i8o EVERYDAY LIFE ON A 



ously cool, a blanket is acceptable, and one 

 wakes in the morning, after a night of refreshing 

 sleep, quite ready for a day of active work. 



As in England, this month is utilised for 

 mending the Government roads, but the mode 

 of procedure in the two countries is very 

 different. Here, whereas in this district there 

 is plenty of good metalling of a kind of granite 

 to be obtained from quarries by the side of the 

 road, government coolies break it up small, 

 sitting meanwhile under the shade of cadjans 

 (plaited cocoanut palm branches) to protect 

 them from the direct rays of the sun. Women 

 carry the metalling to the road in baskets on 

 their heads, emptying them on the required 

 spot, under the supervision of a Kangany, then 

 return for more, This procession of women in 

 their bright clothes and baskets empty or full, 

 passing to and fro goes on for hours. When 

 the stones are spread, other coolies appear to 

 pour water on them. Usually the water is 

 brought in an enormous cask on wheels, drawn 

 by two bulls, but in remoter places, another 

 procession, with chatties instead of baskets, does 

 the work. Lastly the road is reduced to a 

 proper surface by a huge roller, to which two 

 pairs of bulls are attached, each pair having its 

 own yoke, and its own driver standing between 

 them — the foremost pair being attached to the 

 roller by chains. The result of all this is a 



