It Is In These Fastnesses That The Hyenas Find
Secure Retreats, And The Parsees Construct Their "Towers Of Silence."
There is little, or indeed nothing, in the scenery that comes under
the denomination of jungle, the island being intersected in every
part with excellent roads, macadamized with the stone that abounds
so conveniently for the purpose.
These roads are sometimes skirted by
walls of dark stone, which harmonize well with the trees that
never fail to spread their shade above; at others, with beautiful
hedge-rows, while across the flats and along the Esplanade, a
water-course or a paling forms the enclosures.
The multitude of large houses, each situated in the midst of gardens
or ornamented grounds, gives a very cheerful appearance to the roads
of Bombay; but what the stranger on his first arrival in India is
said to be most struck with is, the number and beauty of the
native population. Probably, had I never seen Bengal, I might
have experienced similar delight and astonishment; but with the
recollections of Calcutta fresh in my mind, I felt disappointed.
Accustomed to multitudes of fine-looking well-dressed people, with
their ample and elegant drapery of spotless white muslin, I could not
help contrasting them with the squalid, dirty appearance of the
native crowd of Bombay. Nor is it so easy at first to distinguish the
varieties of the costume through the one grand characteristic of dirt;
nor, with the exception of the peculiar Parsee turban, which is very
ugly, the Persian cap, and the wild garb of the Arab, do they differ
so widely as I expected. For instance; the Hindus and Mohamedans are
not so easily recognized as in Bengal. The vest in ordinary wear,
instead of being fitted tightly to the figure, and having that
peculiarly elegant cut which renders it so graceful, seems nothing
more than a loose bed-gown, coarse in materials and tasteless in
shape: this forms the most common costume. The higher classes of
Parsees wear an ample and not unbecoming dress; the upper garment
of white cambric muslin fits tightly to the waist, where it is bound
round with a sash or cummurbund of white muslin; it then descends in
an exceedingly full skirt to the feet, covering a pair of handsome
silk trowsers. A Parsee group, thus attired, in despite of their mean
and unbecoming head-dress, make a good appearance.
The Arabs wear handkerchiefs or shawls, striped with red, yellow, and
blue, bound round their heads, or hanging in a fanciful manner over
their turbans. The Persian dress is grave and handsome, and there
are, besides, Nubians, Chinese, and many others; but the well-dressed
people must be looked for in the carriages, few of the same
description are to be seen on foot, which gives to a crowd in Bengal
so striking an appearance. In fact, a Bengallee may be recognized at
a glance by his superior costume, and in no place is the contrast more
remarkable than in the halls and entrances of Anglo-Indian houses.
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