AFTEK CHARCOAL! 
his game was not charcoal. However, a little work, 
or some occasionally, was better than none at all, 
and we winked at the sporting blacksmith, or at all 
events until some important and pressing work was 
done, as, if we had boldly and valiantly taxed him 
with his sporting propensities, he would have left at 
once, for, as a matter of course, he had no pay 
due to him. The blacksmith, however, was not so 
very barefaced as to admit going out shooting during 
working hours. There were plenty of elephants in. 
the jungle, he took his gun as a protection. We 
asked to examine the gun, and took the liberty of 
drawing the charge, asking our friend if he was so 
daring as to shoot elephants with small shots ? In 
fact we plainly told him it was an impossibility. 
But he had, as usual, a ready reply, which was ‘‘he 
had a bullet in his pocket to put in, over the shot, 
when he saw the elephant. ” 
Estimates and specifications of timber were quite 
unknown ; orders were given out, by the sawyers to 
cut what was wanted for immediate requirement, but 
it frequently happened that the posts and pillars would 
be altered, either raised or lowered, from the original 
intention, so that the wood sawn to order was either 
too short or too long": if the former, it was useless, 
and had to be cut over again ; if the latter, of course 
it was cut to the required length, but the pieces 
so cut off were just so much waste in labour, money, 
and time, in cost of transport, as, when sawn off, 
they were of no use at all, but, as they had been 
ordered, so they must be paid for. It was the same 
way with rough buildings of jungle timber. Coolies 
were sent out into the forest to cut sticks. (Jf course 
they did not collect them of too heavy a material, 
or too long, so that the dehrU or masses of rejected 
timber lying about a newly-erected shed would amount 
to, or represent, a frightful quantity of useless work, 
useless to the owner, but they would serve the coolies 
for firewood for many a day. They, in collecting 
refuse timber for firewood, about the carpenters’ shed, 
would sometimes, it may be in ignorance, and with- 
out any dishonest intent, purloin some valuable 
pieces of wood, in course of preparation for some 
necessary portion of a building, or at all events so 
mutilate it with the hacking of their firewood axe 
as to render it completely useless for the purpose 
required, and we used to caution our coolies, under 
severe pains and penalties, to keep at a good dis- 
tance from our timber shed ! This was a difficult 
order to keep in force, for the precincts of a timber 
or carpenter’s shed were ever abundant in all kinds 
of chips, shavings and refuse, and surely it was ^ 
