* * * * *
BOMBAY.
* * * * *
Contrast Between Landing At Bombay And At Calcutta - First Feelings
Those Of Disappointment - Aspect Of The Place Improves - Scenery
Of the
Island magnificent, abounding with fine Landscapes - Luxuriance and
elegance of the Palms - Profusion and contrast of the Trees
- Multitude
of large Houses in Gardens - Squalid, dirty appearance of the
Native Crowd - Costume of the Natives - Inferior to the Costume of
Bengal - Countenances not so handsome - The Drive to the Fort - The
Burrah Bazaar - Parsee Houses - "God-shops" of the Jains - General use
of Chairs amongst the Natives - Interior of the Native Houses - The
Sailors' Home - The Native Town - Improvements - The Streets animated
and picturesque - Number of Vehicles - The Native Females - The Parsee
Women - The Esplanade - Tents and Bungalows - The Fort - The China
Bazaar - A Native School - Visit to a Parsee Warehouse - Seal ornamental
China-ware - Apprehension of Fire in the Fort - Houses fired by
Rats - Illumination of Native Houses - Discordant noise of Native
Magic - The great variety of Religions in Bombay productive of
lamp-lighting and drumming.
The bunder, or pier, where passengers disembark upon their arrival in
Bombay, though well-built and convenient, offers a strong contrast
to the splendours of Chandpaul Ghaut in Calcutta; neither are the
bunder-boats at all equal in elegance to the budgerows, bohlias, and
other small craft, which we find upon the Hooghley. There is nothing
to indicate the wealth or the importance of the presidency to be
seen at a glance; the Scottish church, a white-washed building of no
pretensions, being the most striking object from the sea. Landward, a
range of handsome houses flank so dense a mass of buildings, occupying
the interior of the Fort, as to make the whole appear more like a
fortified town than a place of arms, as the name would denote. The
tower of the cathedral, rising in the centre, is the only feature in
the scene which boasts any architectural charm; and the Esplanade,
a wide plain, stretching from the ramparts to the sea, is totally
destitute of picturesque beauty.
The first feelings, therefore, are those of disappointment, and it
is not until the eye has been accustomed to the view, that it becomes
pleased with many of the details; the interest increasing with the
development of other and more agreeable features, either not seen at
all, or seen through an unfavourable medium. The aspect of the place
improved, as, after crossing the Esplanade or plain, the carriage
drove along roads cut through palm-tree woods, and at length, when I
reached my place of destination, I thought that I had never seen any
thing half so beautiful.
The apartments which, through the kindness of hospitable friends, I
called my own, commanded an infinite variety of the most magnificent
scenery imaginable. To the left, through a wide vista between two
hills, which seemed cleft for the purpose of admitting the view, lay
the placid waters of the ocean, land-locked, as it were, by the
bold bluff of distant islands, and dotted by a fairy fleet of
fishing-boats, with their white sails glittering in the sun.
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