The necessity of bringing in
supplies from a distance for the consumption of the island occasions
the increase of the price of grain, &c, while probably the demand
for beef, mutton, fowls, &c. not being go great as in Calcutta, these
articles are sold at a lower rate. Buffalo meat is occasionally eaten
by Europeans, a thing unheard of in Bengal; but it is not in any
esteem.
The tables in Bombay are handsomely appointed, though not with the
same degree of splendour that prevails in Bengal, where the quantity
of plate makes so striking a display. The large silver vases, in which
butter and milk are enclosed in a vessel filled with saltpetre, which
give to the breakfast-tables of Calcutta an air of such princely
grandeur, are not in use here.
The servants are summoned by the exclamation of "Boy" instead of the
_Qui hi_? which is so Indian-like in its expression, and has afforded
a distinguishing _soubriquet_ to the Bengallees. The word _boy_
is said to be a corruption of _bhaee_, 'brother,' a common mode of
salutation all over the East. As it is now employed, it is often very
absurdly answered by a grey-bearded man, who has long lost all title
to the appellation.
Notwithstanding the strength and acknowledged efficiency of the Bombay
police, it is considered expedient in every house to engage a Ramoosee
or watchman, who, while himself a professional thief, is bound in
honour to protect his employer from the depredation of his brethren.
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