Page:Letters from India Vol 2.pdf/18

 for almost its original cost; still you get much less show for the money than with a larger supply of trinkets in English jeweller’s gold. And then the natives have not learnt that new knack of making a necklace turn by manifold clasps into a brooch and sevigné and bracelets, which is useful in a small way. has written to me for a comb, which is exactly the very thing the natives can do in perfection; but then I must catch a jeweller, and he is brought to Government House, and our sircar buys the turquoises, and weighs the gold, and sits by and targes the man at his work, and, as it is a simple, plain, straightforward comb, it will be very well done and worth its weight in gold; but a set of ornaments I should be afraid to undertake here. If very much tempted at Delhi, Mr. must never be surprised if I grab at a pair of bangles for the girls. I mean he must always keep his fortune in that sort of state, that a sudden call for 10l. may not prove a serious inconvenience. There may even be a run on the bank for 12l., and so he must be ready. I shall be grieved if a terrible smash—the great panic of 1838—could be traced back to my Delhi extravagance.