Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 23]
we expected these things, being fully aware, that the military authorities were doing their best to make life pleasant under irksome circumstances.
We bathed and washed our clothes at Brighton Beach, which was of a stony nature. The Turks at times fired shrapnel amongst us but very few were hit.
The Indian method of washing clothes was peculiar, as it consisted of beating them on a big stone; it may have cleaned them, and it certainly made holes as well. These Indians were camped in Mule Gully, and I was very interested in their customs and methods of cooking. Practically every man prepared his own meals, as there are so many castes amongst them, and each caste would not eat what the other cooked, or even use the utensils after them. A favourite food of theirs is the "chupattee" which is made of a course kind of flour, mixed with water, rolled very thin; and thrown on to a hot dish and apparently scorched. It is very leathery and proved indigestible to me, and the curry served with it was very hot to the taste. A sweet meat, called the "jill-aybee" was made from flour, sugar, and water mixed into a thin paste and put into a tin with a hole punched through the bottom, and thus allowed to drop into a dish of boiling syrup. Goats are killed by each caste and a kind of rite gone through, and the flesh is better than I expected. The Indians are inveterate smokers and use the hookah or hubble bubble (so called on account of the noise the smoke makes, when passing through the water). It is often made of makeshift articles such as tins but the proper article is often elaborate.