Carrie Chapman Catt - Diaries, India, January - February? 1912 (Box 1, Folder 5)

103

...baggage aboard and we went to the wharf in a ricksha, the baggage starting at the same time. We waited and wailed and then made inquiries as to whether we were in the right place. We were, but perhaps the baggage had gone to another place, so we got a ricksha and tore off, visiting [illegible] wharf where we all spoke English and then tore back. We entered a Sampan as the little boats are called and the two men started us off. We had gone ashore in a launch and we did not know the bar was bad, but I thought my hour had come. When at last we reached our boat, I almost despaired of getting on it, but a miracle was performed and I did. Our baggage was there and as the sinner couldn't understand English, I couldn't scold. It was hot, and I had got so scared and so mad that I...

104

...about done for. The doctor said the view of my calm back was the only thing that kept her quiet. The boat was nice, clean and we each had a room. The night was pretty warm but we slept some and arrived early at Deli. There we found three nice Dutch suffragists to meet us. They presented us with bouquets, a hotel runner looked after our baggage and directly we were on the train riding through cocoanut and banana jungles toward Medan. We found more ladies to meet us there. We found Hotel De Boer an excellent one and at lunch we met our first rice table a celebrity of the Dutch colonies. They call their luncheon by that name, but not always do they have the thing. First they bring a soup plate then rice, and this is followed by a succession of dishes, all going...

105

...into the same plate. I liked it. The ladies took us for a drive in the [illegible]. We found a European town with beautiful tropical bungalows with great verandas, buried under palm trees. It was most picturesque and I could hardly realize I was in far away Sumatra. In the corner of my room was a room covered with fine wire guage. It was more airy than mosquito netting and also kept out the little lizards which are everywhere with their chuck-chuck. They fall off the wall sometimes and altho harmless, I didn't think I'd like the feeling. Thursday morning we went to see a Chinese lady. Her husband is called Major and is head of the Chinese. Postal 150 will do very well for it. The daughter who had been educated in Dutch school took us into the house. The northern...

106

...was a real [illegible]. She had refused to marry until her husband promised to never take a second wife and she interested herself in advanced things. She was well on with a fifth child, and the day before she had visited five Chinese Temples where she had made offerings to the gods so that she would come thro' all right. The result was her knees were lame and she excused herself from going upstairs with us. We also called on the widow of the previous Major. Both were grand house. In the first there is a brides room and the little maid (16 yrs old) will be married in October to a man she will not see until after she is married to him. Her mother refused to marry until she had seen her husband. They explained the ceremony to us. In the evening, the ladies sent a carriage and we drove about the town ourselves.

107

On Friday we went in the afternoon to see a great tobacco estate. The manager and his sister live in a charming bungalow set down in a beautiful park. The estate has about 4000 acres and about 1000 Chinese are employed. We had tea afterwords and were told that they found a snake in the house nearly every day. Everything is open in these houses. The drawing room will have three sides open. Saturday we were left to ourselves until evening when we had a suffrage meeting of 200 people. I made a [illegible] and hard work fell on the Doctor. They got sixty names for a club. My but we did sweat. Sunday we took tea with Mrs. Van Hengel, one of the splendid women and on Monday we went early by motor to Pankalan Brandau a town in the petroleum district where we had a meeting before dinner in the evening, dined at 9:30 and returned in the moonlight. On Tuesday we dined with Mrs. [Linergoot?] the other leader. Each day we breakfasted...