A Woman's Journey Round the World Part 48

{120a} Horses cannot be bred here; they have all to be imported.

{120b} The East India Company, to which the island belongs, have a governor and English troops here.

{125} The mangostan is unanimously p.r.o.nounced the finest fruit in the world.

{128} One of the four had been removed from the first cabin, because it was a.s.serted that he was somewhat cracked, and did not always know what he said or did.

{150} The finest and most costly muslin is manufactured in the province of Dacca, and costs two rupees (4s.), or even two rupees and a half the ell.

{153} The hurgila, a kind of stork, that eats dead bodies, and is frequently to be seen near the rivers in India.

{158a} At the period of my visit there were about 782 of them.

{158b} Rajmahal was, in the seventeenth century, the capital of Bengal.

{160a} Monghyr is termed the Birmingham of India, on account of its extensive manufactories of cutlery and weapons. Its population is about 30,000 souls.

{160b} Patna is the capital of the province of "Bechar," and was once celebrated for the number of its Buddhist temples. Near Patna was situated the most famous town of ancient India, namely, "Parlibothra." Patna contains a great many cotton and a few opium factories.

{161} In all Indian, Mahomedan, and in fact all countries which are not Christian, it is a very difficult task to obtain anything like an exact calculation of the number of inhabitants, as nothing is more hateful to the population than such computations.

{162} I landed with two travellers at Patna, and rode on to Deinapore in the evening, where our steamer anch.o.r.ed for the night.

{170} If a Hindoo has no son, he adopts one of his relations, in order that he may fulfil the duties of a son at the funeral of his adoptive father.

{173} The dislike which the Hindoos evince towards the Europeans, is chiefly in consequence of the latter showing no honour to the cow, of their eating ox-flesh, and drinking brandy; and that they spit in their houses, and even in the temples, and wash their mouths with their fingers, etc. They call the Europeans "Parangi." This disrespect is said to make the Hindoos dislike the Christian religion.

{177} Many of the more recent Indian towns were built by the Mongolians, or were so much altered by them that they altogether lost their original character. India was conquered by the Mongolians as early as the tenth century.

{183} At the time of its greatest prosperity it had 2,000,000 inhabitants.

{185} Some writers describe this colossal crystal as being twenty- five feet long.

{190} If these two towers did belong to a mosque, why were they built of such different sizes?

{193} The chepra.s.ses are servants of the English government. They wear red cloth scarfs, and a bra.s.s plate on the shoulders, with the name of the town to which they belong engraved upon it. Each of the higher English officials are allowed to have one or more of these people in their service. The people consider them much superior to the ordinary servants.

{200} Children are generally considered as impure until the ninth year, and are therefore not subject to the laws of their religion.

{204} The G.o.d Vishnu is represented as a tortoise.

{209} Although only the beginning of spring, the temperature rose during the day as high as 95-99 degrees Fah.

{212a} Mundsch is the royal tutor, writer, or interpreter.

{212b} It is well known that saltpetre produces a considerable reduction of temperature.

{213} Indor lies 2,000 feet above the level of the sea.

{225} Monsoons are the periodical winds which blow during one-half the year from east to west, during the other half from west to east.

{226} The Black Town is that part of the town in which the poorer cla.s.ses of inhabitants reside. That neither beauty nor cleanliness are to be sought there, is a matter of course.

{227} There are in all only 6,000 Pa.r.s.ees in the island of Bombay.

{228} And yet Bombay is the princ.i.p.al seat of the Fire-wors.h.i.+ppers.

{268} This is an error: M. Botta made the first attempt to excavate the Ninevite remains at Khorsabad. Mr. Layard had, moreover, commenced his excavations before he received the countenance of the British Museum authorities. See "Nineveh--the Buried City of the East," one of the volumes of the "National Ill.u.s.trated Library," for the rectification of this and other errors in Madame Pfeiffer's account.

{270} The ma.n.u.scripts of the journey through Hindostan as far as Mosul miscarried for more than a year and a half. I gave them up as lost. This was the cause of the delay in the publication of my "Journey round the world."

{279} I had picked up enough of the language between here and Mosul to understand this much.

{287} Mela is the name of the Indian religious festivals at which thousands of people a.s.semble. The missionaries frequently travel hundreds of miles to them in order to preach to the people.

{305} Tradition says that the country about Erivan is that part of the earth which was first of all peopled. Noah and his family dwelt here, both before and after the deluge; the Garden of Eden is also said to have been situated here. Erivan was formerly called Terva, and was the chief city of Armenia. Not far from Erivan lies the chief sacred relic of the Armenian Christians--the cloister Ecs- miazim. The church is simple in construction; the pillars, seventy- three feet high, consist of blocks of stone joined together. In the Treasury were, formerly, two of the nails with which Christ was crucified, the lance with which he was stabbed in the side, and, lastly, a seamless garment of Christ. It is a.s.serted that in the centre of the church is the spot where Noah, after his delivery, erected an altar and offered sacrifice. Besides these, the church is in the possession of innumerable important relics.

{308} This is carried to such an extent that if a traveller has his horses already put to, and is in the carriage, and an officer arrives, the horses are taken off and given to the latter.

{309} Georgia was called Iberia by the ancients. Formerly, this country extended from Tauris and Erzerum, as far as the Tanais, and was called Albania. It is a country of mountains. The river Kurry, also called Cyrus, flows through the midst. On this river the famous conqueror of Persia, Cyrus, was exposed in his childhood.

Tiflis was formerly one of the finest towns of Persia.

{312} His wives I dare not speak of, as the Mussulmen consider this an affront.

{314} The River Ribon, also called Rione, is considered to be one of the four rivers of Paradise, and was known by the name of Pison.

Its waters were formerly held sacred. On account of the number of trunks of trees, it is unnavigable for large s.h.i.+ps.

{320a} The Circa.s.sians are so wild and warlike that no one dare venture into the interior of the country. Little is known of their habits, customs, or religion. Bordering on Circa.s.sia are the Atkans, who inhabit the coast country between Mingrelia and Circa.s.sia, and are also wild and given to plunder.

{320b} Large plains covered with short gra.s.s.

{321} Mithridates lived in Pantikapaum. The hill at Kertsch is called to this day "Mithridates' Seat." During the excavations in it, which have been made since 1832, many remains were found, such as funeral urns, implements of sacrifice, Grecian inscriptions, handsome figures, and groups.

{330a} Constantinople is not lighted--whoever goes out without a lantern is considered suspicious, and taken to the next watch-house.

{330b} The streets of Constantinople are narrow, full of holes, and uneven, so that carriages cannot be taken everywhere and people are obliged to manage with small fire-engines carried by four men.

{335} Here, where I arrived about four weeks after leaving Odessa, the sun appeared as hot as with us in July. The vegetation was greatly in want of rain, and the leaves were almost dying from the heat; while in Odessa they were already killed by the cold.