THE CULTIVATOR'S HOME 233 



his clients, and doles out loans to cover the expenses 

 of a marriage or to satisfy the landlord on rent-day. 

 Behind this he has a series of storerooms, in which he 

 collects grain or other produce, or hides away the 

 jewellery or brass pots which he receives in pawn. 

 Here is a box for his bonds and stamped papers, which 

 he is careful to keep, of various dates, in case he has 

 occasion to fabricate a mortgage document. Much of 

 his time is spent in drawing up two sets of accounts 

 — one for his private information, the other for the in- 

 spection of the collector at the next revision of the 

 income-tax assessment. 



' The prevailing tone of the domestic arrangements 

 is squalid in the extreme. The small peasant's furni- 

 ture consists of a few foul, rickety cots, some brass 

 cooking utensils, a store of red earthen pottery, a stool 

 or two for the children, a box for clothes or other 

 petty valuables, a mud granary, in which the grain- 

 supply of the household is stored. In the house of 

 the yeoman, or small proprietor, the only obvious 

 difference is that the brass pots are in greater abundance 

 and the women-folk own more heavy silver jewellery, 

 in which, in default of banks of deposit, the surplus 

 income is invested. If the owner has a few spare 

 rupees he piles them in an earthen cup and hides them 

 in a hole of the mud wall or under the place where he 

 does his cooking. The village banker does the same 

 as far as he can, for he is in constant dread of thieves, 

 who cut away his mud walls with a chisel during the 

 moonless nights and clear off all his movables. 



* In the house itself the carpentry and masonry are 

 of the very rudest kind. The use of the arch is un- 

 common, and the lintels consist of weak, unseasoned 

 wood, which collapse under the weight of the super- 

 structure, and in a short time bring the whole building 

 to ruin. Glass windows, except in the towns, are 

 practically unknown ; there is nothing in the shape of 

 artistic furniture or articles of elegance and beauty, 



