212 HINTS ON TRAVELLING AND CAMP EQUIPMENT. 



passing between the toes, so socks made on purpose, with a separate division for the great 

 toe, are usually worn. 



The disadvantages of the grass-shoe are, that although admirably suited to the native, 

 who usually treads perfectly flat, and has the free use of all his toes, it is not quite so well 

 adapted to the Englishman, who generally throws his weight more on the fore part of his 

 feet, and whose toes are of little use to him for grasping purposes. The consequence is that 

 an Englishman is not only difficult to fit, but his grass-shoes are constantly twisting or com- 

 ing off. The more flat-footed a man is the better will a grass-shoe fit him ; it is impossible 

 to keep one in its place on a high arched foot. Another draw-back is that it is only in 

 Kashmir and the provinces adjoining it that grass-shoes are procurable, so in the more eastern 

 provinces some other shoe must be worn. 



After trying nearly every imaginable sort of boot and shoe I have now adopted the 

 Elcho boot, and find it admirably adapted for every purpose except wading. For ordinary 

 work I have it made of brown leather ; but if I do not expect to encounter much wet, I wear 

 boots made of Sambur leather, which are lighter, cooler, softer, and more comfortable than 

 any others. 



For stalking, both in the jungles and the hills, I have found nothing so good as the Indian- 

 rubber soles* made for racket and lawn tennis shoes ; they are absolutely noiseless, and I find 

 that they give a better hold on nearly all kinds of ground than any other material with 

 which I am acquainted. They do not even slip on dead pine leaves — the most treacherous 

 surface on which one can walk. 



With regard to head-dress opinions vary. Most people feel the Indian sun more or less, 

 and although I am firmly convinced that exposure to the sun is not half so deleterious as is 

 generally supposed, it is advisable to have the head well protected. 



' Sold topees ' of enormous size, and helmets of various descriptions, are much in favor 

 with some, but the ' Terai hat, ' which is simply a broad-brimmed soft felt double wideawake, 

 has lately become popular, and I think that with the addition of a ' pagrV it is far prefer- 

 able to any stiff hat or helmet. Personally I prefer a ' lungi' or turban, twisted Afghan 

 fashion round a small conical cap,' to any European head-dress, and I always wear it when I 

 have to be much in a hot sun. 



For stalking in the higher mountains there is nothing better than a close fitting tweed 

 hat or cap such as is used by deer-stalkers in Scotland. 



In Thibet I wear a knitted woollen ' Balaklava cap' with the addition of a mask, which 

 covers head and face, leaving only two holes for the eyes. This I adopted after two summers 

 in Thibet, during which I suffered terribly from the effects of the dry cold wind and sun on 

 my face. My lips and nose used to be cracked and deeply fissured, and used to stream with 

 blood when I ate, talked, or laughed. After adopting the mask I never suffered in the same 

 way again. 



These soles should be made of thick, smooth, red, vulcanized rubber : the grey corrugated soles wear out very rapidly. 



