INTRODUCTION xiii 



but my advice is to keep as much as possible to the 

 condiments of the country, or anyway, those of India. 

 Ceylon teas and French coffees, English jams, and 

 canned vegetables are better in name than in substance, 

 and Kangra valley teas, Punjaub salt, and the preserves 

 of the country, also home-grown fruits and vegetables- 

 dried when they cannot be obtained fresh are more 

 wholesome and less ruinous. The Kashmir wines, too, 

 are no longer to be despised, and their Medoc and 

 Barsac are both strengthening and pleasant to the 

 taste. All sorts of wicker and wooden articles are to 

 be bought in great variety, and silver and copper ware 

 are only too tempting; draperies and hangings are to 

 be had in quantities to charm the heart of the maid of 

 South Kensington, pens, papers, and pills if wanted 

 may be purchased without difficulty, and as all these 

 " esteemed articles " are made in a form peculiarly suited 

 to the land where they came into being, the traveller 

 will do best to leave Pindi with little more than such 

 things as bedding, warm wraps, tiffin basket, etc., which 

 are essential for the journey in. 



As to the cost of such an expedition as mine, some 

 details may possibly be interesting to people who, with 

 means not of the largest, have a wish to see something 

 of that gorgeous East, which to the untravelled sounds 

 so remote and unattainable. The voyage to India is 

 one of those terrible black tunnels that one gets 

 through as one can for the sake of what is beyond. 

 However, there do exist strange people who, happily 

 for themselves, can contrive to think differently of this 



