and I chatted over our plans and projects, and
star-gazed, and soon fell asleep, in spite of the ruts on the road
and the wild discordant bugling of our ragged coachman, who seemed
to consider that, however inferior in other respects, in a matter
of music we were not to be outdone, not even by Her Majesty's own
royal mail. At first sight, the necessity of trying to clear such
lonely roads as we were travelling was not altogether apparent;
but a slight acquaintance with the general principles and laws of
progression of the national Indian institution called a bullock-cart,
or "beil-garee," soon clears up the difficulty. Built entirely of wood,
and held together by scraps of ropes and cord, a more hopeless-looking
machine cannot exist; and drivers and bullocks alike share in the
general woodenness and impassibility of the structure. The animals,
too, having probably lost all the better feelings of their nature
in such a service, are appealed to entirely through the medium of
their tails, and the operation occasionally results in the whole
creaking mass being safely deposited in some capacious rut, there to
remain until "the Fates" -- assuming, perhaps, the appearance of three
additional bullocks -- arrive to draw it out again.
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