Page:Life in India or Madras, the Neilgherries, and Calcutta.djvu/254

218 habitants, over which he rules; and is looked up to with awe and reverence as the personification of that mysterious, unknown, unseen power—“The Company”—by which the land they till is owned.

Mr. B., of Arcot, held his high station, his large income, and his influence as talents committed to his care for the glory of God. He was an unsought contributor to the American and other missions in India. On the receipt of our note, he immediately returned to us an invitation to call upon him, and command him as to our wishes. As we desired information with regard to the towns and villages which we expected to visit, we called a common country bullock-cart, and throwing into it a mattress, set out for his residence, three miles distant.

The “bullock-bandy” is a primitive style of carriage, for the conveyance of grain and other produce from the country to the cities; it is a simple collection of poles, formed into a rude frame, resting upon an axle, with two wooden wheels. It is drawn by two of the oxen of India, with their humps and long dewlaps, not like the trained driving bullocks used by gentlemen in their carriages, swift and elegant, but