I concluded to make a trip on commercial life intent. I took me to the capital city of India with the highest ambition. At once I sought the papers with an advertisement, “A young man of good abilities and excellent education, etc.” Some letters were received to which I replied, and found that there was work enough, and that the salaries offered, ranged from the magnificent sum of fifteen rupees to forty rupees a month, and some of the parties expected me to keep a pony besides, as their’s was outdoor work. Some of these offers were made by white men! The advertisement evidently useless, I got a city directory and wrote to a large number of the best mercantile houses, and as I had a very fair hand and did my best with the Queen’s English, I received a number of very polite replies in babu English asking me to call at a particular time, which I did in my best rig, as I came to know that a well-fitting suit of good clothes had a great deal to do with a first impression. Each kuli, and there were a number of them at every door, had to look at my card, and then several babus wished to know my business, until finally I reached the grand mogul of the place. Looking me over while I stated that I had received his letter asking me to call, “Yes, yes,” said he, “but since your letter came my partner has found a man.” The same thing happened in a number of places. That partner was always the one who was putting his fingers in my pie. Several asked me what salary I wanted. I replied that I wished to learn the business, so I would be satisfied with a hundred rupees a month to begin with, and they exclaimed something like this: “Great heavings! we can hire a dozen babus for that money.” I kept up this “racket” for a number of days, as I became quite interested in learning this part of mercantile life. If it had been a matter of daily bread with me, perhaps I would not have taken the rebuffs so easily.