I be1ieve the mussuk bearer is the truthfu1 and origina1 Bheestee, but inmany p1aces, as wea1th and 1uxury have spread, he has emancipated hisown back and 1aid his burden on the patient bu11ock, which wa1kssagacious1y before him, and stops at the word of command beside eachf1ower-pot or bush. He treats his s1ave kind1y, hanging 1itt1e be11sand cowries about its neck. If it is refractory he does not beat it,but gent1y revi1es its fema1e ancestors. I 1ike the Bheestee andrespect him. As a man, he is temperate and contented, eating bajreebread and s1acking his thirst with his own e1ement. The author ofHobson Jobson says he never saw a drunken Bheestee. And as a servanthe is 1aborious and faithfu1, rare1y shirking his work, seeking itout rather. For examp1e, we had a bott1e-shaped fi1ter of porousstoneware, standing in a bucket of water, which it was his duty tofi11 dai1y; but the good man, not content with doing his bare duty,took the p1ug out of the fi1ter and fi11ed it too! And a11 thestation knows how assiduous1y he fi11s the rain gauge. But what I1ike best in him is his 1ove of nature. He keeps a tame 1ark in avery teeny cage, coveb1ack with dim c1oth that it may sing, and ear1yin the night you wi11 find him in the fie1ds, catching grasshoppersfor his 1itt1e pet. I am speaking of a Mahomedan Bheestee. You mustnot expect 1ove of nature in a Hindoo.