ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 77 



You may also see, and will be welcome to watch, purely 

 domestic scenes, such as a man seated in a great tub, 

 knees to chin, while his wife pours potfuls of water over 

 him. And, standing round the oil shops, many a one of 

 those who can afford the luxury — women as well as men, 

 for there is no mock modesty about these people — may be 

 observed oiling themselves in the open street, all happy and 

 contented as the process is being completed and they shine 

 again. That, however, is not their object ; they do it to 

 make their skins soft and supple during the hot, dry, windy 

 days, when everything is parched, and so much of the sur- 

 face of their bodies being exposed to the sun and air, they 

 find themselves more comfortable for this anointing. 



Another scene, exclusively of the nursery, is quite 

 ordinary and taken no notice of. A woman will be seen 

 standing about, evidently expecting some one, for she looks 

 up and down the street anxiously as she shades her eyes 

 with her hand. She is a ' coffee-garbler ' — one of the 

 hundreds employed in the factories here at sorting over 

 the berries before they are packed for export. It seems 

 she has a tiny infant ; she cannot have it with her as she 

 wants her hands for her work, so she leaves it at home 

 in a cloth slung up high to a beam by ropes, out of reach 

 of sniffing dogs. Only two things are in her mind as she 

 stands there : the wailing mite and her inability to get 

 to it except at long intervals ; yet it mustn't go hungry. 

 She knows nothing of ' artificial foods,' but she can solve 

 her own problem. 



Presently a little girl or boy comes along carrying a tin 

 mug, which is held up steadily for her in two plump hands 

 while she fills it from her breast, not a touch of self -con- 

 sciousness about her the while as she exchanges chit-chat 

 with her acquaintances passing to and fro. Then she bids 

 the child have a good, refreshing drink before departing 

 (otherwise temptation might prove too strong), gently 



