A SUMMER IN HIGH ASIA. 



found a most sporting officer who had come from 

 Aden in quest of ibex, but though he had seen some 

 here that had good heads, he had not yet had a 

 shot. Throughout the night of May 3Oth the rain 

 poured upon us in deluges, soaking the outer fly of 

 our tents, and turning the camping-ground into a 

 quagmire. On this, and subsequent occasions of 

 extreme wet and cold, I served out some rum and 

 hot water to the servants who had accompanied me 

 from the plains of India, and made them drink it in 

 my presence. I overcame the scruples of my Mussul- 

 man khitmutgar by telling him that it was "dawai," 

 or medicine, and not " sharab," or intoxicating 

 liquor, which of course no good Mohammedan would 

 touch ! This rum was given to prevent them 

 getting a chill, which at once knocks over an 

 Indian servant, and thereby renders him not only 

 useless, but a drag upon his master's movements, 

 as the wretched man cannot be left to his own 

 devices when ill and in a strange land. I have over 

 and over again heard of a promising expedition 

 having been spoilt by an Indian servant having 

 fallen ill, so that the simple prescription of rum and 

 hot Water administered as a preventive is one worth 

 remembering. 



By the following morning the rain had ceased, 

 though the higher hills were still veiled in misty 

 vapour. We had to delay our start until our tents 

 were dry enough to be carried (wet as they were 

 their weight was increased four-fold), so that we 



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