THE FRONTDOOR OF INDIA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1340, 18 January 1912, Page 6

THE FRONTDOOR OF INDIA.

IMPRESSIONS OF BOMBAY. iIV REV. FREDERICK STUBBS, (All Rights Reserved.) The city of Bombay, from its size, importance, and, above all, its geographical situation, may not inifittingly.be described as the British Front-door to India. It is tho first Indian port to lie reached from Great Britain, and most tourists and returning Anglo-Indians enter here. It is the most convenient point of departure for the great ana interesting cities of the north-west, and it is at Bombay the King and Queen will disembark on their wav to the Durbar at Delhi. The city of' Bombay, tho capital of the Presidency of the same name, is situated on an island 11 miles long, cut off from the mainland by a narrow arm of the sea, which, however, has been easily bridged, and presents no serious obstacle to communication. Its oldest part, known as the Fort, is situated towards tho southern and narrower end of the island. Here are situated the land-ing-places, the great public buildings, the 'newspaper offices, and tho principal business centres. At the northern and broader end are the native oity, the bazaars, the Ridge, where many Europeans and wealthy Natives reside, and the cotton mills. Immense quantities of cotton are manufactured in Bombay, the mill that 1 went over—and this not tho largest—employing no fewer than 2000 hands, mostly Native men and women, superintended by Europeans. In this neighbourhood, too, is the swell Byculla Club, where the King resided on his last visit—a few years ago situated amongst fields, but now surrounded by tall chimneys and teeming Native tenements. The population of the city now amounts to about 1,000,000, of whom only a small proportion are of European birth. On one side of the island is the harbour, a wide bay, sufficiently wide and deep to accommodate a fleet of the largest vessels; whilst on the other side is what is known as Back Bay, on the shores of which are magnificent thoroughfares and palatial residences. , The Sea Front. Along this sea front one splendid building follows another, with noble vestibules, stone facades, carved arches and colonnades, cupolas and pinnacles. Tho Queen's Drive is indeed one of the most ljeautiful esplanades in tho world, and between the hours of 5 and 6.30 p.m. is thronged with carriages and pedestrians. Some few are British, but the great majority arc well-to-do Hindus and Pnrsees. It is amazing to see the number of carriages in Bombay. The explanation is that they are very cheap either to hire or purchase. Carriage, horses, and coachman can be had for X' 3 a month, and so everybody that is anybody keeps his carriage and in the cool of the evening drives along the sea-front. Many of the carriages are splendidly equipped," with liveried footmen hanging on behind, and these almost invariably belong to wealthy natives. The European as a rule keeps a much humbler turnout. Many of the carriages contain children who, in charge of a servant, are sent out -daily for their luxurious constitutional. Frequently there is quite a crowd of them, the merry little souls appearing to greatly enjoy the fun of the road. Ono afternoon I saw a sight that could be seen nowhere else in the world —a handsome Victoria with a naked child insido as its solo occupant. His young lordship was taking the air, untrammelled by the artificial restraints that European civilisation imposes, and no doubt greatly enjoying the freedom. An hour or two earlier I could have, envied him. Among tho carriages is' always a sprinkling of motor-cars, mostly owned and driven by Natives, whilst on tho sidewalks Pnrsees predominate, father, mother, and children as a rule walking together—a pleasing sight never seen, of course, amongst well-to-do Hindus or Mohammedans. Overlooking tho sea, also, are many of the great public buildings, such as the Secretariat, built in Venetian-Gothic style; the Courts of Justice in French decoration'; tho University buildings, from the library of which rises the Kajnbni Clock Tower to a height of 280 feet, with five richlydecorated storeys. The top of the cupola is ornamented with 16' statues, and tho carillon machinery plays no fewer than 1G tunes, including such well-known favourite as tho Blue Bells of Scotland, Rule Brittania, Home Sweet Home, Auld Lang Syne, and, of. course, flic National Anthem. Tho bells weigh 12 tons, and this fine tower is especially interesting because it was built, along with tho library itself, by a Hindu gentleman in memory of his mother. Filial piety is by no means the exclusive property of Europeans. The Gymkhanas. Not far from here are the gymkhanas or clubs—vast, airy buildings such as were once common' in Rome; marble-paved, with gardens and lawns where, once or twice a week a military band plays. These gymkhanas are a great institution in tho East, and arc extremely exclusive in their membership, as I. shall illustrate in a future article. Ono must not forget to mention, too, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway Station and Offices, from tho architectual point of view ono of the finest in the world. It is built in the ItalianGothic style, with a frontace of 1500 feet, was opened in 18S2, and cost .£300,000. It is elaborately ornamented with sculpture and fretwork, surmounted by a large dome, whilst in front is a magnificent facade supported by marble columns. The neighbouring offices of the Bombay, Baroda, and Central India Railway are no less magnificent, though not quite so large, and either of these noble buildings would do credit to anv city in the world. The new post office, close by, is not quite so attractive, though a fine structure. It has only recently been opened, and cost .£140,000. (Tt must be remembered that, owing to the difference in the price of labour, these sums would havo to be at least doubled in Australasia.) Native Labour. The post office employs 2000 men. and in going over the great structure 1 was surprised to see but two white. men, though T /believe, hidden away somewhere, there are a few others. * Tn this and other Government Departments nrnrly nil are natives- % or Eurasians, and the policy of filling nearly every . vacancy v;i(h natives has in my judgment gone nuite far enough, nnd. indeed, too far. The British Administration ought not to be so entirely dependent on native labour. It is cliean, and, within limits, effective, but so long us Britain is responsible for the government V India, a good proportion of these pasts should bo reserved for Europeans. Snaeo fails me to speak of the municipal buildings, tho snlendid hosnitals, schools and colleges, tho Sailors' Home, Mechanics' Institute, etc. The Mosque; are not narticularly fine, though there are several hi.qhlv-de-oorafod temples; the two cathedrals. Anglican and Roman Catholic, are fine structures, and there are also several wellbuilt though not imnosin* Christian churches, in one of which. St. Andrew's, I had (he honour of preaching. Tn addition to (he Maidan and Oval, where cricket, tennis, etc.. are plivod daily, Bombay has n fine park in tlio Victoria Garden, which rovers 51) .".cres. There is n profusion of beautiful trees, (lowers, and shrub', with well-kept walks; aim a zoological garden, free, with the imial animals. The keeper of the tiger house caused some in(crest bv "oing up to the bars and stroking '.ho huge' beast, but to the disnpuointmont of' some of the snecta'"rs if foiled in bite him. As, however, they had paid nothing for admission they really hod no pround for comnlaint. Two or three times a week a band plays, nnd the eardons are evidently much appreciated by the people, The Vrm i 0 at t,IC cntrano< ' e° st -°W 10,000 Native Hearts. There are a large number of statues in the city to European and native grandees, but as I am not writing a guido book I shall only mention oiio of them, that of tho late Queen Victoria. It is of white marble, and an object of constant interest to the native population. 1 n rntion this sfnluo snccinlly in order I' narrate thefollowing instructive incid' at. A few years ago a rumour got nbr ,d amongst the natives that someone had insulted the greal QueenEmpress by spitting on her slalue, and that in revenge she bad given orders that 10,000 native hearts should be cut out. From this time (he poorer natives became suspicious and alarmed, and when in 1597 nn epidemic of plague broke out, resisted tho efforts of tho authorities to

take (ho sick to the hospitals, in the belief that this was being done in order to procure their hearts for the Great Queen. This incident is only one of many that might 1)0 given showing how foolish and credulous the mass of the people are, and bow careful the authorities have to bo in order that groundless suspicion and resentment may not bo aroused in their minds. In order to prevent a corpse being taken away, they have even been known to play cards when they hoard tho inspector was coming, and "to set the corpse up as one of the players. The native officer, thinking from its, attitude that . the corpse was a living man, reported that, there were no deaths. Native Town. Not far from the splendid thoroughfares and buildings I have described abovo is tho native town, composed "chiefly of narrow- streets and choking ; alleys, where nearly-naked idolaters herd, and wholly naked' children run about happy and unashamed. What a crowd is here! It is almost impossible to describe tho dense throng that fills the streets and bazaars in this quarter of the city. There aro literally hundreds of thousands. In tho bazaars, forty languages arc spoken, and each has its own costume. Not that there aro only forty dif- '. ferent costumes, four hundred would bo nearer tho mark. Looking down from an eminence ono sees a veritable garden of , turbans—vcrmillion, crimson, orange, white, and parti-coloured—men clothed in blue and brown and emerald waistcoats, i women in cherry-coloured pantaloons, or . in a mantle drawn from the head across . tho bosom to the hip-purple, green, or ' white; Arabs in long roho and hood, i bound round with cords and tufts of > camel's hair, their.mien high, their moveI ments free and dignified, their features , strongly cut and resolute; Jews, with i figured turbans and lull-tassolled^fcz, blue-bloused Afghans, savage but strong; ; Bhils—the wild hillmen; mill-hands, with ; clothes as grimy as their com- • plexion, but walking briskly, > erect and strong, and chattering, \mceasingly to their mates, there is u ■ powerful smell oi garlic and sp.ee o i sugar and of goat-dung; above all,, of. i hot, perepiring humanity—and us pro- ■ ducts I The country native of Bombay I looks poor and weak and insignificant; i he is timid and nerveless, «-f, k ; v^' > slow in movement. But some of the other 1 tribes and races are bold and vigorous. It is surprising how well the women carry themselves. This is due to their custom of carrying from childhood loads upon ' their heads, thus conducing to strength ' and poise. I have seen some ' women carry two great jars of water.on 1 their heads, one above the other.. How ; strong and true the muscles must bo w 1 accomplish this will bo readily undei - ' stood. I have never seen a flat-bosomed • woman; though, frequently vory short, ' they all appear well and harmoniously • developed. - ; The Climate, I I have said nothing about the climate [ of Bombay. From November to March i it is beautiful, warm,-and sunny during - tho day, and cool at night, but during 1 the rest of.the year.it is very trying, hot, , and steamy. Even during tho last week I of October, when I arrived, tho heat Of a the sun was terriffic, and it was not sate to go out for a single day without a topee, j I have not felt the heal of tho sun quite r K> much in any other part of the world, Fever and diarrhoea are quite common, and plague and- cholera not infrequent. Anyone that knows the insanitary and " disgusting habits of the natives will not • be surprised at this. Whilst'during the cool season fine weather may be depended ? upon month on.end, during the monf koous tho rains aro sometimes terrific. I During one 21 hours, 13 inches of rain 1 were recorded, resulting in a great flood. ? Bombay is not a healthy place, and Buro--1 peans deserve the high salarios they get. 1 Fortunately, there is in. normal seasons r a good water supply;brought from a. huge 0 tank ten miles away, and every day the f are plentifully watered.by means f \>f powerful hydrants,' or in smaller r streets .by small carts drawn by men or s bullocks; or .by means of goat-skins ca.r----i ried on men's -shoulders. ? Such then, in brief, is the great and - splendid city of Bombay. When the - Portuguese gained possession in 1534 e the rental was about £W; now the ground - rent alone must run into hundreds of e thousands. In IG6I it was ceded to tho ;. .Knglish Crown by the Portuguese as part i- of tho dowry of Catherine of Braganza, r Quoen of Charles 11, who, in 1668, sold his - right to the East India Company for ,£lO i a year! How Charles would rub his 3 eyes' if he could awake and see it now. ! With all its strange mixture—so common . in the East—of splendour and filth, it is t an attractive, intensely interesting citv, j and I am glad te have seen it, and to 1 have had tho opportunity of conveying j to Australasian readers some idea of its T greatness.