'Through Persia on a side-saddle' [‎154] (185/360)

154 THROUGH PERSIA ON A SIDE-SADDLE
in an ordinary way, but would pull the whole thing to
pieces, breaking off a bit here and a bit there, until they
had messed the entire confection ! As a rule they refrained
from putting the spoon or fork they had been using into
the dishes, and only ate with their fingers when the food
was hard to manipulate in a civilised way.
However, to drink from the lip of a water-jug seemed an
irresistible temptation, and apparently their chief idea of a
teapot was that it was a vessel the spout of which was
specially adapted to sip from.
My brother started weekly Gymkhanas as soon as we
had settled down again at Kerman. A racecourse was
marked out in the desert, a ground cleared for tent-
Paging and lemon-cutting, a butt arranged for rifle-
practice, and here the gentry of the neighbourhood were
wont to assemble. They liked the friendly gatherings,
with their accompaniments of tea and sherbet, but never
attained to any great pitch of excellence in our sports.
The only good performers were nomad chieftains, who,
being capital horsemen, very soon mastered the act of
tent-pegging, showing us in return some of their own
sports.
Towards the end of September we had a race-meeting,
the subject of conversation for weeks beforehand, and
which kept me busy for several days preparing refreshments
for the hundreds of guests expected.
It was hoped that the gentry of Kerman would ride
their own horses, but they were fertile in excuses, some
considering that such a proceeding would be exceedingly
lowering to their dignity, while others feared that they
might fall off; and a proposal for a donkey race was
immediately vetoed, as it would be the depth of degradation