188 SPORTING AND 



villages en route. He then gave me his 

 advice not to pay for anything, and said 

 he heard with some surprise that I had 

 been doing so, and he thought it a very- 

 bad custom. This man evidently feathered 

 his nest well on all occasions, for, as a 

 rule, these creatures, who are attached 

 to civilians to perform the humbler duties 

 and to do all the dirty work, fleece the 

 poor natives shamefully, and hold up the 

 name of their master over them as a whip 

 to make them disgorge their hard earned 

 savings. This used to be the common 

 practice some years ago, but I do not 

 know whether it still continues. 



I got so tired of my own thoughts and 

 my own company that I determined to 

 push on as rapidly as I could, in order to 

 overtake the column, but it would take 

 double marches for a long time, and thus 



