Henry J. Neils’
Travelogue of 1959 Great World Cruise
Henry J. Neils was a businessman from Minneapolis. He wrote a daily diary of his voyage on the 1959 Great World cruise. Presumably, the 30 faded typewritten sheets had been duplicated for distribution to his employees.
The transcribed document now forms 25 pages of the Timeline, accessible from links on the January, February, March and April 1959 month pages. This was the first special feature to be added to the Timeline as it entered its 2nd year of being on-line.
Henry's quoted text throughout the site start with this indicator: H.J.N.…
Henry J Neils’ Travelogue 05 March 1959
Bombay, India
H.J.N.…
Clear - 72°F.
After spending the morning aboard ship, we were all packed for Tour No. 41. Transferred to the special train on the
pier (very convenient), and were off promptly at 1.35pm, headed for Delhi.
The room on the train was larger than our U.S. bedrooms. The gauge of the tracks is wider, giving additional width to the coach, and also smoother riding compared to narrow gauge railways in Africa.
H.J.N.…
After leaving Bombay we passed through typical countryside - rice paddies waiting for the rains, prairie country brown
from sun and drought. Cattle, sheep, goats, camels, oxen and large wheeled carts.
You seldom see a horse or mule. The next morning the prairie had more grain fields. Irrigation is most important to conserve water in the wet season for the nine months of dryness.
Saw a marble or stone quarry. Large slabs were piled on a two-wheeled ox cart and drawn by a yoke of oxen to the railway. I am wondering how the slabs were hoisted on to the cart, but am quite sure manual labour did the trick.
When a heavy load goes downhill, a man with a 4” diameter x 4’ long piece of wood applies pressure on the rim of the wheel while running alongside. Here's a chance for someone to sell brakes that could be applied to these carts!
Motor trucks may replace these carts some day, but by the few you see, it will take another 100 years. Oxen are also used exclusively for drawing water for irrigating the small patches of land. Also for threshing, as was the custom for thousands of years. I did not see a farm tractor anywhere.
Fatehpur Sikri
We arrived at Fatehpur Sikri at 2.40pm, and transferred to buses that had come from Agra, twenty-three miles away. This fort and village was built in 1569-75 by Akbar the Emperor. He only used it for eleven years. It was abandoned when his Saint Salem Chrishti died. The saint was buried in the beautiful white marble mosque. The sarcophagus is covered with mother-of-pearl.
All other structures of the fort are of red sandstone, which is still being quarried near by. The carvings and paintings are fine examples of craftsmanship. The man hours spent must have been terrific. This fort, palace and mosque are Moghul architecture.