162 AFOOT THROUGH THE 



were broken into a silver plate for me, and sweetmeats 

 were handed in an enamelled silver bowl. Then the 

 " Presence " feeling sufficiently restored for such exer- 

 cise, I was shown other rooms with handsome pieces of 

 copper ware and many things of silvered tin, and I was 

 struck with the delicate tact that refused to press me 

 to buy when I had come as an honoured guest. In my 

 own boat I was evidently considered capable of fighting 

 my own battles! 



Long were their lists of visitors and customers. 

 Their books were a guide to the men at the " helm of 

 the Indian Empire " for many decades ; orders, too, 

 came by every post ; several fat envelopes arrived while 

 I was there, and with many apologies I was asked to 

 decipher the contents, as none in the establishment 

 could read though several could speak English. One 

 proved to be from a large English house asking for a 

 consignment of some hundreds of goods, and laying 

 great stress on the necessity for an equality of metal, 

 a hint the hosts evidently considered extremely unneces- 

 sary. Another was from a very highly-placed lady, 

 ordering a complete silver toilet set ; while a third from 

 an officer young, I presumed wishing for the sort of 

 thing people use on tables for a wedding present, to be 

 neither too costly or too rubbishy. Then, as payment 

 for the trouble inflicted, I was offered and deigned to 

 accept a little napkin ring of crushed turquoise work, 

 and with much courteous salaaming I parted from my 

 kind entertainers and wandered into a neighbouring 

 warehouse, where was a family of workers in " papier- 

 mache." 



That word is somewhat of a misnomer nowadays, for 

 practically that material, made by pulping and moulding 

 coarse country paper, is scarcely seen, but the style of 



