“No, Sar, not dead; master not underistand; I mean that time was live here, Chowrunghee.” Though rather green and guileless in those days, as maybe inferred from the foregoing example, and unwilling, unless on something stronger than mere _primâ facie_ evidence, to imagine deception; yet I began to suspect that the rascal was humbugging me for a purpose, and was about to let him know as much, in rather strong terms, when he adroitly changed the key. “Master will be in ’tillery, I think?” “No,” said I impatiently; “infantry, infantry; but don’t bother, and us be off.” “All same,” he continued, determined to have his talk out; “master will require plenty thing, all which I can supply—bist of quality—if require too good-i-sarvant: will you take this man?—plenty character he got.” So saying, he presented to my notice a queer, raffish-looking fellow, with a bush of hair and a black beard, and dressed in quite a different style of costume to that of the others. This worthy—a Mussulman khidmutgar or footman—made his salaam, and thrust into my hand two or three well-soiled certificates, which stated that Ramjahn Khan (_ang._ Rumjohnny,) had served the writers (captain this and lieutenant that) with zeal and fidelity, and to their perfect satisfaction. Of these “characters,” by the way, all domestics have a stock, or, if not, they borrow or hire them (being as accommodating one to another in that way, as was the Irish priest who, as related by the pleasant author of _Wild Sports of the West_, on a pinch, and to save appearances, gave his friend, the Protestant curate of Connemara, the loan of his congregation), with sufficient information touching the subscribers to allow of some slight questioning, though by no means of an adroit cross-examination—a thing at this time, however, in the native language, quite beyond my powers, albeit I had puzzled my brains a little on ship-board with a certain celebrated philologist’s orthoepigraphico-pseudolatitudio-logical works, and could patter a few sentences of Hindostanee in the “_Myn nuheen kitai hoon_” style, in a way really to “astonish the natives.”