Mozoomdar spent three days traversing the bay. The letters he wrote to Saudamini during this time reveal a man enraptured by the beauty of the sea, which he took to be proof of God’s immanent presence. Consider his first impressions of the waters before him:
The endless expanse of rippling blue is like the open arms of a mother. The dancing, churning waves crowned with surf are like excited children, and I their brother whose sight has filled them with joy, encouraging me to dance, chanting the name of Goddess Anandamayi.Note: 6Ibid, 3.
Yet Mozoomdar’s prose never strays too far from matters of health, and the account of his first days at sea is ridden with descriptions of medications and reflections on his constitution. Although expressed as assurances to Saudamini of his healthiness, Mozoomdar’s preoccupation with details such as whether he slept through the night, the pain in his hand, his regular consumption of cod liver oil, and his experiment with Hunyadi János suggests that he continued to worry over his physical condition.Note: 7Mozoomdar reported drinking Hunyadi János, a Hungarian aperient spring water that gained popularity in the 1860s, in order to ward off any seasickness while at sea. See Hunyadi János: Natural Purgative Water Drawn from Saxlehner’s Bitter-Water Springs near Budapest (Budapest: Firm of A. Saxlehner, 1898).
- Ibid, 3. ↩
- Mozoomdar reported drinking Hunyadi János, a Hungarian aperient spring water that gained popularity in the 1860s, in order to ward off any seasickness while at sea. See Hunyadi János: Natural Purgative Water Drawn from Saxlehner’s Bitter-Water Springs near Budapest (Budapest: Firm of A. Saxlehner, 1898). ↩