Thomas Williamson

“ Being so much frequented, and the number of European gentlemen resident on the spot being comparatively trifling, it cannot be expected they should keep open house, or indulge their friendly dispositions in the exercise of unlimited kindness. In fact, the expectations of those who visit Madras, on their way from Europe to India, are, for the chief part, rather too sanguine: they have heard much of Indian hospitality, and wonder at that disappointment which is purely the offspring of their own unreasonable anticipations. ”

“ Confined within a narrow space, the loss of a companion is not easily forgotten; every object reminds us of his fate, and exacts a sigh! Few linger, either of disease, or of wounds, so long as persons under similar circumstances would do on shore. The want of room, of fresh air, of clean linen, of suitable diet, and of a change of scene, all contribute, notwithstanding the most assiduous attendance, to depress the spirits, and to aggravate the symptoms. ”

“ Still, though it may require no great sophistry for a woman to find an apology for such a decided inconsistency, it seems unaccountable how she is suffered to escape that vigilance, with which the priesthood, and others of her sect, watch her every act. I can ascribe it only to a certain deference, which has habitually sprung up in favor of all relating to Europeans, and regarding their domestic concerns. This, doubtless, saves many from those punishments, ordinarily attendant upon the most trifling dereliction of religious or civil ordinances. ”

“ Immense plains are covered with this kind of grass, glowing commonly about two or three feet high: though, in some places, it may be seen full five feet; serving as an asylum for every species of game; causing many gentlemen, on first entering the country, to admire, what they at first take to be ‘the prodigious fine crops of hay.’ It is commonly burnt down every year during the hot season, when perfectly dry: the ashes thus tendered to the soil, being washed in by the succeeding rains, occasion the grass to shoot forth, from the apparent ruin, with incredible freshness and vigor! ”

“ Every gentleman must have one khedmutgar; but the majority keep two, or even more; not only adding thereby to their own expence, but considerably incommoding every party in which they may dine. As every gentleman, when at table, is attended by his own servants, it may easily be conceived, that where two or more are posted behind each guest, a living enclosure is formed, tending by its own exhalations, added to those from their masters, and from the viands, to banish comfort, and to render all artificial means of cooling the apartment perfectly abortive. ”

“ In India, a woman ‘under the protection’ of an European gentleman, is accounted, not only among the natives, but even by his 453countrymen, to be equally sacred, as though she were married to him; and the woman herself, values her reputation, exactly in proportion as she may have refrained from indulging in variety: some are said to have passed twenty years, or more, without the possibility for scandal to attach to their conduct. ”

“ I have been assured that many of them can, even in the dark, distinguish between several kinds of money, whose size and weight bear no great dissimilarity: besides, even those coins that bear the same value, and come from the same mint, differ greatly in both those particulars; some being broad and flat, like a shilling, though not defaced; while others are more dumpy, and, though of purer metal, not so ponderous. ”

“ Experience fully establishes, that civility rarely fails to produce good consequences. It is reasonable to conclude, that some previous acquaintance must engender some good will. The captains navigating under the auspices of the India Company, are men who have seen much of the world, and who rarely fail justly to appreciate those marks of attention, and respect, which flow voluntarily from persons with whom they have dealings. ”

“ The swell is here very great, rendering it a matter of some hazard when jumping into, or out of, a boat; besides, only one boat can come to at a time, in a position suitable to hostile purposes; and it is not to be supposed, that the battery above, or that on the landing-place, or the sea-line, or the works on Ladder Hill, would be silent upon such an occasion. Certain destruction awaits every person who falls into the water in this part; where the sharks are as numerous as they are ravenous. The wall of the wharf is perpendicular, and built on a rock, under which is a tremendous abyss. ”

“ The whale being dead, all the canoes join their efforts to tow the carcase towards the shore; where, upon some sandy part, a division is made of the spoil; each of the crews cutting away with hatchets and cutlasses, as much of the blubber as they can expend. ”

“ The number of European women to be found in Bengal, and its dependencies, cannot amount to two hundred and fifty, while the European male inhabitants of respectability, including military officers, may be taken at about four thousand. The case speaks for itself; for, even if disposed to marry, the latter have not the means. It is easy enough to say, that if marriages were more frequent in India, more ladies would adventure thither; but the impediments that stand in the way of ‘a consummation devoutly to be wished,’ will not be found to yield so readily to our desires. ”

“ When we consider the very severe privation experienced by females in general, (for our country-women often affect to adopt the recluse severities of the haram;) it cannot appear surprizing, that young girls so immured, in such a climate, so indulged occasionally, and so beset with bawds, should allow themselves to be led astray from what I must, perhaps erroneously, call ‘the ways of chastity.’ I am aware, that the term may offend many, who consider the female as being already in a state of prostitution; but due allowance must be made for the usages of the country. ”

“ One servant who can speak English, or at least, an underling sircar, deputed from the warehouse, will prove a very agreeable resource, on all occasions of difficulty; but I cannot too forcibly inculcate the good policy, or rather the absolute necessity, of immediately studying the language: till that is acquired, to such an extent as may remove the necessity for an interpreter on ordinary occasions, no person can be deemed independent; far less, capable of acting in any civil, military, or commercial capacity, with effect. ”

“ Here we see formidable objections against a lady’s proceeding to India; but one, not less powerful, remains to be stated, namely, the immense expence ever attendant upon wedlock in that quarter. Such is the encrease of domestics, of cloathing, of accommodation and, particularly, in keeping a carriage, without which no comfort can be expected, that it is utterly beyond the means of full four persons in five to receive an European lady into their houses. ”

“ It is wonderful, that the Society have never established any factory, in which their minds, as well as their hands, could be employed, while their maintenance would be paid for by the produce of their industry. The only argument I ever could hear urged against such a measure, was, that the price of labor being so cheap throughout India, there could arise but little profit from the exertions of the orphans. My opponents forgot, that where labor is cheap, provisions must be cheap also ”

“ All the way, from Balasore up to Kedgeree, the prospect, if we except those agreeable sensations arising from the display of vegetation, and from arriving at the ultimate thule of destination, rather wearies than pleases: nothing is to be seen but a series of wilderness, perhaps here and there enclosing a few huts, or, in the broken intervals, displaying some insignificant village, of which the inhabitants are as poor as they are idle. ”