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Story of an Emigrant. 3 35
a native seldom attains the rank of a commanding officer,—
not because he is incapable of performing this duty, but
rather because the English do not trust him implicitly.
The bulk of the people belong to the Arian race, as we do;
with the exception of the complexion, which is a little
darker, their features are the same as ours. Occasionally a
Hindoo may have red hair, but never blonde hair and blue
eves. Comparing the higher and the lower classes, the
complexion of the former is lighter, and their bodies are better
built and statelier than thoseof thelowerorlaboringclasses,
who also have a darker skin. The English language is itsed
at the court and in all official circles, and the men of the
higher classes among the natives speak and read English.
The plain of Bengal, in which Calcutta is situated, is
triangular in form, each side being about one thousand miles in
length. It is bounded by the Bay of Bengal, the Indian
ocean, the Bay of Persia, and the Himalaya mountains.
The soil is very rich, and, having been cultivated for
thousands of years, it still produces two or three fair crops a year
without fertilization or proper cultivation. As the Nile in
Egypt deposits a rich sediment over its valley, so does the
river Ganges carry from the mountains a whitish, slimy silt,
which it deposits during its annual overflow in the plains of
Bengal. This silt is a great fertilizer, and thus nature
supplies what poor husbandry fails to provide.
It is not my intention to give a description of India and
its wonderful people, but simply to give some pen pictures
of scenes and incidents which came within the range of my
observation and experience during the year and a half which
I stayed there. I shall therefore ask the reader to follow me
on my daily walks of life as well as to some of the fetes and
entertainments where I was a guest, and 011 my travels
through the wonderful country. I had a chance to come in
contact with all classes, as the rank to which my official
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