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(Source: Acknowledgement: W. Laxon & World Ship Society.)
F.J. Waddington & D. Beedle. |
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MORE PHOTOGRAPHS FROM D. BEEDLES COLLECTION INDIA DURING THE FORTIES AND FIFTIES
You will remember that to win the mail contract in the 1890’s Asiatic agreed to transport prisoners from mainland India to the penal colony at Port Blair on the Andaman Islands, below are a selection of photo’s of not only Port Blair but the prison itself. Believe it or not Port Blair has now become a tourist destination, Dennis often wonders the whereabouts of the sharks and water snakes that were rife around the Islands coast.
Port Blair Jetty
Port Blair
Port Blair
Port Blair Prison
Port Blair Prison
Port Blair Prison
Port Blair Prison
Another feature of Indian life is of course the cremation of the deceased referred to at the time as ‘Burning Ghats’, this operation was carried out for about 5 Rupees and took about three hours to complete, the residue was then scattered in the Hooghly River which is of course part of the ‘Holy Ganges’.
The following is a photo of the Sandheads Pilot Vessel, the Bengal Pilots were known to arrive with everything but the kitchen sink including hunting rifles, tennis rackets and cricket gear and lets not forget the ever present servants.
Sandhead Pilot Launch
I have been sent a newspaper cutting from the local newspaper in Rangoon which reveals how one of Asiatic’s Captains was caught and subsequently fined for having an inordinate amount of alcohol in his possession. As Rangoon was not a dry port its difficult to understand apart from the obvious what he was doing with such an enormous amount?
Minicoy Seamen
Loading Timber at Moulmein
Page Three