TOUR OF INDIA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 24 April 1937, Page 12

TOUR OF INDIA

6,000 MILES BY RAIL INTERESTING COUNTRY DESCRIBED IMPRESSIONS OF NELSONIAN VIII We leave Madras this evening by the 9 o’clock train for Mysore. Our rail passage was on centre guage, but we suffered very little vibration and had a fairly good night’s rest and changed trains at 6.45 a.m. and continued on this line till 10.45, which brought us to Mysore. The Maharaja’s new palace was visited and we had a thorough examination and a good guide to explain anything that was not clear to us. It is beautifully and gorgeously decorated and finished; it is full of large halls and rooms. The stables were interesting with about 150 horses and a large number of carriages and gigs, etc were seen.

The Y.M.C.A. held their conference about the beginning of January. The Maharaja, who is a very democratic person, had the members in the palace, and all business was done there. A coach finished in gold and silver was the last thing as a vehicle to carry a king. A drive to the top of Chammdi Hill gave us a splendid view of Mysore and surrounding country. We paid a visit to Seringapatam Fort. This place was the scene of the last stand of the hostile native prince against the British. Here they were stationed within the fort’s ramparts, which were well defended by triple high walls surrounding the large space of probably 3 or 4 square miles within and added to this was the natural defence in the divided waters of the river Cauvery which completely encircle the fort.. The attack made by the British was in the year 1799. A WEDDING PROCESSION The wedding procession of a Mahommedan bridegroom was passed in the streets of Mysore. He was decorated with long strings of coloured flowers and his vehicle was also made gay with coloured fabric. He looked bored and far from happy, as one would expect under such circumstances. A large following made up the rear, in which were well dressed native women, and in the lead were men and a small band which played the usual weird tunes characteristic of India. Our Indian native bearer was much concerned about our state of single life and said he was very sorry to learn that we were not married, It is evidently a misfortune in India not to take upon oneself a wife.

Mysore is a very well laid out town of 1,000,000 persons. There are nice wide streets and good shops., The native motor service buses carry between 20 to 30 persons and three to four hundred pounds of luggage. This latter is stowed on the top of the vehicle. They look fairly comfortable. We left Mysore by private car at 1 p.m. on Sunday, 21st February and had a long run of about 120 miles to the mountain town of Ovtacamund. The journey was for the most part on hilly country which was covered by native jungle and some fine specimens of indigenous trees. In this part of India tigers, elephants and other wild creatures roam undisturbed except of course when a hunting party are after this class of game. The Maharaja of Mysore makes occasional hunting trips in this wild and univiting country. We did not venture into the bush land but were content to see it from the motor car. We made a fast run to Ovtacamund, 7500 ft up in the Nilgeri Hills. Our car driver wasted no time as he wanted to return that night to Mysore; en route we saw hundred of long-tail monkeys on the roadside. They were not alarmed by the motor car and sat in large numbers quite near to the passing vehicle.

We took a motor drive around Ovtacamund, visited the Botanical Gardens, which were very tastefully laid out and quite a lot of exotic trees were noticed, viz., the New Zealand cabbage tree, the pohutukawa, the manuka etc., and also Australian trees were in abundance. The bluegum and many fur trees form large afforestation areas. They prize the former as a good firewood tree. On our way home the car driver stopped by a mountain tribal settlement; these strange people of the last remnant of a dying race, the Todas tribe, live in strongly built conical shaped dwellings. No windows or any opening were visible to allow fight to pass in. A small door in the end no larger than would apmit a dog was the only entrance. It was perfectly dark within, even in the bi'ight sunny days. A good many apparently lived altogether in these whares, men, women and children. I procured some photos of these people and their homes. Ovtacamund reminds one of New Zealand and our home in Nelson. The climate is rather.cold on account of its altitude, which is 7500 ft above sea level. The plant life is much the same, and in fact there is growing in this town cabbage trees, pohutukawa, taupata, etc., they are thriving well. The town is well laid out and very well kept. The hilly nature of the land it is built on makes it most picturesque. Many fine trees and flowering plants are grown in the parks and gardens. Many European residents of the Southern part go to this place in the summer months. We left Ovta’ at 3 p.m., Wednesday, 24th February, by train. The South Indian railway is on metric guage, viz., 39Jjn wide. Our carriage was the last one on the train and had good large windows for observation. (To be continued) .