THIRTY YEARS AGO. 
CaAPTEE JCXXIY. 
Coi^DUCTOBS AKD THEIR WiVES. 
Master want a conductor ? a verj good conductor?'’^ 
were the sounds that ^titick the ear, as one afternoon 
we lounged on the long arm dhair, after worh was 
-over, in a dreary nonentity of thought, very pro^ 
hably smoking, and looking over the columns of the 
Colombo Observer, On looking up, a man is standing a 
little way off behind, with his hat offj and generally 
in a very respectful position. He was a man of colour,’^ 
but dressed in eTery respect European fashion, ex- 
-cept that he had no stockings’; his shoes were very 
large, did not ht him, and evidently had been made 
for some one else ; an old soft felt hat was in his hands, 
and he kept twisting it up, rolling it round and 
tround, until it had all the appearance of a piece of 
thick rope. He seemed anxious and nervous as he 
repeated *•* master want a very good conductor ” : we 
reply, we are in want of a conductor, but judging 
from past experiences are of opinion it is quite im- 
possible to procure a good one, and much more so, a 
very good one. <‘Yes sir” was the prompt reply. 
^ But master won’t say fjhat any more ; if master try 
me — Take me.” Well you seem to have a good 
opinion of yourself at all events, and we have generally 
found such people possess very little of the good 
^opinion of others, and very often much worse than 
those who were of a more humble turn cf mind. But 
the conductor says, ‘‘beg pardon sir, but Europe 
people not understand our wa;y ” — now, I have had a 
great many wives,” — we interrupt him, with, that will 
<do, go away, we wish no further consideration with you^ 
get along with you. He persists — “ just excuse me sir, 
?it was not my fault, the wives ail turned out very 
badly, they could not and would not boil rice or make 
any good curry — and they were always buying jewels 
and ornaments, which I had to pay for, until at last 
I said no more wives, and got a coolie boy to cook 
my food, and keep the house clean, and felt very happy 
indeed for a few months. At last I began to feel lonely 
but was afraid to think any more about another wife, 
when one day a very stout Tamil girl comes into mj 
verandah and wishes to be taken on the roll to work ; 
;she wore a red jacket with short half sleeves, and had an 
iinimense quantitj of white cloth eoiled xound Jher 
