortunes of this kind fall particularly hard upon persons who, like the Europeans

here, have been accustomed to every kind of comfort and luxury. No one have any idea of the mode of life in India. Each family has an entire palace, the rent of which amounts to 200 rupees, pound 20 or more a month. The household is composed of 25-30 servants, namely 2 cooks, a scullion, 2 water carriers,

4 servants to wait at the table, 4 housemates, a lamp cleaner and half a dozen size out rooms. Besides this there are at least 6 horses, to every one of which there is a separate 2 gardeners, a nurse and a servant for each child, a lady's maid, a girl to wait on the nurses, 2 tailors, 2 men to work on the punkas and a porter. The wages vary from 4 to 11 rupees, 8 shillings to 1 pound, 2 shillings a month.

None of the domestics are boarded and but few of them sleep in the house. They are mostly married and eat and sleep at home. The only portion of their dress which they have given to them is their turban and belt. They are obliged to find the rest themselves and also pay for their own washing. The linen belonging to the family is never, in spite of the number of servants, washed

at home, but is all put out at a cost of 3 rupees, 6 shillings, 400 articles. The amount of linen used is something extraordinary. Everything is white and the whole is generally changed twice a day. Provisions are not dear. Although the contrary is true of horses, carriages, furniture and wearing apparel, the last 3

are imported from Europe. The horses come either from Europe, New Holland or Java. In some European families I visited, there were from 60 to 70 servants and from 15 to 20 horses. In my opinion, the Europeans themselves are to blame for the large sums of money they

have to pay for servants. We saw the native princes and Rajas surrounded by a multitude of idle people and as Europeans they did not wish to appear in any way inferior. Gradually the custom became a necessity and it would be difficult to find a case where a more sensible course is pursued.

It is true that I was informed that matters could never be altered as long as the Hindus are divided into castes. The Hindu who cleans the room would on no account wait at a table, while the nurse thinks herself far too good ever to soil her hands by cleaning the child's washing basin. There may certainly be some truth in this.

But still every family cannot keep 20 or 30 or even more servants. In China and Singapore I was struck with the number of servants, but they are not half, nay not a third so numerous as they are here. The Hindus as is well known are divided into four castes, the Brahmins, Ketris, Bhises and Sudars.

They all sprung from the body of the God Brahma, the first from his mouth, the second from his shoulders, the third from his belly and thighs and the fourth from his feet. From the first class are chosen the highest officers of state, the priests and the teachers of the people. Members of this caste alone are allowed to pursue the holy books.

They enjoy the greatest consideration and if they happen to commit a crime are far less severely punished than persons belonging to any other castes. The second class furnishes the inferior officials and soldiers, the third the merchants, workmen and peasants, while the fourth and the last provide servants for the other three. Hindus of all castes however enter service when compelled by poverty to do so.

But there is still a distinction in the kind of work as the higher castes are allowed to perform only that of the cleanest kind. It is impossible for a person of one caste to be received into another or to intermarry with anyone belonging to it. If a Hindu leaves his native land and takes a foot from a pariah, he is turned out of

his caste and can only obtain readmission on the payment of a very large sum. Besides his caste, there is a fifth class, the pariahs. The lot of these prover creatures is the most wretched that can be imagined. They are so despised by the other four castes that no one will hold the slightest intercourse with them.

If a Hindu happens to touch a pariah as he is passing, he thinks himself defiled and is obliged to bathe immediately. The pariahs are not allowed to enter any temple and have particular places set apart for their dwellings. They are miserably poor and live in the most wretched huts.

Their food consists of all kinds of awful and even deceased cattle. They go about nearly naked or with only a few rags at most on them and perform the hardest and commonest work. The four castes are subdivided into an immense number of sects, 70 of which are allowed to eat meat, while others are compelled to abstain from it altogether.

Strictly speaking, the Hindu religion forbids the spilling of blood and consequently the eating of meat, but the 70 sects which mentioned are an exception. There are two, certain religious festivals at which animals are sacrificed. A cow, however, is never killed. The food of the Hindus consists principally of rice, fruit, fish and vegetables.

They are very moderate in their living and have only two simple meals a day, one in the morning and another in the evening. Their general drink is water or milk, varied sometimes with cocoa or wine. The Hindus are of the middle height, slim and delicately formed. Their features are agreeable and mild.

Their face is oval, the nose sharply chiseled, the lip by no means thick, the eye fine and soft and the hair smooth and black. Their complexion varies according to the locality from the dark to light brown. Among the upper class, some of them, especially the women, are almost white. There are a great number of Muhammadians in India.

As they are extremely skilled for inactive, most trades and professions are in their hands. They also willingly hire themselves as servants to Europeans. Men here do that kind of work which are accustomed to see performed by women. They embroider with white wool, colored silk and gold, make ladies' headdresses, wash and iron, mend the linen and even take situations as nurses for little children.

There are a few Chinese too here, most of whom are in the shoemaking trade. Calcutta, the capital of Bengal, is situated on the Hooghly, which at this point is so deep and broad that the largest men of war and East India men can lie at anchor before the town. The population consists of about 600,000 souls, of whom not counting the English troops,

hardly more than 2,000 are Europeans and Americans. The town is divided into several portions, namely the business town, the black town and the European quarter. The business town and black town are very ugly, containing narrow and crooked streets filled with wretched houses and miserable huts, between which are the warehouses, counting

houses and now and then some palace or other. The narrow paved canals run through all the streets in order to supply the necessary amount of water for the numerous daily ablutions of the Hindus. The business town and black town are always so densely crowded that when a carriage drives through, the servants are obliged to get down and run before in order to warn the people

or push them out of the way. The European quarter of the town, however, which is often termed as the city of palaces, a name which it richly merits, is on the contrary very beautiful. Every good sized house, by the way, is called, as it is in Venice, a palace. Most of these palaces are situated in the gardens surrounded by high walls.

They seldom join one another, for which reason there are about few imposing squares or streets. With the exception of the governor's palace, none of these buildings can be compared for architectural beauty and richness, with the palaces of Rome, Florence and Venice. Most of them are only distinguished from ordinary dwelling houses by a handsome portico upon brick pillars covered with cement and terrace-like roofs.

Inside the rooms are large and lofty and the stares of greyish marble or even wood, but neither in doors or out are there any fine statues or sculptures. The palace of the governor is, as I before said, a magnificent building, one that would be an ornament to the finest city in the world. It is built in the form of a horseshoe, with a handsome cupola in the centre.

The portico, as well as both the wings, is supported upon columns. The internal arrangements are as bad as can possibly be imagined, the supper room being, for instance, a story higher than the ballroom. In both these rooms there is a row of columns on each side and the floor of the latter is composed of agra marble.

The pillars and walls are covered with white cement, which is equal to marble for its polish. The private rooms are not worth looking at. They merely afford the spectator an opportunity of admiring the skill of the architect, who has managed to turn the large space at his command to the smallest imaginable profit.

Among the other buildings worthy of notice are the town hall, the hospital, the museum, Octoloni's monument, the mint and the English cathedral. The town hall is large and handsome. The hall itself extends through one entire story. There are a few monuments in white marble to the ceremony of several distinguished men

of modern times. It is here that all kinds of meetings are held, all speculations and undertakings discussed, and concerts, balls and other entertainments given. The hospital consists of several small houses, each standing in the midst of a grass plot. The male patients are lodged in one house, the females and children in a second, while

the lunatics are confined in the third. The walls are spacious, airy and excessively clean. Only Christians are received as patients. The hospital for natives is similar but considerably smaller. The patients are received for nothing and the numbers, who cannot be accommodated in

the building itself, are supplied with drugs and medicines. The museum, which was only founded in 1836, possesses, considering the short space of time that has been elapsed since its establishment, a very rich collection, particularly of quadrupeds and skeletons, but there are a few specimens of insects and most of those are injured. In one of the rooms is a beautifully executed model of a celebrated torch in Agra.

Several sculptors and bar leaves were lying around. The figures seem to me very clumsy. The architecture, however, is decidedly superior. The museum is open daily. I visited it several times and on every occasion, to my great astonishment, met a number of

natives who seemed to take greatest interest in the objects before them. Octoloni's monument is a simple stone column, 165 feet in height, standing like a large note of admiration, on a solitary grass plot, in the memory of General Octoloni, who was equally celebrated as statesman and a warrior. Whoever is not afraid of mounting 222 steps will be recompensed by an extensive view of

the town, the river and the surrounding country. The last, however, is very monotonous, consisting of an endless succession of planes, bounded only by the horizon. Not far from the column is a neat little mosque, whose countless towers and cupolas are ornamented with gilt metal balls, which glitter and glisten like so many stars in the heaven.

It is surrounded by a pretty courtyard, at the entrance of which, those who wish to enter the mosque are obliged to leave their shoes. I complied with this regulation, but did not feel recompensed for doing so, as I saw merely a small empty hall, the roof of which was supported by few stone pillars. Glass slabs were suspended from the roof and walls, and the floor was paved with agra marble,

which is very common in Calcutta, being brought down the Ganges. The mint presents a most handsome appearance. It is built in pure Grecian style, except that it is not surrounded by pillars on all its four sides. The missionary in it is said to be especially good, surpassing anything of the kind to be

seen in Europe. I am unable to express any opinion on the subject, and can only say that all I saw appeared excessively ingenious and perfect. The metal is softened by heat and then flattened into plates by means of cylinders. These plates are cut into strips and stamped.

The rooms in which the operations take place are spacious, lofty, and airy. The motive power is mostly steam. Of all the Christian places of worship, the English cathedral is the most magnificent. It is built in Gothic style, with a fine large tower rising above half a dozen smaller ones. There are other churches with Gothic towers, but these edifices are all extremely simple

the interior, with the exception of the Armenian church, which has the wall near the altar crowded with pictures and gold frames. The notorious black hole, in which Raja Suraj Dhowlak cast 150 of the principal prisoners when he obtained possession of Calcutta in 1756, is at present changed into a barrow's, at the entrance stands Oblisk, 50 feet high, and on it are inscribed the names of his victims.

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