[Illustration:  A Bombay street]

Several of the most prominent native families in India have followed the example of Mr. Readymoney by adopting the nicknames that were given their ancestors.  Indian names are difficult to pronounce.  What, for example, would you call Mr. Jamshijdji or Mr. Jijibhai, and those are comparatively simple?  Hence, in early times it was the habit of foreigners to call the natives with whom they came in contact by names that were appropriate to their character or their business.  For example, “Mr. Reporter,” one of the editors of the Times of India, as his father was before him, is known honorably by a name given by people who were unable to pronounce his father’s Indian name.

Sir Jamsetjed Jeejeebhoy, one of the most prominent and wealthy Parsees, who is known all over India for his integrity and enterprise, and has given millions of dollars to colleges, schools, hospitals, asylums and other charities, is commonly known as Mr. Bottlewaller.  “Waller” is the native word for trader, and his grandfather was engaged in selling and manufacturing bottles.  He began by picking up empty soda and brandy bottles about the saloons, clubs and hotels, and in that humble way laid the foundation of an immense fortune and a reputation that any man might envy.  The family have always signed their letters and checks “Bottlewaller,” and have been known by that name in business and society.  But when Queen Victoria made the grandfather a baronet because of distinguished services, the title was conferred upon Jamsetjed Jeejeebhoy, which was his lawful name.

Another similar case is that of the Petit family, one of the richest in India and the owners and occupants of the finest palaces in Bombay.  Their ancestor, or the first of the family who distinguished himself, was a man of very small stature, almost a dwarf, who was known as Le Petit.  He accepted the christening and bore the name honorably, as his sons and grandsons have since done.  They are now baronets, but have never dropped it, and the present head of the house is Sir Manockji Petit.

The Eye of India, as Bombay is called, sits on an island facing the Arabian Sea on one side and a large bay on the other, but the water is quite shallow, except where channels have been dredged to the docks.  The scenery is not attractive.  Low hills rise in a semicircle from the horizon, half concealed by a curtain of mist, and a few green islands scattered about promiscuously are occupied by hospitals, military barracks, villas and plantations.  Nor is the harbor impressive.  It is not worth description, but the pile of buildings which rises on the city side as the steamer approaches its dock is imposing, being a picturesque mingling of oriental and European architecture.  Indeed, I do not know of any city that presents a braver front to those who arrive by sea.  At the upper end, which you see first, is a group of five-story apartment houses, with oriental