Without this precaution, the heavy falls of rain, which may be constantly expected during three months in the year, would speedily dissolve such tenements, with nearly as much facility as though they were made of lump-sugar. But when due care is taken, both to prevent, and to stop, leaks, clay roofs are rather eligible, than objectionable; especially in the vicinity of bazars, (or markets,) and lines, in which fires are frequent. Many gentlemen have adopted the plan, some wholly, others partially, in their bungalows, and find little or no cause to regret their having done so.
It is, however, expedient to send up a man now and then, to lute any cracks that may appear in consequence of excessive heats; but, after a season or two, the clay becomes extremely firm, nearly equal to mortar-tarras, resisting the various changes of temperature, and appearing to be consolidated into a very firm mass. The greatest inconvenience it produces, is the harbor afforded to that inconceivably obnoxious insect, the white-ant.
This little depredator rarely fails to take advantage of whatever opportunity is offered for the exhibition of its powers. Assembling by the ten thousand, in a few hours they will eat out the bottom of a deal box, perhaps an inch in thickness, or render it a mere honeycomb. Of fir, they are remarkably fond, as also of mango-wood.
It seems rather peculiar that they should be so partial to woods abounding so highly, as these both do, in turpentine; while the presence of a few drops of petroleum, which is imported from Pegu, Ava, and the Arvean coast, under the name of mutty ke tale, (earth-oil,) seems to be a perfect preventive. Few things come amiss to these obnoxious visitants, which every where abound, and destroy wood, leather, cottons, woollens, &c. Nay, a story is current, that, some years back, they were absolutely accused of having devoured some thousands of dollars! Fortunately, on deeper research, it was discovered, that they had only ate away the bottom of the treasure-chest; and, like misers, had buried the hard cash some feet under ground.
As ceilings are not in use in India, each joist is neatly finished, having its lower edges rounded off with a beading-plane. At right angles with the joists, smaller battens, called burgahs, are laid; three or four inches wide, by about two or three deep, or vice versâ; these are nailed down upon the joists at such parallel distances, in general about seven or eight inches, as may allow a large kind of tile to be laid on them. Over the tiles they lay rubbish, rather dry, about four or five inches deep, patting it down gently, by the continual operation of some dozens of men, women, and children, who, squatting, like monkies, on their haunches, and having batons of about a cubit in length, something of a trowel shape, though not so obtuse, continually beat the materials until they become perfectly compact. The better method, which is in more general adoption, is, instead of such rubbish, to put on a coarser kind of mortar, well worked up, but not very moist; which is beat in the mode above described. After this has been duly compacted, but before it is quite dry, another coating of two or three inches, but of finer materials, is put on, and beat in like manner; then a third, perhaps only an inch deep, of still finer materials; and, ultimately, the whole is coated, for about half an inch in depth, with the finest ingredients, mixed, after being sifted through a coarse cloth, with jaggree, and by some with peas-meal; which the natives consider to be peculiarly valuable in cement. This last coat is laid on with a trowel, very firmly pressed, in order to compact it the more, and to prevent cracking; which will, nevertheless, always take place, more or less, according as more or less pressure and beating have been used; or, as the great body of the tarras may be made of good or bad materials.
All the partition-walls, dividing off the several apartments, are necessarily of masonry; both because the pressure from above is enormous; and, that wood cannot be trusted, where the white-ants could honeycomb its interior, without being much, if at all, noticed on its surface. These partition-walls are carried up about six inches above the tarras roof; whereby the latter appears to be divided into chequers, corresponding with the several apartments. Small channels are cut, to allow the water to pass into the spouts, or drains; from which jars, of about a hogshead in measurement, are filled with water intended for table use. Some spouts are made to extend full a yard from the wall, and, in some instances, have canvas hoses attached, for the purpose of leading the water into the jars; but the more modern practice is to build pipes of pottery within the wall, or to clamp them to it with iron, until their lower ends, which are crooked for the purpose, form a proper debouchure. The latter mode, however, in very heavy rains, subjects the walls to be damped, in consequence of the fall of water being greater than the pipes can instantly carry off. This may give some idea of those deluges which at times take place, almost instantaneously.
The tops of houses are invariably enclosed with breast-parapets, or with balustrades; which give a very finished appearance to these superb buildings. With the exception of those ridges formed by the continuation of the partition-walls, the roofs afford a pleasant promenade at certain seasons: some of them command most interesting views. During the very hot weather, probably from the end of April to the setting in of the rains in the first or second week of June, many gentlemen have their cots, (as the bed, with all its apparatus, is usually called,) carried to the tops of their houses, and sleep there during the night. This may appear a very hazardous proceeding; but, when it is considered, that no dew, worthy of notice, falls at that season, and, that the cots have generally curtains, which would receive, and absorb, what little might fall, we may, on the whole, pronounce it to be less dangerous than should at first be supposed. If, indeed, this were to be done more to the southward, near the mouth of the Hoogly river, where the immense marshes, the ouze left by the returning tides, and the jungles, which every where abound, produce the most deleterious exhalations, we should then be correct in exclaiming against the practice: but few, very few, instances could be adduced of any serious indisposition having attended it; while, on the other hand, it is confessed by all who have adopted it, that the greatest refreshment ever resulted; enabling them to rise early, divested of that most distressing lassitude attendant upon sleeping in an apartment absolutely communicating a febrile sensation, and peculiarly oppressive to the lungs.
I believe all those fatal, or injurious effects, which have been so often adduced, by way of caution to persons impatient of heat, have been produced not by sleeping in an open exposure, but in a current of air. This I cannot recommend; on the contrary, I must vehemently censure such a custom, as being highly dangerous: I could quote several most melancholy cases, arising entirely from this most injudicious conduct! Mr. Johnson, who appears to have been about two years in India, during which time he was surgeon of a frigate, has published a volume, in which there are occasionally to be found interesting details, and sensible observations. I shall offer to my readers some remarks he has made, at page 269, that bear closely on the subject under discussion. He says; ‘Europeans, in general, on their first arrival in India, are prepossessed with the idea, that sleeping at night in the open air must be a very dangerous practice; but, in the course of a short residence on shore, they get rid of this prejudice, by observing most of the natives, and many of the Europeans, sleeping on open terraces, and in verandas, not only with impunity, but as a preservative against the debilitating effects of a hot climate. But on board-ships, where they have not an opportunity of seeing, or of reflecting on, these circumstances, they frequently adhere, for a considerable time after their arrival on the station, to the established regulations, of making every man sleep in his proper berth: and suffering none to lie about upon the decks; a system, in my opinion, very prejudicial to the health of ships’ companies in India. At sea, indeed, it is not of so much consequence, where the watch on deck always gives sufficient room to those below; but it is in harbours, and road-steds, where the air is much hotter than at sea, the impolicy of the measure becomes manifest.’—And again, page 270, ‘We will suppose, that every man, when he turns into his hammock, falls fast asleep in a few minutes; which, by the by, is not always the case. About eleven o’clock, however, I will venture to say, he wakes in a deluge of perspiration, panting with the heat and rarefied air; upon which he turns out, and goes upon deck, for the purpose, as he terms it, of getting a mouthful of fresh air; anathematizing, as he ascends, the infernal heat of the climate! Under pretence of going to the head, he gets upon the forecastle; when the cool breeze from the shore immediately chills him, and gives a sudden check to his perspiration.’ All this I have personally experienced, both on board-ship and on shore; and I make no scruple of saying, that, in lieu of being injured by sleeping out on a chabootah, in a well-covered cot, my whole frame has been braced, my rest has been sound and refreshing, and I have avoided all the miseries inseparably attendant upon seeking repose in a close, muggy atmosphere; where thirst and irritation create perpetual restlessness, banish sleep, and cause that relaxation and debility which render each subsequent day burthensome as its preceding night has been distressing!
In a former page, I observed, that boarded floors were almost unknown in India: various reasons have, doubtless, combined to explode them; firstly, the depredations of the white-ant; secondly, the perpetual danger of their warping; and, thirdly, the difficulty of rendering the sounds of foot-steps less audible. This last may appear trivial; but, where so many menials, &c., are ever moving about in various parts of a house, and that, too, with little ceremony, though, it is true, they are all bare-footed, it would prove extremely inconvenient at those times when the family might retire to rest during the heat of the day. About twenty-five or thirty years back, all the stairs were of masonry; but, of late years, wooden ones have been introduced. These, being made to rest on strong beams, obvious in every part, save where they enter the walls, may be considered as tolerably safe from the white-ants; certainly they are much neater, and more easily kept in order. All the joists, in every house, are either painted, or tarred; the latter has a very unpleasant, indeed, a mean appearance; and is not often practised: for the most part, white, with a very slight cast of blue, to preserve it from fading, is adopted.
Some paint the beaded, or moulded, edges of the door pannels, also the rounded corners of the joists, with some delicate color; such as a very light sky-blue, a very light verdigris-green, or a lilac; and, by way of conformity, ornament the mouldings of the wall pannels with similar tints. In the upper provinces, it is a very prevalent fashion to color the pannels with some native ochres, of beautiful hues, leaving the mouldings, cornices, &c. white. These mouldings, &c. are all done by means of trowels shaped for the purpose, and not by moulds, or stamps; of course, what with want of device, and want of activity, such ornaments may be reckoned among that variety of tedious labors of which Blacky is extremely enamoured. Yet, in the execution of such matters, he will display great ingenuity, consummate patience, and, often, great delicacy: but, with respect to design, taste, composition, perspective, consistency, and harmony; in all these, whether in drawing, sculpture, or in any mode of representation, he will prove himself to be completely ignoramus. Let the former apology be pleaded; namely, that, in every branch, the Indian mechanic is called upon, after, perhaps, only a few days of observation, or, at least, with so little practice as would, among us, be considered rather an objection than a qualification, to perform that which we judge to be unattainable, except by the application of several years, closely attached to one individual intention. Therefore, in lieu of condemning their operations, we should rather regard them with admiration; for, I will venture to assert, that we should not fail to wonder at one of our own countrymen, who, perhaps at rather an advanced age, without previous education, without the possibility of reference to books, or to public institutions, should undertake to do that with a hatchet, or any other gross implement, which persons regularly brought up in the respective profession should assert to be impracticable, unless duly provided with benches, vices, and tools, of exquisite formation, out of number. The Asiatic has the bare soil for his bench, his toes are his vice, and his implements usually amount to no more than a small adze, a saw, with, perhaps, a chisel, and a pair of uncouth pincers!