a very useful contrivance, in case of
open-air cooking; it gives a flame six or seven inches long, which is
not easily affected by wind or draught.

Amongst the stores I took out from England was some "compressed tea,"
which is very portable. In riding, all powdery substances should be
avoided; I had on one occasion practical experience of this. I had
procured some horse-medicine, and giving my animal one dose, I packed
the rest very carefully, as I thought; on opening my saddle-bag after a
ride of twenty miles, I found, to my disgust, that this wretched white
powder had mixed itself up with everything. I wished I had made the
horse his own medicine-chest, and given him his three doses at once.

Let the weather be ever so warm in Hungary, it is not wise to take even
a day's ride without a good warm plaid; the changes of temperature are
often very sudden, and herein is the danger of fever. The peasant says,
"In summer take thy _bunda_ (fur cloak)."

To complete the catalogue of my travelling appendages, I may mention a
revolver, a bowie-knife, a compass, good maps of the country, and a
flask. My flask held exactly a bottle of wine; it was covered with thick
felt, which on being soaked in water has the effect of keeping the wine
quite cool for an incredibly long time, even in the hottest weather. I
have been told that the Arabs in the desert have long been up to this
dodge with respect to their water-bottles, which are suffered to leak a
little to keep up the evaporation. The food I carried was of course
renewed from time to time, according to circumstances. Naturally I
economised the lamp spirit whenever I could obtain sticks for boiling
the water, as the spirit could not always be procured in the Hungarian
villages.

In starting for Dognacska and Reschitza, we had before us a ride of more
than thirty miles through a very rough country, and with uncertain
prospects of accommodation, so I took with me all my travelling
"contraptions," as they say in the west of England. The weather was
excessively hot the morning H---- and I started on our expedition. About
noon, after we had ridden some two hours, the sun's rays beat down upon
us with such force that we made an unintentional halt on coming to a
well by the wayside. It was one of those picturesque wells so familiar
in Eastern landscape--a beam balanced on a lofty pole, with a rod
hanging from one end, to which is attached the bucket for drawing
water.

Not far from