to the resplendent beings in scarlet and gold whom I had formerly known, for on taking their pension they had ceased troubling to dye their beards, and they were merely dressed in plain white cotton.  These grey-bearded, toothless old men with their high, aquiline features (they were nearly all Mohammedans), flowing white garments and turbans, might have stepped bodily out of stained-glass windows.  They had brought with them all the little presents (principally watches) which my sister had given them; they remembered all the berths she had secured for their sons, and the letters she had written on their behalf.  An Oriental has a very long memory for a kindness as well as for an injury done him.  Lady Lansdowne, whose Hindustani had become rather rusty, began feverishly turning over the pages of a dictionary in an endeavour to express her feelings and the pleasure she experienced in seeing these faithful retainers again:  she wept, and the old men wept, and we all agreed, as elderly people will, that in former days the sun was brighter and life altogether rosier than in these degenerate times.  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.  The printer had one assistant, a coolie clad only in loin-cloth and turban, and every time the coolie left the room he was made to remove both his loin-cloth and turban, so that by no possibility could he have any papers concealed about him.  In spite of these precautions, it was clear from internal evidence that some of the students had had a previous knowledge of the questions.  How had it been managed?  It eventually appeared that the coolie, taking advantage of the momentary absence of the white printer, had whipped off his loin-cloth, sat down on the “Form,” and then replaced his solitary garment.  When made to strip on going out, the printing-ink did not show on his dark skin:  he had only to sit down elsewhere on a large sheet of white paper for the questions to be printed off on it, and they could then easily be read in a mirror.  The Oriental mind is very subtle.