190 RIFLE AND SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



groaning heavily all the while. Then a rope net is thrown 

 over and held by the men so that two pockets are formed, 

 one on either side of his back. As there are no girths or 

 fastenings, the success of the undertaking depends on the 

 weight of the two loads being tolerably equal. The camel- 

 men, however, seem to go entirely by sight, and not by 

 weight, and take a fiendish pleasure in putting the most 

 fragile things at the bottom. On these they pile all the 

 heavier boxes ; so, provided only that you are not 

 personally interested, camel packing is an amusing opera- 

 tion to watch. 



To-day they began with Alan's cartridge-box. It looks 

 like a leather dressing-case, so strikes them as an excellent 

 foundation. That it weighs half-a-hundredweight seems 

 of no consequence, particularly when to balance it a tin- 

 kettle is placed in the opposite pocket. Then tents and 

 boxes are heaped up, and the whole load securely bound 

 together with cords. The camel is now r permitted to rise ; 

 and gets up to find one load swinging under him, whilst 

 he gains additional height, if not dignity, by the other 

 being perched on his hump. 



By the calm way the men sit down and contemplate 

 their work, you would fancy that this was [precisely the 

 effect they intended to produce. In reality they are face 

 to face with a contingency they feel utterly unable to meet. 

 To make the animal sit down again would be to smash 



