26 SPORTING IN BOTH HEMISPHERES. 



and I was thrown entirely upon the resources of my com- 

 panions for my meals, &c., for the rest of the march. 



The country through which we passed was very barren 

 and uninteresting, with no cultivation of any kind, except in 

 the immediate vicinity of the villages, near which we always 

 made our halting-place, for the sake of procuring provisions. 

 These villages were nothing more than mud walls and mud 

 huts, and displaying every sign of decay and dilapidation, 

 and the inhabitants, with the exception of those attached to 

 the pagodas, exhibited signs of great poverty and misery. 

 Itinerant pigs, of the most filthy appearance and habits, and 

 half-starved pariah dogs roamed about the walls in all direc- 

 tions, and water buffaloes, buried up to the shoulders in mud, 

 gazed in stupid astonishment at a white stranger. Sheep, 

 rice, fowls, and ghee (liquid buffalo butter) were, however, 

 generally to be procured, as well as the indispensable in- 

 gredients for the universal curry, without which no repast 

 is complete, either native or European. 



After a little more than a week of this description of 

 marching, we arrived at the cantonment of Walla jabad, 

 which was situated in a low, swampy position, amidst vast 

 fields of paddy on one side and low jungle on the other. 

 Two battalions of native infantry were stationed here, and 

 at the time of my arrival the cholera was making sad ravages 

 amongst them. The quarters for the officers were a long 

 line of low buildings, with a piazza or verandah extending the 

 whole length of them, and in spite of the intense heat the 

 walls and ceilings were green and discoloured by the damps. 

 One room was appropriated to each occupant. I remember 

 that I had hardly taken possession of mine, had arranged it 

 as well as I could, by the purchase of a few necessary articles 

 from the bazaar, and was reposing in one of my two chairs, 

 with a consolatory glass of brandy pawnee before me, when 

 I received a visit from a young married officer, who had 



