7th February.  Dungerkamaluma is a small village at the foot of a low mountain.  A short distance from the station lay a true Arabian sand desert, but which was fortunately not of very great extent.  The sand plains of India are generally capable of being cultivated, as it is only necessary to dig a few feet deep to reach water, with which to irrigate the fields.  Even in this little desert were a few fine-looking wheat fields.

This evening I thought that I should have been obliged to make use of my pistols.  My waggoner always wanted every one to give him the road; if they did not do so, he abused them.  Today we came upon half a dozen of armed traveller-waggoners, who took no notice of the calls of my driver, upon which he was enraged, and threatened to strike them with his whip.  If it had come to blows, we should, no doubt, in spite of my aid, have come off the worst; but they contented themselves with mutual abuse and threats, and the fellows got out of the way.

I have everywhere remarked that the Indians jangle and threaten a great deal, but that they never go beyond that.  I have lived a great deal among the people and observed them, and have often seen anger and quarrelling, but never fighting.  Indeed, when their anger lasts long, they sit down together.  The children never wrestle or pull each other about, either in sport or earnest.  I only once saw two boys engaged in earnest quarrel, when one of them so far forgot himself as to give the other a box on the ear, but he did this as carefully as if he received the blow himself.  The boy who was struck drew his sleeve over his cheek, and the quarrel was ended.  Some other children had looked on from the distance, but took no part in it.

This good nature may partly depend upon the fact that the people eat so little flesh, and, according to their religion, are so extremely kind to all animals; but I think still that there is some cowardice at the bottom of it.  I was told that a Hindoo could scarcely be persuaded to enter a dark room without a light; if a horse or ox makes the slightest start, both great and small run frightened and shrieking away.  On the other side, again, I heard from the English officers that the sepoys were very brave soldiers.  Does this courage come with the coat, or from the example of the English?

During the last day I saw a great many poppy plantations.  They present a remarkable appearance; the leaves are fatty and shining, the flowers large and variegated.  The extraction of the opium is performed in a very simple, but exceedingly tedious manner.  The yet unripe poppy heads are cut in several places in the evening.  A white tenacious juice flows out of these incisions, which quickly thickens by exposure to the air, and remains hanging in small tears.  These tears are scraped off with a knife in the morning, and poured into vessels which have the form of a small cake.  A second inferior quantity is obtained by pressing and boiling the poppy heads and stems.