A second point of at least equal importance is the insistence of cleanliness in the kitchen, and in all the operations of cookery, but to secure this adequate appliances must be supplied; for it is useless to expect either good cookery or decent cleanliness without an adequate outfit of “pots and pans,” and proper appliances for cleaning them. At the same time it is a mistake to suppose that the utensils in use among English people will serve equally well in other hands, so that it is generally better to purchase locally what is needed. The heavy English iron saucepan is, _e.g._, quite unsuited for use on charcoal fires, and an Indian generally lacks the strength of wrist to manipulate it with its clumsy and ill-contrived handle. Speaking generally, aluminium cooking vessels will be found most suitable for charcoal or wood fires, but they should be, if possible, fashioned in the forms to which the local cook is accustomed. Their great advantages are that they lend themselves well to cleansing with sand or ashes, which comes natural to races to whom soap is an unaccustomed luxury; while, unlike copper utensils, they do not require periodical tinning, and so are free from the risk of causing metallic poisoning. Most English housekeepers will probably admit that, even with a home establishment, a certain amount of superintendence of affairs below-stairs can hardly be dispensed with; and if this be so, how very much more must such scrutiny be necessary in places where the workers belong to races to whom cleanliness in such matters is an exotic curiosity. Too often, however, people are apt to let these matters drift, and try to comfort themselves with the reflection that the heart need not imagine what the eye has not seen, but those who do so expose themselves to the certainty of consuming unspeakable nastiness. I remember well how our mess committee decided that each week a couple of officers in turn should inspect the officers’ kitchen. Being the first on the roster, the senior major and myself proceeded to make our first inspection.