BOMBAY. 29 



any native at a bargain, and had not the least modesty to hamper him 

 ■uhen dealing with a tricky or exorbitant huckster. Natives usu- 

 ally make it a rule to charge a white man from fifty to a hundred 

 per cent, more than any one else, and but for vigorous bullying on 

 the part of Carlo, I could seldom have got an article at its proper 

 price. Luckily for me, Carlo, being a native Christian, felt no 

 sympathy whatever with Hindoos or Mohammedans, and I vei-y 

 often had hard work to repi'ess my laughter when he would start 

 in to brow-beat a bazaar man and bring down his prices to what 

 they ought to be. 



I trusted Carlo with an advance of 9 rupees for his outfit, in 

 spite of advice to the contrary from the very man who recom- 

 mended him to me, who feared he would "jump the bounty;" but 

 the little fellow was honest, and very grateful to me for trusting 

 him against advice. He afterward repaid me for it in many ways. 



Before I left Bombay, Colonel Ross veiy kindly gave me two 

 letters of introduction, one to a brother, a barrister, in Allahabad, 

 and the other to another brother. Major* J. C. Ross, of the Royal 

 Engineers, quartei'ed at Etawah, in an excellent hunting district. 

 These letters proved to be of the greatest service to me, although 

 I have since wondered how Colonel Rose dared give them to a 

 stranger. Excepting those two letters, I landed in India without a 

 single scrap of introductoi-y paper to anybody, save a letter of credit, 

 and I prided myself upon my independence. I said I had money, 

 and would not need any letters of introduction. Before long I 

 found that every such letter is worth a thousand times its weight in 

 gold. 



After a week in Bombay we shipped a large case of specimens 

 to Calcutta, and bought our tickets for Allahabad. By going thii'd 

 class I did what an independent white man rarely does in India, 

 and astonished both Europeans and natives. I am not sure that J 

 would do it again, but for once the experience was worth the dis- 

 comfort. The charges upon excess baggage are very high, and 

 mine cost 44 rupees. Two EngHshmen, travelling by the same 

 train toward Lahore, paid 128 rupees for excess luggage. But 

 think of riding from Bombay to Allahabad, 845 miles, for 16 rupees 

 13 annas, or about $7.50 ! 



* Then Captain. 



