The wages vary from four to eleven rupees (8s. to 1 pounds
2s.) a month. None of the domestics are boarded, and but few of
them sleep in the house: they are mostly married, and eat and sleep
at home. The only portion of their dress which they have given to
them is their turban and belt; they are obliged to find the rest
themselves, and also to pay for their own washing. The linen
belonging to the family is never, in spite of the number of
servants, washed at home, but is all put out, at the cost of three
rupees (6s.) for a hundred articles. The amount of linen used is
something extraordinary; everything is white, and the whole is
generally changed twice a day.
Provisions are not dear, though the contrary is true of horses,
carriages, furniture, and wearing apparel. The last three are
imported from Europe; the horses come either from Europe, New
Holland, or Java.
In some European families I visited there were from sixty to seventy
servants, and from fifteen to twenty horses.
In my opinion, the Europeans themselves are to blame for the large
sums they have to pay for servants.
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