The Amlahs. 37 



youngster is initiated into various tricks and secrets 

 of the gentle Hindu which, in the innocence of his 

 heart, he never dreamt of before. He must, how- 

 ever, be deaf to mutual recriminations, keeping both 

 ears and eyes wide open, always remembering that, 

 of all the members of the conspiring clique, the 

 munshi by caste a kaisth or writer is the least to 

 be trusted and most to be guarded against. Having 

 once come to the righteous conclusion that there are 

 none good amongst them, not even one, the Assist- 

 ant will proceed to deliberate upon their respective 

 degrees in the guild of villainy, and whatever rank 

 the other may hold, the lalla will \^Q, facile princeps, the 

 grand master. His are all the " tips " for dexterous 

 fudging of accounts ; grievances of every kind pour 

 in, but never pass the threshold of the munshts 

 office until the petitioner has paid his footing. Indeed 

 I know of factories where the munshi himself was 

 inaccessible, until the peon at the door had received 

 his footing. 



In fine, the munshi, or native accountant of an 

 outwork, is a power for evil, and it is only by con- 

 stant, though secret, surveillance that the Assistant 

 will be in any way able to check those extortionary 

 instincts which are the very marrow of his bones. 

 As a rule his house and family are far away ; and the 

 Assistant would do well to remember that the golden 



