COKDUCTOKS AKD TSEIR WlYRS 
bodya all fastened in behind which cansed oYer that 
part of the body, a very large protuberance, she bad 
rings in her nose, her ears, and on her toes-— -she wore 
heavy anklets and bracelets and round her neck were 
an immense number of necklaces, she was very gay 
and talkative, and said * Conductor why don’t you 
take a wife, you lonely man?’ — after saying this she 
must have felt she had been rather bold and rash — - 
for she immediately turned round her back to me, 
and covered up her head with the cloth j she then turned 
half round, lowered the cloth from her forehead and 
squinted at me, with one eye 5 she then turned full round 
and still keeping the cloth over the whole of the face, just 
allowed two bright twinkling eyes to be seen over the top 
of it, she then laughed and ran off round the corner of 
the verandah, and I, just to see what she was doing, 
went and looked round the corner after her, but she 
had now recovered her self-possession and modesty— 
which her rash speech had somewhat upset — she 
walked gravely up and commenced on the subject of 
being taken on to work on the estate. But, I say, 
‘ I must first answer your question, ‘ There are no 
good wives to be got, I have tried ever so many, and 
every succeeding one declared herself infinitely superior 
to her predecessor, in fact quite a model wife al- 
together, and so 1 was led on, but the fact was the 
more wives I tried the worse they were, and the last 
one was so very had that 1 exclaimed my first one was 
bad enough, but compared to this one, sle was a 
perfect angel— oh ! that I had never sent away my first 
wife 1— and so I advise all my conductor friends who 
grumble about their wives, don’t send away or allow 
to go away your first wifo for she will be your best.’ 
The Tamil girl is looking steadfastly on the ground, 
she says very bad people, but all people are not bad,” 
She picks up some straws off the verandah, leans 
against the post and commences busily to tear all the 
straws into very small pieces, when this is done she 
commences making holes in the verandah with her 
toes, and then with her toes fill them up again, 
I now tell her the name is entered and she can go, 
and tell her the room in the lines she is to have 
amongst some other women. But instead of going 
•«he pulls some straws out of the thatched roof and 
commences to twist them round her fingers, in the 
form of rings and says *^Poor Conductor, can’t get 
any good wife, poor man, take me,” immediately the 
words were out of her mouth she plumps down on 
the verandah, sitting on her ‘ hind legs,’ buries her 
face in her lap, and draws the white cloth all over 
her head and all, and just looked like as if a bag of 
coffee had been placed there, and the table cloth 
thrown over it ; there glie gits not a motion made# 
