The excellent woods, of different kinds, produced in almost every part of India, and the facility with which they may be brought to market, present the most favorable aids to the Indian artizans; but, owing to the want of capital among the natives, the work done by them is rarely found to answer: it warps dreadfully, and sometimes rives from one, to the other, end. This is entirely owing to the deficiency of seasoning; for we find, that whenever a gentleman is at the pains, and has the opportunity, to saw up his own wood, and to season it properly, it will commonly be found to answer his expectations fully; both in respect to durability, and to the polish it may take. Although there is, in some instances, an obvious cheapness in employing a native carpenter, it may safely be asserted, that, on the long run, what with delay, impositions, imperfections, &c., it is frequently found to be a very round-about way of saving a trifle. I strongly recommend to all persons arriving in India, to visit the several depôts of furniture to be seen at every auction-warehouse, and generally at the _godowns_ (warehouses) of the European shopkeepers. There is, besides, a whole street, called the ‘_china-bazar_,’ as well as various scattered boutiques, appropriated entirely to the display of European articles, and of china-ware, of every description; all which are sold for ready money only, by a tribe of Hindu speculators, who, from attending at auctions, are enabled to make cheap purchases, and become perfectly acquainted with the qualities of every article; or, at least, with such points as give a preference in the eye of an European. In this _bazar_, (or market,) almost every thing an European can require, for common purposes, may be obtained: he may, indeed, purchase an ample library, either of new, or of second-hand books; and, generally speaking, may equip himself in such a manner as may enable him to keep house at full thirty per cent. cheaper than among the European shop-keepers.
Though we may find a few trades, such as coach-making, jewellery, cutlery, armoury, &c., perfectly distinct, and unconnected with any other speculation, we are not to suppose that commodities, in general, are separately classed, and exhibited in shops solely allotted to them. On the contrary, what we call an ‘Europe-Shop,’ affords a rich display of that heterogeneous kind of cargo imported in every merchant-ship proceeding to that quarter. Consequently, each shop offers an astonishing variety of wares. Liquors of all kinds, guns, pistols, glass ware, tin and copper ware, crockery, stationary, shoes and boots, hosiery, woollens, linens, ironmongery, hats, cheese, grocery, and an infinity of articles of the most opposite natures, may be found in the spacious rooms, and _godowns_, allotted to the exhibition of the miscellaneous profusion!