Nor can the grave afford them peace!
Without upholding this little production as a prodigy, it may, perhaps, be safely adduced as a contrast to those beauties I have selected from the Mirza’s little book of great wonders.
The frequency of fires, occasioned by the common practice of thatching houses, has caused many regulations to be adopted, in regard to what Europeans commonly call the ‘Black Town’ at Calcutta. About twenty years ago, the principal streets were considerably widened, and the whole of the new tenements were ordered to be tiled. This created some dissatisfaction at the time, yet has not only been of great advantage to the inhabitants at large, but is now confessed, by the natives, to have been highly beneficial, both to their health, and to their convenience. Formerly, it was common to see immense piles of grass all along the banks of the river, brought thither for the purpose of supplying persons who might have occasion to thatch; of late years, however, the quantity has been considerably reduced; there being not a twentieth part of the former demand. Many of these stacks doubtless contained full 20,000, or 25,000 cubic feet, and would have formed a diminutive representation of the infernal regions, had they taken fire; to which accident they were subject equally with any part of the town. Owing to the cheapness of bamboos and mats, as well as to the immense value of land at Calcutta, most of the natives build their huts chiefly of those materials; the whole of the uprights, rafters, &c., being of bamboo, and the walls, partitions, &c., being of mats, supported by bamboo laths. The roofs are first covered with mats, or seerky, and then tiled, generally with that kind called nullies, which are about eight inches in length, representing the half of a truncated hollow cone, whose base may be about four inches in diameter.
These nullies are commonly laid upon roofs, at an angle of about 30° of elevation from the horizon; but the chuppers, or grass-thatches, usually are constructed at full 40°. At the military stations, where grass is invariably in use for the covering in of the cabins of the sepoys, &c. it is usual to order the surfaces of all thatches to be smeared with mud; from about November, to the setting in of the rains. Many very extensive lines owe their safety to this precaution; whereby not only are sparks prevented from communicating with the grass, which usually is as prompt as tinder in taking fire, but even when the thatch is partially kindled, the flames are greatly impeded, and more easily subdued.
The walls of huts being very frequently made of grass, tied in between bamboo laths; (like those fences we sometimes see put to folds in yeaning time, to keep the lambs warm during the night;) require to be well coated with mud: otherwise, they would be constantly subject to accension, in consequence of the too common practice of making the choolah, or fire-place, very near thereto; thus endangering both from the flame, and from the embers. As to putting out a fire that has once got firm hold of a plain thatch, it is a hopeless business: the only chance of saving the street, is to pull down all the neighbouring huts. This is not attended with that loss to which our European towns would be subjected by such a preventive; since, generally speaking, a very tolerable hut, fit for the accommodation of a moderate family, may be built, complete, for about the value of a guinea, or even much less.
Although water is generally at hand, there being abundance of wells, or tanks, or puddles, in the vicinity of every village, still it is deemed necessary, by gentlemen whose bungalows, &c., are contiguous to bazars, (or markets,) or to the lines of native troops, &c. where thatches are numerous, to have large vessels fastened along the ridge-poles of their stables, and other out-offices. These being constantly kept full of water, prove an immense aid towards the preservation of those buildings on which they are placed: since, in case of any neighbouring conflagration, it is easy for one or more persons to wet the thatch very thoroughly; or they may reserve the water until the moment of exigency, to be thrown upon any part that may be in immediate danger. If the thatch should have taken fire, so as to render it imprudent for persons to ascend to the pots, they, being rather brittle, may always be broken to pieces by throwing bricks, or clods, &c. at them. Some gentlemen adopt the precaution, above described, of plastering the thatches of their out-offices with mud; but, such a procedure is highly impolitic, in respect to edifices intended to be durable; as the white-ants never fail to visit such plastered thatches, and to destroy the grass entirely: sometimes they even eat the timbers. Tiles certainly offer greater security than thatches, but they are insufferably hot; causing every thing placed under them to warp, crack, and otherwise to perish: tiled stables are found to be very injurious to the health of cattle. The best plan I ever saw, was to have a coating of tiles, laid in mortar on a thatch; but, for such a mode of construction, very substantial timbers were requisite. This not only insured from fire, but from leaks also; and rendered the interior remarkably cool during the hot season.
The long continuance of the periodical rains, which often fall in torrents for whole days, and frequently keep drizzling for near a week, with little or no intermission, renders it necessary to protect all exterior walls by copings, either of tiles, or of thatch. The former mode is effected by small tiles, laid in the usual manner, but cemented with lime mortar; or by immense large ones, nearly semi-cylindrical, whose curve may measure full a yard, and whose breadth may be from fifteen to twenty inches; the thickness, perhaps, an inch and a half. These last are merely slung over the top of the wall, which is formed so as to retain them firmly, and are overlapped about two or three inches. The thatches are generally made with a double pent, each face being about a yard in depth: they are secured by being fastened together at their junction above, and by means of stakes passing through the wall; to these their eaves are tied with grass, or coarse hempen twine.
Nothing can be more uncomfortable than a leaky bungalow! The water trickles down the walls, dissolving the coat of mud, or sand plaster, and greatly disfiguring the interior. It often happens, that the outer walls are so far damaged by heavy rains, accompanied by a driving wind, as to be rendered unserviceable in the course of a night; the whole being completely sapped through. After such weather, the damages are frequently extensive; the walls surrounding gardens, &c. though substantially built, and duly coped, are seen to give way for scores of yards; falling with a tremendous crash. This is usually occasioned by some ditch near their bases, which, being filled by the heavy rains, that soak into the banks, in a few hours yield to the great weight on their borders. Fortunately, such damages are speedily repaired at no very great expence; a rod of wall about eight feet high, and averaging two feet in thickness, being generally built for about ten shillings: in some places for half that sum.
Most of the bungalows built by Europeans are run up with sun-dried bricks; usually of a large size, eight of them making a cubic foot; each being a foot long, six inches broad, and three inches thick. With these, in a proper state for building, work proceeds at a great rate, but much care must be taken that the mortar, that is, the slime used for cement, be of a proper consistence, and be well filled in. Bricks are generally made in wooden moulds, which, being laid on some level spot, previously swept, so as to remove stones, &c., are filled with mud; the surface is then levelled, either with the hand, or with a strike, when the mould is raised, by means of handles, and washed in a large pan of water, and then placed on a fresh spot, contiguous to the brick already formed. An expert laborer in this avocation, will, if duly supplied with mud, and water, make from 2000 to 2500 bricks daily of the above dimensions: it will usually require one laborer to mix the soil, one to supply water, and two hand-barrow men, to keep one brick-maker in constant work: the whole expence may be about sixteen or eighteen pence: the same quantity of work done in England would cost full as many shillings.
Some of the rauz, or bricklayers, in India, are very clever, so far as relates to mere practical operations; but they have not the smallest idea of planning from paper, or on paper; or of computing the quantities of materials, or the amount of labor. They work with a small trowel, much the same as that in use with us, and chip their bricks, whether sun-dried or burnt, with a small hammer, having either one, or both, its face, of a wedge form, and about three or four inches long from the insertion of the handle. They preserve the perpendiculars by means of a bell-shaped weight, commonly of free-stone, or of lead, or iron, to which a long cotton cord is attached, having on it a piece of wood exactly as long as the diameter of the weight’s base. This being pierced in the centre, and applied endwise to any part, preserving it, at the same time, as nearly horizontal as possible, points out the exact spot which is perpendicular to the corresponding edge of the weight.