Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/117

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Never had I seen or imagined such a hive of human beings; it was an unbroken tide of souls. Greater crowds I had seen on gala-days in great cities, but this was no unusual gathering; it was a daily scene. When I reached a cross street, in which was a grain bazaar, the whole way was blocked up by men buying, selling, and conversing. Just at this moment a wedding procession was passing through the mass. First came musicians, furiously playing on tomtoms (the native drum) and horns, making the most horrible and ear-torturing discord with the greatest zeal. Then came a numerous train of friends, marching in no particular order; and after them the bridegroom on horseback, between two files of attendants. He was covered with gilt and finery, and supported by two men on the right, fanning him with silvered fans; and on the left, by another bearing a silvered umbrella over his head, though it was night. After him came the bride in a palankeen covered with red cloth, and again a train of attendants with baskets containing gifts and dowery on their heads. As they slowly pressed their way through the crowd, it closed behind them like water in the wake of a receding ship. Looking upon the multitudes, I asked myself,