the credit for the introduction of the tramway system is due to an American, Mr. George Kittredge, a Boston

man.

Notwithstanding all that has been done here by the English people, Bombay is still a Hindu city. On every hand we see crowds of dark-skinned natives, all wearing immense turbans and dressed in snowy white, but

that laboring people go about their work wearing very little clothing. One article of dress, however, is sure to be worn. This is the turban. It often contains as many yards of cloth as would suffice for a whole American costume. Among the wealthy classes the turban is often made of costly silk.

It is India we have traveled so many hundred miles to see, and so we soon turn aside from our survey of

the great buildings to visit the native quarter, where the many nationalities in this city can be seen to the best advantage. In a short time we find ourselves among the bazaars, as the shops are called. The streets are very narrow and are densely crowded.

The shopkeepers sit crosslegged among their goods, seeming never to be in a hurry about business; but let a customer appear, and they begin with great vigor to recommend their wares. Within these shops we see skilled workmen engaged in manufacturing various useful and ornamental articles. As everything is made by hand, the sight is very novel and interesting. These bazaars are like small rooms in the walls of the houses, and all are open in front. In them we find exposed for sale every sort of article used for food, clothing, household utensils, jewelry, sweetmeats, and a great variety of things new and strange to us.

We cannot go far in Bombay without asking the reason for many strange customs. For instance, we see tattooed upon the forehead of the turbaned Hindu a peculiar mark. This, we learn, is to indicate the particular god he worships, or the caste to which he belongs.

Every Hindu is born into a certain caste, from which he has no power to change. There are four principal castes, the Brahmins, the Warriors, the Merchants, and the Slaves. Below these castes are the Pariahs. These original or principal castes have been subdivided, until there are countless other and minor classes. The poor people do not all belong to the lower castes. The slaves, or Sudras, as they were

originally called, often possess great wealth, while many Brahmins are very poor.

No matter how poor the Brahmin or how rich the

Sudra, the caste line is never forgotten. It would be impossible to enumerate the many rules and regulations which separate the different castes. A few of these rules may illustrate the strange caste distinctions

of the people of India. It is not allowable for members of a higher caste to touch food cooked by one of an inferior caste. In all places the people of a lower caste must give precedence to those of a higher caste. When a low caste man is walking in the street he must be careful lest even his shadow should fall on a Brahmin, as that would defile the high caste man.

A good story, proving the rigid lines dividing the castes, is told of two men, both belonging to the same caste, but representing different sections of it. Their food was prepared by a Brahmin cook, who, being of a higher caste, could not eat after them; while they, belonging to different sections of the same caste, could not eat together. The Brahmin cook therefore ate his dinner first, and then served up the remainder separately to the two friends, who sat at the table with a curtain hanging between them.

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A woman who had been seriously hurt was left lying by the side of a street, as no one could be found immediately to aid her. Why should we take care of her?' the people said, "she does not belong to our caste." Some one had, it seems, offered her a drink of rice water, but she would not touch it because the person' offering it belonged to a lower caste than her own. have taken the water would have been to lose her caste, and her husband and children would then have deserted her.

To

A brave soldier of the Punjab, a native officer, had been severely wounded in one of the battles of India. He cried out for water, but there was none to be had on the battlefield. At length a water carrier was seen

coming from a distance with a great water skin slung across his back. He was hurried to the side of the wounded soldier, and would gladly have given him the cooling water. The suffering native officer, however, turned his face aside and refused the water because his caste prejudices would not allow him to take food or drink from the hands of a low caste man.

These caste distinctions are gradually disappearing, as the people become more familiar with European customs and civilization.

No city of India has more delightful suburbs than Bombay. One of the most beautiful is a promontory, just outside the city, known as Malabar Hill. The road leading to it winds along the shore of the Arabian Sea, and is very picturesque. It is lined with beautiful trees, through which may be seen the fine villas or bungalows of the governor and other high officials, as well as those of the rich English merchants. The views of the ocean from this point are most attractive, and the cool breezes in the evening, after the sultry heat of the day, are invigorating.

The wealthy native merchants also make their homes among the groves of cocoanut palms on Malabar Hill.

Of all the native peoples in Bombay, the most interesting are the Parsees. There are great numbers of them in and about this city. They are successful business men, and, through their enterprise and intelligence, they have done much to develop the manufacturing and commercial interests of Bombay. The larger part of the cotton trade and the management of the great cotton mills are under their control.