170 THIRTY FIVE YEARS IN THE EAST. 



Cold baths are much used in India, both by Europeans 

 and natives ; but especially by the latter • in fact, it is 

 almost impossible to over-estimate the benefits arising 

 from them. I have myself experienced the restoring in- 

 fluence of cold-bathing, and from the commencement of 

 April till the end of August, I refreshed myself with at 

 least two cold douche-baths daily ; and sometimes took one 

 even during those intensely hot nights, which so often 

 deprive the European of sleep. The wealthy can afford to 

 employ servants day and night in fanning and otherwise 

 administering to their comfort in these hot climates, but 

 the poorer classes must perform the ventilating or cooling 

 processes for themselves as they can. But besides the 

 inconveniences arising from the heat of an Indian summer, 

 there are other annoyances to be experienced or prevent- 

 ed ; such as the prickly heat ( as it is called ), the attacks 

 of mosquitoes, and those troublesome dust-storms which 

 occur regularly in the Punjab about the middle of June. 

 These dust- storms are sometimes so thick that, in broad 

 daylight, they will occasionally, for a few minutes, produce 

 as great a darkness as that of night. Another disagreeable 

 Indian visitor is the simoom ( hot winds ), which ordinarily 

 continue for six weeks, during which the inhabitants of 

 India, native and European, are compelled to pass their 

 time during the day in cellars beneath the ground, or else 

 they must cover every aperture to their dwellings with 

 tattis ( mats made from the root of the andropogon muriu' 

 ileum ), which they keep constantly sprinkled with water. 

 The douche-baths I used were produced by causing a goat- 

 skin to be filled with fresh well-water, and poured over my 

 head. Besides the cleanliness and cooling effect which 

 these baths afford, they exercise a beneficial influence on 

 the skin and nervous system, as also on the lungs, stomach, 

 kidneys, and even on the remotest parts of the body, by 

 stimulating their action. It is necessary, however, to be 

 careful in the use of the cold bath, and to avoid taking one 

 when the body is in a perspiration, which in India, I need 

 scarcely say, is often the case. The same rule also holds 



