he middle; three or four gallons of water, and the meat cut up
very fine, were then put in; three or four hot stones, each the size of a
6-lb. cannon-shot, cooked the whole into a good soup." To a fastidious
palate, the soot, dirt, and ashes that are usually mixed up with the
soup, are objectionable; but these may be avoided by a careful cook, who
dusts and wipes the stones before dropping them in. The specific heat of
stone is much less than that of water, so that the heating power of a
measure of stone is only about one-half of that of an equal measure of
equally hot water.

Graters are wanted to grate jerked meat. A piece of tin, punched through
with holes, then bent a little, and nailed to a piece of wood, makes a
good one.

Sieves.--Stretch parchment (which see) on a wooden hoop, exactly as on a
drum-head; let it dry, and prick it with a red-hot iron, else punch it
full of small holes.

Plates, to carry.--I have travelled much with plates, knives, forks,
etc., for three persons, carried in a flat leather case like a portfolio,
which hung from the side of the cook's saddle, and I found it very
convenient. It was simply a square piece of leather, with a large pocket
for the metal plates, and other smaller ones for the rest of the things;
it had a flap to tie over it, which was kept down with a button.

Cups.--Each of the men, on a riding expedition, should carry his own tin
mug, either tied to his waist or to his saddle. A wooden bowl is the best
vessel for tea, and even for soup, if you have means of frequently
washing it: tin mugs burn the lips too much. Wooden bowls are always used
in Thibet; they are cut out of the knots that are found in timber.

Spoons.--It is easy to replace a lost spoon by cutting a new one out of
hard wood, or by making one of horn. (See "Horn.")

Fireplaces for Cooking.--The most elementary fireplace consists of three
stones in a triangle, to support the pot. If stones are not procurable,
three piles of mud, or three stakes or green-wood driven into the earth,
are an equivalent. Small recesses neatly cut in a bank, one for each
fireplace, are much used, when the fuel is dry and well prepared. A more
elaborate plan is to excavate a shallow saucer-like hole in the ground, a
foot or eighteen inches in diameter, and kneading the soil so excavated
into a circular wall, with a doorway in the windward side: the upper
surface is curved, so as to leave three pointed turrets, upon which the
coo