PLACES OF INTEREST

BANDRA.

Ba'ndra, [Most of the Bandra account has been contributed by Mr. Bullock of Bandra.] north latitude 19° 2' and east longitude 72° 53', a municipal town and port with, in 1881, a population of about 15,000 souls, lies between the Baroda railway and the sea, in the south-west corner of the island of Salsette nine miles north of Bombay. Between the railway and the sea stretches a low belt of cocoa-palm gardens and rice land, and to the south-west, Bandra hill rises about 150 feet and with flat wooded crest, slopes gently south-west to the level of the plain, and again rises into a rocky knoll.

The town begins at the end of the Mahim causeway which joins Salsette to Bombay. There are two main roads one that turns to the left and keeps close to the shore, the other that passing to the north skirts the east and north of the village. Turning to the left, at an old banyan tree at the end of the causeway, the shore road passes through the market place. Behind lies the municipal market, and to the right the better part of the town with upper storied houses owned and held by Native Christians, most of whom are in business in Bombay. Round the shore are lanes of huts most of them fishermen's huts, and further on towards the hill the street joins the main hill road. The other road, starting from the Mahim causeway, passes through the middle of the town. On the right are the Bombay municipal slaughter houses, the railway station, and a rest-house. A little further the road is crossed by the Ghodbandar road and from here to the hill it is lined by well built houses, generally two stories high, and surrounded by gardens. St. Joseph's convent on the right and St. Stanislaus' orphanage on the left are the chief buildings. Opposite St. Stanislaus' orphanage, at a cost of about £500 (Rs. 5000), a new local and muncipal fund road has lately been made to Pali, Chui, and Danda. Most of the lowlands close by are used for the growth of rice and vegetables. On the right the land rises towards Pali hill on which are several European houses. On the sea-shore is St. Andrew's church, and to the right the village of Chimbai. Past the church the new Sea Beach road turns on the right to the sea, and passes on to the Point a distance of two miles from the Railway Station. The main road climbs the hill, and at about one-third of the way up, divides in two, one branch leading to the right into the lower road and running round the west of the hill just above sea level, and the other branch winding to the top of the hill. The ridge and the rocky and rather bare western slope are covered with houses most of which have been built within the last thirty years on plots of about one acre.

The only buildings of special interest are the English Church and the Chapel of Our Lady of the Mount. The road along the ridge ends at this chapel, but pathways lead down the hill as far as the Point, [Before 1869 the people of Bandra hill were in the habit of going to the Point for their morning and evening walks. In 1869 their right of way over Mr. Byramji Jijibhai's land was questioned, and the dispute gave rise to assault and criminal charges and a civil suit in the mamlatdar's court. Ultimately, in 1877, arrangements were made for taking part of Mr. Byramji's s land for public purposes, when that gentleman granted a strip of land and gave a sum of money to make a footpath.] where are the remains of a Portuguese Agoada or block-house which seems to have been built in 1640. [Such of the inscription as remains reads, 'ESEBALVAR | TE | SEFESEN | LOVOR | DONO | ME DEIESVS | E.M. 1640.] On the invasion of Salsette by the Marathas in 1737, an English garrison was sent to hold this post, but the place was found untenable and under the advice of the Bombay Government it was destroyed.

The present rents of the thirty-five houses on the hill vary from £4 to £12 (Rs. 40- Rs. 120) a month. Of the whole number six are owned by Europeans, eleven by Parsis, sixteen by native Christians, and two by Musalmans. Of the present (1881) occupants fifteen are Europeans, twelve Parsis, three Hindus, and five Musalmans.

Water Supply.

A branch from the main Vehar pipe is brought across the causeway for the use of the slaughter house and the railway station, and carried as far as St. Andrew's church. The houses on the hill get their drinking water from four wells, of which the best is the Rangaris' well. When the wells run dry Vehar water is supplied at the rate of 2s. (Re. 1) for 1000 gallons. Between the village and the railway station is a large reservoir, which was built by a rich Musalman of Naupada. Its water is fit only for watering cattle and for washing clothes.

Population.

The 1881 census returns give for Bandra municipal limits a population of 14,996 (males 7805, females 7191). Of these 7272 are Hindus, 5470 Native Christians, 1667 Musalmans (1267 Sunnis and 400 Shias), 493 Parsis, 74 Protestant Christians, 12 Jews, and 8 Armenians.[The following table gives the detail's for each of the villages which falls within Bandra municipal limits:

Bandra Population, 1881.

VILLAGES.	Hindus.	Christians.	Others.	Total
Bandra Hill	534	159	208	901
Bandra Proper	2261	2911	1161	6333
Bhoivada and Naupada	181	101	548	830
Khar and Khar Road	593	525	137	1255
Pali	221	399	0	620
Chimbai Katvadi	233	584	17	834
Mala	160	509	0	669
Chui	132	357	2	491
Danda Proper	2957	7	99	3063
Total	7272	5552	2172	14,996

] Except a few Goanese servants in European households, the native Christians are local converts whose forefathers were made Christians by the Portuguese during the sixteenth and seventeeth centuries. They are chiefly of the Koli, Bhandari and Kunbi castes. Most of the native Christians are under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Goa who is nominated by the Portuguese government. But a considerable body, who separated in 1852, form the congregation of St. Peter's under the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic of Bombay. Among the Musalmans are some Khojas and Borahs, shopkeepers and traders; of the rest about five hundred, who are almost all immigrants from the Deccan, are employed in the Bombay municipal slaughter-houses. Most of the Parsis are of the poorer class. Of the whole number six families, two in Bandra proper, three in Khar and one in Danda, are liquor-sellers. Two are tavern and lodging house-keepers, some are railway guards or fitters, and some work in Bombay as clerks or compositors. During the hot season about thirty rich Parsi families move from Bombay to Bandra. The men go into Bombay almost every day, some of them being merchants or shopkeepers and others salesmen or clerks.

Traffic.

Bandra is both a port and a railway station. Small coasters find scanty shelter from north-west gales under Bandra Point, but in working north no ships should shoal under five fathoms at day and seven fathoms by night. The tidal rise is fifteen feet at springs and nine feet at neaps. [Taylor's Sailing Directory, 373.]

The sea returns for the five years ending 1878-79 show average exports worth £2701 (Rs. 27,010) and average imports worth £7802 (Rs. 78,020). Exports varied from £1204 (Rs. 12,040) in 1874-75 to £4783 (Rs. 47,830) in 1878-79, and imports from £6469 (Rs. 64,690) in 1874-75 to £9540 (Rs. 95,400) in 1875-76.[The details are: 1874-75 exports £1204 (Rs. 12,040), imports £6469 (Rs. 64,690); 1875-76 exports £2614 (Rs. 26,140), imports £9540 (Rs. 95,400); 1876-77 exports £2354 (Rs. 23,540), imports £7030 (Rs. 70,300); 1877-78 exports £2551 (Rs. 25,510), imports £7415 (Rs. 74,150); 1878-79 exports £4783 (Rs. 47,830), imports £8556 (Rs. 85,560).]

The railway returns show an increase in passenger traffic from 451,181 in 1873 to 816,634 in 1880, and a decline in goods traffic from 983 to 421 tons.

The following statement gives the details of the passenger traffic between Bandra and the different Bombay stations:

Bandra Railway Passengers, 1871-1880.

The liberal terms granted to the holders of season tickets have raised the number of trips from 97,680 in 1871 to 249,800 in 1880. [The number of trips were: 1871, 97,680; 1872, 99,120; 1873, 119,440; 1874, 127,560; 1875, 178,880; 1876, 212,600; 1877, 208,040; 1878, 222,889; 1879, 210,560; 1880,249,800.]

Industries.

The chief industries are the tapping of palm trees, the distilling of toddy spirits, the growth of cocoa-palms and vegetables, fishing, and the work of the Bandra slaughter-house. There is also some pottery making, indigo dyeing, and cotton weaving, the last almost crushed by the competition of machine-made cloth. The village of Naupada behind the railway station, whose people were all Sunni Musalmans, was formerly very prosperous working as many: as 150 hand looms. The village is now almost deserted, but most of the people have found work at the Kurla mills. The people of Danda are Hindu fishermen who are said to have come from Thal and Alibag in Kolaba. They are vigorous well-to-do men, quite as fond of liquor as their Christian neighbours.

Slaughter houses.

The Bombay Municipal Slaughter Houses support 150 families of butchers. These slaughter houses stand at the north end of the Lady Jamsetji causeway on the site of the old Jesuit monastery of St. Anne's about 100 yards south-west of the Bandra railway station. They are three in number, one for beef and two for mutton. [These details have been prepared by Mr. P. C. Higgins, Superintendent of Markets and Slaughter-houses, Bombay. One of the slaughter houses is rented to Government for the use of the Commissariat department.] The buildings, which were finished on the 18th February 1867,[The first meat train left Bandra at 3-30 A.M. and reached the Bori Bandar station at 4-46 A.M. on the morning of 20th February 1867.] at a cost of £32,000 (Rs. 3,20,000), were designed by Mr. Russell Aitken, then Municipal Engineer, and were built by Messrs. Wells and Glover. They are neat, strong, and well suited for their work. They are built of rubble masonry with facings of Porbandar sand-stone with iron roofs ventilated from above, and with floors of finely dressed basalt set in cement and well drained. The stock sheds, which lie on either side of the slaughter houses, are strong airy buildings 200 feet long by thirty-five broad, with iron roofs, surrounded by stone walls and strong pallisades. The buildings are so arranged as to be easily enlarged. Besides the slaughter houses and live stock sheds, there are lines for the kamatris, or slaughterers, and others employed at the slaughter house. There is also a covered space with standing ground for a week's supply of live stock, that is, at least 800 head of cattle and 10,000 sheep; there is also space for weekly and half-weekly markets, and ample convenience for cattle and sheep to reach the slaughter house by rail. In deference to the Hindu feeling against the use of beef, care has been taken to separate the mutton and the beef slaughter houses by a high wall. [For the same reason, in the meat train three passenger vans for the butchers and their servants used to be placed between the beef and mutton vans.] The floors of the houses are very carefully cleaned by water brought across the causeway from the Vehar main. The meat train, which has been discontinued since January 1879, used to pass at the Bandra station through a siding which branched into two lines, the west siding being for the live-stock and the east siding for the meat. The space between the two sidings is filled by the mutton, beef, and Commissariat slaughter houses which are built on the line with their respective yards in the rear. The siding ran close along the curve on which the slaughter houses stand, so as to admit of meat being loaded into large airy vans where it used to hang till 3-30 A.M. the time of starting for Bombay. By this arrangement the meat reached Bombay within half an hour. Since January 1879 the meat train has been discontinued in favour of the bullock cart and road system. According to the present arrangements, when the carcasses are cleaned and dressed, they are halved and quartered and hung in the bullock meat-vans. The vans, of which there are twenty-six, leave the slaughter house at 12 P.M. with a sub-inspector in charge, and reach the Bombay markets at about 3-30 A.M. [The meat is all the time in charge of the municipal superintendent of markets, the doors of the vans being under his look and key with duplicate keys at the different markets in Bombay. The butchers' servants travel with the vans sitting with the drivers. The doors of the vans are opened by the municipal peons on duty at the markets, and on producing the slaughter-house receipts the butchers' servants take their masters' meat to their stalls.]

The monthly average number of animals slaughtered is 305 buffaloes, 2260 cows and bullocks, and 31,816 sheep and goats. The average monthly income of the slaughter houses is £996 (Rs. 9960) and the average monthly establishment charges £76 (Rs. 760). [The revenue is derived from the following sources: Slaughter fees £620 (Rs. 6201), fair ground and feeding fees £302 (Rs. 3025), rent from Government £26 (Rs. 266), butchers' and others' license fees £25 (Rs. 248), chawl rents £13 (Rs. 132), sale of blood £8 (Rs. 80), and miscellaneous fees £1 8s. (Rs. 14). The monthly establishment charges are one assistant superintendent on £16 (Rs. 160), one cattle inspector on £12 (Rs. 120), two sub-inspectors on £3 10s. (Rs. 35) at £1 10s. (Rs. 15) each, three messengers on £1 4s. (Rs. 12) each, thirteen labourers on £1 2s. (Rs. 11) each, one lamp lighter £1 (Rs. 10), one scavenger £1 6s. (Rs. 13), one meat-van sub-inspector £2 (Rs. 20), and twenty-four meat-van drivers on 18s. (Rs. 9) each.] Except that the Jews have a priest or mulla of their own, the throats of all animals are cut by Muhammadan priests. The priests are paid by the owners of the animals, and their monthly earnings vary from £1 10s. to £2 (Rs. 15-Rs. 20). The wives of the mutton dressers, or Kamatris, help their husbands, but this is not the case with the wives of beef dressers or of priests. The slaughter houses support about 150 families of priests and meat dressers, and connected with them there are 471 master and working butchers, 386 of whom are Musalmans, 73 Hindus, 3 Portuguese Christians, and 2 Jews. They all sell wholesale and retail, and nearly all have from one to four servants.

The horned cattle intended for butchers' meat come from the Konkan, Deccan, Haidarabad, Nasik, and Khandesh. They are brought by Musalman dealers who travel from fair to fair, buying as they go till they have gathered 100 or more animals generally cows. They then make their way to Bombay by road, [Cattle are brought by road, and goats and sheep both by road and rail.] timing their arrival at Bandra for Saturday when the fair is held. Their transactions are generally in cash. The sheep are gathered in the same way, and, with the addition of Gujarat, from the same districts as the cattle. [The Gujarat sheep are all brought by rail by small dealers, Musalmans and a few Hindus. The Khandesh sheep generally come by road, the dealers are poor, working on small sums of their own and sometimes on borrowed money.] Cattle arriving at the main entrance are passed at once into the large open space used for the fairs, or hakas. After they have been bought by the butchers they are moved into the large standing or stock sheds on each side of the central road, where they are allowed to cool before inspection. The municipal inspector's office is outside the slaughter-house gate, and cattle are there daily inspected and passed for slaughter before they are allowed to enter the slaughter-house yard. The fairs in connection with the slaughter house take place for horned cattle on Saturdays from 8 to 12 A.M., and for sheep and goats on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 1 to 8 P.M. Animals are seldom left unsold. If unsold they are taken to the waste or grass lands near Bandra, and allowed to graze till the next fair day. [The average price of a first class buffalo is £5 (Rs. 50) and of a second class buffalo £2 10s. (Rs. 25); of first class cows and bullocks £1 14s. (Rs. 17) and of second class cows and bullocks £1 6s. (Rs. 13); of first class goats 10s. (Rs. 5), of second class 8s. (Rs. 4), and of third class 6s. (Rs. 3); of first class sheep 8s. 6d. (Rs. 44), of second class 7s. (Rs. 3-8), and of third class 5s. (Rs. 2-8).] There are about fifty buyers of horned cattle and about 100 buyers of sheep and goats. During the rains there is a great falling off in the supply of cows. If they were allowed, the butchers would kill only buffaloes both for the shipping and for the public markets, as their hides and fat yield them a good return. Shipchandlers prefer buffalo to cow-beef, as it does not cost more than 2d. a pound (12 lbs. the rupee), and they are sometimes able to pass it off as ox-beef. But buffalo meat is so coarse and unpalatable, and so liable to worms, that except the poorest classes no one ever knowingly eats it.

The local consumption of meat is small, about twenty-five sheep and goats, and one cow or bullock a day. The consumers are Europeans, Parsis, Musalmans, and some Hindus, but most of it goes to the Roman Catholic schools. The retail butchers at Bandra are all Muhammadans, and the general retail price for beef and mutton is from 3d. to 6d. (2-4 annas) and for goats' flesh from 2d. to 4d. (1½-3 annas) the pound. The hides and skins of slaughtered animals are sold either by private contract or by auction to the highest bidder. The buyers are European and native merchants, or Dharavi tanners. The horns and bones are gathered by a man appointed for the purpose and kept by him at Bandra outside the town limits. They are yearly sold to some European firm for export to Europe; the proceeds are set apart for the benefit of the mosque and the Muhammadan poor. [The prices of hides, skins, bones and horns are: buffalo hide large 14s. (Rs. 7), buffalo hide small 13s. 3d. (Rs. 6-10); cow and bullock hide large 6s. (Rs. 3), cow and bullock hide small 4s. (Rs. 2). Goat skin large 3s. 6d, (Rs. 1-12), goat skin small 2s. 6d. (Re. 1-4). Sheep skin 1s. (8 as.). Buffalo horns are sold at from £2 10s. (Rs. 25) to £4 (Rs. 40) the cwt.; bones and other horns at 1s. 9d. (14 as.), and fat at £1 5s. (Rs. 12-8) the cwt.] The blood is bought by Messrs. Rogers and Co., of Bombay, who pay the Municipality a yearly sum of £96 (Rs. 960). They boil the blood and prepare it with charcoal for a coffee planter in Ceylon.

The refuse is gathered in large masonry bins at each end of the slaughter house, and removed daily by a contractor who is paid £75 (Rs. 750) a year by the municipality. It is taken by bullock carts to Khari, near Andheri, and used for manure and for reclaiming swamps.

Municipality.

The Bandra municipality, which was established in 1876, had in 1880-81 an income of £1536 (Rs. 15,360) representing a taxation of 2s. 0½d. (Rs. 1-0-4) a head. This income chiefly comes from taxes on houses, boats, and roads. During 1880-81 the expenditure amounted to £844 (Rs. 8440), of which £239 (Rs. 2390) were spent on scavenging, £84 (RS. 840) on lighting, and £520 (Rs. 5200) on roads. The chief municipal works are new markets in Bandra and at Khar, representing a cost of £410 (Rs. 4104), and new roads representing a cost of £1169 (Rs. 11,690).[The Bandra markets were built from Local Funds in 1874 at. a cost of £443 (Rs. 4430), and handed over to the municipality who objected to pay the coat sum.] The Bandra municipal district includes the following villages which lie either together or within half a mile of each other: Naupada, Khar, Pali, Varoda, Chimbai, Katvadi, Mala, Sherli Rajan, Chui, and Danda. Of public offices and institutions there are, besides the railway station, a post office, a dispensary, and seven schools. The Sir Kavasji Jahanghir Readymoney Dispensary was founded in 1851 at the request of several influential inhabitants of Salsette. Subscriptions seem to have accumulated as, in 1867, there was a balance of £1920 (Rs. 19,207). In 1874 Government sanctioned a yearly grant of £260 (Rs. 2600) to pay a medical officer and staff of servants. In 1877 Sir Kavasji Jahanghir handed over £1000 (Rs. 10,000) to Government who directed that the dispensary should be called by his name. The attendance in 1880-81 was 14,565 out-patients and five in-patients. One or two private dispensaries are also kept by Bombay practitioners, chiefly native Christians. Most of their patients belong to the middle and upper classes, and their fees vary from 4s. to 6s. (Rs. 2- Rs. 3) a visit. Of the schools the Jesuits maintain the St. Stanislaus' Orphanage and St. Joseph's Convent, the former with 235 boys and the latter with 214 girls. The following schools are also kept by the native Christian clergy: a Diocesan School with an attendance of 170 pupils, a Portuguese Catechism School at Sherli with an attendance of 50, and St. Vincent's School at Pali with an attendance of 45. There are also two Government Anglo-vernacular schools, one at Bandra with 130 boys and 10 girls and one at Danda with 28 boys. The elementary education of native Christian children is fairly provided for, and as a rule they do not attend the Government schools.

Objects of Interest.

The only considerable work in the neighbourhood is the Lady Jamsetji Causeway which joins Bandra with Mahim. The following inscription is engraved on a tablet at Mahim:

' This causeway was commenced on the 8th of February 1843 under the auspices of Lady Jamsetji Jijibhai, who munificently contributed towards its cost the sum of £15,580 (Rs. 1,55,800). It was designed by Lieutenant Crawford and constructed by Captain Cruickshank, of the Bombay Engineers, and opened to the public on the 8th of April 1845, corresponding with the 13th day of the 7th month of Shenshaee Yezdezerd AERA 1214, in the presence of the Honourable Sir George Arthur, Bart., Governor, the members of Council and principal inhabitants of Bombay. The total cost of construction was Rs. 2,03,843 and 5 pies.'

In 1854, at the joint expense of this lady and Government, a road from this causeway was continued to the top of Bandra hill, where a small tablet records the gift.

Churches.

St. Andrew's Church stands on the sea-shore on the site of a church of the same name, which was built in 1575 by the Rev. F. Manuel Gomes, the apostle of Salsette, the superior of the college of the Holy Name at Bassein. By 1588 Gomes had made 4000 converts and by 1591 the number had risen to 6000. Up to 1620 St. Andrew's was the only church at Bandra. Then the Jesuit college of the Invocation of St. Anne was built close to the landing place on the plot of ground now occupied by the Bombay Municipal slaughter-houses. At first this was small with only two friars, but by 1675 it had been enlarged till ' it was not inferior to or much unlike an English university.' [Fryer's New Account, 70.] The college was destroyed by the Marathas in 1737.

In the original St. Andrew's church the door was at the west end and opened on the sea-shore. The entrance to the present church, which was rebuilt in 1864, is at the east end which presents the usually quaintly ornamented face. The bare walls are surmounted by a steep tiled roof with bell-towers at each side, and a figure of St. Andrew stands over the central door. The cross to the left of the door, on which the emblems of the Passion are carved in coloured relief, was brought in 1864 from the ruins of St. Anne's college. The church was formerly unenclosed, but is now surrounded by houses and by an ugly wall. It measures 121 feet long by twenty-eight high and twenty-four wide, and has 3800 parishioners. The vicar has a house and monthly allowance from Government of £1 10s. (Rs. 15) and an assistant who is also paid £1 10s. (Rs. 15). There is a school where 125 boys are taught Latin and Portuguese, the expenses being met from fees and out of the revenues of Mount Mary Chapel. The worshippers are mostly Kunbis and Bhandaris. The Koli fishermen, who formerly belonged to the congregation, have since 1852 attached themselves to the Jesuit church of St. Peter. At Easter time the church ceremonies are conducted with much show. On the day before Good Friday the scene of the Last Supper is enacted at the chapel of N. S. de Monte, and on Good Friday the crucifixion is represented in front of St. Andrew's with lights, the firing of guns, and other accompaniments in presence of a great number of people who fill the large churchyard and the neighbouring roads. The image of the Lord is lowered, placed in a bier, carried in procession round the church, and entombed in a sepulchre within the building. On Palm Sunday the cross is borne in procession with the singing of hymns and Latin psalms.

The chapel of Nossa Senhora de Monte, or Mount Mary as it is commonly called, the most famous church in Salsette and the most widely respected by the non-Christian inhabitants, stands on the crest of Bandra hill. In appearance it differs little from other native Christian churches. It seems to have been built about 1640 for the use of the garrison of the Agoada, or blockhouse, with which it was connected by a road of which traces remain. According to the local story it was destroyed by the Marathas in 1738 and rebuilt in 1761. The famous statue of the Virgin was recovered from the sea by a fisherman, and, after remaining for a time in St. Andrew's church, was restored to its former position in 1761, and has since been held in much veneration not only by Christians but by Hindus, Musalmans, and Parsis. The image which is of life-size and of highly decorated wood, is set above an altar emblazoned with the most grotesque gilt carving. Every September there is a fair which lasts for several days and great numbers come from the country round. Behind the church a long flight of handsome stone steps leads down the east slope of the hill to the market. There is also a small chapel at Mala which was built about twenty years ago by the Rev. Gabriel de Silva.

St. Joseph's Convent.

St. Joseph's Convent, [These detailed accounts of St. Joseph's Convent, St. Peter's Church, and St. Stanislaus' Orphanage have been obtained through the kindness of the Rev. Father H. Bochum, S.J., St. Xavier's College, Bombay.] a large airy building within easy walk of the sea, is the only institution of its kind in the Bombay Presidency. It is managed by seventeen nuns of the Congregation of the Daughters of the Cross and contains three distinct parts, the convent, the boarding school, and the orphanage. The orphanage was founded in 1868 when thirty-eight native girls were sent to Bandra from the Poona Orphanage. Before this it was called St. Vincent's Home and supported some indigent men women and children. The two charities continued in the same house till 1874, when the number of children had grown so large that separate institutions had to be formed. After some time, the St. Vincent Home was removed to Bombay where it is known as the St. Vincent and St. Joseph Foundling Home.

The Bandra building proving too small for the growing number of children, £6000 (Rs. 60,000), of which Government contributed £2283 (Rs. 22,830), were subscribed for a new convent and orphanage, and an additional sum of £1000 (Rs. 10,000) has since been collected to complete the out-houses. The foundations were begun on St. George's day 1877, the corner stone was laid on St. Anthony's day in the same year, and the convent was occupied in June 1878. The building, which is 198 feet long by fifty broad and fifty-eight high, faces the main road on its southern side. It is easily known by the long pointed chapel windows on the first-floor. On the ground-floor are the clothes room, the refectory, and the school rooms. In the clothes room each orphan has her compartment marked with a number corresponding to the number by which she is known in the school. A sister is in charge of the wearing apparel and superintends the needlework. The refectory is a place of rest for the orphans who meet there four times a day and are fed on curry and rice, meats, fish, vegetables and fruit, and bread and tea with buns and other extras on feast days. Twice a day, at the principal meals, a religious book is read aloud, and on Sundays, Thursdays, and Feast Days, the children are allowed to talk at table. In the convent is a dispensary furnished by Government with medicines, which are dispensed by a sister according to the prescriptions of a medical man who attends almost every day. One sister is set apart to look after sick children. The first floor has the chapel and rooms for nuns and children with a spacious veranda furnished with Venetians. Holy Mass is said daily in the chapel at six in the morning, the inmates of the convent 200 in number forming the congregation. The chapel is also used for morning and evening prayers, rosary, and other devotions. The second floor consists of a dormitory running the entire length with accommodation for more than a hundred children. The smaller children sleep in another part of the building.

Though children of all respectable castes are received, most of the orphans are Portuguese, and Eurasians with a sprinkling of native converts. After bathing is over, the morning is devoted to lessons, and the rest of the day to needlework. Instruction in catechism and sacred history is given thrice a week by a priest from St. Peter's Church. After they have finished the fourth Government standard, more of the orphans' time is given to house-work, chiefly cooking, cutting dresses, and needlework. Besides making their own clothes the orphans carry out orders for all kinds of needle-work both plain and fancy. Church vestments and flowers are also made by the children and sold for their benefit. During their play time the elderly girls busy themselves in crocheting, lace-making, and knitting comforters or socks. Care is taken by the managers of the institution to provide suitable husbands for girls who are entirely dependent on the convent.

In addition to the orphans the convent has about fifty boarders all Eurasians or Portuguese. A wing of the main building is set apart for their use, and in it they have their sleeping, study, and workrooms, dinner-room, clothes-room, and bath-rooms. Besides the eight Government standards, these boarders may be taught at their-own expense music, singing, drawing, and French and German. They have their lessons, and they play and work apart from the orphans, and are constantly under the surveillance of the sisters. One sister has a room in each dormitory to be at hand during the night.

Connected with the convent is a day school with an attendance of sixty pupils who are taught the eight Government standards along with the boarders. They are divided into two classes, one of European, Eurasian, Parsi and some respectable Portuguese children who study and associate with the boarders, and the other of the poorer class who learn with the orphans and have a separate class for needlework.

In the beginning of 1874 a Portuguese and English day school was opened in Lower Mahim and placed under the charge of the Daughters of the Cross. During the first year two sisters used to go every morning and return in the afternoon to Bandra; but as this was found very inconvenient during the rains, a third sister was sent and a community formed, the school taking the name of the Convent of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In connection with the new convent at Mahim a boarding school was opened in 1875 for children of Portuguese descent and for native Christians.

St. Peter's Church.

St. Peter's Church and St. Stanislaus' Orphanage are accommodated in a building which was originally intended to be an orphanage for native children. It was taken in hand in 1852 when the Koli fishermen of Bandra went over to the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic of Bombay. The building, which is 100 feet long by seventy-five broad, consists of a ground-floor and upper story with a loft which can be used as a sleeping room. There are no partition walls in the building, but from each corner a room is cut off for the teaching staff. The building cost £6000 (Rs. 60,000) and many additions have since been made. In 1867 a second story-was added and above that, at an expense of £718 (Rs. 7181), the middle part was raised to form an airy sleeping room for the orphanage boys. In 1875, £218 (Rs. 2182) were spent in paving the church floor with stone, £106 (Rs. 1062) on a dining room, and £27 (Rs. 275) on a new kitchen. In 1877 a piece of a neighbouring rice field was bought for £114 (Rs. 1144). Till 1852 the parishioners formed part of St. Andrew's congregation when about 1200 Kolis and 100 Kunbis came under the jurisdiction of the Vicar Apostolic. A large number of the Kolis have left their former occupation as fishermen and taken to new callings, some working as carpenters, fitters and compounders, and others as clerks and compositors. On Sundays and holidays there are two Masses in the morning with a Marathi and English sermon. In the evening religious instruction in Marathi is followed by service with two choirs, one of boys and the other of young men. On great festival days when all are careful to be present, the congregation numbers between 1000 and 1200 souls. On every Sunday in Lent, and during the Holy Week the Gospel story of the sufferings of Christ is shewn with the help of statues. The Corpus Christi procession passes from St. Peter's through the village, praying and singing to the chapel of Our Lady of the Mount. To the church is attached a free Portuguese school for boys and girls with an attendance of fifty pupils. Catechism and Marathi are taught to about 100 boys and girls, and Portuguese to about the same number of children in two other places.

St. Stanislaus' Orphanage.

The St. Stanislaus' Orphanage had its beginning in Bombay in one of the houses where the St. Mary Institution now stands. Though the Bandra building was completed in 1853, it was not occupied by the orphans till 1863. At present 235 boys study at the Orphanage, of whom 140 are day scholars paying from 2s. to 6s. (Re. 1-Rs. 3) a month. Besides orphans, first and second class boarders, paying £1 10s. and £1 (Rs. 15-Rs. 10) a month, are admitted, but the boarders form only one-fourth of the whole number, the remaining three-fourths being supported by private charity and by the Bishop. The teaching staff consists of five Jesuit Fathers and five secular masters, and English instruction is given up to the sixth Government standard. The orphans rise at half past five, and, after bathing, hear Mass. They attend classes from nine to twelve in the morning and from two to half past four in the afternoon; the rest of the day is left to study and play. They have three meals a day and a piece of bread at half past four. Those who pay no fees have to help in keeping the church and sacristy in order. Under the supervision of the Fathers the maintenance of order and discipline is entrusted to six head boys.

History.

Faria mentions Bandor, perhaps Bandra, as a Konkan coast town in 1505.[Kerr's Voyages, VI. 83.] In 1532 it was burnt by the Portuguese. [Kerr's Voyages, VI. 252.] After their power was established, the Portuguese made Bandra the head-quarters of a Thanadar who had charge of sixty-five villages of which thirteen were Christian. In 1550, it yielded a revenue of 15,580 fedeas, and was given to one Antonio Pesoa for a quit-rent of £18 (488 pardaos). [Col. Monu. Ined. V-2, 216.] In 1620 there is a mention of two Jesuit farms at Bandra whose rents went to keep up the Jesuit college at Agra.[Cordava's History of the Jesuits, VI. 258.] In 1639 Mandelslo mentions the islands of Bandera and Bombay. [Voyages, 233.] In 1667 when Bombay was made over to the English, the Jesuit college at Bandra claimed much land and various rights in the island. As these were not acknowledged, they helped a dismissed English officer to attack Bombay.[Bruce's Annals, II. 212.] A few years later (1675), Dr. Fryer gives the following account of a visit to the Father Superior of the north: ' It was not long before I was employed to wait on the Father Superior of the north, a learned man and Spaniard by nation, of the order of the Jesuits. The President commanded his own baloon, [Baloon is the Marathi balyanv a state barge. Anderson's Western India, 78.] a barge of state of two and twenty oars, to attend me and one of the council, to compliment the Father on the island of Canorein parted from Bombaim by a stream half a mile broad: near our landing place stood a college, the building not inferior to nor much unlike those of our universities, belonging to the Jesuits here, more commonly called Paulistines who live here very sumptuously, the greatest part of the island being theirs. Our entertainment was truly noble and becoming the gravity of the society. After I had done my duty, the Fathers accompanied us to the barge. Afore the college gate stood a large cross thwacked full of young blacks singing vespers: the town is large, the houses tiled; it is called Bandora. At our department they gave us seven guns which they have planted on the front of their college for their own defence, besides they are fitted with good store of small arms: following therein the advice given by a statesman to the king of Spain, about the Netherlands: that if the society of the Loyolists were multiplied their convents might serve for castles. In the middle of the river we had a pleasant prospect on both sides, on Bandora side the college, the town, the church of St. Andrew a mile beyond, and upon the hill that pointed to the sea the Aquada, blockhouse, and a church; on the other side the Church of Maiim with other handsome buildings. Curiosity led me a second time to visit the island of Canorein, having obtained leave for a longer stay, nor went I alone, some of the best quality on the Island being led by the same desire joining themselves with me. We carried a train of servants, horses and palenkeens, which were ferried over before us; and we coming soon after were met by the Fraternity and conducted to the Fathers who detained us till afternoon by a stately banquet showing us the civility of the church and college, diverting us both with instrumental and vocal music and very good wine. After which we were dismissed and four miles off Bandora were stopped by the kindness of the Padre Superior, whose mandate wherever we came caused them to send his recarders (a term of congratulation, as we say, 'our service') with the presents of the best fruits and wines and whatever we wanted. Here, not adjoining to any town, in a sweet air, stood a magnificent rural church; in the way to which and indeed all up and down this island are pleasant aldeas, or country seats of the gentry, where they live like petty monarchs, all that is born on the ground being theirs, holding them in a perfect state of villainage, they being Lords paramount.'[New Account, 70-71.]

In 1688, at the time of Sidi Kasim's invasion of Bombay, Ovington complains that the senior Padre of Bandra (Pandara) wrote to the Sidi to root out the Protestants and gave him money and provisions. The Padre's church income was said to be a pound of gold a day. [Voyage to Surat, 156-157.] In 1694 the Maskat Arabs descended on Bandra and Salsette, and plundered villages and churches, killed priests, and carried away 1400 captives. [Hamilton's New Account, I. 182.] Bandra fort is mentioned in 1695 by Gemelli Careri. [Churchill, IV. 198.] A little later (1700-1720) it is described as a most conspicuous village on the Salsette coast. The river was in the hands of the English, but its mouth was so pestered with rocks that no vessels of any burden could enter. In 1720 the Bandra priests disturbed the English at Mahim, stirring up the people to attack them. But a well directed bomb killed some of the priests and the attempt was abandoned. In 1722 they were again troublesome to the English.[Hamilton's New Account, I. 182.] In 1737 the English sent men and munitions to help the Portuguese to defend Bandra against the Marathas. But as the town could not be held, the fortifications were destroyed and the place abandoned. The Jesuit college or church of St. Anne, which stood on the site of the present slaughter houses, was destroyed, as well as the church of Our Lady of the Mount known generally as Mount Mary.[Nairne's Konkan, 82. In 1750 Tieffeuthaler notices (Des. Hist. et Geog. I. 411) that on the shore were the ruins of the Jesuit church of Bandra.] In 1774 Bandra came into British possession.

Bandra never had much sea trade, but since the making of the Jamsetji causeway what sea trade it had has almost ceased. The opening of the railway caused a great increase of importance, and during the time of Bombay's great prosperity (1860-1864) numbers came to live in Bandra. After this for some years the number of residents fell off and several houses remained empty. During the last four years Bandra has again risen in popularity. Almost all the villa residences are occupied, and building goes on steadily.