of the glare and noise of the day, only the glowing
lamps on some of the buildings, and the subdued hum of the talk of the
moving thousands, and the whispering sound of their bare feet in the
dust. The Eastern crowd is distinctly impressed and very much
compressed; they will now spend the rest of the evening gazing at the
Bombay public buildings that are being lit all over with little oil
lamps.

And this was but a small part of the day for us, the best was to come in
the damp, hot night.

CHAPTER IX

[Illustration: (With apologies to the Indian Surveys.)]

Dined at our hostlerie; in every direction vistas of uniforms, ladies'
dresses, maharajahs, rajahs, turbans, and jewels, the marble pillars and
the arches of blue night over the bay for background.

Then we got away in a bustle of hundreds of other carriages and
gharries, all bound for Government House. We started a little late; you
may have observed that with ladies you are apt to be late for social
functions, but rarely miss a train! H. and I drove ahead with soothing
cigars, and the ladies came close behind.

On our left we passed the R.H. Artillery Camp, rows of tents frosted
with moonlight against the southern sea, some had lamps glowing inside;
and further on we passed their lines of picketted horses, with silent
native syces squatted on the sand at their feet.

... The dust hangs heavily from the gharries in front of us as we drive
north round the Back Bay, which we are told is very beautiful, and like
the Bay of Naples in the daytime; what we see on this warm night is a
smooth, dark sea, which gives an infrequent soft surge on the shore, a
few boats lie up on the moonlit sand and figures lie asleep in their
shadows, and others sit round little fires. Dark palm stems and banyan
trees are between us and the sea, and to our right are fern-clad rocks
and trees in night green shade, rising steeply to where we can
distinguish white walls and lights of villas of the wealthy Bombay
natives.

We pass the Parsis' Towers of Silence, where vultures entomb the dead,
and inhale for a long part of the road the smoke of burning wood and
Hindoos--an outrageous experience. The road rises gradually and gets
narrower as we leave the shore, and the procession of carriages goes
slower. On either side are low white walls and villas and heavy foliage.
Coloured lamps are hung in every direction, and their mellow lights
blend pleasantly with the moonlight and shadow