CLEANLINESS AT A DISCOUNT. 
truthful. After having given utterance to a glaring 
untruth, he will frequently clinch the subject, as, in his 
own estimation, admitting of no manner of doubt, by 
the remark, Master knows very well, I cannot tell 
a lie !”^ Cleanliness and dirt; how clean and neat some 
(not all) keep the inside of their little rooms 10 x 8, 
while up to the very verandah posts, outside, is an 
accummnlation of all manner of filth and dirt. So 
much 'so, that, for the interest of both mister and 
cooly, it would be, as it frequently is, considered 
advisable for the former to put on scavengers once 
a w^eek to clean round the lines, pajdng them wages 
to keep the surroundings of their dwellings clean, and, as 
far as possible, free fi’om unwholesome smells ! Most of 
them are very particular and regular in bathing after 
work is over : they may be seen taking their turns under 
the regular bathing spout, erected for that purpose in 
one of tilt most convenient adjacent streams, but 
after this is done they will rub their bodies over with 
a good coating of coconut oil, and thus appear under 
its influence sleek and shining, but after this operation 
the European, if he has any regard for the sensation 
in his nostrils, would be wise to keen, if possible, and 
as far as possible on the weather side of him. Again, 
their hair after weeks and months of neglect will get 
somewhat into the shape and appearance of an old i-ug, 
or door, mat, until it become intolerable to its owner, 
from causes that can ivell be understood, when, on 
a Sunday, they may be seen sitting at (he streams, 
one shaving the other’s head, with some old razor, 
failing which, the sharp piece of a broken bottle will do. 
After the incumbrance is cleared away, it is just allowed 
to grow as before, until another shavingppe ration becomes 
necessary. 
CHAPTER XVI. 
‘‘ A Gentlemanly Assistant.” 
Mr. Alexander Sandy was a young man of very 
gentlemanly demeanour and deportment. He was very 
tall, several inches over six feet, and very slender 
in proportion to his height. One had only to look 
a,t him, and at once come to the conclusion that he 
was a gentleman born and bred, and, on entering into 
ooDversation, this conclusion was found to be quite a 
correct one. Who be was, or what were his ante- 
cedents, no one knew, and as he himself never spoke 
* This is painted true to the life. — En. 
