ittle more
expensive, but a saddle-stand can be brought for Rs. 5 that will hold a
couple of dozen bridles, worth Rs. 20 apiece. At one time plated bits were
used in India, but I think steel ones are the best. "Syces" never can tell
the difference, and I have more than once found a plated bit being
industriously scrubbed and polished with sand.

Harness.

Unless particularly desired, brown harness with brass mounts is the
best--for India, at all events--for pony-harness, and it is this class of
animal that is generally used in an up-country station. Not one "syce" in
a hundred knows how to clean black harness properly, and if this is not
done nothing looks worse, whereas almost any native can clean brown
leather after a fashion, and even if it does not stand close inspection,
it will pass muster at a little distance. Fairly good brown harness is
made out of country leather, and it does well enough for rough work, but
it never has the finish of English. Country leather reins and country bits
should never be used; they are not reliable, and are most dangerous; these
should always be English.

Carriages.

The ordinary two-wheeled pony-trap or dogcart, used in an up-country
Indian station, is best varnished, not painted. The hot weather ruins
paint, and, unless in some of the very large towns, it is nearly
impossible to get them properly repainted again. Any native workman can,
however, varnish a trap with white or copal varnish. Before allowing new
varnish to be put on, the trap should be produced for inspection with the
old scraped off, as it is a favourite trick to daub new varnish over the
old, when it cannot properly set, and the first hot sun cracks and
blisters it. In the hot weather a large earthen basin, called a "naund,"
should be kept full of water under the carriage in the coach-house; the
evaporation of the water will keep the woodwork moist, and prevent its
cracking with the heat. A matting made of the fibres of the "khus khus,"
or lemon grass, should also be put round the nave of the wheel, and kept
wet, for the same purpose, as it is exceedingly likely to crack with the
heat. The shafts of the trap should not be left resting on the ground, as
they will warp and bend; they should be supported either by a wooden
trestle, or else by a couple of ropes from the beams of the roof. The
whip, when not in use, should be hung by a string at the upper part to a
nail in the wall, and a weight, such as a brick, t