NATIVE DELICACIES. 265 



curious to see what our tiffin would consist of. It did not 

 look very appetising. There was nothing except vegetable 

 curries floating in melted fat, and a variety of native 

 sweets. 



The first dish was potato curry swimming in ghee 

 (clarified butter), which Alan was carefully avoiding, when, 

 " Pray take plenty of grease," from old Zafir, called down 

 much wrath from his young brother. " He means gravy," 

 said the latter, plentifully pouring it on Alan's plate as he 

 spoke. Under the eye of Zafir senior, who would wait on 

 us, Alan ate it like a man. 



"For the lady Sahib," said our host, " I have a bottle 

 of port wine. And for the Sahib there is something 

 stronger — a bottle of brandy, and another of whisky." I 

 think he expected both to be finished, for Alan's modest 

 "peg" evidently hurt his feelings. 



The palace in the town is a gaudy, tawdry place, hardly 

 worth a visit. But the public gardens and museum are 

 most interesting. The building is good, and the gardens 

 lovely. Inside the museum are arranged the products and 

 manufactures of Jeypore, and many art objects from other 

 native states. They are admirably classified, and give a 

 capital idea of Indian art. The museum, and a school of 

 art in connection with it, are under the superintendence of 

 Dr. Hendry, the great authority on Indian art, to whose 

 taste and knowledge the brass and pottery industries here 



