Transcribed from the 1897 W. Thacker & Co. ,
Behind the Bungalow
ByEHA
AUTHOR OF “THE TRIBES ON MYFRONTIER”
“A NATURALIST ON THEPROWL”
Illustrated by
F. C. MACRAE
SIXTHEDITION
LONDON
W. Thacker & Co., 2, CreedLane, E.C.
CALCUTTA: THACKER, SPINK &CO.
1897
[All rights reserved]
PREFACE.
These papers appeared in theTimes of India, and were written, of course, for theBombay Presidency; but the Indian Nowker exhibits verymuch the same traits wherever he is found and under whatsoevername.
Engaging a Boy.
Extended, six feet of me, over anample easy-chair, in absolute repose of mind and body, soothedwith a cup of tea which Canjee had ministered to me, comforted bythe slippers which he had put on my feet in place of a heavy pairof boots which he had unlaced and taken away, feeling in charitywith all mankind—from this standpoint I began tocontemplate “The Boy.”
What a wonderful provision of nature he is in thishalf-hatched civilization of ours, which merely distracts ourenergies by multiplying our needs and leaves us no better offthan we were before we discovered them! He seems to have anatural aptitude for discerning, or even inventing, your wantsand supplies them before you yourself are aware of them. While in his hands nothing petty invades you. Great-mindedness becomes possible. “MagnanimusÆneas” must have had an excellent Boy. What isthe history of the Boy? How and where did heoriginate? What is the derivation of his name? I haveheard it traced to the Hindoostanee word bhai, a brother,but the usual attitude of the Anglo-Indian’s mind towardshis domestics does not give sufficient support to this. Iincline to the belief that the word is of hybrid origin, havingits roots in bhoee, a bearer, and drawing the tenderershades of its meaning from the English word which itresembles. To this no doubt may be traced in part themaster’s disposition to regard his boy always as instatu pupillari. Perhaps he carries this view of therelationship too far, but the Boy, on the other hand, cheerfullyregards him as in loco parentis and accepts much from h