by those above them, and often to hold his life in
his hand for fear of the knife or bullet of a fanatic.

A little farther up the platform there is a gorgeous group, of which the
central figure is a fine tall man, slenderly built, with a clear proud
face. He is dressed in marvellous silks which shimmer and flash in the
late afternoon sunlight. His upper garment is deep rich rose, and the
lower one a medley of greens and gold. Watch the flashing of that great
jewel which fastens the aigrette in his turban; it is probably worth
anywhere about three thousand pounds. That man is a native prince, and
those very splendid gentlemen in purple and yellow silk are seeing him
off. There are many of these native rulers or maharajahs in India, and
they keep up the state of royalty and are treated with respect. So long
as they rule their people wisely the British Government does not
interfere with them.

[Illustration: A RAJAH.]

Sometimes one thinks of India as one whole country, as England is or
France, but that is not true. It is not, and never was. The state held
by a native prince may be only the size of a gentleman's country
estate, but it may be as large as the United Kingdom. In the old days
the rulers of these kingdoms were for ever fighting against each other,
and though one of them sometimes got the better of his neighbours for a
while, India was never ruled from end to end by one sovereign until it
passed into the possession of Great Britain. The nations and races who
make up this vast land are as different from each other as the races of
Europe; to think of them as being one people would be as foolish as to
imagine that you, say, and an Italian, were one people.

The size of India is a thing almost impossible to conceive. In
old-fashioned atlases the whole of this mighty land was often given one
page to itself, and little England was put on another just the same
size, that is to say, they were drawn on quite different scales, a mile
in England being given about as much space as forty miles in India! The
best way to judge is this--picture India set down on the map of Europe,
and you will find it would cover about half of it!

At the other end of the train, the third-class end, what a contrast to
His Highness! Here a crowd of natives of all kinds have been crammed
into what look like covered-in trucks, and they are squatting on the
floor. There is no hardship in that, they prefer it; to sit on chairs is
an art only a