286 RIFLE AND SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



which I can give. We sat inside. On the top our luggage 

 was piled and two servants squatted. A pair of horses drew 

 us along at the rate of about six miles an hour. The " man 

 of the world," and a couple of boxes, went in an ekka. One 

 pony is to draw this the whole distance, and we feared it 

 would never arrive to-night. But the ekka driver thought 

 differently, and, cheered by the promise of a little extra 

 bucksheesh, declared he would be at Deoli before dark. He 

 was even better than his word, and kept up with our dak 

 ghari the whole way. We had four changes of horses, and 

 except for an hour's rest for luncheon, went straight 

 through, doing the sixty miles in about ten hours. The 

 little ekka pony was an ordinary country-bred beast, of no 

 particular appearance or merit, but did the whole distance 

 apparently with ease, and certainly without being urged on 

 in any way. At the end he did not seem in the least 

 distressed. We noticed during the halt that his driver gave 

 him a sort of coarse flour cake to eat, and I am told that 

 opium was mixed in it. 



At the Banas river, about five miles from Deoli, we 

 found a native officer with an invitation from Captain Bell, 

 the Commandant. He also brought camels and a dandy to 

 take me across the river, there being no bridge, and the ford 

 too deep for a carriage. We stayed the night at Captain 

 Bell's charming house, and started for Kotah early the next 

 morning. 



