194 A Sportswoman in India 



Suffering Moses, as he is always called, and now calls 

 himself, no sooner caught sight of us on the river, than 

 he was into a kishty and after us. At last, personally 

 conducted to his own bazaar, we were invited to sit 

 down and given tea, of a sort, out of a curious brass 

 teapot, and some very trying little yellow biscuits to 

 eat, while the Sufferer, an old bearded man, who, 

 after the manner of the East, had dyed his beard bright 

 red, and wore a skull-cap and a long garment trimmed 

 with -fur, displayed his papier mache and ornamental 

 painted woodwork, his carved wood and copper tables, 

 and his silver and silver-gilt bowls, goblets, candlesticks, 

 photo-frames, boxes, and what not. From a vast 

 selection we made various choices, to be packed then 

 and there and sent direct to England. This he fulfilled 

 to the letter. 



We next visited a shop for puttoo, where I bought 

 a puttoo hat and some extra warm garments ; lastly, 

 we spent some time buying more stores and groceries 

 for the next two months in camp up the passes. 



On our return to our tents on Topa we were 

 pestered once more with natives selling jewelry, silks, 

 silver, lacquer- work, etc. A carpenter, tailor, and 

 washerwoman soon turned up, and the two first were 

 presently sitting cross-legged under the trees, mending 

 and patching our torn, worn, and broken effects, Our 

 bedding hung all over the apple-trees airing ; and 

 it was altogether a funny scene for a luncheon party 

 we gave that afternoon. 



India is a very poor country for fruiti; Kashmir, 



