FOOD. 29 



hundred, and retail at hotels and livery stables at 

 so many bundles for a shilling. Some years ago, 

 when I was travelling in the Dutch part of South 

 Africa, in the more out-of-the-way parts of which 

 there are no hotels, it was the custom to ask the 

 owner of the farmhouse where you arrived per- 

 mission to " off-saddle " if you were riding, or " out- 

 span " if driving, for the night or a couple of hours, 

 as the case might be. This was a roundabout way 

 of asking if he could put you and your animals up 

 for the night. When leaving in the morning, it 

 would have been a great breach of good manners to 

 ask for your bill, but you inquired what you were 

 indebted to his head-boy for the forage your horses 

 had consumed — a polite way of asking for your 

 account ; the number of bundles per shilling varying 

 according to the time you remained, and the accom- 

 modation you had received ; but, notwithstanding 

 this fiction, I did not, as a rule, find the total any 

 less than in a regular hotel where you get your bill. 



Hay. 



Hay, as is known in Europe and Australia, is 

 never seen in India. In some parts, what is called 

 hay can be obtained; but, compared to English 

 meadow hay, it is at the best but poor stuff. ISTo 



