Before leaving, the old servants simultaneously lifted
their arms in the Mahommedan gesture of blessing, with all the
innate dignity of the Oriental; it was really a very touching
sight, nor do I think that the very substantial memento of their
visit which each of them received had anything to do with their
attitude: they only wished to show that they were "faithful to
their salt."
It is difficult to determine the age of a native, as wrinkles and
lines do not show on a dark skin. Dark skins have other
advantages. One of the European Examiners of Calcutta University
told me that there had been great trouble about the examination-
papers. By some means the native students always managed to obtain
what we may term "advance" copies of these papers. My informant
devised a scheme to stop this leakage. Instead of having the
papers printed in the usual fashion, he called in the services of
a single white printer on whom he could absolutely rely. The white
printer had the papers handed to him early on the morning of the
examination day, and he duly set them up on a hand-press in the
building itself.
Pages:
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427