A TON-JON.
The ton-jon is used in the roughest parts of the mountains, where the dandy and jampan cannot go, and is a very simple contrivance. The largest and strongest of the mountaineers are alone capable of performing the service, and their pay is equal to that of four ordinary men who carry a palanquin or similar vehicle. The ton-jon is a cane chair, strapped to the back of a man, and held in place by a broad band over the forehead; he carries a stout staff, on which he rests his load occasionally; and his pace is very slow, as it must of necessity be sure. A fall would be a serious matter both to himself and his burden, and he takes good care that it does not occur. After reaching Simla the boys had an hour's experience with the ton-jon, and were quite satisfied not to have an extension of time.
"A little ton-jon goes a great way," said Frank, as he descended from his chair.
"Yes," responded Fred, "that may be; but a large one does not go a great way in the time we have had it, and the little one would easily beat it without much exertion."
Frank immediately turned the conversation to something else.
While ascending the hills a few miles out of Kalka, our friends overtook a gentleman they had met on the railway train, and who had given them much valuable information. He was walking behind his garry, which was heavily laden with the materials for a hunting-excursion in the Himalayas, and carried his rifle on his shoulder, in the hope of seeing something worth shooting. He was enjoying his pipe, and his two servants were evidently inclined to follow his example, as they were smoking their hubble-bubbles, and seemed to enjoy them. The hubble-bubble is a curious contrivance, and about as uncomfortable an apparatus for smoking as could well be imagined. It is made as follows:
Two eyes of a cocoa-nut shell are pierced, and through them the meat is carefully extracted. The stein of an upright pipe is inserted in one of the eyes, and carried almost to the bottom of the shell; the stem and bowl of the pipe are at least a foot long, so that when in use the fire is above the level of the smoker's head. The shell is half filled with water; fire is placed on the tobacco in the bowl, and the smoker applies his mouth directly to the hole in the shell or to a short stem protruding from it. The bubbling noise of the smoke as it rises through the water gives the name to the pipe.
Their new acquaintance was Captain Whitney, an officer in the English service in India, and a hunter who had considerable renown among his fellow-officers. While on the railway train he had asked the Doctor to call on him in Simla, and he now renewed the invitation, which was promptly accepted; and the light garries moved briskly on, while the heavy one proceeded leisurely.
