n to a group of true
believers.

His audience were all seated on the pavement, and they seemed to be giving
excellent attention to the discourse. Sir Modava explained that the
Mohammedans of Bombay were more orthodox, or strict, in the observance of
the requirements of their religion than in Bengal; for a considerable
proportion are direct descendants from the original stock who had emigrated
to India from Persia. They are bitterly opposed to the Hindus, and a
serious riot had occurred not long before.

There are many Hindu temples in Bombay, though not many of them are
accessible to strangers; but the party drove to one in the Black Town. It
had a low dome and a pyramidal spire. Both of them were of the Indian style
of architecture, very elaborate in ornamentation. It looked like a huge
mass of filigree work.

The visitors next found themselves at Girgaum, which is a forest of
cocoanut-trees extending from the Bazaars to Chowpatti, at the head of the
Back Bay. Among the trees, as the carriages proceeded along the Queen's
Road, they found a great number of Hindu huts, half hidden in the dense
foliage. They paused to look at one of them.

The walls were of bamboo and other tropical woods, and the roof was
thatched with cocoanut leaves, which required poles to keep them in place.
It had several doors, and cross-latticed windows. There was no particular
shape to the structure, and certainly nothing of neatness or comeliness
about it. A large banana tree grew near it; a woman stood at one of the
doors, staring with wonder at the strangers, and a couple of half-naked
coolies were at work farther away. The morality of the residents of this
section could not be commended.

"In the evening this grove is lighted up with colored lamps," said the
viscount. "Taverns and small cafes are in full blast, the sounds of music
are heard, and a grand revel is in progress. Europeans, Malays, Arabs,
Chinese, and Hindus frequent the grove. Far into the night this debauchery
continues, and I trust the authorities will soon clean it out."

The carriages continued on their way to Malabar Hill, and made a thorough
survey of the locality. At the southerly point they came to the village of
Walkeshwar, whose pagoda-like towers they had seen from the ship, filled
with residences, though not of the magnates of the city. Most of the
buildings here were very plain. The hill is not a high one, but along its
sides the elaborate bungalows of the merc