We left
Bombay by the 1.15 express train, reaching Poonah in seven hours. The
air was like blasts out of a heated furnace. We dined at Poonah at a
very comfortable inn. The distance from Poonah to Mahabaleshwar was
seventy five miles by road; so as we were going on the same evening we
ordered a trap, and after dinner we set forth.
I cannot say it was a comfortable journey, for the springs of the trap
were broken, and projections were sticking through the hard, narrow
cushions in all directions into our unhappy bodies. Nevertheless we
enjoyed the drive very much. It was a charming night, the moon late,
being in first quarter. We saw a great Moslem _fete_ coming out of
Poonah at night. The hills were illuminated in patterns and letters.
We slept when it was dark, and I remember we drank a great deal of water,
for it was a most thirsty night. At 6 a.m. we passed a wayside bungalow
at Soorool, where we brought out our basket and tea, and had milk from
the cow belonging to the old soldier who kept the bungalow. At the foot
of the third steep mountain, Pasarni, we passed through Wye (Wahi), one
of the prettiest and most interesting places, with the prettiest women
in Western India, besides being a village of temples and holy tanks.
The general effect of the temples, which were strewn about in all sizes
and shapes, was that of a series of _blancmange_ moulds.
At Wahi we alighted from the trap, and our ascent up the steep Pasarni
Ghat was performed for us by sixteen coolies.
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