242 A Sportswoman in India 



Bad weather and the scarcity of dry fuel proved 

 the convenience and excellence of tins of soup and 

 preserved meat, also consolidated tea and coffee, tins 

 of cocoa and preserved milk. Compressed vegetables, 

 too, are among very useful stores, tins of carrots, of 

 ginger, syrup, etc. I would advise travellers against 

 taking Worcestershire and Harvey sauce, for when 

 once that bottle is opened, every course served up will 

 be deluged with its contents by the native cook. 

 Some bottles of whisky, cherry brandy, and even the 

 local red wine, add considerably to comfort. 



The chokidar, the native who looked after the 

 rest-house and kept the key, lived in a room at one 

 end ; at the other end our servants had a room. The 

 wood fire smoked violently, but that was a small evil. 

 The moon was again so brilliant that we could plainly 

 see the great, distant snow mountains, and we could 

 have read or have written by its light with the greatest 

 ease. 



The rats at night ran riot in our rooms. They 

 scuttled across the floor, squeaking loudly, and shuffling 

 among my clothes, which I had taken off. Then 

 there was a race, apparently from S.'s room to mine, 

 through a great hole in the wall. It may be said that 

 the rattle of their feet over the boarded floor was 

 deafening ! I lit my candle, and they were a little 

 less noisy, but in the corners of the room long dark 

 bodies were still rustling and moving, and for a time 

 kept me awake. 



The next day we had the Tragbal Pass before 



