Highroads of Geography Part 4

12. In some of the carriages and motor cars you may see rich men wearing fine silk robes. Many of these rich men now dress as we do, except that they wear turbans instead of hats.

11. IN THE STREETS.

1. I should like you to see the shops of Bombay. Most of them are quite unlike our British shops. They have no doors and no windows, but are open to the street.

2. Our shopkeepers try to make a fine show of their goods. The Indian shopkeeper does nothing of the sort. He simply piles his goods round his shop and squats in the midst of them. There he sits waiting for people to come and buy.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {An Indian shopkeeper}]

3. In our shops there is a fixed price for the goods. In India nothing has a fixed price. You must bargain with the shopkeeper if you wish to buy anything. Very likely he will ask you three times the price which he hopes to get.

4. Our penny is divided into four parts; each of these parts is called a farthing. The Indian penny is divided into twelve parts; each of these parts is called a "pie." An Indian boy or girl can buy rice or sweets with one pie.

5. There are thousands of beggars in India. They go to and fro in front of the shops begging. The shopkeepers are very kind to them, and never send them away without a present.

6. Very good order is kept in the streets. At every street corner stands a native policeman, dressed in blue, with a flat yellow cap on his head and a club by his side. Some of the policemen ride horses, and carry guns and lances.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {An Indian policeman}]

7. The parks of Bombay are large open s.p.a.ces covered with gra.s.s. Round them are rows of palm trees. In these parks you may see men and boys playing all sorts of games.

8. Indians are very fond of cricket, which they play very well. Not many years ago an Indian prince was one of the best players in England.

9. Polo is also played in the parks of Bombay. It is an Indian game, but Britons now play it too. Polo is just hockey on horseback.

10. The players ride ponies which are very quick and nimble. Each player carries a mallet with a very long handle. With this mallet he strikes a wooden ball and tries to drive it between the goal posts.

11. Last night I stopped to watch some Indian boys playing marbles. When Tom plays the game, he places the marble between his thumb and forefinger and shoots it out with his thumb.

12. The Indian boy does not shoot the marble in this way at all. He presses back the second finger of one hand with the forefinger of the other. Then he lets go and strikes the marble with the finger that was bent back. Some of the boys are very clever at this game.

13. Bombay has some very fine buildings. On the top of most of them you see the Union Jack, the flag of Britain. Not only Bombay but all India belongs to Britain. I hope you are all well.--Best love. FATHER.

12. OUR INDIAN COUSIN.

1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--I am now in the north of India, not far from the great river Ganges. It is a long railway journey from Bombay to this place. I have been in the train two days and two nights.

2. I am now beginning to understand what a vast land India is. Do you know that it would make sixteen lands as large as our own? One in every five of all the people on earth lives in India.

3. Perhaps you can guess why I have made this long journey from Bombay.

My brother, your uncle, is the chief man in this part of the country. He and I have been parted for many years. I am now living in his house.

4. Let me tell you about little Hugh, your cousin. He was born in India seven years ago, and he has never been to England. He hopes to come "home" to see you all in a few months' time.

5. Hugh's home is a big house, all on the ground floor. It has no upstairs. The rooms are very large and lofty. This is because the weather is very hot for the greater part of the year. If the rooms were not large and high, they would be too hot to live in.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Hugh's house}]

6. In every room there is a beam of wood with a short curtain hanging from it. This is the punkah. The beam is hung from the roof by ropes. In the hot weather a boy sits outside and pulls the punkah to and fro with a rope. In this way he makes a little breeze, which keeps the room cool.

7. The roof of the house juts out all round and is held up by pillars.

We sit outside, under the roof, whenever we can. During the heat of the day we must stay indoors.

8. The garden round the house is very large. There are many tall palm trees in it. Some of the other trees bear most beautiful blossoms of crimson, yellow, and blue. All along the front of the house are many flowerpots, in which roses and other English flowers are growing.

9. A few days ago little Hugh came to me and asked if he might show me what he called "the compound." I said "Yes." So he took my hand and led me away.

10. First he showed me the gardener. He is a short, dark man, and he squats down to do his work. He is a very good gardener, and he is proud of his flowers. Every morning he comes to the house with a flower for Hugh's father and mother and uncle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Gardener at work}]

11. Next, Hugh took me to see the well. It is behind the house. The mouth of the well is on the top of a mound. To reach it you must walk up a sloping road. Above the mouth of the well there is a wheel.

12. A rope runs over this wheel. At one end of the rope there is a large leather bag. The other end of the rope is fastened to the necks of a pair of bullocks.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The Village Well.

(From the picture by W. Simpson, R.I.)]

13. IN THE GARDEN.

1. The bullocks walk backwards up the sloping road. This lowers the leather bag into the well, where it is filled with water. Then the bullocks walk down the sloping road. This pulls the bag up to the mouth of the well.

2. A man empties the water out of the bag into a tank by the side of the well. The water runs out of this tank into the garden, where it spreads out into many little streams. It is this water which makes the trees, the plants, and the gra.s.s grow so well in the garden.

[Ill.u.s.tration: {Oxen drawing water from a well}]

3. If the garden were not watered in this way, it would soon be brown and bare. For many months at a time no rain falls in India. Then dust a foot deep lies on the roads, and the ground cracks with the heat.

4. When the dry season is over the rain begins to fall. It comes down in torrents for days together. In some places more rain falls in a single day than we have in a whole year.

5. During the "rains" the rivers become full to the brim, and the whole land is fresh and green. Sometimes the "rains" do not come at all. Then the crops wither away, and the people starve.

6. In our country we are never sure of the weather. It changes so often that we talk about it a great deal. In India n.o.body talks about the weather. During seven months of the year every day is fine.

7. In our country we almost always have plenty of water for our crops, and for drinking and was.h.i.+ng. Plenty of fresh water is a great blessing to a land. In many parts of India water is very scarce.

8. I told you that the great river Ganges is not far away from little Hugh's home. This grand river begins in the mountains of North India. I wish you could see these mountains. They are the highest on earth. They rise up from the plains like a huge wall, and their tops are always covered with fields of ice and snow.

9. These ice-fields slowly move down the mountain sides. Then they melt, and this gives rise to the Ganges and to the other great rivers of North India.