BACK TO CIVILIZATION S67 



traveler wore a look of perpetual anxiety lest he 

 should fail to get hotel or railway accommodations. 

 The India of one's imagination the somber land 

 of mystery, of untold riches, of eastern enchant- 

 ment, of far-away romance was gone, buried un- 

 der picture post-cards, hustling tourists, and all the 

 commonplaces of a popular tourist track. It was 

 distinctly disappointing from one point of view, 

 and yet, I suppose, one should rejoice that his fel- 

 low countrymen have cash and energy enough to 



Tourists in India 



travel in distant places, even though they destroy 

 the romantic charm of those places by so doing. 



The rush of Americans through India was as 

 brisk as was the rush of Americans through Eu- 

 rope ten years ago. Age was no handicap. There 

 were old couples, sixty, seventy, and eighty years 

 old, jogging along as eagerly and excitedly as 

 young bridal couples. The conversation one en- 

 countered was always pretty much the same how 

 such a train was crowded, how accommodations 

 could not be secured at such a hotel, how poor the 

 hotels were, and how long they would have to wait 

 to get a berth on some outgoing ship. There were 



