12th January. Towards noon, we reached the small village of Beura.
Here we found a bungalow; that is, a small house with two or four
rooms barely furnished with the most necessary and plainest
furniture. These bungalows stand upon the post-roads, and supply
the place of hotels. They are built by government. One person pays
one rupee (2s.) a day for a small room; a family, two rupees. The
payment is the same in most bungalows, if the travellers remain
twenty-four hours or only half an hour; it is only in a few that it
is considered enough to pay half-price for staying a short time. At
each bungalow, a native is placed as superintendent, who waits on
the travellers, cooks for them, etc. The control is carried out by
means of a book, in which each traveller writes his name. If there
are no travellers, a person may remain as long as he chooses; when
the contrary happens, he cannot stay more than twenty-four hours.
The villages which lie on the road are small, and appear very
miserable and poor. They are surrounded by high mud walls, which
give them the appearance of a fortification.
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