The South Sea House, the office of the south sea company, is described by Lamb as a magnificent relic. Forty Years ago it was the Centre of hectic activity but now it was all calm and quiet there. Lamb recollects the characters and habits of some of people who were his colleagues when he worked as a clerk there. One of them was Evans, the cashier. He looked tough and irritable but was in reality gentle and sensible. Another was his assistant named Thomas Tame .Tame had  aristocratic descent but they were no more than a harmless eccentricity with him. John Tipp was the accountant. He was an amateur musician, though in reality his singing was abominable. There was Henry Man, a man of letters, who looked out of place in a business house. Then there was the boisterous musician named plumer .There was also another expert musician named Maynard.

 

The portrait revel Lamb's keen power of observation as well as the humanity of his nature. Although the portraits are not in praise only - Lamb squarely mentions the fads and oddities of his colleagues - yet that the impression we get is of a man of a loving and charitable nature, who is always tolerant of human eccentricity and frailty. The characteristic touches of Lamb's humour are also present, especially in the description of Thomas Tame, the deputy cashier.

 

This essay is a good example of Lamb's power of visualising memories. Although the memories narrated here are not entirely first-hand, because it seems that some of these were supplied to him by his brother John who also worked in South Sea House. Yet the pictures are wonderfully vivid and living.