is cheap, especially if you
have a party of four to fill one carriage. A Victoria, holding four
people, may be had morning and afternoon for twenty rupees, or an
average of about one dollar and seventy-five cents a day each. Railway
travel is absurdly cheap. Our party traveled second-class from Calcutta
to Delhi, thence to Bombay, Madras and Tuticorin, a distance of about
thirty-five hundred miles--farther than from New York to San
Francisco--for one hundred and forty rupees or about forty-five dollars
in American money. The first-class fare was nearly twice this amount,
but no additional comfort would have been secured. We made the trip at
low cost because a bargain was always made with hotelkeepers and
carriage drivers. Always make a definite bargain or you will be
overcharged. A native guide is necessary not only to show you the places
of interest but to arrange for carriages and to pay tips to servants.
Secure a Mohammedan guide and you may rest content that you will not be
cheated. His antipathy to the Hindoo will prevent any collusion with
servants. A good guide may be had for two rupees a day or about
sixty-five cents, and he will board himself.

Murray's Guide books for Japan, China, the Straits Settlements and India
are the most useful. These give the best routes and describe all the
principal objects of interest. Without such a guide-book, one is
helpless, as the professional guides frequently omit important things
which should be seen. It is needless to look for conscientiousness or
honesty in the Orient. You will not find them.

To avoid trouble when hiring carriage or jinrikisha, make a definite
bargain by the hour or by the trip. This you may do through the hotel
porter. Then, on your return, if the driver or the rickshaw-man demands
more, refer the matter to the porter, and refuse to pay more than your
bargain. If you do not take these precautions you will be involved in
constant trouble and will be persistently charged twice what you should
pay. Even with these precautions, you cannot escape trouble in
Singapore, which is cursed with the greediest carriage drivers in the
world.

Many travelers purchase Cook's hotel coupons which provide for lodging
and meals at certain hotels in every large city of the Orient. My
experience is that it is a mistake to buy these coupons, as all the
hotel managers speak English or have hall porters who understand the
language. You gain little by the arrangement, and you