96 EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



shirk holing ; so there was no one left to under- 

 take this very necessary duty without breaking 

 caste, a thing not to be thought of for a moment. 

 At last the difficulty was solved by taking a 

 man from the work he was already doing, and 

 we hope to have our supplies in time for an 

 eight o'clock dinner. This system of caste, 

 complicates not only work, but also marriages, 

 for the girls are absolutely compelled to marry 

 into exactly the same caste as their own family. 

 It also causes trouble in sickness, for however 

 weak the invalid, he or she, will eat nothing 

 cooked by our servants or in our kitchen. On 

 a friend's Estate a poor woman was absolutely 

 dying of exhaustion having been ordered by 

 the doctor a more nourishing diet, my friend 

 begged to be allowed to send her jelly and 

 chicken broth ; she emphatically refused, but on 

 great pressure being brought to bear she at 

 last consented, on condition that the lady cooked 

 all the food herself, in bran new saucepans, 

 that had never previously been used. This was 

 accordingly done, and the poor woman's life 

 was saved. 



One of the drawbacks of the low country is 

 the great number of snakes. Yesterday as I 

 walked along a well defined path, a "tic 

 polonga " glided across not two inches from my 

 feet. Happily I had been looking down at the 

 time, or else I should probably have trodden 



