The Boy Travellers in the Far East, Part Third / Adventures of Two Youths in a Journey to Ceylon and India; With Descriptions of Borneo, the Philippine Islands and Burmah

by Thomas Wallace Knox

"The natives of Madras are said to be of darker complexions and smaller figures than the inhabitants of the country farther north; some of them are almost as dark as negroes, but their features do not resemble those of the African in any way. They are very picturesque in their gay-colored robes and large turbans, and as you see them with their vast head-coverings you wonder how they can endure so much weight on their heads in this hot country. The turban, as it is worn here, contains many yards of muslin, and it is not an easy matter to wrap it so that it will stay in place. It is doubtful if a European could endure a turban which prevents the circulation of air around the brain; undoubtedly the best head-covering for the foreigner is the sola-topee, or sun-hat, which every European wears, and could not be persuaded to get along without; but you never see one of them on the head of a native unless he has adopted the entire European dress.

"We have seen a good many Eurasians, or people descended from European parents on one side and Asiatic on the other. Their position is an unhappy one, as they will not associate with the natives, and, on the other hand, they are not allowed to associate with the Europeans. Despising the one, and despised by the other, they have no recognized social standing, and no one speaks well of them.

"The saddest thing we have seen is a camp of the victims of the famine. Every little while in America we read of famines in India, but none of us know much about them, as the country is far away, and we are not bound to it by any ties of kindred. The people are so poor and so heavily taxed that it takes all they can earn to support them in times of plenty; when the crops fail they have nothing laid by to live upon, and must starve. This year they have had famines in two parts of India, one in the Madras presidency and one in Bengal, that of Madras being the worst. It is said that a million of people have died of starvation in Madras, and half that number in Bengal. Think of a number as great as all the inhabitants of New York city perishing of hunger, and then judge what a calamity it must be!

"A great many persons are inclined to blame the British authorities for the famines in India, and it is undoubtedly the fact that the high taxation has much to do with the poverty of the people. On the other hand, the Government has done a great deal in the way of constructing irrigation works that will keep the land fertile in times of drought, and it has built roads so that provisions may be carried from the places where they are abundant to where they are most needed. The failure of the rains is the cause of the famines; the south-west monsoon (which brings the rain) is looked for with great anxiety all over India, and is considered of so much importance that its arrival is telegraphed to the newspapers of Europe and America. When you read in the telegraphic column that the monsoon has burst in the provinces of Central India, you may know that all fears of famine for the year are over, unless, as sometimes happens, the rains are so great in quantity that they flood the fields, and prevent the farmers from performing their work.

"Notwithstanding the poverty of the people, we are told that the land-tax in India is increased every few years, and in many districts it is absolutely impossible for the people to pay it. Doctor Bronson says that thoughtful persons, who have studied the relations between England and India, say the latter country is fast going to bankruptcy in consequence of the oppressions that are steadily increasing. The taxes have grown so great that they are now more than one-eighth of all that the country produces, and in some parts of India they are one-sixth! Think of what would happen in America if one-sixth of all the wheat, corn, cotton, and other products, and a sixth of all that is manufactured was paid over for taxes. We should be in a state of poverty quite equal to these people in a short time.

"In the camp that we visited we saw some poor wretches who were just able to crawl, and some that had been brought in on stretchers, because they were too weak to stand. There was hardly any flesh on their bones, their cheeks were sunken and hollow, and their eyes seemed to be half forced from their sockets. They lay on the ground—some under the tents, and some in the open air—and many of them were so far gone that they had not strength to feed themselves. They did not appear to complain, and one of the officers in charge of the camp told us that they were exceedingly patient, and rarely caused any trouble. Poor creatures! they were too weak to do so, however much they might have had the inclination.

"These people had been brought to Madras from the famine districts, and we were told that similar camps were scattered along the line of the railway wherever the crops had failed. It had been found easier to feed them in camps than to distribute food to them in their villages, as there was a great deal of loss by theft, and in other ways, in making the distribution. The natives seem to have very little regard for each other, and, if half that has been told us is true, it is an eternal disgrace to this people. Large sums of money were raised in England for the sufferers by the famine, and the British Government made a heavy contribution for the same purpose. With this money rice was bought in Rangoon and shipped to Madras, and from there it was sent by rail to the famine districts. The boatmen at Madras demanded exorbitant prices for landing it, and two or three times they struck for extra pay because they knew that the Government was anxious to get the rice forward as rapidly as it could. They tore open the sacks and stole a large share of what they took on shore, and when they had done so they did not take the trouble to sew the sacks again, but let the rice spill on the ground. The carters who took it to the railway-station continued the theft, and in some instances fully ten or fifteen per cent. of the rice was lost between the ship and the railway-station, and there were cases where the loss was more than thirty per cent.

"Well, that's enough about this unpleasant subject. We'll turn to something else.