Читать книгу Views in India, chiefly among the Himalaya Mountains онлайн

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Native pilots are stationed along the river, who are taken on board at different points; they receive eighteen rupees (thirty-six shillings) a month, for which they have to provide a small dingee (wherry) and crew, to sound all the depths and shoals of the river. These men are at the present period exceedingly useful in pointing out the hidden sand-banks which lie perdu at every angle of the stream, and in time, under the discipline of a good system, may be made invaluable. The roof or deck of the flat is covered with an awning, and affords a delightful promenade during those periods of the twenty-four hours, and that season of the year, in which Anglo-Indians may venture to emerge into open air. The eve of the cold weather is certainly the best time for river travelling, since, while enjoying a gentle and balmy breeze, the voyager can, without the slightest personal inconvenience, look out upon the rapid succession of villages, groves, ​and trees, temples, towers, and widely-spread ghauts, which form the beautiful panorama through which he is gliding. As yet the novelty of this extraordinary method of navigating the Ganges has not worn off in the eyes of the native population on its banks; crowds are drawn up to survey the marvellous spectacle, and every employment is suspended while the fire-ship shoots rapidly along.