Left entirely alone, with articles of his own selection around him, the native cook is, however, a singularly in- genious creatui'e. All men who have been accustomed to a nomad life under canvas — far from the busy hum of cantonments — will, I think, agree with me in this. Given a hold in the ground, and a' couple of stones for her range, with a bundle of jungle sticks, a chatty or two, ferliaps a degchee, and a fan, wherewithal to prepare a dinner, can you picture to yourself the face of Martha, the " thorough good cook" of an English household ? An amusing episode happened some few years ago which struck me at the time as illustrative to a degree of Rama- samy's opinion of the British system of cookery. I hap- pened to be with a Regiment at Secunderabad which, for reasons connected with the antiquated barracks we occu- pied, was ordered to move into a standing camp. Our Colonel, an exceedingly young and fortunate officer, was a rampant soldier of the new school. His brain was ever busy with new ideas : it was even reported that he slept with " Wolseley's soldier's pocket-book" and " The Rules for Signalling in connection with Outpost duty" under his pillow. The order to march into camp delighted him. After issuing his orders concerning the geometrical lines in which he wished the tents to be pitched, not even for- getting the whitewashing of the tents' pegs, he turned his attention to the kitchens. Here was an opportunity for practically establishing a " Wolseley's field kitchen." Two officers who had recently passed successfully through the Garrison course of instruction were accordingly sent for, and, as a personal favour to the Commanding Officer, requested to go out to the camping ground, and lay out a series of broad-arrow kitchens for the Regiment. The CERTAIN KITCHEN REQUISITES. 19 work was done, and we marclied into camp the next day. Whilst the men were busy at stables, the Colonel rode about inspecting everything ; presently he came uj^on the neatly excavated kitchens, but, to his astonishment, found them deserted ! N'ot a cook was to be seen ! Orderlies flew to find out where on earth the men's breakfasts were being cooked, and in a few minutes, the whole corjps de cuisine was discovered squatting at work more suo in a dry nullah hard by. The Colonel furiously demanded why the proper kitch- ens had not been used, and " all this abominable mess prevented ?" Presently a cook of greater daring than his colleagues replied " What sar ! that had sense kitchin, sar, I beg your pardon : too much jireioood tahing : see sar this prdper kitchin only.'' In the face of such an irresistible argument, the Colonel (albeit irritated beyond measure) was constrained to abandon his cherished project. When presenting Ramasamy, therefore, with novel uten- sils, let us guard against his denouncing them as " bad sense." We must patiently show him how to use them, proving, if we possibly can, by practical illustration, the satisfactory results, saving of time, and so forth, to be gained by their means. Anything complicated should, of course, be avoided. As far as my personal experience goes, I confess that I have found Ramasamy by no means diflicult to teach.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Left entirely alone, with articles of his own selection around him, the native cook is, however, a singularly ingenious creature. All men who have been accustomed to a nomad life under canvas — far from the busy hum of cantonments — will, I think, agree with me in this. Given a hold in the ground, and a couple of stones for her range, with a bundle of jungle sticks, a chatty or two, perhaps a degchee, and a fan, wherewithal to prepare a dinner, can you picture to yourself the face of Martha, the " thorough good cook" of an English household ? An amusing episode happened some few years ago which struck me at the time as illustrative to a degree of Ramasamy's opinion of the British system of cookery. I happened to be with a Regiment at Secunderabad which, for reasons connected with the antiquated barracks we occupied, was ordered to move into a standing camp. Our Colonel, an exceedingly young and fortunate officer, was a rampant soldier of the new school. His brain was ever busy with new ideas : it was even reported that he slept with " Wolseley's soldier's pocket-book" and " The Rules for Signalling in connection with Outpost duty" under his pillow. The order to march into camp delighted him. After issuing his orders concerning the geometrical lines in which he wished the tents to be pitched, not even forgetting the whitewashing of the tents' pegs, he turned his attention to the kitchens. Here was an opportunity for practically establishing a " Wolseley's field kitchen." Two officers who had recently passed successfully through the Garrison course of instruction were accordingly sent for, and, as a personal favour to the Commanding Officer, requested to go out to the camping ground, and lay out a series of broad-arrow kitchens for the Regiment. The CERTAIN KITCHEN REQUISITES. 19 work was done, and we marched into camp the next day. Whilst the men were busy at stables, the Colonel rode about inspecting everything ; presently he came upon the neatly excavated kitchens, but, to his astonishment, found them deserted ! N'ot a cook was to be seen ! Orderlies flew to find out where on earth the men's breakfasts were being cooked, and in a few minutes, the whole corps de cuisine was discovered squatting at work more suo in a dry nullah hard by. The Colonel furiously demanded why the proper kitchens had not been used, and " all this abominable mess prevented ?" Presently a cook of greater daring than his colleagues replied " What sar ! that had sense kitchin, sar, I beg your pardon : too much firewood taking : see sar this proper kitchin only.'' In the face of such an irresistible argument, the Colonel (albeit irritated beyond measure) was constrained to abandon his cherished project. When presenting Ramasamy, therefore, with novel utensils, let us guard against his denouncing them as " bad sense." We must patiently show him how to use them, proving, if we possibly can, by practical illustration, the satisfactory results, saving of time, and so forth, to be gained by their means. Anything complicated should, of course, be avoided. As far as my personal experience goes, I confess that I have found Ramasamy by no means difficult to teach.

Culinary jottings