ROYALTY IN INDIA

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 2, 13 January 1906, Page 17

ROYALTY IN INDIA

Impressions of tKe Prince’s Tear

From the “ N.Z. Graphic ” Special Correspondent

AGRA, December 2. The Prinee’g visit to India is a Strange admixture of Oriental pomp and stereotyped Western form, but the latter largely predominates. For one thing, the gaunt spectre of famine, that most dreaded bugbear of India since time immemorial, is stalking through the land. Throughout the north-west it is felt. In some places its grip has settled firmly on the people, notably in portions of Rajputana: in others it is more a hovering cloud on the horizon, the growing nature of which a people who have been bred to fear it but too plainly recognise and shrinking!}’ dread. Famine has had no inconsiderable share in framing the Royal itinerary. As an example of this I mav mention that here where I write in Delhi a great review was contemplated, but had to be abandoned. There is uo forage available locally for the concentration of a large number of horses, and if that difficulty were surmounted bv railing it from quarters more favoured the absence of a sufficiency of water would still be a barrier. The feature of the dinner given by the 11uraja of Jaipur in honour of the Prince's visit was that ruler’s anno.nccment of a further persona! donation of four lakhs of rupees (about £26,000) to the famine fond. The eoasequeuce Of this threatened evil, with ail its attendant horrors, has been a laudable effort to make the progress of the Royal couple as little ostentatious as possible, and the endeavour to curb that lavish wa-te of money characteristic of traditional Indian pageantry has been largely successful in its accomplishment.’ The Prince is neither giving to nor receiving presents from the native rulers, and with, perhaps. t..e except.on of some of the native States, that poa p and display that macle the visit of the present K : hg in 1875 sueh a' remarkable demonstration is lacking. As an instance: When the then Prince of Wales made his entry into Agra the procession that- accompanied him from the station had extended its gorgeous length for two miles round the old fort before he had so much as left the precincts of the station buildings. For its* whole length it was a glittering snake of colour encircling the red sandstone walls of the famous fort, a chain in which Raja and Maraja moved majestically in the* splendour of their richly jewelled silks on handsomely caparisoned elephants, and the horses of their bodyguards pranced and curvetted in almost equally rich trapping, or, in some ca-es. impertarable looking camels more sedately carried their attendants. When the present Prince and his consort alight next week at Agra, after a small reception on the platform, they will drive in an open carriage with a mounted escort to Government House, and if the colour question could be overlooked there will Ire nothing to distinguish their progress from. say. the passage from Circular Quay. Sydney, to Government House on Man-o’-war Bay. or from Queen-street Wharf to the prettilysituated building on the Crescent. unless it is that in Agra they will move more quickly. It is the minor character of the Oriental note that at once forcibly strikes the colonial or Englishman new to India in the greater part of the receptions and functions marking the Royal progress. And yet the English in India are a handful of thousands and the native is numbered in his scores of millions.

ARRIVAL AT BOMBAY. The Renown, looking quite yachtlike for a vessel of her formidable build and proportions, dropped anchor in the beautiful hay on which Bombay is situated on the morning of November 9. This was not the date originally fixed, and the modification of the first programme may therefore lie said to have made it a coincidence that the Prince should first set foot on Indian soil on the birthday of King Edward. In the bay were the flagship of the Indian station an I several cruisers, and in addition the Government had concentrated its fleet of a few ships, including the Dalhousie. which will be remembered in colonial waters as the floating home of the contingent sent to see the colonies and be seen. A Portuguese man-o’-war had also steamed in the previous day from Lorenzo Marques, and so when the lot started blazing away to signalise the arrival, and had in addition to honour the birth of King Edward, wbht with tire assistance of the shore forts, there was as good an imitation of a bombardment as anyone could wish to see. That much-discussed person. Lord Curzon, about whom many Angl -Indians cannot, say too much in praise, and possibly a grea er number cannot say too much in blame, was. on .hand to welcome-the Prince and so close his strenuosjs vice regal terms of office. Off to the Renown he went, and later was followed by the Lieutenant-Governor of Bombay, Lord Lamington, who, if I remember rightly, served a term as Governor of Queensland. With Lord Lamington were most of the Civic and Government dignitaries for presentation to the Prinee. The official landing was not till four o’clock, though the Renown came to her mooring shortly after II in the morning. When the Prinee and Princess steamed through the fleet—every vessel manned including the Dalhousie—he landed at the Apollo Bunder (beloved spot of the Bombayite). at a point between the magnificent Taj Mabal Hotel—the work of the man who built for building's sake—and the arti-tie yacht club, where* there are twelve hundred members and but thirty yachts, and the elite of Bombay meet on the lawn for tea on Tuesdays and Fridays, and, I have heard it maliciously said, to talk scandal. The landing was much what it might have been anywhere. There was an immense canopy—shamiana they call it here—and under this the authorities said to the Prince just those thing- that would have been said in Ottawa or Capetown, and he replied in just such terms as could be safelyforeshadowed by any moderately intelligent person. A picturesque touch was given by Hie presence of sumptuously attired rajahs, and the fact that one—the Maharaja of Kholapur, I believe it was—laid his sword first attire Prince's and then at the Princess’ feet. The drive to Government Hou-e on the aristocratic Malabar Hill was through the Venetian pole, cheap flag and stereotyped arch decoration common to all countries. In the native quarter, however, the inscriptions were in some instances a trifle unorthodox. One arch had the words blazoned on it, ‘'Tell father we are happy.” Along Queen’s-road, which is lined with fine shade trees on either side, black faces peered through the heavy foliage like so many monkeys. In one case a poor tree, which had evidently received the

proverbial last .draw. gave way under the excitement of the Royal approach, and its occupants tumbled on top of a closed carriage and the horse- that drew it. It says much for the toughness of the meagre-looking Indian and the quietness of rhe horses that n » one was seriously injured. THE Fl Nt T ION< IX BOMBAY were of the u-ual character. On the second day the 1 ’rim-css opened -i line nov street named af;er her. and the Pri-.-e a people’- fair. On the third thy the Prince laid the fouzi lations.oiiv of the Royal Museum of \\ « *teru India. 'Hie present museum is a miserable affair. but the new building in the heart of the city on the ere cent — a great open -pace, affording the finest site in Bombay —promises to be worthy of a country where there is much of interest to collect and a city that can boast so many exceedingly handsome' n»-l sandstone buildings. It was on the afternoon of the third day that the Princess attended a lady’s purdah reception in the Town Hall, which must. 1 -hould imagine, have interested her mnre. than .anything lese in Boniliay. She received distinctive welcomes from Parsi. Hindu, ami Mab.ommedan ladies. RECEPTION BY THE PARS! LADIES. A description of the ceremony at the hands of the Parsi ladies will be sufficient to indicate the character of the others, while in itself it was also pr<*» bably the most quaint. It is styled the Buddha Vilican ceremony, and consisted of an egg and a cocoanrt being surcessful’y |»a**ed seven times round the head of the Pii.ivess. and afterwards broken. The meaning hidden in this ceremonial — quite deeply to those uninitiated —wa* that if in the seven circles of the world any evil assailed Her Roy;d Highness, L* might be destroyed like the egg and the cocoa nut. and in its destruction le turn ed to good, as the broken egg and nut provide ii« ur is hater* t. Water ri a dish was th-: passed en Eno** around tinhead of th;- Princess, indicating llr.it rain, the sign of plenty in this land, might be her !• t. and the throwing of a handful of rice over her head symbolised that she might have such an abundance of food as to l>e able to scatter it about as a lady bountiful. Finally, the lady performing the ceremony pressed her knuckles against her own temples until they cracked, signifiing that the Princess might be invulnerable to all evil. The marking of the brow with red powder in the Hindu Arts’ ceremony wa- dispensed with; so are even the most ancient of forms modified when the comfort of Royalty is involved. The Parsi community in Bombay is one of the most interesting features of the town. Exiled many years ago from Persia, they command a big financial influence today in this part of India. Their ideas as to the disposal of the dead are not in favour with the European population, but no one would venture to deny their gruesome interest. Imbued by their religion with, the conviction that the body when life has passed is unclean, and that earth and water, and more especially fire, must not l»e utilised in its destruction. they have a novel way of overcoming their scruples. On the summit of fashionable Malabar Hill is a beautiful garden. In it are what are known as the Towers of Silence. These are circular structures, the walls of which are about 20ft high. The

interim- arc .i • 1 - gridiron tern, sloping down i:i three division* t 3 a central well. Through a little black door in the wall the attendant* take ths body. and. in the ca*e of a man. place it on the topmost part of the gridiron, if a woman on the lower stage, and if a child on the third stage—that nearest the well. The vulture*, that an any time the visitors may see perched in scores < i the wall* of the towers, leave ’i-He hrt the brne* in the <o use of hall an Ircur. ard when th se arc dr% thev are into tie well, where-eventutil-ly as d:i*t r h and poor toimfinglc in a way impo - b?c in life. A 1 drainage from the well goes through the most ex ten rive eour.-o of filtration before j*a-*-ing into the harbour. The birds arc rather repulsive, not onk for the reason that they arc hideous to gaze upon, but also because they gorge to such repletion that efteu they are to be seen lying down on their sides on the top of the wall, and Malabar Hill rc-idents are particularly averse to the system, as they have regularly to traverse the road immediately below, and the vultures when distracted and circling overheat! are oc easionally careless with fragments. But the garden is really beautiful, and too much cannot be said in praise of the way the Parsis keep it. The system would have fewer drawbacks in the mid die of tl»c Sahara. But this i* somewhat wide of the Prince’s tour. The illuminations in Bombay were really fine, some of the buildings had a* manv as twenty tluustud ILtlc vari coloured oil lamps, and. as t’ey were difficult of access and had to !>e lighted separately, the task was one requiring to bo set about the previous day. Bnm l»ay is built on an island, and the wide *w<Hp of Bach Bay on th- opposite s><b to the shipping port, along the margin of which the main road run* to Malabar Ihll. made an especially line circular sweep of coloured light. VISIT TO NORTH AV ESTER X PROVINCES. Afkr leaving Bombay for the m»»\hv.) st provinces the Prince’s party p“;.c trated country that sustained more the generally accepted idea of Indian magnificence. The landscape 1 ardlv fit* in with prcconcei\ed notion*. ’ For the most part it is arid, a desert sparsely covered with the bubi3& - tic.\ he wretched cactus plant, i tali' d void of that hivuriuncc of \cgei.irii» i which is the rrowuiug gkry « f i.i - habitable regions will in the ll» The cultivations, ev i.-ig to ti c ab- • of the nton*oon ruin.* are few .n I wretched looking (hi* ><nr. and ' of grey monkeys disporting by tie side is accepted as a welcome relit r f: a cheerless prospect. But the i 1 west is the place where the ALtl i.i . i and the lesser native c i-f !lo ri- At Indore, the first stop made out t i !’• bay. there were no less tian '>2 n-' chiefs present for the Royal .ui 'they were especially resplendent >• : Durbar next day. A Dv.rb.ir. i » explained, is simply tic cquix.tb an English levee. There i- > 1 low the heavens mor * gorge n* n Rajah when he dons his Durba > :• uients. Fancy a <ont of mF plentifully covered with gold end •• » ‘« r. such as th vßajnh of Rut'.ani - ! - torily displ.iyt «1. nr n rostuni-' ■ ’ » Hue’velvet with brand c unmoi gold cloth, and I c d r *s of lig’ i *' and gold, such ns !••• \orv nnv-h pi«>

portions of the .Maharajah of Charkari gladdened the eye with, and attempt to conceive fifty such costumes, and a vast displav <>f glittering jewels, then keep still and conjure up the tout ensemble. It is really a display suited to a Williamson pantomime. Probably the most interesting liguV was that of the little Bhegiiin of Bhopal, who, in her dovecoloured satin and lace veil surmounted by a gold crown, was a quaint little figure, and left the spectator curious as to the face that the light veil so thoroughly hid from view. A gan’rn party at the Residency seems rather a tame business for sin h an assembly, but that was the extent of the diversion, and the Prime opened the King Edward Hall. RECEPTION AT UDAIPUR. "Udaipur. the narrow streeled and picturesquely -ituated. the most Indian of all Indian cities, while it did not pre sent the band of carnival attired native chkfs, introduced an Oriental element that so far had been lacking. Here the State elephant with heavily gilded how<lah participated in the reception, while the way was kept by State retainers in chain armour. The I'daipurite- retain the right to carry weapons, am! every man of any consequence goes about grasping a sword about half way down the scabbard. His ability to put the weapon to use in case of emergency is more than doubtful, but the right to carry weapons has parsed from the Indian in most other parts, and the pOrogativp is here jealously guarded. The magnificent white Palace of the Maharajah here on the borders of a lake and extending to the islands on it. is exceptionally line, and it was magnificently illuminated., as was also the lake when Prince ami Princess crossed on the second evening of their visit to a State ban quit. VISIT TO JAIPUR. In strong contrast to the tortuous ways of Udaipur is Jaipur, with its broad streets laid off at right angles on the most approved principle. Jaipur is. I think, the quaintest town I was ever in. Its buildings, even a great proportion of the Maharajah’s Palace, are painted with one shade of paint—something between mauve and pink. It looks as if an enormous shipment of paint had been bought cheap. The colour is relieved by narrow lines of white ami designs of a varied description. also in lines of white, the width of which does not vary a fraction of an inch. One unkind correspondent called the painting an imitation of the birthday cake design. To me, as long as 1 looked above the first, storey - some have three, four, and even live storey* — the impression was one of stage scenery, and as if the walls were of the texture of cardboard. Oiiec the eye rested on the ground floor the effect was largely dissipated, for this portion, occupied by little cubelike shops, full of food stuffs and native wares, is anything but stage-like, and the assortment of Roman-nosed goats and fawn-coloured cattle, to say nothing of smaller domestic fry that wander on the pavement ami make occasional efforts to rob the grain merchant of his carefully guarded heaps, further destroyed the impression of stageland. The Maharajah levee gave the Prime probably the quainte-t reception that he will receive on the present tour. Lined up as a guard at

the station were the state swordsmen, or nagas. Their costumes were something to marvel at. They were dressed in tight silk sleeveless vests, with short breeehes, the first row in vivid green and the second in brilliant red. Foreheads and limbs were smeared with ochre, and with straight swords quivering in the air and small round shields stuck out in front as they struck menacing attitudes, they were a fearsome sight. On one side of the road to the Residency the Maharajah’s twenty elephants were placed at intervals, their huge heads and great flaplike ears painted in intricate designs of red; on the other camels gazed across the road, with a look that I find purely idiotic, a.vl some people regard as deep. A TIGER BINT. It was here that the Prince had his first tiger hunt. Out beyond the magnificent palace of amber, now hardly ever used, in the sparse desert vegetation which by courtesy is called jungle, the maehan was erected, and good fortune favoured the hunt, for the beaters brought a tiger within 120 yards of the Prince. Whatever else Prince George may or may not be. he is a fine shot, and at the first essay he brought down the galloping brute, although two further shots were necessary to despatch it. Strangely enough, it was at Jaipur that King Edward eneoutnereil and killed his first tiger. A second day’s shooting was not fruitful in unearthing another of the kings of the jungle. There was an Oriental strain in the way the Maharajah had the tiger borne into the dining hall for all to see at the State banquet, that he gave on the second night of the visit. Animal fighting also the Maharajah of Jaipur provided for his guests, but it was witnessed by the staff only. And so the Prince passed from Jaipur to a hunting camp at Bikauir. Here a two days’ shoot prematurely ended the existence of some thousand or so sand grouse, as well as other small game, and the progress North was resumed. THE RECEPTION AT LAHORE. Lahore did not produce anything that was very novel, or I should imagine very entertaining to the visitors, but the same cannot be said of Peshawur. Here almost at the mouth of the famous Khyber Pass, on the uttermost confines of the great Indian Empire, the people themselves are a sufficient change from the north-west provinces to afford an ample diversion. They are a wild people, with whom existence is a hard matter —life is cheap, and feuds bitter and long. Everything they are, also they look, so that the concourse watching the Royal passing front the station to the Gokhatri would rivet the attention and remain long in the memory. The Pathans from the borders, who were-so thickly sprinkled through the crowd of more mild Indian types, are not demonstrative by nature, and this occasion did not greatly disturb their impassivity, although they gazed with disturbing fixity and displayed no lack of interest in what was occurring. The Durbar was a marked change from the succession of levees en route. The brilliant costume was absent, but the strong individuality and the fine physique common to the couple of score of border chiefs who attended must have been a welcome

change. It was rather amusing to see these same men unbend at the garden jiarty given in the afternoon by Colonel and Mrs Deane at Government House. The function was of a class to which they were somewhat unfamiliar, and their expression of amiability must have been rather a trial to the flesh, hi one or two cases either the effort was too great or they did not attempt it, notably .Mahdi Khan, the notable IVaziri leader. To this old man’s influence was attributed most of the attacks of the Waziris in years past. So old that his age has almost become legendary, he is still a tall upright figure, black.browed and as rugged as the crags with which he is so familiar. Wrapped in a dull red quiltej coat, and his head covered with a black turban, he preserved an air of stern reserve. Possibly, having never given rein to tiie lighter emotions, he is now too old to express them, and his countenance can but reflect the calm of an exhausted turbulence. DRIVE INTO KHYBER PASS. But the most thrilling event of the Heir-Apparent’s frontier experiences was his drive into the dread Khyber, though it was unmarked by incident. Possibly it might have been otherwise had not the most elaborate precautions been taken. As the Royal carriage penetrated deeper and deeper into the narrow ilefiles of this historic pass, and the barren mountains lose frowning on either hand, and more closely shut in the narrow way. not a living being was discernible to. the naked eye on the grim mountain sides. But with a glass khaki-elad figures could be picked out on every point of vantage, alert for the slightest movement on the bare hills. Never was the Khyber more closely guarded, and no untoward incident was anticipated, and the attitude of the tribesmen was believed to be friendly, the care displayed indicated that the time has not yet come when the authorities are prepared to treat the warlike hillmcn casually. They pay them the tribute of every precaution on the frontier. Almost on the site of the battle of Ali Majid lunch was prepared. On the suggestion of the Prince the men of the Khyber Rifles made a sham attack on one of the hills at Lundi Kotal. Here, after lunc-h. the Prince and Princess reached the farthest point north that they will touch on their pilgrimage, and, turning, soon had India again before them, with its round of Durbars, programme of official openings, and interludes, that it is to be hoped they will find more amusing, if not equally instructive.