260 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 90 



Owing to an accident to the automobile on the return trip 

 from Futehpur Sikri there was afforded me experience with 

 two other styles of vehicles. We, four passengers from the 

 disabled automobile, chartered two ekkas to take us into 

 Agra. The short and fat Englishman, who was my com- 

 panion in the ekka, counseled a tight hold upon the bamboo 

 poles that supported the canopy-top of the ekka. The driver 

 started the little pony off" ,at a rattling pace. We were rat- 

 tled, jolted, bounced about for a matter O'f fifteen or twenty 

 rods ; whatever the distance, it gave time for reflection : for 

 wondering if flesh an^ bones could survive two miles of such 

 traveling. The pony stopped ; the driver gave him the lash ; 

 the poor pony, quite untaught regarding the laws of gravita- 

 tion, reared upon his hind legs, and the two heavy-weight 

 passengers gently bore the back end of the ekka to the ground. 

 If we had gone down suddenly it would have meant a broken 

 arm for me instead of a bad bruise. Our weight held the 

 pony in mid-air, between the thills, and he 'remained in this 

 unnatural position when we drove away in the next vehicle 

 that came along, which was a gharry. The moon-faced young 

 Eng'lishman appeared to enjoy the adventure, perhaps he is 

 laughing still, as it was the last I saw of him. 



Whether the terrible jolting one gets on the railway cars 

 of India is due to the roadbed or to ithe cars themselves I 

 am unable to say. Dust there is in unstinted abundance, but 

 no crowding for the first-class passengers. Except for a few 

 hours on four occasions I had a whole compartment to my- 

 self; the dimensions of some of Ithese were about seven by 

 ten feet, and they were intended to seat six or eight passen- 

 gers. The seats are uncomfortable, being too wide for seats 

 and too narrow for beds. By keeping one's back pressed 

 tightly against the back of the seat while sleeping- the passen- 

 ger does not run great risk of being jolted off", but such a 

 position becomes verv ti-resome. I found two easy methods 

 of relief: either the positions of head and feet may be re- 

 versed, or better still, one can move self and bedding to the 



