gloomy from the height of the houses, and unpleasant from the great crowd
and close atmosphere; every now and then we got jammed into a corner by
some Brahminee bull, who would insist upon standing across the street to
eat the fine cauliflower he had just plundered from the stall of an
unresisting greengrocer, and who, exercising the proud rights of
citizenship, could only be politely coaxed to move his unwieldy carcase
out of the way.

We wended our way through pipe bazaars and vegetable bazaars, where each
shopkeeper has a sort of stall, with about three feet frontage to the
street, but of unknown depth, and a narrow balcony supported by carved
wood-work over his head, out of the latticed windows of which bright eyes
look down upon the passengers. Whenever there is a piece of wall not
otherwise occupied in this compact and busy city, you see depicted, in
gaudy colours, elephants rushing along with dislocated joints in hot
pursuit of sedate parrots, or brilliant peacocks looking with calm
composure upon camels going express, who must inevitably crush them in
their headlong career, but the vain birds, apparently taken up with
admiration of their own tails, are blind to the impending danger, thereby
reading a good lesson both to the passers-by and to the shopkeepers
opposite. Now a sudden jerk prevents you from further moralizing, as you
find that you are going round a corner so sharp that you must get bumped
either before or behind. There are ugly women carrying brass
water-vessels, rich merchants on ponies, sirwahs on horses, here and
there in the wider streets a camel or an elephant, but very seldom, as
few streets would accommodate either of them; finally there are
chuprassies who disperse the crowd with their swords in a most peremptory
manner, smiting everything indiscriminately, except the Brahminee bulls,
which, although they are much the most serious impediments, are left
"alone in their glory."