Toward sunset another show; this is the drive around the sea-shore to Malabar Point, where Lord Sandhurst, the Governor of the Bombay Presidency, lives. Parsee palaces all along the first part of the drive; and past them all the world is driving; the private carriages of wealthy Englishmen and natives of rank are manned by a driver and three footmen in stunning oriental liveries—two of these turbaned statues standing up behind, as fine as monuments. Sometimes even the public carriages have this superabundant crew, slightly modified—one to drive, one to sit by and see it done, and one to stand up behind and yell—yell when there is anybody in the way, and for practice when there isn't. It all helps to keep up the liveliness and augment the general sense of swiftness and energy and confusion and pow-wow.
It is all color, bewitching color, enchanting color—everywhere all around—all the way around the curving great opaline bay clear to Government House, where the turbaned big native 'chuprassies' stand grouped in state at the door in their robes of fiery red, and do most properly and stunningly finish up the splendid show and make it theatrically complete. I wish I were a 'chuprassy'.
The next picture in my mind is Government House, on Malabar Point, with the wide sea-view from the windows and broad balconies; abode of His Excellency the Governor of the Bombay Presidency—a residence which is European in everything but the native guards and servants, and is a home and a palace of state harmoniously combined.
That was England, the English power, the English civilization, the modern civilization—with the quiet elegancies and quiet colors and quiet tastes and quiet dignity that are the outcome of the modern cultivation.
(Following the Equator)
Raj Bhavan (translation: Government House) is the official residence of the Governor of Maharashtra. It is located in the capital city of Mumbai, Maharashtra on Malabar Hill. The Raj Bhavan is located in 50 acres (200,000 m2) of sylvan surroundings, surrounded on three sides by the sea. The estate has several heritage bungalows, trees, large lawns and a beach.
"After lunch an aide-de-camp shows us around the current governor’s great passion, the fifty acres of private parkland with its own botanical gardens. In Mark Twain’s time Governor’s House was only fifteen years old and the grounds were still being planted and landscaped; now, one hundred and fifteen years of care and maturity later they have blossomed and bloomed and are as immaculate—and as unnatural—as only a corps of gardeners can make them. The centerpiece is the croquet lawn, where the governor also holds his quarterly garden parties..."
(The Indian Equator)