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NARRATIVE. 
ments for cooking their food ; and tlie centre part 
is occupied by the passenger, who has plenty, of room 
for his bed, chairs, and table ; an awning of grass 
matting, extending over the whole length of the boat, 
makes one as snug as possible. In these large boats the 
paddles, shaped very much like the spades on playing- 
cards, with handles about three feet long, are seldom 
used ; going down stream the boat moves with the 
current, and up stream two of the boatmen walk along 
the bank and drag the boat by a tow line. The servants 
and heavy baggage follow in a larger boat, some 
little distance behind, and the two boats only come 
together when breakfast or dinner is ready. It is 
quite surprising how well native servants manage to 
cook in camp. I have seen a first-rate dinner put on 
the table in camp, when the whole country was a 
puddle and rain falling in torrents ; and on 
inspecting the kitchen I found that the "joint " had 
been roasted on a skewer, supported between two 
tent pegs, and protected from the wind and rain by 
an umbrella stuck in the ground. On board the 
servants' boat there is usually a very elaborate 
kitchen range, constructed of dried clay. 
On the way down the river we passed the very 
Interesting ruins at Avantipore and Pandrattan, 
where I took some photographs, and in the forenoon 
we reached Srmagar. Near the city I saw a large 
snake take to the water and swim across the river, 
holding its head about six inches above the surface. 
My photographic outfit consisted of two stereoscopic 
cameras, suitable for doing stereo pictures, or one 
picture 4J x TJ. One of the cameras, with a small 
dark tent, and a stock of chemicals sufficient for three 
