National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

24   INTRODUCTION.

to be exacted from the servants in the use of these articles, the loss of which may be very disagreeable, and at times irreparable. As the native cooks are too much inclined to waste; it is best to give out but small quantities, and to lock up the principal stock ; a very convenient way of doing which; without being encumbered with locks and keys, is by pasting a slip of paper round the edges of the tin-boxes in which • these articles are packed, and making a mark across it with a pencil or pen. This acts as a kind of talisman, for the box cannot be opened without the

mark being injured.   •

As provisions in general, if travelling in an uninhabited country, flour for making chapatis (a kind of toasted substitute for bread), rice, potatoes, and a small herd of living animals, goats and sheep ("peripatetic mutton," as Mr. Russell styles them in his Diary), are to be considered the most important. The latter can be taken by the traveller along any route.' It is also advisable to lay in a supply of biscuits and hermetically sealed soup.

With reference to liquors, the heavier wines (sherry, port, madeira), as also beer stand even a lengthened transport exceedingly well. Claret, white wines, and hock will soon be converted into a non-descript kind of vinegar. A large supply likely to last for some time causes an immence increase in the weight of the luggage?

A good substitute for wine and beer—of course sparingly used—is brandy; and though the traveller may, from various causes, personally object to its use, yet some bottles are indispensable, on certain occasions, as presents to the natives of the higher parts of the Himalaya and Tibet.' For, after difficult expeditions, the people eagerly look out for a good drop of brandy, which they always enjoy very judiciously at a time when their services are not urgently required. Nay, they even sometimes went so far as to request us to fix the time when they could best partake of the brandy, a question, which first puzzled us, but the meaning of which we soon found out. It always implied a tacit consent on our part to the members of such a party's being allowed to get more or less intoxicated. But, to do them justice, it must be stated that such occasions were very rare.

The natives frequently use sheep as animals of burden, each carrying about seven pounds. Twenty bottles filled with beer are considered an ordinary kdii load.

3 To ensure the brandy against damage, part of it may be decanted into strong stone bottles.