FRENCH COLONY 95 



temples and the town are extremely dirty. The 

 day was very hot and the smells were very nasty, 

 but Madura is well worth a visit, the temples being 

 certainly the finest in the South, if not in the 

 whole of India. The sacred tank is also worth 

 seeing, but it entails a drive into the country, which, 

 however, I faced tired though I was. 



From Madura I went on to the French colony of 

 Pondicherry. Beyond having a typical French 

 officer at the head of the police one of the 

 smartest-looking men, be it said, that I have seen 

 in India, and the possessor of a very smart, pretty 

 little wife there is nothing especially French 

 about Pondicherry, except a swarm of French 

 priests. The pier is nearly as good as Brighton 

 Pier, and the approach to it is beautified by a 

 number of very fine columns which the French have 

 looted from some temple in the interior. There is 

 also a fine sea walk with a parapet, well worthy 

 of a first-class watering-place, but there is nothing 

 else except a row of large warehouses, which when 

 I was there were filled with ground-nuts, which 

 represent the only trade, I am told, export or 

 import, which Pondicherry enjoys, the said 

 ground-nuts all going to Marseilles, where on dit 

 they produce what the public is made to swallow 

 as the " best olive oil." 



From Pondicherry I made my way back to 

 Madras, which I reached on Monday morning. 

 In Madras I had two interesting interviews with 

 the Chamber of Commerce and with the Associated 

 Trades of Madras. I make a point of interviewing 

 every member of any importance of the financial, 

 commercial, and industrial communities of India 



