LIFE IN INDIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17289, 3 October 1916, Page 4

LIFE IN INDIA.

' 'i ON THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER. NEW ZEALAND .SOLDIER'S LETTER, Tho following nro extracts from a letter received by Mr J. H. Shaw, secretary of the Christchurch Poultry Association, from an enthusiastic fancier now at the front, His letter is dated from Bombay and was written on August 12 :

“ At tho present i.imo 1 am near tho north-western frontier of India, at a placo culled Topa, Mtirroo Hills, Ptm,jaub. .1 arrived in India on July 8, being sent, down from the Gulf (Mesopotamia) with sunstroke. We were immediately sent to the D-eolali convalescent camp, in tho hills, a sevenhours’ railway journey in a north-east-erly direction from Bombay. YYc remained in Diolali until August 3, when 160 men of various regiments who are nearly lit were drafted to the present, camp. From Deolnli to Rawal Pencil is a three days' railway journey through a variety of scenery and tho most historical part of India, tlie heart of J lie mutiny. Wo passed through Jansi, Agra, Delhi, Lahore all tair.ou 1 for the pan; they played in the mutiny- “ From Rawal Hindi to the Alt rive Hills is forty miles in a north-north-easterly direction. Tho journey' is done by motor through glorious scenery which reminds me forcibly of tho Duller Gorge, with the Otira thrown in. We are 8000 feet above sea level, which means that wo aro enjoying a cool atmosphere—a glorious change after the •unbearable heat of Mesopotamia. We arc somo four and a half miles from tho township of Murree, a popular hill resort of Europeans who are in a sound financial position. “ There are four New Zealanders and two from tho land of the Kangaroo in this spot, so 1 am not so much a fish out of water Si I should otherwise bo if I was on my own. The scenery, is absolutely glorious; in every direction as far as tho eyo can see spreads range on range of mountains, densely wooded, gullies and ravines by the hundred, waterfalls of every description, rocks of unimaginable colouring, tho whole blending in a majestic beauty worthy of tho greatest, range of mountains in the world.

“The typo of natives in the northern part of India is totally different from those of middle and south of India. The southerners are servile, .morally .deficient, and of inferior physical development. The northerner is fairer skinned, of a good physique, .independent, and more honest; in fact, a people who accept, defeat slowly. “ Tho national character of India is so diversified and varied that the idea of a homogeneous India is only the dream of idealists who fail to grasp the under life of political India. The Mohammedans love not tJio Hindoos, and both condemn the Parsces, and so on. There are scores of religions in India, and in each religion there are numerous sects. They are divided amongst themselves and you know the Biblical saying about a 'house being divided against itself.’ That is the case with India. “Tho sects resemble trade unions to a very great extent. Tlie religions nro divided up in occupations. For instance, all the melees (cleaners and servants) aro one sect, bootmakers another, tailors another, etc. If a bootmaker has a son ho will in due follow his father’s calling; ambition is" conspicuous by its absence. I will give you an example. When in Bombay four of our troop had a youth to clean our buttons and boots. Ho bad a fair colloquial knowledge of English. I asked him one day what he intended to do when ho reached manhood. lie replied quite happily that he would continue his then present calling. .Another case of a somewhat different naturo came under my observation in Denial!. The Presbyterian minister was paying his cook thirty rupees per month because he was an excellent cook- This was twice the normawage. He left, and another cook came along. He was offered twenty rupees but refused because his predecessor had received thirty. This seems peculiar as he was only receiving twelve rupees previously. He would sacrifice eight rupees per month rather than, as it were, betray h’-s caste.

“To hark back to Mesopotamia. To use a hackneyed phrase, 1 it is not fit for a dog.’' Just imagine 130 degrees in tho tents, a very limited supply ol drinking water, which is rendered unpalntablo by a strong solution of cholorido of lime, that is, when in camp. The chlorine kills all harmful germs. When on t.lio march, or away from camp, ono takes the risk by drinking any kind of water, and one has to drink continuously all tho day as one is in a continuous bath of perspiration. Food was never abundant, both quality and quantity being inadequate. \>e were under what was termed tho Indian scale of rations—an insult to a Britisher. Hospital facilities have greatly improved recently, and I can assure you that there was room for improvement. “In .Mesopotamia all sick cases, it in any case slightly serious, are sent to Basra. Medical officers go into each case individually, and if the patient is likely to be any length of time sick he is drafted to India, where be receives proper attention, and is ultimately sent to the hills, which has a bracing climate. Then when tho men are fit they are transferred to then* depots.” ___________