216 RIFLE AXD SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



Everything is so clean, so comfortable, and so well arranged, 

 that were I an Indian, I feel confident I should commit 

 some fearful crime, to escape from my dirty native village 

 into such a comparative Paradise of cleanly comfort. 



The food is prepared by Brahmin prisoners. No caste 

 can object to their cooking, and the enormous chappaties 

 they were baking looked as appetising as I am sure they 

 are indigestible. This jail was the first, or one of the first, 

 to put its convicts to remunerative work, principally in the 

 form of carpet-making. The carpets are as good, but do 

 not seem cheaper, than those at Chamba Lall's manu- 

 factory in Lahore. But, when one remembers that the 

 beautiful fabrics here are made by unskilled labour, what 

 especially strikes one is the versatility and adaptability of 

 the Indian native. Most of the convict workers are past 

 their first youth, and come principally from the lowest 

 classes — hewers of wood and drawers of water. 1 et they 

 cjuickly acquire this art, which, beyond the mechanical 

 process, demands a certain amount of thought and skill. 



The governor of the jail, who, as usual in India, is a 

 medical man, very kindly took us round and explained 

 the system of management. He agreed with us as to the 

 modern colouring of the carpets, which generally is as 

 fade as those at Amritza. They showed us two very large 

 ones just finished for the German Emperor, which certainly 

 had not this fault. And I trust their bright blues and 



