Page 27 - To Dragma November 1924

22 TO DRAG MA OF ALPHA OMICRON PI

and stockings to enter. Passing through a beautifully carved
entrance gate guarded on each side by fearful looking animals
we walked up a long, narrow alley way over rough hewn stone
flaggings lined, on either side with repulsive beggars and entered
a huge marble court yard. I n the center rose the great golden
pagoda. Surrounding this were many lesser ones, some of beauti-
fully carved marble, others of teakwood, and still others of
mosaic, each one containing its Buddha either of alabastic or
purest white marble. Great diamonds and other precious jewels
were embedded i n the foreheads of the gods.

I n taking in the sights of Calcutta we arrived at one of the
temples just after a sacrifice had been held. Eight goats had been
killed and their gory heads were lying on the court yard. Wor-
shippers were bowing their heads in the sticky blood. A sacrifice
takes place each day and the fresh blood is poured over one of
the goddesses.

From Calcutta we took a trip almost 400 miles north to
Dargeeling, a mountain resort town. A t two o'clock in the morn-
ing we got on little ponies, Tibetans were our guides, and we
climbed the last 1500 feet and saw a very rare sight, the sunrise
on Mount Everest. The base of the mountains was a deep blue
haze so that it looked just like the sky and then away, way up
in the sky were the snow capped peaks of Mount Everest, first
faintly pink, then rose, and gold, a never-to-be-forgotten sight.

Ceylon is an island of jewels. The shops of Colombo are
filled with little plates stacked high with jewels, rubies, sapphires,
diamonds, opals, pearls and many semi-precious stones that I had
never seen nor heard of. From Colombo we took an interior
trip to lovely Kandy. Here we visited the much famed temple
of the Torth.

A f t e r a few days in Bombay we went 850 miles north to Agne.
The foute was fascinating. As the heat was intense we only
saw the inhabitants early in the morning and after the sunset.
Then the long lines of gaily dressed women, with their red, yellow
and orange sairs draped around their bodies, wended their way
to the wells with shiny copper kettles on their heads. During the
heat of the day all natives sleep but f r o m our train windows we
could see much of the animal life, long, gray haired monkeys
swinging f r o m the trees, gorgeous peacocks strutting under the
brush, red foxes running through the fields and here and there
a glimpse of a deer.