CHAP. XII. 
BREAKFAST WITH A HOY A FAMILY. 
325 
quently given medicine to the bearers during the journey with 
good effect, and their report of this had perhaps caused the 
present application. On entering the house, I found a young 
man about seventeen years of age, the son of the host, suffering 
from fever. I told them I had no medicine with me, but if 
they would send to the place where I should halt, I would 
give them some. The brother of the sick man instantly of¬ 
fered to go with us, but before we departed, they said their 
morning meal was ready, and invited us to partake with them. 
Not wishing to decline the hospitality of this the first home of 
friends I had come to visit, I was directed to a clean mat 
spread out on one side of the floor, the friends with whom I had 
passed the previous evening, and the members of the family 
sitting round. The covers were then taken off the large earthen 
pots, standing on the fire near the centre of the house, and 
the hosts helped their guests. A plate of nicely boiled rice 
and milk proved very acceptable to me, as I was still far from 
well. The rice for the others was served in a brightly glazed 
earthen vessel, like a bowl fixed on a stand. On the top of 
the rice the meat was placed, one or two horn spoons were 
stuck in the rice, which was then placed before the guests. 
The house was different in structure and arrangement from 
those in the provinces through which I had passed. It was 
smaller, and more compactly built. The cracks in the walls 
were filled up with clay. The sleeping places were better 
arranged. The water was not brought in from the river, and 
kept in bamboo canes six or seven feet long; but was kept in 
large circular earthen jars, holding two or three pailfuls 
each. From these the water was obtained by dipping a ladle 
formed of the broad end of a horn attached to a long wooden 
handle. I could not but notice the superior neatness and 
comfort of the house, and the cheerfulness of the family. 
On resuming our journey we travelled over a broad flat 
valley, where the extensive embankments for rice fields spread 
