80 Diary of an Excursion to the Shatool [No. 170. 



and interminable discussion. It is also advisable to secure the coolies 

 from fraudulent deductions by paying or seeing them paid in person. 

 A heavy bag of pice is useful in many villages, where the inhabitants 

 cannot often produce change for a rupee. 



3rd. Encumber yourself with the least possible number of servants ; 

 but let these be able-bodied, in sound health, and warmly clothed ; their 

 falling sick will cause much delay and inconvenience : and on no account 

 start without a small tent for their use. 



4th. Let this tent (and your own) be only of such a weight that one 

 strong man can carry it well, even when soaked with rain ; and to 

 effect this the better, let each of the party have his own tent. 



5th. As the heat in the low vallies is very great, take some light cloth- 

 ing, and a copious sola-feather hat. If inclined to hepatitis, a doubly- 

 lined umbrella is indispensable ; and a green gauze veil or pair of gog- 

 gles to protect the eyes from the glare of the snow, especially in spring : 

 many have been temporarily blinded from this ' cause defective.' The 

 traveller should avoid the vallies as much as possible ; many of them are 

 infested by flies of which the bites are exceedingly poisonous, and when 

 irritated, terminate in dangerous sores. A double wax- cloth, to keep 

 one's bedding dry, is essential, and five times as many pairs of shoes 

 as you would expend at Simla in an equal period. The country- made 

 articles sold in the shops there, will not, particularly during wet wea- 

 ther, stand more than a hard day's work on the rugged paths of the 

 interior ; and in the end, the purchase of European shoes will be found 

 to economize cash, space, and skin. 



6th. Let your cups, jugs, plates and dishes be of metal ; with these 

 only may you defy fate and falls ; and as for provender to adorn them, 

 an ample supply of tea, sugar, Carr's biscuits, hermetically sealed soup 

 and bouilli, fowls, sliced bread re-baked into everlasting rusks, with a 

 liberal allowance of beer, wine, and brandy, the latter precious article 

 insured against damage by being decanted into curacoa or other stone 

 bottles. Nor lastly, must a liberal proportion of tobacco be excluded 

 from the category ; be assured Moliere was not far wrong when he said 

 1 Quoique puisse dire Aristote et toute la Philosophic, il n'y a rien 

 d'egal au tabac' — at all events when jaded by a severe walk, and all other 

 creature-comforts out of sight. Amidst the fulness and listlessness of 

 Simla, one may dispense very stoically with many of these things, but 



