BOMA

[s. 116] : Capital of the Congo Free State, Africa, situated on the right bank of the Congo River, about 70 miles from its mouth. Formerly was the advance post of the Dutch and Portuguese traders in the Congo region; station of the CA, of which no statistics are obtainable. it BOMBAY: The capital of the presidency of the same name, and the chief seaport in India. It 98 situated on the Indian Ocean, at the southern end of the island of Salsette, which stretches along the shore of the continent from north to south for a distance of over twenty miles. At its southern extremity there was formerly a group of quite small islands, separated from each other and from the larger island by narrow channels. Upon these Bombay has been gradually built up; and now, by filling in the channels between the separate islands, these have all been consolidated with one another and with the larger island of Salsette itself. The harbor, which is the safest and most spacious in all India, and one of the finest in the world, lies between the city and the mainland. In 1661, the Portuguese, whose sway was then undisputed all along the western coast of India, ceded the island of Bombay to England as a part of the dowry of the Portuguese prince , Catherine, when she became queen. The population was then supposed to be 10,000. Soon after, Charles II. gave it over to the East India Company for an annual rental of is £10. In 1673 its population was reported as. 60,000 “a mixture of most of the neighboring countries, mostly rogues and vagabonds.” The mixture of races then presented by its population has continued to be a feature of its life ever since. In 1773 Bombay became subject to the — Governor-General of India, whose capital was at Calcutta, where it has continued to be ever since, tho the local presidency government was still, retained. The growth of the city has been rapid and continuous. Its magnificent harbor has. attracted the commerce of the world, and merchants and traders from all parts of the East have flocked to its bazaars. series of wise and farseeing statesmen have guided its destinies, under whose direction the city has been adorned with fine buildings, connected first by wagon roads, and since 1850 by rail, with all parts of the Indian Empire, furnished with docks, and raised to a position of undisputed preeminence as the chief port of entry and commercial center for all India. Steamers sailing daily bring the city into close connection with Liverpool, London, and the Mediterranean ports. The mails between India, and Europe arrive at and depart from Bombay. Steamers sail hence to all parts of the East, and sailing ships seek its harbor from all over the world. It presents more of the appearance of a European city to the traveler than almost any other city of the East. Here the proverbial conservatism and leisurely slowne of Orientals seem to have given place to the quicker and more energetic motions of Western nations. A In population Bombay ranks first of all Indian and among those belonging to the British Empire is exceeded only by London itself. The census of 1901 gave a population of 776,006’ souls Buddhists and Jains, 17,387; Hindus (of cities, — castes and races), 502,851; Mohammedans,, 158,713; Parsees, 48,597; Jews, 3,321; Christians, 42,327. The European population by itself,, which is mostly British, numbered nearly 10,500. This cla ification by religion is comparatively simple, but that by race and language is vastly more complex. It is said that Bombay probably contains among its population representatives from a larger number of nationalities than any other city. It is easy to believe that this is so. Nearly every Asiatic race has contributed its quota to the census; the diversity of race and language among the inhabitants of India alone is very great, and among the dwellers in Bombay all 99 are individuals from all parts of India, speaking all of the principal tongues which are used anywhere within the limits of India. Africans of many tribes, representatives from nearly every European country, from America, from China, and from widely separated islands of the sea, go to swell the diversity of the Bombay population. The number of languages actually used in Bombay is very great doubtle a hundred, more or For the most part, however, the Mohammele . dans speak the Hindu stan i; Hindus are divided — between the Marathi and the Gujarathe Parsees use a dialect of the latter tongue; while Hindu stan i, overstepping the limits of Mohammedan communication, has become in Bombay, as largely throughout India, a lingua chiefly thi; in low and colloquial forms of which Hindus of different races become intelligible to each other, and to the Europe ans, whom some of them serve in divers capacities, and who often For purposes learn no other native language. of education and busine , English itself is makfranca, It is now ing rapid progre among all cla es. not only po ible but easy for a European to live tradesBombay, employ servants, deal with to in men, purchase articles in the bazaars, engage in busine , and converse on all subjects with intelligent natives, Hindu, Mohammedan, or Parsee, without knowing a single word of any other language than English. The government supports in Bombay a college (known as the Elphinstone College), a medical college, a school of art, a high school, and many schools of lower grade. The Bombay University, existing not for the purpose of instruction, but merely for that of examination and the conferring of degrees, is accommodated in two elegant buildings on the esplanade, close to the imposing array of structures which give a home to other departments of governmental activity. Colleges and high schools all over the presidency are affiliated with the university, and send up hosts of students every year to pa the examinations prescribed by it and to receive the academic distinction of its degrees. Hospitals for Europe ans, for native patients, and for incurables have been built either by sailors’ private munificence or public funds. home near the principal landing dock affords accommodation to mariners. The Young Men’s Christian A ociation pursues the activities usual to organizations of that name, including hostels for students connected with the different colleges. There is also a central office of the YWCA, with The city has a num4 young women in charge. ber of European churches connected with the Church of England, the chief of which is St. Thomas’ Cathedral, and several owned by the Established Church of Scotland, the Free Church, The the American Methodists, and the Baptists. The Roman Jews have several synagogs. Catholics, besides their churches, have two large schools for native youth in charge of Jesuit mis- A sionaries. The character of Bombay is determined by its It is geographical and commercial relations. It is not the first and chiefly a busine center. capital of a native dynasty and the center of the life and energies of a race, as the adjacent city of Poona was long the capital of the Maratha dynasty and people. It is not a great political center, tho it is the capital of the Bombay Presidency and the seat of the government, and for much of the year the residence of the governor. Bolenge Bombay Presidency It is certainly not a center of intellectual life, tho contains several institutions of learning, and it many newspapers, English and vernacular, are there. In the matter of intellectual activity it is easily outranked by Calcutta; nor is it, like Benares, the chief point of a vast religious development. Its life is commercial, and the intensity of its busine energy somewhat detracts from the vigor which otherwise its people might throw into religious or intellectual matters. Bombay has been the scene of Christian mi ions ever since 1813, in which year Me rs. Gordon Hall and Samuel Nott (joined soon afterward by Samuel Newell) began the first permanent mi ion in that city, and also the first mi ion of the ABCFM. The Church Mi ionary Society began work in 1820, the Scottish Mi ionary Society in 1823; but in 1835 the work of this organization was transferred to the Established Church of Scotland. In 1843, after the disruption, the mi ionaries of the Scotch establishment threw in their lot with the Free Church, leaving thet mi ion property in the hands of the old Church. From that time there have been two Scottish mi ions in the city. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel began in 1859, and the American Methodists in 1871, tho their work has been chiefly among Europe ans and Eurasians (persons; printed of mixed European and Indian parentage) whom there are many in Bombay., of The Bombay auxiliary to the British and Foreign Bible Society was founded in 1813, and the Bombay Tract and Book Society in 1827. Both of these societies have rendered inestimable aid to the cause of evangelism. The two Scottish mi ions from the first devoted their strength to educational efforts. Each of these mi ions has long sustained a collegiate institution: hundreds of Hindu, Parsee, and Mohammedan young men have received within the walls of these colleges a good secular education combined with biblical and religious training. The whole force of these various societies now at work in the city, including the Zenana Bible Mi ion and the BFBS, is 93 mi ionaries and 201 native workers, men and women, and the aggregate of native communicants reported by the different mi ions is 1,579. 117