khit, and dhobi cost me a further Rs. 20--the two first Rs. 8 each
and the latter Rs. 4. House-rent was ridiculously cheap in comparison
with the rates of the present day. As far as I recollect, the biggest
house in Chowringhee was obtainable for Rs. 400 or Rs. 450 at the
outside. No. 3, London Street, where my Burra Sahib then lived, was
only Rs. 300 a month. A horse and syce cost about Rs. 25 a month to
keep, and everything else in proportion. People were then very simple
and inexpensive in their tastes. There was not, I think, the same
inclination to spend money, and, as a matter of fact, there were not
so many opportunities of doing so. For one thing, there were no
theatres and other places of amusement, and trips home and even to the
hills were few and far between. Ladies in those days thought nothing
of staying with their husbands in Calcutta for several consecutive
years, and yet they lived happily and contentedly through it all. To
wind up the situation as regards expenses, I should say roundly that
they are now about double what they were then.

[Illustration: _Photo. by Johnston & Hoffmann_ Howrah Bridge from
Calcutta side.]

[Illustration: View of Harrison Road from Howrah Bridge.]

POLICY OF INSURANCE.

I should just like to relate a little episode that occurred in my very
early days in Calcutta, which nearly resulted disastrously for every
one concerned. It will serve, amongst other things, to enlighten
people of the present generation as to the wide difference that
subsists between that time and the present in respect of the treatment
of policy-holders generally by insurance companies. The firm with
which I was then connected were agents of a Hongkong house, and one of
our duties was to pay to the Universal Assurance Company, half-yearly,
the premium on a policy on the life of a man who was staying in
England. I forget exactly what the amount Was, but I recollect it was
something considerable. One fine day I was startled beyond measure by
the receipt of a notice from the then agents, Gordon Stewart & Co., to
the effect that the days of grace having expired for payment of the
premium, the policy in question under the rules had lapsed and had
been consequently cancelled. My feelings can be better imagined than
described, as I alone was responsible, and I was fully aware of the
gravity of the position. I made a clean breast of the state of affairs
to my Burra Sahib, and he instructed me to go straight