"From the Theatre in a Bullock Hackery" by Nellie Bly, 1889
"An officer rushed up ... telling the driver that we were all under arrest. The candles in one of the lamps had burned out."
On her around-the-world adventure—becoming the first to complete what was imagined in Jules Verne’s novel Around the World in 80 Days—journalist Nellie Bly visits Colombo, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka).
I rode home from the theatre in a bullock hackery. It was a very small springless cart on two wheels with a front seat for the driver, and on the back seat, with our backs to the driver and our feet hanging over, we drove to the hotel. The bullock is a strange, modest-looking little animal with a hump on its back and crooked horns on its head. I feared that it could not carry us all, but it traveled at a very good pace. There was a sound of grunt, grunt, grunting that concerned me very much until l found it was the driver and not the bullock that was responsible for the noise. With grunts he urged the bullock to greater speed.
The drive, along tree-roofed roads, was very quiet and lovely. The moonlight fell beautiful and soft over the land, and nothing disturbed the stillness except the sound of the sea and an occasional soldier we met staggering along towards the barracks. At one place we saw a mosque with low, dim lamps hanging about. We went in and found the priests lying about on the stone floor, some at the very foot of the altar. We talked with them in whispers and then returned to the cart, which soon carried us back to the hotel.
Just as we turned a corner to go to the hotel, an officer rushed up and, catching hold of a wheel, tried to stop the hackery, telling the driver that we were all under arrest. The candles in one of the lamps had burned out and we were arrested for driving with a dark side. My companion made it right with the policeman, and we went to the hotel instead of the jail.
From Around the World in Seventy-two Days by Nellie Bly, 1890, available on Amazon*
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More from Nellie Bly:
Nellie Bly’s story “Meeting Jules Verne” from Around the World in Seventy-two Days (1890)
Nellie Bly’s story “Exotic Aden” from Around the World in Seventy-two Days (1890)
Nellie Bly’s story “Seasickness” from Around the World in Seventy-two Days (1890)
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Image: Street Scene in Colombo (Ceylon) by unknown artist, 1897, public domain.