Palanquins are sometimes like small four-post beds, with richly
ornamented curtains, and supported by a long horizontal pole, borne by
four men. Children are conveyed in a palanquin carriage, a curtained
vehicle on wheels, not unlike the cage of a wild beast. The nurse sits
on the floor with the baby on her knees, while the rest of the children
may be seen looking through the bars which keep them in. It is drawn by
bullocks; and as it moves floundering along over the heavy roads, it
threatens to upset at every jolt.

It is surprising to see the rapid manner in which the multifarious
materials, which compose the temporary city, are reduced to order. The
spot so lately a silent desert is peopled, as if by magic, by crowds of
human beings, and animals of every description. The ground on every
side is strewed with packages, chests, and cloth bundles; while the men,
moving about with violent gesticulations and loud exclamations, employ
themselves in their well-known and allotted tasks. By degrees graceful
forms arise, and richly-tinted pavilions, with gilded summits, glitter
in the sunbeams, while gaudy banners flutter in the air. Long lines of
canvas sheets appear, and spacious enclosures formed of _kanauts_ secure
the utmost privacy to the dwellers of the populous camp; while the
elephants, who have trodden out the ground, and smoothed it for the
chief's or master's tent, retire to their bivouac. Not only comfort,
but even elegance is imparted to these temporary abodes, fitted up with
such rapidity in the midst of the wildest jungle. Gay-coloured shawls
form the roof and sides, rich carpets the floor, and soft couches run
round the walls of the tented apartment.

Palanquins and carriages begin to arrive: the ladies find their
toilet-tables laid out; baths are ready for the gentlemen; the
_khidmutghars_ are preparing breakfast, and the _hookabadhars_ are
getting the _chillums_ in readiness; while the elephants, camels,
bullocks, horses, and the other animals, as well as their drivers, and
the tent-pitchers, coolies, and all those who have been employed in
fatiguing offices, are buried in profound repose.

Day after day the same scene takes place, varied sometimes by a tiger or
a wild boar hunt, when one is passing through a part of the country,
where they are to be found.

The dinner in camp is usually as well supplied with the products of the
larder as the repast served up in a settled establishment. Severa