s of society was much more marked than it is now. Members of
the Civil Service were very exclusive, holding themselves much more
aloof than the "heaven-born" do to-day; the military formed another
distinct set; while the mercantile people, lawyers, barristers, and
others not in any government service, had their own particular circle.
This marked cleavage did not, however, prevent the different "sets"
from having quite a good time, and as I have said, even if they did
not mix together very closely and intimately, we all in a way knew
each other.

Forty or fifty years ago, Calcutta was not so lively as it is to-day,
especially in the cold weather, but there was one thing in those days
which we do not see now. I refer to the regal pomp and circumstance
which characterised Government House, and all the functions held
there. The annual State Ball was an event which was always looked
forward to, and it was a ball at which one could comfortably dance,
instead of the crush it had become in the decade prior to 1911.

THE "PALKI."

Looking back, one of the first things that strikes me is the change
between then and now in the matter of locomotion. In my early days
there were no taxi-cabs, trams, nor even _fitton-gharries,_ the only
conveyances for those who had not private carriages being _palkis_ and
_bund-gharries._ It would seem strange to-day to see Europeans being
carried about the streets in _palkis_, but half a century or more ago
they were by no means despised, especially by the newly-out _chokras_,
whose salary was not at all too high. They had to choose between a
_palki_ and a _ticca-gharry,_ which were very much alike in shape, the
difference between them being that the one was carried on the
shoulders of coolies, and the other drawn by a horse.

[Illustration: Old view of Esplanade East, showing Scott Thomson's
corner. _Photo by Johnston & Hoffman_]

[Illustration: Old River view, showing sailing ships _Photo by
Johnston & Hoffmann_.]

[Illustration: _Photo by Johnston & Hoffmann_ Royal Calcutta Turf
Club's Race Stands: Viceroy's Cup Day.]

[Illustration: The Old Race Stands _Photo. by Johnston & Hoffmann._]
The private conveyances of those days were as a rule quite elaborate
affairs, and it used to be one of the sights of the evening to go on
"the course," which embraced the Strand and the Red Road, to see the
richer inhabitants of the city taking their evening drive. Later,
however, the _haut ton_, eviden