BOUND THE WORLD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2295, 24 February 1898, Page 39

BOUND THE WORLD.

(From Our Special Commissioner.) P. and O. b.3 Australia, Between Albany and Colombo, Mid-ocean, 23/12/97. Dear Bis, — Here wo are in mid-ocean in the P. and O. s.b. Australia, bound for Colombo. Despite the really palatial grandeur of this truly magnificent steamer, after four days cut from Albany and civilisation I find time hanging heavily, and have resorted to the one and only mode of successfully killing same— i.e., writing my friends. THE LAND OP THE PUNKAH. Sunday, 26th (Boxing Day). -We have successfully crossed the " line, ' and are proceeding rapidly in the direction of Colombo, where we hope to land Tuesday morning 1 , the 28th iust. Monday, 27/12/97. Outside Colombo and the weather delightfully hot and in every sense of the word fatiguing. We are hoping to laud at Colombo in the morning at daybreak, when my troubles begin afreßh. By ttaa way, we have several youngsters on board bound for Calcutta, where they join the Pollard Opera Company at the Opera House. They are in charge of one of the Pollard ladies (the one that ÜBed to play the piano with the Maoriland company)- Hhe goes to Calcutta in the same capacity. Colombo, 28/12/97. | Just arrived ; an exquisite place ; am busy ; j C=irl Hertz opens here Tuesday evening, January I 4- ! P.S.— Regards to "Pasquin," yourself, and all Maoriland friends from Carl Hertz, MdlleD' Alton, and Edwin Geach. Watson's Esplanade Hotel, Bombay, Sunday, 2/1/98. Dear Pasquin,— Since my last to you I have travelled^ far_ aud seen much. If I miotake not the termination of my last screed ended upon my arrival AT COLOMBO. Well, we landed safely at Colombo on the morning of Tuesday, December 28 Truly an ideal I day with ide.il suiroundings, for to the eye of the I uninitiated there is nothing under the sun more I heavenly than a view of verdant Colombo from I the sea, with its magoificeat tropical growth soaring high above the roofs of the bungalows for which this nautical "half-way house" ia world famous. j Immediately we drop anchor pleasant memories I of Lottie Collins are immediately introduced to us by a rather piimitive, craft laden i with a cargo of the sons of the soil of Ceylon, dressed — well, in the "altogether." Once havißtg gained the attention of a score or ' more of innocent aud unoffending passengers, j these " silvery tenors of Ceylon," resembling more , drowned rats than human beings, give their version of the abovemeutioned Lottie's master- > piece, " Ta-ra-ra-boom-ds-ay." j i Once having rivetted the attention of the ship's ! company, they immediately cea^e their attempt j at vocalisation and offer to dive for the coin of I the realm. Who has not heard of " Tell me die, I die. die, die"? Dive, too, they can — veritable fish i of the human species are the Boys of Ceylon. ; One is landed in the midst of the bustle and 1 strife of Colombo in rather a novel sea craft enj titled a catamaran, and iv the " skipper's " many | of the peculiarities of the_ Dublin carman are pro- ■ minen I',.1 '„ Their legal fare is 50 cents ; they usually ask 150, aud get it— sometimes ; bnt this, en passant, is a failure generally of eastern populations. Stepping ashore, we instantly get a fair idea of an Asiatic population, so thick and dense are the masses — coolies predominating ; and the traveller I inwardly thinks that there is some trubh after all I in the ancient saying that " one half the world ! doesn't know how the other half lives." | Here we are introduced to, for the first and only i time, that novel mode of conveyance '"ricktha liding." Hlavery it is, and nothing more ; human beings— coloure I certainly — dragging fellow men, at the latter's command, up hill, down dale, f&st or slow, as the fare desires ; aud for miles, too, and all for a paltry pittance. Candidly speaking, it is a fascinating pastime, despite its strong flavour of butchered beings to make a Roman holiday, for j many and many a poor 'ricksha " boy " (all iv the Kast glory in this youthful title), after a fast, ! long, and furious spin, has breathed his last in j gratefully acknowledging his miserable fare. Such are the fruits of over-population. Colombo boasts of many fine hotels— second to none, in fact, in the East ; a passable service inland, and the tourists' retreat which, like the Tower of Pisa, must be seen. Colombo boasts i of at least four dailie?, a museum of much splendour and an admirable collection, whilst its numerous drives flavour of the sublime. j Three days' easy steam o'er the placid watere of } the Indian Ocean, the entire coastline looming in the distance the while, a trip chiefly notable for the thousands of fishing smacks that both day and night frequent our course, iv imminent danger to tbenisf-lves, but which add life to what would be otherwise a monotonous run, and we arrive at BOMBAY— THE CITY OF PLAGUE. Entering the harbour of Bombay — second only to that of Sydney and perhaps Auckland— with the break of day. the city of plague and famine presents a somewhat itiviting appearance, studded with lofty towers, steeples, and u>agnifieent, not to say really gorgeous, buildings. In the centre stands its railway station, erected at a cost of £150.000. It 3tands as a brilliant piece of Oriental architecture, and Bombay is proud of it, and in these days of strict economy she is likely to be for many years. Next come a score of equally attractive structures— the municipal buildings, its colossal cathedral, aud sundry others altogether i too numerous to mention. What a population graces the streets — one continuous seething mass, moving to and fro on busi- ! ness bent. What is ifc like? Have you ever been privileged to peep behind the scenes during the progress of the final rehearsal of a modern Drury Lane pantomime, with its veritable army of characters, all colours, shapes, and sizes, not forgetting the inevitable property beasts? — well, that is Bombay streets to the life. An interesting excursion may be taken after breakfast (or before) to the Tower of Silence— the tower for the disposal of the Parsee dead. Situated to the east of Malabar Hill stands the tower, surrounded by a score or more of vultures. With devouring eye they anxiously await the appearance of the latest victim of the deadly plague. The body once in place, down come the birds upon their prey, until nothing remains but the bones, which, midst the awful silence that surrounds the tower, fall with a dull, sickening thud to the basement. Such is one of the sights of Bombay. Looking from the balcony of my hotel upon the street below, watching the coolies returning home (from goodness only knows where), resembles the traffic from a large ant hill, so thick is the human train. The European population takes life easy, which may be gathered from the fact that they breakfast at 9, lunch at 2, dine at 7.45, aud patronise their theatre at 9.15 o'clock p.m. Despite its magniftcpnee, Bombay at the present time may be briefly summed up as a city of plague, punkah, and swagger. Devoid of disease, heat, and flunkeyism, what a truly delightful place is Maoriland. — Yours truly, JIBLET GULLIVAN, ESQ.

I had the rheumatism so badly that I could not geb my hand to my head. I tried the doctor's medicine without the leasb benefit. At last I thought of Chamberlain's Fain Balm. The first bottle relieved all of the paic, and one half of the second botble effected a complete cure.— W. J. Holland, Holland, Va. Chamberlain's Pain Balm is equally good for sprains, swellings, and. lameness, as well as burns, cuti, and bruises. For sale by all leading ohamistj.