Win- dow's and doors should be large enough to allow' a free range of sun and air from floor to ceiling. You require shelter, and you require pure air. Rooms in the hills are naturally smaller than those in the plains, and to compensate for this disadvan- tage more attention must be paid to our surroundings, or we shall lose the benefit which w-e have come so far to seek. It is also well to remember that hill houses liave very scant accommodation for native servants : the usual allowance is one servant’s house for every Rs. 100 paid as the annual Housekeeper and Cook 19 1 rent ; so inquire, when securing your house, as to the num- ber of servants’ houses, and stalls for ponies and cows, and limit the number of your followers as far as possible. Do not be alarmed at the dirty state of the house at the beginning of the season — it is English people’s dirt, not en- tirely natives’ — and arises simply from the fact that at the close of the previous season the fair occupier could not or would not take the trouble to leave the house in decent order before descending to the j^lains. The house should therefore at once be thoroughly cleansed, chimneys swept, floors scrubbed, and all carpets and hangings put out in the air. Throw open all doors and windows, examine them for broken panes of glass, and light blazing fires. The tapes should be taken off the bedsteads and washed ; sanitary arrangements should be minutely inspected. Next, go round your house outside, and have all rank vegetation cut down ; it harbours dirt, and emits injurious gases, Avhich taint the air. In a cholera epidemic the neglect of such precautions may prove fatal ; for it has been well said, “ Cholera is a dirt disease, carried by dirty people to dirty places from dirty places.” Why is it that sickness so often supervenes on first arrival at a hill station ? Often from the neglect of such precau- tions as the above ; the death of a child from bronchitis once resulted from some broken panes having been overlooked. Nor should suitable food and suitable clothing be forgotten. Food should be plain and sufficient. Supplies are generally more difficult to be obtained than in the plains, and not so good. Vegetables bought in the bazaar, perhaps having been washed in dirty or scanty water, are dangerous. A dnli or basket from a garden two or three times a week is preferable, though, of course, more expensive. Sometimes a little garden can be made jliamjmnnis are amiable, and the lad}^ and chil- dren do a little work in it : one of the authors had in this Avay a capital garden, which supplied her and often her friends Avith potatoes and vegetables, to say nothing of flowers. Waterino- before the rains is a difficulty, but bath-water should be made to go as far as possible. If you do not keep coavs, the next best thing is to hire them : they Avill then be brought morn- ing and evening to be milked before you and into your oAvn milk-can. Of course a good deal more lias to be paid for 192 The Complete Indian milk obtained in this way than for that bought in the bazaar, but it is the only safe course to adopt. Next to food comes pure water, and if water cannot be obtained from a spring, it should be boiled and filtered in the way described in another part of this work.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Windows and doors should be large enough to allow a free range of sun and air from floor to ceiling. You require shelter, and you require pure air. Rooms in the hills are naturally smaller than those in the plains, and to compensate for this disadvantage more attention must be paid to our surroundings, or we shall lose the benefit which we have come so far to seek. It is also well to remember that hill houses have very scant accommodation for native servants : the usual allowance is one servant’s house for every Rs. 100 paid as the annual Housekeeper and Cook 19 1 rent ; so inquire, when securing your house, as to the number of servants’ houses, and stalls for ponies and cows, and limit the number of your followers as far as possible. Do not be alarmed at the dirty state of the house at the beginning of the season — it is English people’s dirt, not entirely natives’ — and arises simply from the fact that at the close of the previous season the fair occupier could not or would not take the trouble to leave the house in decent order before descending to the plains. The house should therefore at once be thoroughly cleansed, chimneys swept, floors scrubbed, and all carpets and hangings put out in the air. Throw open all doors and windows, examine them for broken panes of glass, and light blazing fires. The tapes should be taken off the bedsteads and washed ; sanitary arrangements should be minutely inspected. Next, go round your house outside, and have all rank vegetation cut down ; it harbours dirt, and emits injurious gases, which taint the air. In a cholera epidemic the neglect of such precautions may prove fatal ; for it has been well said, “ Cholera is a dirt disease, carried by dirty people to dirty places from dirty places.” Why is it that sickness so often supervenes on first arrival at a hill station ? Often from the neglect of such precautions as the above ; the death of a child from bronchitis once resulted from some broken panes having been overlooked. Nor should suitable food and suitable clothing be forgotten. Food should be plain and sufficient. Supplies are generally more difficult to be obtained than in the plains, and not so good. Vegetables bought in the bazaar, perhaps having been washed in dirty or scanty water, are dangerous. A dnli or basket from a garden two or three times a week is preferable, though, of course, more expensive. Sometimes a little garden can be made shammunnies are amiable, and the lady and children do a little work in it : one of the authors had in this way a capital garden, which supplied her and often her friends Avith potatoes and vegetables, to say nothing of flowers. Watering before the rains is a difficulty, but bath-water should be made to go as far as possible. If you do not keep cows, the next best thing is to hire them : they will then be brought morning and evening to be milked before you and into your own milk-can. Of course a good deal more has to be paid for 192 The Complete Indian milk obtained in this way than for that bought in the bazaar, but it is the only safe course to adopt. Next to food comes pure water, and if water cannot be obtained from a spring, it should be boiled and filtered in the way described in another part of this work.

The complete Indian housekeeper & cook