REMINISCENCES OF SONEPORE. 153 



owing to their having lost their boots in the gummy mud. On 

 the road to the river, the multitude of natives who struggled 

 through this awful mass of stickiness to the ghat, some four 

 or five miles distant, was so great, or the tenacity of grip in 

 the ponk so powerful, that even these careful creatures left 

 shoes sticking to such an extent, that by native shoes alone, 

 the track could be found to the ghat, where Baboo Beharry 

 Singh's steamer transported the passengers to the southern 

 bank of the Ganges. 



On the other side, the mud up to the Bankipore 

 pucca road was very nearly as bad, in some parts worse. 

 Cruelty to animals was largely displayed in the way poor 

 wretched ponies were compelled to drag heavy ticca gharries. 



After an early breakfast, the more venturesome among the 

 ladies and genlemen attended a midday service held in the 

 supper room, after which cards being tabooed, chat and gossip 

 took their places, and silvery tones mingled with masculine 

 gruffiness in the once cosy and pretty drawing-room shamianas. 

 Going round the camp during a short break in the rain, which 

 took place in the evening, the extent of damage done was 

 at once s e en ; most of the drawing-room tents were unin- 

 habitable, and in one some horses might be seen revelling, 

 where the night before flirtation had run merry riot. The 

 lawn tennis tournament, which was finished when the fine 

 weather returned, was won by Miss Richardson and Mr. Harry 

 Lee after a hard fought battle. Among the players, one 

 of the most admired for her style was Miss Hunt. Her over- 

 hand service was at times magnificent, and there were very 

 few men present at the meet who could do it better. A lawn 

 tennis handicap in the Chupra camp was won by Colonel 

 Skinner, who walked in an easy winner. 



Taking camps all round without exception the Chupra 

 camp deserved credit for the excellent way in which it was 

 managed from beginning to end without a single hitch or 



