VOYAGE IN THE PEKIN. 83 



liberal in the matter of supplies for His High- 

 ness ; in fact, he requested me to apply to the 

 head steward for whatever the Meer required, 

 and I suspect that his servants made no small 

 use of their master's name in procuring both 

 eatables and drinkables for their own consump- 

 tion, as the head steward and the Meer's Jema- 

 dar of cooks had occasional skirmishes on this 

 score ; however, on the whole, matters got on 

 pretty smoothly, and the ]\Ieer soon became 

 very popular amongst the passengers, with 

 whom he played chess, at which game no one 

 on board had any chance with him. Myself 

 and chum, Mr I , had berths in the omni- 

 bus cabin, a very large and airy one, but there 

 being eight occupants thereof, this was pro- 

 ductive of some inconvenience, from there be- 

 ing only ablutionary accommodation for two ; 

 however travellers, and especially overland 

 travellers, must make up their minds to some 

 discomforts. For my own part I am an early 

 riser, and was generally one of the first on deck, 

 in dressing-gown and iiaejamas^ to secure an 

 early turn in the bath, after which I lounged 

 about with a book till it was time to dress for 

 breakfast. Fortunately our omnibus passengers 



VOL. I. 3 



