486 



The National Geographic Magazine 



In Her Working: Gown 



"coolies," as the East 

 Indians are locally 

 termed. 



It was a brilliant pic- 

 ture — the dark-eyed, 

 dark-haired w omen 

 draped in their brightly 

 colored scarfs, their 

 plump arms covered 

 with heavy silver brace- 

 lets, their ears, noses, 

 necks, and ankles deco- 

 rated with gold and 

 silver ornaments ; the 

 men in sombre shades, 

 but equally picturesque 

 in their huge white 

 turban and abbreviated 

 loin-cloths, their thin 

 legs bare. Temporary 

 booths were erected 

 under the great spread- 

 ing" saman trees, where 

 brass ornaments from 

 Benares were dis- 

 played, while, as an- 

 other reminder of far- 

 away India, zebus, or 

 sacred oxen, grazed 

 near by. 



From my window I 

 gazed out over this 

 kaleidoscopic scene to 

 the purple hills, 

 crowned with mist, 

 which form a back- 

 ground to the grassy 

 "savanna," and won- 

 dered if any picture 

 could be more effective. 



The '"coolies" who 

 are employed on plan- 

 tations scattered over 

 the island meet in town 

 on such holidays to 

 greet friends and rela- 

 tives, to gossip, and to 

 trade. At other sea- 

 sons one may see them 

 throughout the coun- 

 try, laboring in the 



