INDIA. 289 



vant. I could not lose anything if I tried. Things 

 that I threw aside he would pick up and repack. 



Lazarus had many unpleasant functions to perform. 

 Tipping is the curse of the traveler. This nuisance 

 has reached greater dimensions in India than in any 

 other country. Tipping in out-of-season travel grows 

 as an unavoidable evil in proportion as the number of 

 visitors is diminished. In hotels and at railway sta- 

 tions the number of employees far exceeded the demand, 

 and as 1 was so often the only guest or first-class pas- 

 senger, all eyes and hands centered on me. I made 

 Lazarus my agent in the distribution of tips. It was 

 lie who converted large silver coins into smaller change, 

 silver and copper. The coolies did not like to deal with 

 me in such an indirect way, but the rule was an inflex- 

 ible one and was adhered to from the beginning to the 

 end of the trip. It was by this method of disposing 

 of the tip nuisance that both I and Lazarus made 

 money. The coolie, ignorant as he may be, has learned 

 to distinguish between silver and copper and hates the 

 sight of the latter. To pass through India with honor 

 in the estimation of the coolie, it is necessary to carry 

 a liberal supply of silver coins and to see to it that not 

 too many get a hold of your baggage, as the carrying 

 of an umbrella or cane seems to entitle the bearer 

 to the same financial consideration as is tendered to the 

 one who groans under the weight of the trunk. Laz- 

 arus was a source of the greatest comfort to me. Ho 

 would inform me when to prepare for the next eating 

 station and when the time came to change cars, or the 

 approach of the station where I wished to interrupt 

 the journey. He brought me ice and soda whenever I 

 was tortured by thirst, which was often the case. He 

 was master of the Tamil, Singhalese and Hindustani 

 languages, but his knowledge of English was very lim- 

 ited. This was perhaps on many occasions desirable, 

 as he was very loquacious, like all his countrymen. He 

 would often discourse at length, but at the end I did 



