Across India; Or, Live Boys in the Far East

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XVI

  A MULTITUDE OF NATIVE SERVANTS

  The barge was ready as soon as it was needed, and lay at the platform ofthe gangway, with the crew in their white uniforms, quite as smart asman-of-war's-men. The coolie boatmen who were seeking a job to put thepassengers on shore were disappointed. The clothing of the guests had beentaken in hand by Sparks and Sordy, the cabin stewards, dried, cleaned, andpressed. They wore them now, and had returned the borrowed garments.

  The party were impatient to see the strange sights on shore; and they wereready at the gangway when the viscount, to whom the commander had abandonedthe direction of the company, gave the word. The ladies were assisted totheir places, and the "Big Four" went into the fore-sheets. Bargate, theold man-of-war's-man, was the cockswain, and his lordship gave the word tohim to give way.

  "Pull to the Apollo Bunder, if you please, my man," said he.

  "Which, your honor?" asked Bargate blankly.

  "I mean the bit of a basin you see nearly abreast of the ship," the newleader explained, pointing out the locality.

  The cockswain shoved off the stern of the boat, the oars dropped into thewater, and the men gave way. It was a pull of but a few minutes, and thebarge shot into the basin, and came to a convenient landing-place. On theshore they found Mr. Windham, one of the chief officials of thecustom-house, who had been on board of the ship. He was surrounded by asmall mob of young Hindus, neatly dressed in the native garments of whitecotton. The ladies were assisted to the shore first. All of the partycarried small valises or satchels containing the needed articles for a fewdays' stay at a hotel; and these natives took possession of them as theylanded.

  "What is this man, Sir Modava?" asked Mrs. Belgrave, as one of themrelieved her of the bag she carried.

  "He is your _Khidmutgar_, madam," replied the Hindu knight, with asmile on his handsome face.

  "My what?" demanded the lady. "And must I pronounce that word?"

  "Not unless you wish to do so. This man is your servant, your waiter."

  "But what are we to do with such a lot of them?" inquired Mrs. Belgrave, asshe looked upon the group of Hindus.

  "There is only one for each person of the company; for every one must havehis servant. We are going to the Victoria Hotel, and this _Khidmutgar_will attend upon you at the table, and do anything you require."

  "I don't think I shall need him all the time," added the lady, who thoughthe would be a nuisance to her.

  The young Hindus presented themselves to all the passengers as they landed,taking their small baggage, canes, and umbrellas. Some of them had heardSir Modava's explanation, and Lord Tremlyn repeated it to others. Most ofthem had decided to take things as they came, and accepted the custom ofthe country without any friction. Mrs. Blossom looked rather wildly at thesatellite who was to attend to her wants; but her good friend told her tosay nothing, and she submitted without a word.

  "Captain Ringgold," said the viscount, as he brought forward a rather stoutman, with spectacles on his nose, and an odd-looking cap or turban on hishead, "this is Pallonjee Pestonjee, the proprietor of the Victoria Hotel."

  "I am happy to know you, sir," replied the commander, as he took the handof the gentleman, who was a Parsee, though he did not attempt to pronouncethe name.

  "We have half a dozen _shigrams_ here," continued his lordship.

  "What are we to do with them, my Lord?" asked the captain.

  "They are two-horse carriages; and, if you please, we will ride to thehotel in them," laughed the distinguished guide.

  The party seated themselves in the vehicles, which were of English pattern;and they saw cabs and omnibuses in the vicinity. Taking Rampart Row, theypassed the university, the court-house, and other public buildings, intoEsplanade Road, leading to their destination, about a mile from thelanding.

  "On our right is Byculla, one of the divisions of the city, and a businessquarter, where you will find the retail shops, though they are not allhere," said the viscount. "This locality is generally called the Fort; forthough its walls have been removed, it retains the old name. Just below theApollo Bunder, where we landed, are the Grant buildings, or warehouses.Perhaps you saw them from the deck of the ship. Below these, at theextremity of the point, is Colaba, the native town, which is largelyoccupied by commercial buildings. But we shall ride over this ground again,and you will have the opportunity to see the various structures in detail."

  But the tourists were not very much interested in the buildings; for theywanted to see India, its manners and customs, and for the last year theyhad been seeing edifices as noted as any in the world, though they had yetto be introduced to the temples and palaces of this country, which weredifferent from anything they had seen before.

  They soon arrived at the Victoria Hotel; and the _khidmutgars_,carrying the light baggage, were not behind them, though they had run allthe way from the bunder. The landlord had come in a carriage. FelixMcGavonty, who was the captain's clerk, had made out several lists of thepassengers, at the request of Lord Tremlyn; and one of them had been sentto the hotel, so that their rooms were already assigned to them. Theirservants appeared to be familiar with the Victoria, and they were taken totheir apartments at once.

  "What the dickens do we want of all these fellows?" asked Scott when theyhad been conducted to a room with four beds in it. "They will be a nuisanceto us."

  "We don't need all you fellows," added Louis Belgrave, turning to hisservant. "We are accustomed to wait on ourselves. One of you is enough forall of us."

  "No, Sahib; no _khidmutgar_ waits on more than one gentleman," repliedLouis's man, with a cheerful smile, displaying a wealth of white teethwhich would have been creditable to an Alabama negro.

  "That's what's the matter, is it?" added Scott. "I have learned that noHindu will do more than one kind of work, take care of more than oneperson; and no groom will take care of more than one horse. If you have sixhorses, you must have six hostlers. That is what Sir Modava told me."

  "Custom is law here, and we must follow the fashions," replied Louis. "Whatis your name, my boy?" he continued, turning to his servant.

  "Sayad, sahib," answered he.

  Scott's was Moro, Morris's was Mobarak, and Felix's was Balaya; but thelast two were speedily abbreviated into "Mobby" and "Bally," to which theyoung Hindus offered no objection. They were all under twenty years of age,and spoke English passably well.

  "Here, Sayad! black my shoes," said Louis, determined to make use of hisservant.

  "I don't clean the shoes," replied the fellow, shaking his head. "I callthe porter;" and he did so.

  "That is just what Sir Modava told me," added Scott.

  But Sayad had opened his master's valise, placed his toilet articles on thebureau, and brushed his coat, which he had taken off. He arrangedeverything with good taste, and smiled expansively every time Louis lookedat him. The shoes of all four were polished in time; and they were ready tobegin their explorations of the city, though it was rather late in the day.

  "What time is dinner, Moro?" asked Scott.

  "Seven o'clock, sahib," replied the boy; and he was more of a boy than aman.

  "What time are the other meals?"

  "Meals?" queried Moro.

  "What time is breakfast?"

  "Bring sahib coffee at six in the morning; breakfast at nine; tiffin atone."

  "What's that last one, Moro?"

  "We had tiffin at Suez, and it means luncheon," interposed Morris.

  "I didn't hear the word; but it is all right, and tiffin it is after thistime. Come; are you going down-stairs, fellows?"

  "There is a public sitting-room down-stairs, and we will find that first."

  The four servants followed them when they went down-stairs. None of theparty had yet gone to the public room except Sir Modava, though LordTremlyn soon joined him. Their attendants stopped outside the doors.

  "We are going to the tailor's now," said the Hindu ge
ntleman. "As you areaware, we lost all our clothes except what we had on, and we must order anew supply."

  "May we go with you?" asked Louis.

  "Certainly; if you desire to do so. You may find something to amuse you onthe way, as we shall walk; for we want to get our sea-legs off," repliedSir Modava. "It is only five o'clock here, and we have two hours beforedinner-time. Ah, here is Miss Blanche."

  She was followed by her servant, who was decidedly a nuisance to her,though he retreated from her room as soon as he had put things in order,and remained within call outside the door. Louis invited her to take a walkwith them, and she went up-stairs to consult her mother. She returned in afew minutes, ready to go out; and she was as radiant as a fairy in herlight costume.

  They passed out of the hotel; and the first thing that attracted Louis'sattention was a palanquin. It was not a new thing to the travellers, forthey had seen such conveyances in Constantinople and elsewhere.

  "The young millionaire walked by the side of the vehicle."--Page 155.]

  "You must ride in that palanquin, Miss Blanche," said Louis; and he toldSayad to have it brought up to the door.

  It was a compartment like a box, about seven feet long, with a pair ofsliding doors at the side. It was balanced on a pole, with braces above andbelow it. It appeared to be so poised, with the pole above the centre ofgravity, that it could not be turned over. The four bearers were coolies,with bare legs, cotton turbans on their heads, and not otherwise overloadedwith clothing; but they were dressed like all the coolies about the streetsand in the boats of the harbor.

  The fair young lady had never been in a palanquin, though she had seenthem, and she was pleased with the idea of the ride. It was dropped downupon its four legs, or feet, and Louis assisted her to the interior. It wasprovided with cushions, and Sir Modava instructed her to recline so thatshe could see out of the open doors. The young millionaire walked by theside of the vehicle, while the others all followed, with their servants ata respectful distance.

  "How do you like the motion, Miss Blanche?" asked Louis, after they hadgone a short distance.

  "It is not as uneasy as the gait of a camel, though I can feel every stepof the bearers. But I should prefer a _shigram_, if it only had abetter name," replied she.

  "You can call it a brougham, or simply a carriage, if you prefer. We arenot here to learn the Indian languages, and we can take our choice; and wecan talk 'good old United States,' in speaking of things," suggested Louis."There! what will you call that vehicle, Miss Blanche?"

  "That is called a _gharri_" interposed Sir Modava, who was withinhearing.

  The vehicle was such as none of the Americans had ever seen. It was a sortof two-wheeled cart, with a top like an old-fashioned chaise, in which aman was seated, while a rough-looking fellow rode in front.

  "I should say it was an ox-cart, so far as the team is concerned," saidScott.

  "Those are not oxen; they are called bullocks in this country. As you see,they have humps like a camel, though much smaller, in front of which is theyoke," the Hindu knight explained.

  "But they don't drive oxen in the United States with a pair of rope reins,as this fellow does," said Scott.

  "I have seen them do so in North Carolina," added Morris, who had travelledin the South with his parents.

  "I give it up, and it's all right. But what is that man in the cart? Is hea Grand Mogul?"

  "Hardly," replied Sir Modava, laughing. "The driver is the lowest caste oflaborers, who works for fivepence a day, and supports his family on it. Theman inside is the cook of a Parsee merchant I happen to know, and probablyhe is going to market to buy supplies for the family. But here we are atthe tailor's. You can continue your ramble, and your servants can tell youthe way, and what the buildings are."

  The two gentlemen entered the tailor's shop; for there are no stores hereany more than in London.