Nothing could
be more complete, but I found my watchful old "bearer" already at work
raising all my trunks, gun-cases, and other possessions on little
stilts of bamboo, for his quick eye had detected signs of white ants.
By the end of our stay in camp I had reason to congratulate myself on
my faithful "bearer's" foresight, for none of my own things were
touched, whilst every one else was bemoaning the havoc the white ants
had played with their belongings. The guest-tents formed three sides
of a square facing the river, and in the centre of the open space
stood a large _shamyanah_, or flat-roofed tent with open sides,
which served as dining-room and general living-room. There are
certainly distinct advantages in a climate so settled that periods of
daily sunshine or of daily rain really form part of the calendar, and
can be predicted with mathematical certainty.
It so happened that the Census of 1891 was taken whilst we were in
camp, so I can give the exact number of retainers whom the Maharajah
brought with him. It totalled 473, including mahouts and
elephant-tenders, grooms, armourers, taxidermists, tailors,
shoemakers, a native doctor and a dispenser, and boatmen, not to
mention the Viennese conductor and the thirty-five members of the
orchestra, cooks, bakers, and table-waiters.
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