As It May Be Supposed, Conflagrations Are Frequent In These Hovels;
They Are Fortunately Seldom Attended With Loss Of Life,
Or even of
much property, since the household furniture and wardrobes of the
family can be easily secured and carried
Off, while the people
themselves have nothing to do but to walk out. On these occasions, the
rats are seen to decamp in large troops, and gentlemen, returning
home from drives or parties, are often arrested by a fire, and by the
instructions they afford, do much towards staying the progress of the
flames, while the greater number of natives, Parsees in particular,
look quietly on, without offering to render the slightest assistance.
Whole clusters of huts are in this manner very frequently entirely
consumed; the mischief does not spread farther, and would be little to
be lamented should it lead to the entire demolition of dwelling-places
equally unsightly, and prejudicial to health.
Much to my astonishment, I have seen, in the midst of these very
wretched tenements, one superior to the rest placed upon a platform,
with its verandah in front, furnished with chairs, and surrounded
by all the dirt and rubbish accumulated by its poverty-stricken
neighbours, miserable-looking children picking up a scanty
subsistence, and lean cats groping about for food. Such houses
are, besides, exposed to all the dangers of fire originating in
the adjoining premises; but apparently this circumstance has been
overlooked, together with the expediency of building a little apart
from the horrors of the surrounding abominations. This is the more
remarkable, from the contrast it affords to the air of comfort which
is so often manifest in the inferior dwellings of the natives of
Bombay.
I often, in my drives, come upon a small patch of ground, well
cultivated, and boasting vegetables, fruits, and flowers, with a small
low-roofed house of unbaked mud in one corner, having a verandah all
round, well tiled and supported on bamboos. It is difficult under this
sloping roof to get a peep at the interior, but my efforts have been
rewarded by the sight of floors cleanly swept, bedsteads, and those
articles of furniture which can scarcely be dispensed with without
suffering considerable privation.
As yet, I have not been able to discover to what class of persons
these kind of dwellings belong, but I suspect that they are tenanted
chiefly by Parsees, a money-getting and luxurious race of people,
who are sufficiently industrious to exert themselves, with great
perseverance, to gain a living, and have the spirit to spend their
money upon the comforts and conveniences of life. They are accused of
extravagance in this particular, and perhaps do occasionally exceed;
but, generally speaking, their style of living is more commendable
than that of the Hindus, who carry their thrift and parsimony to an
outrageous height.
Near their houses very graceful groups of Parsee women and children
are to be seen, who, upon the encouragement afforded by a smile,
salaam and smile again, apparently well-pleased with the notice
taken of them by English ladies.
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