ts. When I joined my appointment as assistant on one
of the large indigo concerns there, there were not more than about
thirty European residents altogether in the district. The chief town,
Mooteeharree, consisted of a long _bazaar_, or market street, beautifully
situated on the bank of a lovely lake, some two miles in length. From
the main street, with its quaint little shops sheltered from the sun
by makeshift verandahs of tattered sacking, weather-stained shingles,
or rotting bamboo mats, various little lanes and alleys diverged,
leading one into a collection of tumble-down and ruinous huts, set up
apparently by chance, and presenting the most incongruous appearance
that could possibly be conceived. One or two _pucca_ houses, that is,
houses of brick and masonry, shewed where some wealthy Bunneah
(trader) or usurious banker lived, but the majority of the houses were
of the usual mud and bamboo order. There is a small thatched hut where
the meals were cooked, and where the owner and his family could sleep
during the rains. Another smaller hut at right angles to this, gives
shelter to the family goat, or, if they are rich enough to keep one,
the cow. All round the villages in India there are generally large
patches of common, where the village cows have free rights of pasture;
and all who can, keep either a cow or a couple of goats, the milk from
which forms a welcome addition to their usual scanty fare. In this
second hut also is stored as much fuel, consisting of dried cow-dung,
straw, maize-stalks, leaves, etc., as can be collected; and a ragged
fence of bamboo or _rahur_[1] stalks encloses the two unprotected
sides, thus forming inside a small court, quadrangle, or square. This
court is the native's _sanctum sanctorum_. It is kept scrupulously
clean, being swept and garnished religiously every day. In this the
women prepare the rice for the day's consumption; here they cut up and
clean their vegetables, or their fish, when the adjacent lake has been
dragged by the village fishermen. Here the produce of their little
garden, capsicums, Indian corn, onions or potatoes--perchance turmeric,
ginger, or other roots or spices--are dried and made ready for storing
in the earthen sun-baked repository for the reception of such produce
appertaining to each household. Here the children play, and are washed
and tended. Here the maiden combs out her long black hair, or decorates
her bronzed visage with streaks of red paint down the