226 PAST AND PRESENT. 



tionally bad drought must take place before that 

 becomes necessary. I wonder something of the kind 

 has never been tried in India. 



Generally the houses are only one story, built of 

 wood, plaster, and tUed or thatched. The size of the 

 flooring is determined and measured by so many mats, 

 the mat being six feet long by three wide, made on a 

 frame of wood two inches thick, and filled in with 

 straw, so that it forms when on the ground a nice cool 

 covering, neither soft nor hard. The divisions between 

 the rooms are made to slide, so that the whole house 

 can be opened to give free ventilation, with the wind 

 from any quarter. As the sides of these lightly-made 

 houses are also made to open at pleasure by sliding, as 

 the inner partitions do, it follows that when every- 

 thing is thrown open, little but the flooring and roof is 

 left. In the summer this description of residence is 

 charming, but in the winter the cold is intense. If it 

 were not then for their great quilted robes and cover- 

 ings, in which you quite disappear, there would be no 

 comfort at all. There are no fire-places. Charcoal is 

 used and burnt in brass pans, vases, etc., but to receive 

 any comfort pr warmth from these things you must sit 

 on them ! 



The common domestic cock in these regions crows 



