Part 18 (1/2)

Too true! the dough lay there untouch'd Among the gra.s.s and mould; And now 'twas time they home should go, As chimes distinctly told; Moreover rain came on, and so They only caught a cold!

E. Oxenford.

A WALK IN COLOMBO.

Colombo, as most of my readers will remember, is in Ceylon, that beautiful island lying to the south of India.

You would think the people very funny, seeing them for the first time.

The man in the picture, who is walking with the little English girl, is a Hindu, and probably you have often seen pictures like him. Nearly all the servants and laborers in Colombo are Hindus from Madras, but the natives of the island are called Cingalese, and are very different in every way.

The men wear their hair in a big k.n.o.b at the back like a woman, and on the top of that is fastened a comb, shaped like a half-circle, with the ends pointed to the face. The whole costume is a mixture of native and English fas.h.i.+ons. The usual hat is a little round felt one, such as you may see any day on boys at home, and which you have perhaps yourself.

The next garment is also what you might expect to see on a man; that is, a cloth coat, or rather shooting-jacket; but after that comes a long flowing skirt, which you certainly would not see on any man or boy at home. The Cingalese men bestow a good deal of attention on this skirt.

Poorer people have it made in white or blue calico, but others use very handsome India stuffs, which must have cost a lot of money.

The heat in Colombo is very great, and the roads are very dusty. No wonder the people often feel hot and tired, and are very glad to lie down and take a little sleep when they can. They also cool themselves by standing in some pools near the town. The cattle do the same, and you can just see the heads of the buffaloes and of the men above the level of the water. They stand that way for an hour or two, perfectly still; but the little children who go in keep jumping about and splas.h.i.+ng each other.

You may see in this picture the fruit shops in the native quarter of the town, and bunches of bananas or plantains hanging up. Other shops sell grain, which the people chiefly live upon. It is nothing unusual to see the grain merchant lying fast asleep on the top of his store of rice or other grain. Outside many houses stands a wooden bedstead, and the old people lie there asleep a great part of the day. The Cingalese are said to be very kind to old people, which is a very good trait in their character. I wish they were a little kinder to their animals, but they never seem to think that poor bullocks have any feeling at all. The carts in Colombo are drawn by bullocks, and they have a very hard time of it. The rope used as reins is pa.s.sed through a hole bored through their nostrils, and a heavy beam of wood rests on their backs. Worse still, they are branded all over, not only with the owner's initials, but with all sorts of fanciful ornamental figures; the cruel people who do this never caring what the unfortunate animals suffer while it is being done. The houses are often painted outside with animals and birds in the brightest colors; and some of these wall pictures are so absurd that strangers always stop to look and laugh at them.

”Ho! 'Hamed! _dear_ 'Hamed, you _will_ let me ride Prince Albert Victor, won't you?”

The speaker was a little, brown, black-eyed boy, with dark tangled locks under his old red fez, and clad in a dirty white cotton garment, who was coaxing a tall Egyptian lad in a very irresistible way. Children coax much the same all the world over, to get their way, be they white or black or brown. In this case little Ha.s.san got his. And what was it he wanted?

'Hamed, an Egyptian donkey-boy, was leaving home early in the morning as usual, leaving his dim, dirty quarters in the native part of Cairo for the European part of the city. And with him, as usual, was going Prince Albert Victor.

Prince Albert Victor was only a donkey, a very nice, strong, well-fed Egyptian donkey, but nothing more, in spite of his grand name. But all the Cairo donkeys which stand about the streets for hire have very grand names given to them by their owners to attract the European tourists.

For instance, some boy will call his donkey by an American name--such as Was.h.i.+ngton, or Yankee-doodle--that the American travellers may fancy him. Another, with a view to a Frenchman or an Englishman, will christen his animal President Carnot or Lord Salisbury. 'Hamed had called his Prince Albert Victor; for he found a royal name very popular, not only with English travellers, but with the red-coated British soldiers who pervade the streets of Cairo.

Now, little Ha.s.san wanted, as usual, to ride Albert Victor down from his home to his habitual waiting-place in front of one of the big hotels. It was such a delight to him to thrust his bare brown feet into the stirrup-leathers (his legs were too short to reach the stirrups), and, clutching Albert Victor's bridle, and sitting very erect, to fancy himself very grand indeed as they slowly pa.s.sed down the dim alleys of their native town.

It was a glorious day, such a blue sky, such a bright sun, so different from winter in our dull, foggy England, that little Elfreda felt very happy as she looked out of the hotel window on such new and strange sights.

”It seems like stories out of the Bible, mother,” she cried, gazing at the Eastern dresses, the queer-looking figures, the donkeys, and the camels. For Elfreda and her mother had only lately come to Cairo for the winter, for the mother's health, and everything was still wonderful to her.

”Where shall we go to-day?” she added. ”To the mosques, or through the bazaars, or out a long way into the country by the river? Quick, mother; let me call some donkey-boys, and let's be off.”

”There's that little tiny boy just ridden up, he who comes every morning with the big one! I _must_ have his donkey again!”

And Elfreda clapped her hands, and cried, ”'Hamed!”

There were fifty 'Hameds, donkey-boys (it is a very common name). But though several came up, they all knew that it was our friend who was called.

”See,” said little Ha.s.san (he had jumped off Albert Victor and stood behind him), ”there is the same 'zit'” (English lady) ”clapping again, she who hired you yesterday and the day before; and with her the little 'zit' with the long hair. Hurry, 'Hamed! I'm sure she means you!”

Ha.s.san was right. In a few minutes Elfreda was mounted on Albert Victor, and was patting his gray neck and long ears.

”He's _such_ a nice donkey, mother; heaps nicer than the dull, tired donkeys I ride when we go to the seaside! He's got some go about him!