VIII 



THE HOME FARM. 



We have bden spending, of late, a good deal of our 

 time in the plantation, and, as good luck would have it, 

 in the company of a most interesting and Worthy Irian. 

 By profession he is a sailor, but, having become old, 

 and a family having grown round him, he has given up 

 "sailoring," and settled down to the peaceful occupa- 

 tion of a cultivator and farmer. Rajaram, for such is 

 the name of the man, is the only son of a poor but 

 respectable fisherman who plied his vocation on the 

 river Hooghly near Calcutta. While yet a lad, he took 

 to accompanying his father in his fishing excursions, 

 and spent more time ori the waters than at home. 

 Being Intelligent arid williiig, he soon learnt to manage 

 nets and fishing tackles with such deftriess as to please 

 his father and surprise his kinsfolk. There wats, how- 

 ever nothing singular in allthis* As a race, fishetmgn are 

 bold and harcty all the world over, and a Bengal fisher- 

 man is no exception to the rule. Growing frdm a " sprat 

 to a whale" as the saying goes, upon the waves, he loses 

 all fear of the water, and becidmes resourceful from 

 art early age. As Contemporaries of our hero, there were 

 at least a score of juvenile fishermen employed in similar 

 pursuits* and some of them were capital hands at the 

 business. They paddled the boats, cast and set nets, 

 gathered in the day's haul, smoked hooka, ate their coarse 

 but substantial meal, slept under the broad canopy of 



