During the day, at the houses of the omlah, culinary preparations on a
vast scale have been going on. The large supplies of grain, rice,
flour, fruit, vegetables, &c., which were brought in as _salamee_ or
tribute, supplemented by additions from the sahib's own stores, have
been made into savoury messes. Curries, and cakes, boiled flesh, and
roast kid, are all ready, and the crowd, having divested themselves of
their head-dress and outer garments, and cleaned their hands and feet
by copious ablutions, sit down in a wide circle. The large leaves of
the water-lily are now served out to each man, and perform the office
of plates. Huge baskets of _chupatties_, a flat sort of
'griddle-cake,' are now brought round, and each man gets four or five
doled out. The cooking and attendance is all done by Brahmins. No
inferior caste would answer, as Rajpoots and other high castes will
only eat food that has been cooked by a Brahmin or one of their own
class. The Brahmin attendants now come round with great _dekchees_ or
cooking-pots, full of curried vegetables, boiled rice, and similar
dishes. A ladle-full is handed out to each man, who receives it on his
leaf. The rice is served out by the hands of the attendants. The
guests manipulate a huge ball of rice and curry mixed between the
fingers of the right hand, pass this solemnly into their widely-gaping
mouths, with the head thrown back to receive the mess, like an
adjutant-bird swallowing a frog, and then they masticate with much
apparent enjoyment. Sugar, treacle, curds, milk, oil, butter,
preserves, and chutnees are served out to the more wealthy and
respectable. The amount they can consume is wonderful. Seeing the
enormous supplies, you would think that even this great crowd could
never get through them, but by the time repletion has set in, there is
little or nothing left, and many of the inflated and distended old
farmers could begin again and repeat 'another of the same' with ease.
Each person has his own _lotah_, a brass drinking vessel, and when all