234 Indian Racing Reminiscences. 



in my poor opinion, was not the fool his conservative 

 associates deemed him to be. 



Owing to the frequency of earthquakes at Silchar, the 

 majority of the houses are made of a simple framework 

 of wood surrounded by bamboo screens, plastered over 

 to render them impervious to the weather, the whole 

 being covered by a thatch roof. Such a construction 

 of half a dozen rooms will cost, perhaps, ^loo. As 

 there is nothing to pay for the ground on which the 

 bungalows stand, I need hardly say that rent there 

 forms but a trifling item in one's expenditure. Beer, 

 wines, and oilman's stores, or " Europe stores " as they are 

 called in India, are very expensive, as they have to be 

 brought all the way from Calcutta, which is distant 

 about a fortnight's journey ; while the mutton has to 

 be imported, often, from places still further away. Beef 

 is hard to get there, and when procurable is of 

 inferior quality. Our mess, as is the usual custom in 

 India, used to keep at Cachar a flock of about one 

 hundred grain-fed sheep to supply our requirements. 

 I was told, however, that we should have no mutton 

 to eat after the spring, as at that time the sheep used 

 to sicken and die. As I was fresh from veterinary 

 practice, I determined to investigate the cause of this 



