ROUTE TO ELLORA. 31 



Oovernraent ; and having taken the precaution of 

 engaging a servant before leaving Bombay to accom- 

 pany me as far as Calcutta, I managed to make myself 

 tolerably comfortable wherever I went. An Indian 

 *' boy " is an excellent institution ; he sees to every- 

 thing, and is generally a good cook into the bargain. 

 I could never iniderstand where he got the necessary 

 •culinary utensils or bed and table Imen from, since a 

 <}ane-bottomed bedstead, a table, a couple of chairs, 

 and a tub is all the furniture the bungalow provides, 

 and often not even that ; still by the time I had had my 

 bath and changed my clothes, he was always prepared 

 to serve up something hot to refresh the inner man, 

 generally placed appetisingly on a clean cloth. 



Soon after midnight I started again on a very 

 tedious journey, this time on a mail tonga, a sort of 

 rickety gig on rusty springs, jolting along a fair road 

 in the direction of Aurungabad at the rate of fully 

 eight miles an hour, when the ground was level. 

 We passed the villages Taroda and Deogaon, both 

 having a neglected appearance ; but at the latter I 

 managed to get a cup of coffee, which was most wel- 

 come, as the night was very cool. At last we turned 

 aside for Ellora, after having exchanged the tonga, 

 which continued its route along the high road, for a 

 common springless cart on two wheels, covered with 



