The roads were deep and sandy, causing the artillery horses and bullocks severe labour in dragging the guns. But the camels of Major Pew's battery were quite in their element on the desert, and stalked lustily away with the heavy guns and carriages. About the end of December, we had some light showers of rain, which rendered the climate delightfully cool in the daytime, (the nights and mornings had been piercingly cold for some weeks,) and cloth garments were in great requisition. The inhabitants of the country were so peaceably disposed, that we were enabled to send on tents over night according to the custom in India, which ensures, on arrival in camp, every morning, the luxuries of a cup of coffee, a couch, and a bath; the latter is taken _al fresco_ from a skin filled with water, and poured over the shoulders by a native. Notwithstanding the good feeling exhibited by the country-people, our military authorities seemed resolved to distrust them, and posted a squadron on picket, day and night, with orders to keep mounted patrols on the alert. An opportunity was hereby afforded of exercising our vigilance on the camel-drivers and grass-cutters near the camp, and also of ascertaining by experiment, how much deterioration would be effected in the constitution of man and horse, by a curtailment of natural rest, added to long daily marches, and what length of time would be required to effect that object: the result amply solved the problem. The jungle, on the banks of the river, held a vast quantity of game; the most numerous of which, was the black partridge--a bird also found in many parts of Hindostan, and the most beautifully marked, I think, of the feathered tribe. They frequent the jhow[16] jungle during the heat of the day, and require an extensive and compact line of beaters to get them out of the thick covert. Hare, snipe, and quail, were also plentiful, and, occasionally, we met with a great variety of wild duck and water-fowl of almost every description, among the marshes by the river side. The shooting in these marshes can only be followed by those who despise malaria, for they are proverbially unhealthy: the excitement of meeting a stray tiger, or sinking in one of the treacherous quicksands which abound in the vicinity of the Sutlej, and are generally felt before they are seen, may add zest to more adventurous sportsmen.