Around the World in Eighty Days Chapter 10 Summary

In which Passepartout is only too glad to get off with the loss of his shoes

  • The author describes India, which is for the most part under British rule, but a large portion remains still free from British authority. In these places there are terrible rajahs who are independent and using their freedom for nefarious purposes.
  • Transportation has changed in India. Modern conveyances such as steamships and railways have replaced travel by foot, horseback, or carriage.
  • Fogg leaves the steamboat Mongolia at half-past 4:00PM and plans to board a train for Calcutta at 8:00PM. Passepartout is given several errands to do while Fogg heads off to the passport office.
  • Fogg goes first to the railway station to have dinner.
  • Fix goes to the Bombay police office after everyone disembarks with the hope of being allowed to arrest Fogg. He's disappointed that the Bombay office says it's the London office's problem, not theirs, and they refuse to grant him the arrest warrant.
  • Passepartout journeys around the city sightseeing and appreciating the culture. He finds himself spellbound by an old Indian temple and goes in, not knowing that Christians are forbidden to enter and that even the faithful have to take off their shoes. The British government enforces this rule and punishes anyone who disregards the practices of the native religions.
  • Passepartout gets jumped by some angry priests who proceed to beat the snot out of him for desecrating the temple. He loses his hat and shoes but makes it back to the train station with five minutes to spare.
  • Fix decides, upon sneakily overhearing about Passepartout's run-in with the locals, that he can use this information to trap Fogg at his next stop. He decides to follow Fogg on to Calcutta.