Page:Travel letters from New Zealand, Australia and Africa (1913).djvu/245

 of white men, but the coolies were afraid, and the mad excitement everywhere reminded me of the lack of order at a fire. Not far offshore, the big White Star ship "Medic" was anchored, unable to get into the harbor. This ship left Australia a few days after we did, and we know some of the passengers. We could plainly see the ship pitch and roll, and swing 'round its anchor. Further down were a number of other ships unable to land their passengers, and to the right, inside the harbor, we could see the blue funnels of the "Anchises." And all this loss, disturbance and inconvenience to thousands simply to keep the Atchison hoodoo indoors four days in succession We watched the angry sea for an hour, the water occasionally washing under our rickshas, and were so dry and comfortable in spite of the rain that we determined to visit the Hindu market, down-town. The Hindu population of Durban is greater than the total population of Atchison, and certain sections of the city are devoted to them. There are certainly twice as many Hindu stores in Durban as there are stores of all kinds in Atchison. We saw large wholesale establishments owned and operated by Hindus, and devoted entirely to Hindu trade. There were dozens of jewelers' shops, where were displayed beautiful things made of gold, silver, ivory, brass, etc., and in all of these shops we saw Indian artisans at work. They squat in front of a pot of charcoal, and manufacture beautiful ornaments with tools of the most primitive kind. Hindu women wear beautiful jewelry; everything an Indian woman owns she wears in her nose, on her wrists, in her ears, and on her ankles, in the form of exquisitely made