Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/136

 in the convivial habits of messes; and it is a very rare thing to see an officer in a state of intoxication; and he who so far forgets the respect due to himself and others as to get drunk at the mess table, will, sooner or later, be called to account. What is not tolerated in general, will be unpardonable in a medical officer, who may at any moment be called upon to save a patient from death, and, if drunk on such an emergency, nothing can save his commission.

In the interior, especially at small stations, there are no barracks, but each officer rents a house of his own, or buys one; the latter is the best system, as the owner may inmost cases sell it for as much as it cost him, and thus live rent free. However, in the event of the station being abolished, the owners of houses are allowed no compensation for the loss of property, the allowance for tentage being considered equivalent to meet all contingencies.

There is one part of the establishment of a house which newcomers find very annoying, that is, being obliged to entertain one or two watchmen to prevent being robbed. These are called chokeydars, in most cases members of a caste of thieves; their wages are a sort of black mail imposed upon the residents, and, provided that is paid regularly, there is very little risk of being robbed. When such is the custom, I would