ARMY APPOINTMENTS IN THE INDIAN SERVICE. 349 
Brought forward 
Contra. 
Mess bill, including mess and band subscription, 
share of mess guests, wine bill, billiard-table 
subscription, &c. &c. .... 150 
Medical fund . . . . .24 
Servants . . . . . .60 
Breakfasts and luncheons at home . . .20 
House rent (at least) . . . .30 
Butler’s bill for keep of three horses, including 
shoeing, wear and tear of clothing and gear . 25 
Butler’s bill for household articles, candles, oil, and 
numerous et-cseteras . . . .20 
399 15 10 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
0 0 
- 329 0 0 
Balance left . . . 70 15 10 
Thus we find him left with a balance of seventy rupees a 
month, in English money £7. He must pay his tailor at 
least fifty rupees, or violate his promise. It will take him 
three years and four months to pay this bill, and in the mean¬ 
time he has twenty rupees, or £2, left to pay for his chargers 
and buggy and horse. It cannot be done on this, and 
here begins his real troubles. He obtains a loan of 5000 
rupees from the Agra or some other bank, or perhaps the 
sowcar of his regiment (an Oriental Shylock attached to 
every regiment in India). If from the sowcar, he pays from 
eighteen to twenty-four per cent, interest per annum; but the 
bank rate, together with money sunk in a life policy, makes 
it pretty nearly on a par. He is now tied to the country; he 
cannot go home till the whole sum is paid off; his buggy and 
horse are sold to reduce his expenses; he finds he cannot 
afford to drink wine at mess and pay 100 rupees a month 
towards the disbursements of the loan; he has managed, by 
dint of pinching himself, to reduce his establishment and 
mess bill and to pay regularly his 100 rupees to the bank. 
Happy’s the man who lives ou his pay, 
And spends half-a-crown out of sixpence a day,” 
says the old song. 
Our young friend has been paying off his loan for the last 
four years and upwards, but to do so he has been obliged to 
make use of the sowcar occasionally. His long marches, and 
the expenses consequent thereupon, such as the purchase of 
tents and carriage for the same, the loss by the sale of his 
furniture and purchase of fresh at a heavy premium, all this 
has thrown him into difficulties; he misses his punka. 
