Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/172

 are constantly circulating through society. Upon any change in the members of the family, or change of appointment, the whole goods and chattels are brought to the hammer; and it is found good economy to have every thing of the best description, thus insuring a ready sale. In the Mofussil the furniture is much more scanty and portable, and in bachelor's quarters, a camp table or two, a bed, a couple of chairs, and a couple of camel trunks form the bulk of the property.

6. PUNKAHS.—No house, or rather no room, is thought furnished without a punkah, viz., a frame of wood about three feet broad and nearly the length of the room,covered with cotton cloth white washed, and suspended edgewise by ropes from the ceiling, just so low as to admit of a tall man's walking under it. To the middle of the punkah a rope is attached, and passed through a hole in the wall, so as to admit of being pulled by a man in the verandah; thus acting as a fan, and producing strong gusts of air.

7. THERMANTIDOTES.—Thermantidotes are frequently used, a machine very similar to the barn fanners of home, with this addition, that the large openings round the axle of the fan are closed with a tatty kept constantly wet. These are most useful in calm weather or at night, when the large tatties in the doorways do not act. Besides