HINTS ON TRAVELLING AND CAMP EQUIPMENT. 211 



minimum of handling food is required; and the only thing to be careful about is, that the 

 cooking-pot should not be thrust into too large or fierce a fire. 



A few enamelled iron plates should fit into the bottom of ' the Warren,' and a strong 

 basket should be provided to contain the whole apparatus. 



Dress. 



With regard to shooting clothes, color is most important : this cannot be too strongly 

 insisted on. For the hills nothing can be more suitable than 'patu,' a strong woollen 

 cloth manufactured in Kashmir and other parts of the hills : it is soft, warm, durable, 

 and usually of exactly the right color, a sort of brownish grey. 



For the lower hills, the plains, and the dense jungles of the Terai, a lighter material 

 is required, and American drill dyed l khaki' color, or some of the light but strong cotton 

 ' mixtures ' manufactured in the Jabalpur and other jails, will be found best adapted 

 to the climate. For shooting on foot in thick forests the prevailing color of the dress should 

 be a dull green. 



The best dress is an easy fitting Norfolk jacket and loose breeches, which should fit 

 closely from the knee to the ankle, where they may be with advantage laced instead 

 of buttoned. 



With these, gaiters and ordinary shooting boots or shoes, Kashmir bandages {'patis ') 

 and grass shoes, or ' Elcho ' boots, may be worn. 



Well fitting boots or shoes are most essential to the comfort of the sportsman, especially 

 in the hills ; and even on the regular paths, want of attention to this most important point 

 may entirely destroy the pleasure of a march. 



The great requisites in boots and shoes are, that they shall be roomy enough to admit 

 of two pairs of thick socks being worn, broad in the sole, low in the heel, and so constructed 

 as not to press upon the toes, and thereby blister them when going down hill. 



Strong English boots studded with nails, answer well enough on ordinary roads, on 

 snow, or on turf, but they are not well adapted for walking on rocky and precipitous ground, 

 and they are very apt to make the wearer footsore if long marches are made. It is moreover 

 impossible to walk silently in them. Thick leather soles, without nails, are utterly useless on 

 slippery ground of any description. 



An admirable sole for mere road marching, or for wear on dry and rocky mountains 

 like those of Thibet, or even in the stony ravines of the Salt Range, are composed of several 

 layers of webbing or thick cotton rugs (' durries') sewn firmly together with fine twine. They 

 give an excellent hold on rock, and they never cause foot-soreness, but they soon go to pieces 

 in wet weather, and on steep grassy slopes they are most insecure. 



Most hill provinces have their own peculiar chaussure, and the best is undoubtedly the 

 Kashmir grass shoe or ' puld. ' This gives a most secure footing on all sorts of ground, and 

 when well fitted on it is very comfortable. It is made of rice straw, or occasionally of hemp 

 or bark of trees, twisted into rope and ingeniously plaited into a sort of sandal. 



In order to wear the grass-shoe properly, the great toe must be free to admit of a string 



