Bombay, and then drove to the Byculla Hotel, about
a mile from the shore. A large pile of buildings,
composed on the ground floor of one enormous room, a
hundred and fifty feet by fifty, divided by screens into-
reading, dining, and smoking saloons, and under a
separate roof were the bed-rooms, with partitions
reaching only half way to the ceiling; which makes-
them cool certainly, but not otherwise convenient,
especially if you wish to hold private conversation
with a friend; but in hot climates people, as a rule,,
do not prolong their stay in the bed-room beyond
the time necessary for their toilet.
So this is India, the fairyland of the E a s t! Well,,
if a fair specimen, I think people might as well stay
at home, for there is little difference between this and
any other la rg e mercantile town in Europe, with the
exception of the motley group of turbaned humanity
moving about languidly under a hot sun. This is
probably every travellers first thought. Gradually,
however, we become sensible of certain impressions
produced by climate, luxurious ease, and one’s bungalow
existence, which combine to change our opinion.
Also the study of the native character is not without
interest, since it opens the recesses of many a little
nook and corner in our brain, filled with notes historical,
social, and scientific, which may have been.
shelved there for years and almost forgotten, to be
brought to light again and added to by the liberal use
of one’s eyes and ears.
Here we meet with crowds of people from all parts
of the world, each wearing his national dress, from the
fair Chinaman and his pig-tail to the swarthy African
and his ivory teeth, from the tall Afghan of Jewish
type and high-bridged nose to the short small-
featured Malay. Even amongst the Indians proper,,
say those of Hindustan and the Deccan, what a
variety of race! The distinction is almost more perceptible
in their head-dress than in any other peculiarity.
After a time one learns to determine a man’s
nationality by the shape and often even by the colour
of his turban. In other respects all men dress more
or less in white, coat or jacket, in folds or loincloth.
Of great buildings, religious or secular, there are
none at Bombay of any pretensions, but for signs of
old days long gone by, it possesses one of the best
specimens of Brahminical rock temples in India,
namely, the now almost neglected caves on the Isle of
Elephanta, the “ Gharipoor ” of the natives, about
five miles east of Bombay. We rowed across one
morning, and the water being very shallow we had to-
be carried ashore by a couple of dark Hindus, and,