第17章

IN WHICH PHILEAS FOGG SECURES A CURIOUS MEANS OF CONVEYANCE AT A FABULOUS PRICE.

The train had started punctually.Among the passengers were a number of officers，Government officials，and opium and indigo merchants，whose business called them to the eastern coast.Passepartout rode in the same carriage with his master，and a third passenger occupied a seat opposite to them.This was Sir Francis Cromarty，one of Mr Fogg's whist partners on theMongolia'，now on his way to join his corps at Benares.Sir Francis was a tall，fair man of fifty，who had greatly distinguished himself in the last Sepoy revolt.He made India his homer only paying brief visits to England at rare intervals；and war almost as familiar as a native with the customs，history and character of India and its people.But Phileas Fogg，who was not travelling，but only describing a circumference，took no pains to inquire into these subjects；he was a solid body，traversing an orbit around the terrestrial globe，according to the laws of rational mechanics.He was at this moment calculating in his mind the number of hours spent since his departure from London，and，had it been in his nature to make a useless demonstration，would have rubbed his hands for satisfaction.Sir Francis Cromarty had observed the oddity of his travelling companion-although the only opportunity he had for studying him had been while he was dealing the cards，and between two rubbers-and questioned himself whether a human heart really beat beneath this cold exterior，and whether Phileas Fogg had any sense of the beauties of nature.The brigadier-general was free to mentally confess，that，of all the eccentric persons he had ever met，none was comparable to this product of the exact sciences.

Phileas Fogg had not concealed from Sir Francis his design of going round the world，nor the circumstances under which he set out；and the general only saw in the wager a useless eccentricity and a lack of sound common sense.In the way this strange gentleman was going on，he would leave the world without having done any good to himself or anybody else.

An hour after leaving Bombay the train had passed the viaducts and the island Salcette，and had got into the open country.At Callyan they reached the junction of the branch line which descends towards southeastern India by Kandallah and Pounah；and，passing Pauwell，they entered the defiles of the mountains，with their basalt bases，and their summits crowned with thick and verdant forests.Phileas Fogg and Sir Francis Cromarty exchanged a few words from time to time，and now Sir Francis，reviving the conversation，observed，Some years ago，Mr Fogg，you would have met with a delay at this point which would probably have lost you your wager.

How so，Sir Francis？

Because the railway stopped at the base of these mountains，which the passengers were obliged to cross in palanquins or on ponies to Kandallah，on the other side.

Such a delay would not have deranged my plans in the least，said Mr Fogg.I have constantly foreseen the likelihood of certain obstacles.

But，Mr Fogg，pursued Sir Francis，you run the risk of having some difficulty about this worthy fellow's adventure at the pagoda.'Passepartout，his feet comfortably wrapped in his travelling-blanket，was sound asleep，and did not dream that anybody was talking about him.The Government is very severe upon that kind of offence.It takes particular care that the religious customs of the Indians should be respected，and if your servant were caught——

Very well，Sir Francis，replied Mr Fogg；if he had been caught he would have been condemned and punished，and then would have quietly returned to Europe.I don't see how this affair could have delayed his master.

The conversation fell again.During the night the train left the mountains behind，and passed Nassik，and the next day proceeded over the flat，well-cultivated country of the khandeish，with its straggling villages，above which rose the minarets of the pagodas.This fertile territory is watered by numerous small rivers and limpid streams，mostly tributaries of the Godavery.

Passepartout，on waking and looking out，could not realize that he was actually crossing India in a railway train.The locomotive，guided by an English engineer and fed with English coal，threw out its smoke upon cotton，coffee，nutmeg，clove and pepper plantations，while the steam curled in spirals around groups of palm-trees，in the midst of which were seen picturesque bungalows，viharis（a sort of abandoned monasteries），and marvellous temples enriched by the exhaustless ornamentation of Indian architecture.Then they came upon vast tracts extending to the horizon，with jungles inhabited by snakes and tigers，which fled at the noise of the train；succeeded by forests penetrated by the railway，and still haunted by elephants which，with pensive eyes，gazed at the train as it passed.The travellers crossed，beyond Malligaum，the fatal country so often stained with blood by the sectaries of the goddess Kali.Not far off rose Ellora，with its graceful pagodas，and the famous Aurungabad，capital of the ferocious Aureng-Zeb，now the chief town of one of the detached provinces of the kingdom of the Nizam.It was thereabouts that Feringhea，the Thuggee chief，king of the stranglers，held his sway.These ruffians，united by a secret bond，strangled victims of every age in honour of the goddess Death，without ever shedding blood；there was a period when this part of the country could scarcely be travelled over without corpses being found in every direction.The English Government has succeeded in greatly diminishing these murders，though the Thuggees still exist，and pursue the exercise of their horrible rites.