rable pigeons, regarded as sacred, swarm in the
streets, where they are fed.

We spend Thanksgiving day (November, 1895) in Jeypore, sight-seeing, our
hearts longing for the dear ones at home. In our wanderings we met a
wedding party. The bride, we are told, was twelve years old, the groom
twenty-one. They were seated in a gaudily decorated car, drawn by oxen.
A scarlet canopy, with India shawl draperies, hung gracefully down and
almost concealed the little veiled lady; she wore a scarlet wrap. The
groom elect, sat Turkish fashion, wore a tall hat and looked most
solemn. We entered a bazaar, where bronze and lacquer were for sale,
together with ancient armor, kept by one Mr. Zoroaster, a man of
distinction. While on the second floor of the building, overlooking a
court-yard, some gaily dressed veiled women came in and began to beat
their tomtoms. Mr. Zoroaster remarked: "It is only on great occasions
that my sister ever leaves her home. It is she who is below, accompanied
by her women in waiting, and have come to bid my family to the wedding
of her daughter." He told us the bride and groom were wealthy, and that
her father was to give a feast to five thousand people on this, their
wedding day. He, Mr. Zoroaster, told us the dress of his sister for the
occasion cost 2,000 rupees. It was crimson, embroidered in gold, a
fluted skirt; many yards in width. Her bracelets and bangles were
studded with jewels. The band played as the procession moved slowly
through the streets.

The palace of the Maha Rajah was opened for inspection; the rugs were
rolled; the furniture covered and, as the Rajah was away from home,
things seemed neglected. Pigeons were stalking around and in the palace,
and rare birds of bright plumage seemed to the manor born as they stood
or flew in and out at their own sweet will. Hundreds of elephants were
kept on these grounds and owned by the Maha Rajah. It was an imposing
sight to see these clumsy but dignified animals with their oriental
trappings and painted ear flaps. The coloring was most harmonious.
Horses innumerable were in the stables and were with their care keepers,
making ready for their daily outing. It is a scene, when elephants,
horses and tigers are led through the streets and, perhaps, witnessed
nowhere else in such regal splendor. Camels stalked through the highways
with their burdens; panther dogs, led by their masters, strolled
leisurely along; in fact, one might feel it was a gala day