The East India Vade-Mecum, Volume 1 (of 2): or, complete guide to gentlemen intended for the civil, military, or naval service of the East India Company.Williamson, Thomas
History
The East India Vade-Mecum, Volume 1 (of 2): or, complete guide to gentlemen intended for the civil, military, or naval service of the East India Company.
Williamson, Thomas
India -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Handbooks, manuals, etc.
He who has not these advantages, must do the best his circumstances may
afford; he will find temperance to be not only cheap, but indispensable;
for, if he should act so indiscreetly at the outset as to injure his
health, a thousand privations, and a certain encrease of difficulties,
must follow. The first point must necessarily be to get under cover.
This will not be found so easy, as those who have never quitted England
may suppose. It will be after much research, that a small house will be
had, and then only the bare walls; for no such thing is known in India
as a furnished house to be let; and lodgings are, if possible, still
more out of the question. Fortunately, there are, among the European
shop-keepers in Calcutta, some most respectable characters; men
distinguished for their urbanity, philanthropy, and generosity.
Application should be instantly made to one of these firms, for aid, and
advice. The case should be candidly stated; and, in order to insure
confidence, a deposit of money should be made, either with them, or at
one of the Banks. The consequences will be, that, in a few hours, some
small tenement will be obtained, either on hire, or granted as a
temporary accommodation, and the whole of the articles really necessary
will be provided, at some one or other of the auctions which daily take
place within the central parts of the town.
The appointment of proper servants will be a matter of importance; but,
under the auspices of any old resident, by no means difficult; such will
be not simply the most expeditious, but the safest, way of proceeding;
since those who recommend will, in all probability, be expected,
according to the custom of the place, to become sureties for the honesty
of all persons hired through their means. 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.
Strange to say I have known gentlemen to be resident from ten, to
thirty, years in India, without being able to summon resolution to
acquire sufficient of the Hindui language even to take their accounts!
With such the _sircar_ was every thing. The consequences were,
invariably, that he was rich, and master ever in distress!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account