When a single gentleman is intent on proceeding on the most economical and expeditious plan, he will find it best not to have even a cook-boat in his suite; but should confine himself entirely to whatever convenience his budjrow may afford. If this plan is acted upon, the several boxes, &c., may be arranged within the cabins, or, at the utmost, under the deck; taking care, however, to debar the dandies from visiting that part of the vessel, by placing stout battens, or bamboo-laths, across, by way of confining them to the fore hatchway, down which they ordinarily keep their cloaths, fire-wood, &c., &c., and, occasionally, make a choolah, or hearth and fire-place, of mud, whereon to cook the victuals of the crew; an operation performed by one of the dandies, who, on that account, is exempted from all ordinary duties, and who is generally capable of serving up an admirably well-savored curry.
The after-part of the hold is commonly spacious enough to hold a tent of ordinary dimensions; but it may become a question how far it would be prudent to put camp equipage in the way of the rats, which would, probably, for the sake of shelter in the vicinity of the culinary operations, soon burrow into the hearts of the packages, and do inconceivable damage. If, however, no other place can be allotted for the reception of a tent, and the weather be such as not to warrant its being stowed upon the poop, no alternative is left, and the risk of destruction, or, at least, of very serious injury, must be met with resignation.
Though not indispensably necessary, a tent of some kind will be found extremely convenient, when proceeding by water to any distant station, especially during the hot season. As the boat-men usually come to about sun-set, or, perhaps, a little earlier, if any favorable situation, or the proximity of some large town, should invite, a small tent may easily be taken ashore, and pitched on the elevated bank, where the freshness of the air, and the wide range of prospect, prove a most comfortable relief to a person who, during the day, may have been obliged to remain under the heated roof of a cabin, whereof the windows were closed to keep out the sun, hot winds, and flying sand.
Many gentlemen have one small boat employed chiefly in going forward with such a convenience, and which, after the bed, &c. may be shipped at day-break on board the budjrow, that no delay may arise in departing, waits to receive the baggage left on the spot, with which it proceeds at such a rate as soon makes up for the detention: a boat of this kind is extremely useful in many instances, but especially in procuring supplies from an opposite bank, for going to or from shore in shoal water, for towing a budjrow in strong waters, for carrying out an anchor, or rope, to warp by, &c., &c.
Where only a budjrow and such a small boat are employed, the latter generally has a choolah, or hearth, &c., prepared within it under a small thatch. She commonly has to carry the proper supply of dry fire-wood; that obtained on the way being, with few exceptions, green, and causing the viands to acquire a very smoky, unpleasant flavor. The poultry are also usually conveyed on the thatch of the cook-boat, in small tappahs, or cages, made of split bamboos: this part of the stock may consist of a dozen of fowls, with a few ducks, and a goose or two; and, occasionally, is accompanied by one or two milch goats, which, being supplied with foliage cut for that purpose, during the day, and being sent to some verdant spot when the boat comes to in the evening, rarely fail to furnish milk enough, of a very superior quality, for the morning and evening tea.
The traveller must not expect to be supplied with beef, mutton, or veal, as he may proceed, in any part of the country, except at military or civil stations: there he may, perhaps, be enabled to purchase a sufficient supply of meat to make some variety in his diet as he passes from one station to another; but, unless in some very particular situations, he must content himself with poultry of various kinds, but chiefly chickens, and with kids, of which the meat is excellent. He may, at some of the principal towns where Mussulmans reside, here and there fall in with a butcher, who can furnish a joint of kussy (i.e. cut-goat); or he may perchance pick up a tolerable sheep, which may, at all events, serve for gravy, and supply his pointers and spaniels with two or three days’ substantial provision.
The mention of cutting up a sheep for such purposes, may appear extraordinary to the European reader, but it must be recollected, that such sheep are rarely worth more than two shillings, that in some parts the country swarms with them, and that their wool is not valuable, owing to its being lank, coarse, harsh, and not of a strong fibre: it is, indeed, more like that hair which grows upon many horses that are turned out during the winter, and comes off by handfuls as the spring advances.
The boats employed for carrying baggage are of two kinds; woolachs and patellies: the former are built in the lower provinces, with round bottoms, and often draw much water; the latter are chiefly of up-country build, have flat bottoms, and are clinkered; this construction suits them admirably to the shallows, which, after the rainy season, abound in all the rivers beyond the tide’s way, and especially at a distance from the sea.
Some of the woolachs used by the more opulent native merchants are capable of bearing from fifteen hundred to three thousand maunds, (i.e. from eighty to a hundred and twenty tons,) but their medium may be taken at from four to eight hundred maunds, which is also the general measurement of patellies in the common employ of grain-merchants, &c.: many are to be seen of full two thousand maunds, but such are calculated for the great rivers only; not but that in the channels abundant depth of water may be found, so deep, indeed, that several ships, of five hundred tons burthen, have been built at Patna, which is, by water, six hundred miles from the sea; but those channels are so crooked, and the currents so strong, as to render it very difficult for the ordinary number of dandies, proportioned to the tonnage, to navigate such unwieldy boats with safety and expertness,
The best size for a baggage-boat to attend upon a budjrow, especially in proceeding against the stream, may be from three hundred to five hundred maunds: observing, that the patelly is by far better calculated for shallow water, and for the conveyance of horses, than a woolach; but, being so low in the water, the former is rather subject to be swamped in rough water, and, owing to its construction, is very apt to become hog-backed, and, ultimately, to give way in the middle; an accident which seldom or never happens to the latter.