they may put
on the one a small pot with rice or _dal_, a kind of pea, in it, and on
the other a girdle for bannocks of unleavened dough. Cooking is, of
course, largely women's work, but men are as expert at it as women, and
are continually seen preparing their meal. I have never travelled with a
native who seemed to think he was called to an unusual or unpleasant
work, when required to cook his food. All he needs is a couple of small
cooking vessels, which he carries with him, a little fuel, good water,
meal, and a spot on which he may set up his humble hearth. I have seen
this work done by pundits, learned men, who showed no indication of
shrinking from it as if it trenched on their dignity. Indeed the pundit
in a party that has few facilities for cooking has, as I remember well
in one instance, this honour conferred on him on account of his caste
being higher than that of those who are with him. All of every caste can
eat what he has prepared, but he helps himself first, and eats apart.

To return to the mela. The evening is well advanced before the repast is
over. We might suppose that after the stir of the day all would be ready
for sleep, and no doubt many lie down and sleep soundly; but quite a
number are too eager for the enjoyment of the fair to give themselves to
rest. Singing, drumming, and boisterous mirth go on till the small hours
of the morning, as I have known to my unpleasant experience--not at
Allahabad, but elsewhere when I have been in their close neighhourhood.

How do the vast multitudes who attend a mela, such as that of Allahabad,
dispose of themselves at night? Their arrangements are of the simplest
kind. Many wrap themselves in their sheet or blanket, if they have one,
and lie down on the ground without any idea they are enduring hardship.
Others rig out a temporary tent with sticks and a blanket over it,
creep under this, and deem themselves luxuriously accommodated. This
gathering at Allahabad is in the cold weather, and if the nights be very
cold, as they sometimes are at that season, no doubt many suffer
severely. Every now and then heavy rain falls, and then, as may be
supposed, the suffering is extreme. Sanitary precautions are of the
utmost importance where such vast crowds meet and remain together for
days, and these are taken by the authorities. They cannot, however,
provide against suffering caused by bad weather. Occasionally cholera
breaks out, and then the scenes witnessed are appa