TIGERLAND 



business is the sending out of " the camp " always a 

 troublesome undertaking, as the number of carts required 

 is usually greater than can be readily procured, owing to 

 some inscrutable objection their owners have to hiring them 

 for this purpose ; their capacity, too, being small, many 

 are necessary. 



At length, the requisite number having been obtained, 

 not infrequently by means of a little " gentle persuasion " 

 on the part of the police, the process of loading them 

 commences, but is not completed without considerable 

 altercation, combined with much abusive language, from 

 the exasperated peons responsible for this work. 



Finally, the loads being well secured with ropes, the 

 drivers proceed to test the balance of their carts, and 

 unless satisfied that the weight is evenly distributed the 

 whole process is repeated, and as every cart is subjected 

 to this test it usually takes some hours before they are 

 ready to proceed. Meanwhile the unhappy peons and tent- 

 pitchers, conscious that every hour thus wasted means 

 delay in preparation of the camp, followed by unpleasant 

 consequences to themselves, rave and storm in vain, and 

 only add to the delay. 



At last, when all the carts are ready for departure, 

 some irresponsible under-strapper probably the cook's 

 " mate," who has hitherto been complacently sucking at 

 his' " hubblebubble"- will suddenly perhaps wake up to 

 the fact that the " Hotkiss " * has been forgotten, and 

 producing the unwieldy article, insists on its being loaded ! 



Now a "hot-case," generally a huge packing-case 

 ingeniously converted to serve the purpose of a dish- 

 warmer, is necessarily an important portion of the outfit 

 and, being moreover used as a receptacle for the various 

 condiments necessary for preparing the sahib's meals, 

 cannot be left behind, and as its contents are all of a 

 fragile nature, must be placed securely. 



Hence, one or more of the carts have to be unloaded 

 entirely, while the individual to whose neglect this trouble 

 is all due, looks on with calm indifference, congratulating 

 himself, doubtless, on having thus evaded the chastisement 

 he would assuredly have received from his professional 



* Hot-case. 

 186 



