2 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



mands. ' Step out of time ' is the usual form of instruc- 

 tion given by the chaudhri, or head bearer ; for the art of 

 carrying a dooly steadily at a semi-running pace is never 

 to step in time together, an error which causes the bamboo 

 to bend with the steps of the kahars, and the unlucky 

 passenger to be shot up and down on the elastic cord- 

 laced bottom of the dooly like a pea on a drum. Each 

 man is ready enough to give the order to his bhai or brother, 

 but the steps would invariably relapse into the regular 

 beat, of which a soldier marching would be proud, and 

 the pole would bend and rebound with provoking elas- 

 ticity. The sliding-doors at each side, if closed to keep 

 out the dust and flare of the smelly torches, would also 

 exclude what slight air might be stirring, and the heat 

 inside would be stifling. Added to these discomforts, the 

 uncertainty of finding the fresh relays of bearers at each 

 ten mile chauki, or change, and the yelling of the tired 

 men to announce their arrival to the fresh bearers, who 

 might be asleep by the roadside, or perhaps still in their 

 village, had also a disturbing effect on the traveller's 

 sleep. Ditto the demands for backshish in addition to 

 the legal pay already given when the dak is laid, in con- 

 sideration for the unexceptionable excellence of the manner 

 in which the stage had been performed. 



Notwithstanding these drawbacks, the traveller gener- 

 ally found himself at the end of his forty or fifty miles' 

 night journey by dooly dak not much the worse for a bad 

 night's rest. He could lie at full length, and had the 

 comfort of his own pillow and blankets, also a store of 

 provisions and — most important — drink on the shelf above 

 his toes. When used to it, a night's journey was about the 

 easiest way of avoiding the sun and getting over a good 

 many miles of road where wheeled vehicles could not 

 travel at all, crossing ravines and water-pools in perfect 



