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.
This immense carriage is only used by crowned heads, and may be
compared to a portable throne, on which the prince sits with his feet
crossed, and tucked up under his hams, (the usual sitting position of
Asiatics,) having at his back an immense pillow, and under him a
suitable bedding, both sumptuously ornamented; besides these, many
smaller pillows lie scattered about, to be applied as may be found
agreeable. The frame of the _naulkeen_ may be about five feet long by
four broad, well secured at the corners, and taped at the bottom in a
very close manner, both lengthwise and breadthwise, so as to leave no
interstices. The sides are raised with richly carved wood-work,
generally gilded in a very shewy style. The _naulkeen_ is carried,
like a litter, by eight men, who support two poles, one running under
each side-bar, and projecting before and behind; two bearers being at
each extremity, the same as in a palanquin. This vehicle, though it
appears extremely ponderous, is said, by the bearers, to be far
lighter than one of those _Mahannah-palanquins_ I am about to
describe: no doubt but eight men must feel less pressure,
individually, from such a weight, supposing it to be equal to that of
the _mahannah_, which is, to say the truth, a very heavy, though a
very comfortable, machine.
The _dooly_, or covered litter, was certainly the parent of all the
_palanquin_ kind; it is yet in very common use among the less opulent
classes, and especially employed for the conveyance of women; in our
armies this little vehicle affords excellent means, of transporting sick
and wounded men, either to the hospitals, or on a march. Its usual
construction is extremely simple; consisting of a small _carpoy_, or
bedstead, perhaps five feet by two and a half; having four stump feet,
about nine or ten inches from the ground, into which the sides, and end
pieces, are tenoned. A very slight frame of bamboo work, equal in size
to the frame of the litter, is placed over it horizontally; serving as a
roof for the support of a double cover, (generally of red _karwah_, or
of blue, or white calico,) which lies over the roof, and falls all
around; so as to enclose the whole space between the roof and the
bedstead. There is seldom any bedding but what is provided by the party
carried in the _dooly_; unless it be one appertaining to some family,
thereby it is frequently used: in such case, the interior is made very
comfortable, and the cover ornamented with borders, fringes, &c. This
last kind, being almost exclusively appropriated to the _zenanah_, is on
a very small scale; rarely exceeding three feet, by little more than
two: of such, thousands are to be hired at Calcutta, and most of the
provincial towns. They carry very easy; often, indeed, having only two
bearers under the bamboo, with one carrying a _bangy_, or a bundle, who
relieves the others occasionally; but, for the most part, four bearers
are employed. The closeness of the interior, added to the very trifling
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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