CHAPTER II.
POONA. SHOLAPORE.
January 24.
We had another exciting day, for the Cooks joined us in Poona and were also the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont in the mission-house. . .
In the evening we all went in company to the Hira-bag to hear Mr. Cook's lecture. This is a large hall standing by itself in some pretty grounds on the outskirts of the native city, beside a beautiful tank filled with water, on which some water-lilies float, and just under the temple-crowned, picturesque little sacred hill of Parbutty. The hall was densely packed with all manner of people come to hear the celebrated lecturer, and crowds stood about every door and window.
Now, as always in Poona, the striking part of the audience was the number of fine-looking, fine-featured Hindoo gentlemen, the elite of native society, who filled the benches—remarkable-looking men in white garb, strictly national, with huge red or white turbans, wonderfully fair in complexion, w4th the keen, intellectual countenance of the Maratha Brahman.
