Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen One vs Three

In a few days we will be entering the mountains of northern India.There, the terrain is higher and higher, and the hills are continuous, and after jumping one mountain after another, you can reach the highest altitude on earth.Before that, the terrain had been undulating and gentle, and the slope was relatively small, so our steel behemoth seemed unaware of the change from low to high terrain. The weather has been constantly stormy, and the rain is particularly abundant, but the temperature finally makes people feel much more comfortable than the previous days.The road was not bad, and despite the heavy weight of the train it held up to the wheels.Sometimes a rut inevitably sinks deep into the pavement. 307-306 B.C. Founded his school in a garden in Athens, but Stoll had only to pull the regulating valve and there was a mighty Push Airflow to follow his command and come out to clear the obstacles.We know that this is a powerful machine, as long as the knob of the intake valve is turned a quarter turn, the power of the locomotive can be increased by dozens of horsepower in no time.

In fact, we are very satisfied with the motorcycle that Bonkers designed and built, not only because of its excellent performance, but also despite the changing scenery outside, the comfort inside the mobile home is always the same. We had, of course, by this time thoroughly traversed the vast plain which stretched from the valley of the Ganges to the kingdoms of Ud and Roylkand.The Himalayas stand like a huge screen in northern India, blocking the southwest wind blowing from the ocean. These mountains have an average altitude of 8,000 meters and are continuous and boundless.When approaching the border of Tibet, it almost entered the primitive nature, and the dense primitive jungle completely replaced the farmland cultivated by humans.

At the same time, there has been a regional change in the flora that grows in this area. The palm trees have completely disappeared, replaced by beautiful banyan trees and lush mango trees. Mangoes are the best fruit in India. Bamboo is especially common. Maodi grows into a ball, more than a hundred feet above the ground.There are also large magnolias with a strong fragrance, beautiful maple trees, oak trees of various types, and chestnut trees with fruit like sea urchins hanging on the branches, rubber trees dripping with sticky sap, and trees like There are pine trees that look like big umbrellas; while on both sides of the road, there are clusters of more colorful and smaller geraniums, rhododendrons and laurel, just like blooming flower beds.

A few grass and bamboo villages and two or three farmsteads can still be seen here, hidden by tall trees, but they are all separated by miles.The higher the terrain, the sparser the population. Contrasted with this vast natural scenery is a gray sky.And it often rained cats and dogs.During the four days from June 13th to 17th, we hardly had half a day of sunshine.So I just stay in the living room of the steam house, and pass the time like a person who doesn't like to go out, smoking, chatting, or playing whist. During this time, nothing saddened Captain Ord more than the loss of use for the shotgun.But two windfalls that day still kept him in a good mood.

"It's not surprising to kill a tiger," he said, "it's surprising that there is a windfall!" This sentence is really correct and ingenious, which makes people impeccable. On June 17th, we chose to camp near a small hotel—a bungalow specially prepared for travelers.The weather on this day was a little clearer. If the steel giant that had worked hard for four days didn't need to rest, it should at least be refreshed.So we decided to rest here for half a day and then sleep the night. The inns built next to the main roads of the Indian peninsula are somewhat like the inns in eastern countries for desert camel caravans to rest.They are generally built in the style of a courtyard, with a small tower at each corner, full of oriental charm.There are special service personnel in the hotel, such as the water delivery person and the cook. Most of the tenants are not picky about the food, and they are satisfied if they can eat eggs and chicken. In addition, there are some vendors who provide daily necessities, usually from their You can directly buy what you want at a low price.

The people who take care of these inns are usually Indian infantry soldiers who have served in the British army, and most of them are inn owners.The repaired inn must pass the inspection of the chief engineer of the area before it can start operating. In addition, these hotels also strictly enforce a strange rule, that is: anyone is entitled to stay in the hotel for twenty-four hours; if he wants to extend the stay, he must have a permit from the local inspector .Neither the British nor the Indian had the right to have him leave the room immediately if he was not allowed to do so. Needless to say, as soon as we arrived at the place where we were going to camp that day, the steel giant immediately attracted the usual effect and became the focus of everyone's attention, perhaps not without envy in their eyes.But I noticed the contemptuous faces of the tenants who lived in the neighboring hotel—a contempt so much faked that it seemed unreal.

These people were certainly not ordinary civilians who went out to do business or travel, nor were they British officers who returned to the Nepalese border garrison, nor were they Indian businessmen who took their own caravans to Lahore or the mountains of Afghanistan outside Peshawar. The person living here is none other than Prince Guru Singh, the son of the maharaja of Juzarat in the independent kingdom. He is also an Indian maharaja and is traveling in the northern part of the Indian peninsula with a mighty entourage. Not only did the prince himself occupy three or four of the large rooms in the hotel, but his entourage also filled the two rooms reserved for them.

He was the first Indian maharaja I met on this trip.So when we had selected a very pleasant place in a grove by a stream about a quarter of a kilometer from the hotel and settled in, Captain Ord and Bonkers accompanied me to Guru Singh. Looked at Prince Ge's residence. No matter where a prince's son goes, he will not be alone, but will be surrounded by his entourage!The reason why I don't envy such people is because if they don't bring hundreds of people with them, they can't leave without even moving their legs!Rather than being a prince who travels in India with the red tape that comes with him, it is better to be an ordinary pedestrian with a bag on his back, a cane in his hand, and a shotgun on his shoulder.

“It’s not a single person going from one city to another,” Bonkers told me. “It’s a town that’s changing geographic coordinates!” "I prefer our steam room," I replied, "I would never give it to the prince's son!" "Who knows if the prince will be partial to this lumbering steam room alone!" said Captain Ord. "He'll just say one word," said Bunks loudly, "and I'll build him a steam palace and he'll pay for it. But before he orders, let's see the place where he lives." This place is worth a visit!" The prince had no less than five hundred followers.On the flat ground under the cover of the big trees outside the house, two hundred vehicles were parked symmetrically like tents of nomadic tribes.There are zebu carts, water buffalo carts, extremely gorgeous sedan chairs carried on the backs of three elephants, and Damon-style carts composed of more than 20 camels imported from western India the way four camels drive).The caravan had everything, not even musicians to entertain his noble Majesty, Indian dancers to amuse him, and jugglers to amuse him.In addition, there were 300 coachmen and 200 halberd-wielding infantry.If it weren't for an Indian prince with real power, no one would be able to support such a huge lineup.

Those who play the tambourines, cymbals, and gongs are among those accustomed to making noise, and those who strum the guitar and the ukulele are equally bad, holding instruments that have never been tuned by a tuner. Tuned. Among those jugglers, there are a few wizards who play snakes, they can call incantations to poisonous snakes as soon as they come and go; Pyramid-shaped earthen pots, acrobats dancing on a soft rope with buffalo horns on their feet, and magicians who can turn an old snake skin into a poisonous snake or turn a poisonous snake back into snake skin according to the viewer's will.

As for those Indian dancers, they are all beautiful girls who are good at singing and dancing and are invited to various banquets or parties to add to the fun.Their clothes are very gorgeous, either muslin skirts with gold rust or pleated skirts and a shawl that unfolds slowly when they dance, and they are covered with jewels, precious bracelets on their arms, and gold on their toes and fingers. Rings, and even silver bells tied to ankles.Dressed in such attire, they danced lightly and danced the famous egg dance, which was light and elegant.At that time, I really hoped that the prince would specially invite me to see it with my own eyes. In the prince's entourage there were also some men, women, and children I don't know what they were.Those men are all wrapped in a long cloth belt called "Doti", or wear an "Ongarka" shirt and a long white skirt called "Yama" by Indians. The costumes are really beautiful. Women wear a short-sleeved tight waist top called "Xiao Li", which is the same as "Duoti" wrapped around men. Their whole body is wrapped in "sari", and the "sari" on the head "The corners make them extra pretty. These Indians lying under the trees waiting to eat their mouths smoked a cigarette wrapped in a green leaf or a special "Calgoorian cigarette", which is actually a dark mixture of tobacco, molasses and opium. Made after drying the mixture.Others chewed on a mixture of basket leaves, betel nuts, and slaked lime, which must have contained some digestive aid, which was of benefit to the Indians in the hot climate. All the people seem to be used to this kind of caravan-like life, and get along very harmoniously, only showing vitality during celebrations.They are like members of a traveling theater troupe who, after stepping off the stage, return to complete stupor. But as soon as we entered the camp where they were resting, the Indians immediately bowed to us enthusiastically, their heads almost touching the ground.Most people shouted loudly: "Saib! Saib!" Meaning: Sir!gentlemen!We return a friendly gesture to them. As I have already said, I wished at the time that Prince Guru Singh would entertain us with a show like this, and the maharajas of India never seem to be stingy about it.I even felt that the spacious courtyard was completely prepared for such a celebration, and it seemed so harmonious and natural with the dance of Indian dancers, the spells of wizards and various acrobatics.I admit that if I can watch a performance of artists in this courtyard surrounded by trees and accompanied by the natural pictures displayed by these accompanying Indians, I will really be fascinated.This is much better than staying in a cramped theater and watching the models of high walls, trees and a limited number of actors on the stage drawn with pens. I told my thoughts to two companions who, although they had the same wish, did not believe it could become a reality. "This Maharaja of Juzarat," Bonkers told me, "was a man of power who had not submitted to British rule even after the mutiny had been suppressed, and who had behaved suspiciously during the mutiny. He was He doesn't like the British at all, and his son naturally doesn't like us." "We don't care about his invitations at all!" replied Captain Ord, with a haughty shrug. And that's exactly what happened, we were even turned away from the hotel.Perhaps this Prince Guru Singh would be willing to accept an official visit from Colonel Moreau.But Mr. Edward Morrow had nothing to ask of this man, nor did he expect anything from him, and naturally he would not ask for trouble. We had to go back to our camp.However, Mr. Palazarde's good cooking has made us full of praise.Be aware that the main dishes are all cooked in cans.For many days hunting was almost impossible because of bad weather; but our able cook had a skillful pair of hands to restore freshness to the meat and vegetables in the tin. Bonkers' remarks did not dampen my curiosity.All night, I waited for an invitation from the maharaja, but nothing came.Captain Ord joked with me that I would like to see an open-air ballet, and then comforted me by saying that the performance in the opera house was "immeasurably better than that." The prince is so unfriendly, it seems that there is really no hope at all. On the second day, June 18th, everything was ready and we were just waiting for dawn to start. Karut started firing at five o'clock.The elephant, which had been unloaded from the carriage, was staying more than fifty paces away from the train, and the mechanic was busy adding water to it. During this time we have been walking by that stream. After forty minutes, there was enough air pressure in the steam oven.Just as Stoll was about to push the elephant back, a group of Indians came. Five or six of them were richly dressed, wearing silky white robes and turbans embroidered with gold.A dozen soldiers with muskets on their shoulders and sabers on their waists clustered around them.One of them wears a wreath of green leaves on his head--it signifies the presence of an important person in the company. And this important person is Prince Guru Singh himself, a man of about thirty-five years old with a haughty look—one of the most outstanding descendants of the legendary Indian princes. Just like a sovereign. Without even looking at us, the prince walked a few steps forward to the gigantic elephant that Stoll was about to drive away.Then, he examined it carefully with unconcealed curiosity: "Who built this machine?" he asked Stoll. The mechanic pointed to the engineer standing with us a few steps away. Prince Guru Singh, who spoke English so fluently, turned to face Bonkers: "You made it?..." he asked casually. "I made it!" Bonkers replied. "Isn't it just the weird idea of ​​the late Bhutanese Maharaja?" Bonkers nodded affirmatively. "What good is it?" the Majesty continued, shrugging his shoulders unceremoniously. "Why should he let a mechanical elephant pull him when there are real elephants?" "Probably because," replied Bonkers, "this elephant was stronger and more powerful than any that the late Maharaja had ever used." "Oh!" Guru Singh curled his lips contemptuously and said, "Stronger and more powerful!..." "Much stronger!" Bonkers added. "You don't have an elephant," said Captain Ord, obviously irritated by the prince's insolence, "you don't have an elephant that can make our one move its paw if it doesn't want to." .” "Do you think so?..." the prince asked back. "My friend is quite true," replied Bonkers, "and I would venture to assert that this artificial elephant can be drawn by ten pairs of horses, even if your three elephants are chained together. He steps back!" "I absolutely don't believe it," said the prince. "You'd be very mistaken if you didn't believe me," replied Ord. "If your Majesty will pay a price," continued Bonkers, "I can also make you an artificial elephant to rival twenty of the best elephants picked from your barn. " "It's just a talk." Guru Singh replied very coldly. "But it can also be a reality," Bonkers retorted. The prince began to show anger. He seemed very unaccustomed to being contradicted by others. "Maybe we can do an experiment here," he suggested, after a moment's thought. "Of course." The engineer replied calmly. "And make a big bet on this experiment - unless you are afraid of losing the bet and dare not make this bet with me, just like your elephant if you dare to compete with me, it is likely to be defeated." Guru · Prince Singh added. "The Iron Behemoth will never let you lose!" Captain Ord protested loudly, "Who dares to say that the Iron Behemoth will lose?" "I." Guru Singh replied. "What bet does Your Majesty want to bet?" asked the engineer, folding his arms. "Four thousand rupees," replied the Prince, "I hope you can afford to lose four thousand rupees!" That's a huge bet, roughly equivalent to ten thousand francs.But I saw that Bonkers seemed confident and not worried about losing this huge sum of money. If it weren't for the pitifully meager monthly military pay, at this time, Captain Ord would definitely have twice as much self-confidence as Bonkers. "You refuse the bet!" said His Majesty. "That means four thousand rupees is about the price of the monster. Are you afraid of losing four thousand rupees?" "Gambling." Colonel Moreau leaned forward and said this very important word. "Would Colonel Moreau agree to bet four thousand rupees?" Prince Guru Singh asked. "If Your Majesty wishes, we will bet ten thousand," replied Mr. Edward Morrow. "Okay!" Guru Singh agreed. Things are really getting more and more interesting.The engineer squeezed the Colonel's hand tightly, as if to thank him for not leaving himself alone to deal with that nasty prince, and then frowned.I wonder if he had previously overestimated the elephant's abilities. Captain Ord rubbed his hands excitedly and walked up to the elephant: "Beware, Iron Behemoth!" he cried, "Do our best for the honor of Great Britain!" Our men lined up along the side of the road.More than a hundred Indians also left the hotel and came to cheer for the upcoming contest. Bonkers had left us, and mounted the turret to stand with Stoll, who was now pulling the bellows with his hand to make the fire burn hotter, and a puff of steam from the elephant's trunk. Meanwhile Prince Guru Singh ordered some of his attendants back to the inn, and they brought back three elephants stripped of all travel equipment.The fact that they were three elephants native to Bengal, taller than their southern Indian counterparts and in the prime of their life, worried me. The elephant driver rode on the elephant's thick neck, yelled loudly, and directed them to move forward with his hands. When the elephants passed in front of His Majesty, the tallest of them—a giant indeed—stopped, bowed its knees, raised its long trunk to salute the Prince like a well-behaved courtier, and then joined two of his own The companion walked towards the steel behemoth.Their eyes were full of surprise and not without fear. Several thick chains held the tender frame together with the drawbar, which was always hidden by the carriage. My heart was pounding with tension.And Captain Ord bit his lip, walking back and forth restlessly. As for Colonel Moreau, he was as composed as Prince Guru Singh, and I even found him to be more composed than the latter. "We are ready," said the engineer, "how about your Majesty? . . . " "Let's go," replied the Prince. Guru Singh made a gesture, and the elephant driver immediately made a strange whistle, and the thick limbs of the three elephants grabbed the ground tightly and pulled them forward desperately.Under this huge combined force, the locomotive took several steps back. I couldn't help crying out.Odd also stomped his feet anxiously. "Steady the wheels!" the engineer turned around and ordered firmly to the mechanic. A sharp brake stopped the wheels, and the next moment there was a roar of steam. The steel behemoth stopped backing and stood there motionless.The elephant driver commanded the elephant to muster all his strength and pull it forward again. But to no avail.Our elephant seemed to be rooted and motionless. Prince Guru Singh bit his lip in anger. Captain Ord clapped his hands and applauded. "Forward!" Bonkers yelled. "Yes, go on," repeated the captain, "go on!" At this time, the regulating valve was opened wide, the elephant's trunk was spitting out steam, and the wheels rolled slowly on the gravel road after the brake was released.The three elephants struggled desperately, but were still dragged behind by the giant steel beast, and took several steps back.Deep ruts were left on the road. "Forward! Forward!" Captain Ord shouted excitedly. The giant steel beast kept dragging the three elephants lying sideways on the ground behind it, unknowingly dragging them more than 20 steps away. "Fantastic! Fabulous! Fabulous!" exclaimed Captain Ord, almost carried away with joy, "they could bring His Majesty's whole hotel here and tether them to the three elephants! We The Iron Behemoth will have no trouble doing this!" Colonel Moreau then made a stop sign.Bonkers turned off the regulating valve, and the whole locomotive stopped moving immediately. There is nothing more sympathetic than His Majesty's three-headed and four-legged elephant, whose nose is completely out of control, and is messed up on the ground like a giant beetle turned over! As for the angry prince, he left the competition scene before the experiment was over. At this moment, the three elephants who had been unloaded from the machine stood up again, obviously ashamed of their failure.When they passed in front of the steel giant again, the tallest of them, in spite of the anger of the mahout, could not help bowing its knees and saluting the giant with its nose just as it did in front of Prince Guru Singh. A quarter of an hour later, His Majesty's valet came to our camp and handed over to Colonel Moreau a cloth bag containing a stake of ten thousand rupees. Colonel Moreau took the sack and returned it to the attendant contemptuously: "Give it to His Majesty's retinue!" he said. Then he walked quietly towards the steam room. We cannot give it back to the insolent prince who was so defiant when he challenged us. The steel behemoth was put on the carriage again, ready to go under the order of Bonkers.Our train drove away quickly amidst the admiration of the onlookers. People on both sides of the road kept chanting their salutes, but soon after we turned a corner, Prince Guru Singh's hotel disappeared from view. On the second day, the steam house began to climb towards the low mountains connecting the plains and the Himalayas.For the iron giant with eighty horses hidden in its body, which can easily deal with the three elephants of Prince Guru Singh, it is as easy as playing a game.So it only needs to maintain normal air pressure to drive freely on the gradually rising road. A gigantic beast, spewing sparks from its mouth, dragging two carriages along the winding mountain road in a roar that is not as fast as a horse neighing but louder than it is, this is indeed a strange picture. scene.The rims of the wheels streaked the ground, and the gravel of the side road creaked under the car and burst out of the road.It must be admitted that the deep ruts left by the weight of the elephants made the already muddy road even worse after the heavy rain. But in any case, as the steam room climbed higher and higher, the field of vision became wider and wider, and the plains fell lower and lower.Looking to the south, the sky and the earth are empty and boundless. When we enter a dense forest along the winding mountain road and stand under the big tree to look out, we can get a better view of this scene.The wide open space in the forest is like a huge window that opens on the top of the mountain.At this time, we always stop the car. — stop only for a moment if there is wet fog obscuring the view — maybe half a day if vision is clear.The four of us leaned on the railing of the back balcony with our arms, staring at the picturesque scenery in front of us for a long time. Due to the half-way sightseeing of different lengths according to different situations, and the constant stop and rest at night, this mountain road took more than seven days from June 19th to the 25th. time. "If we had a little more patience, we could even drive the train to the highest peak in the Himalayas!" Ord used to say. "Don't be so arrogant, Captain," the engineer always answered him. "But it can be done, Bonkers!" "Yes, Odd, it can quite do it, if there is still a way to go, and there is enough fuel and various reserves left in the car, there is nothing to be found in the glacier; and what air to breathe , but at an altitude of 2,000 twaz (the old French unit of length, 1 twaz is equivalent to 1.949 meters), this is absolutely impossible. So we will not go to places in the Himalayas where no one can live at all. When the steel behemoth had reached the proper altitude, we chose a pleasant spot in a glade in a subalpine forest to enjoy the cool alpine air. Our Colonel Moreau took his bungalow from Calcutta moved to the mountains of Nepal, that’s what travel is all about, we can stay there as long as we want.” The place where we will stay for several months was found on the twenty-fifth of June.For forty-eight hours, the road has become more and more difficult to walk. Either it is extremely poorly built, or it has been washed out of deep ravines by the rain.The steel behemoth is struggling like it's pulling fibers, so it's using more fuel than before.A few pieces of wood added to Karut's furnace were enough to raise the air pressure, but not enough to blow the valve open, and only at seven atmospheres of pressure, the maximum pressure the locomotive could take, did the butterfly valve work. Will open channels for steam. During these forty-eight hours our train traveled almost constantly through a wasteland.There is no longer any town or village in sight.Only now and then a few isolated houses were encountered, and sometimes a farmstead was hidden among the tall pine forests on the southern slopes of the mountains.On the way, we also met a small number of mountain people three or four times, and they were full of praise for our steel giant.Seeing such a wonderful monster climb up the mountain, shouldn't they think that it was a whim of the Brahmins who moved the entire tower to this unattainable mountain? Finally on the 25th of June, Bonkers said to us for the last time: "Stop and rest!" It concluded the first stage of our trip in North India.The train stopped in the middle of a wide glade, beside which ran a mountain rapid, the clear water of which sufficed for our every need during these months.Standing here, looking out, you can just see a plain fifty or sixty miles away. At this time, the steam house was three hundred and twenty-five miles away from the starting point, and the altitude was about two kilometers above sea level. It was located at the foot of the twenty-five-thousand-foot-high Devaragiri Mountain.