APPENDIX. 333 



Brahmins to divide labor into many departments, thxis furnishing 

 employment for many hands. Labor is so cheap here that every 

 family can, if they wish, have a dozen servants for a less smn than 

 two cost in America. At the hotels in Calcutta each guest is pro- 

 vided with a servant as soon as he arrives, and we had hard work 

 to explain to ours that we did not want them to accompany us up 

 country. This class of servants are generally called " Icitmaghars." 

 Many of them are Mahomedans, and being exempt from the 

 rules of caste, which so rigidly govern the Hindoos, they are the 

 best servants in the world. They black your boots, brush your 

 clothes, dust your room, arrange the mosquito netting, turn down 

 the sheets ready for you to get into bed, and almost assist you to 

 close your eyes. After you have retired, they spread their blan- 

 ket on the floor in front of your door, and no one can cross the 

 threshold without stepping over their body. This, at first, seems 

 strange to an American, who is in the habit of doing everything 

 for himself, but I soon became accustomed to it, and when I left 

 India missed these little attentions almost as much, I fancy, as 

 would one long resident there. People all take their servants with 

 them when they travel, and a very low rate is provided for their 

 transportation by the railroad companies, and for their board by 

 the hotels. 



One of the queer institutions of Calcutta is the " Great East- 

 ern Hotel and Merchandise Company, Limited." As indicated by 

 the name, the company carries on both a hotel and a merchandise 

 business. The structure covers a large area, the ■ first floor being 

 occupied as a sort of general store or bazaar, in which one can find 

 almost everything, either for the inner or outer man — or woman. 

 I thought that I had seen a large variety in some of our American 

 st(5res, but I certainly never saw such a jumble of dry-goods, both 

 for male and female wear, millinery, carpets, boots and shoes, 

 hats and caps, toys and notions, jewelry, groceries, provisions, and 

 confectionery, as is collected in the warerooms of the "Great 

 Eastern Hotel and Merchandise Company, Limited." The upper 

 stories of this immense building are occupied as a hotel, and, as 

 usual, when avocations of such a totally different character are 

 mixed up with each other, it is not very well managed. Indeed, 

 I have not seen a good hotel in India. Englishmen are not cele- 



