S?3 ?;lla^ CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 924 079 586 685 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924079586685 In compliance with current copyright law, Cornell University Library produced this replacement volume on paper that meets the ANSI Standard Z39.48-1992 to replace the irreparably deteriorated original. 1997 QJarnell Uninersitg ffiibrarg 3t^aca. ^tm ^ack BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE FISKE ENDOWMENT FUND THE BEQUEST OF WILLARD FISKE LIBRARIAN OF THE UNIVERSITY 1868-1883 1905 A TALE. or INDIAN ADYENTUEE LOXDOS : PRIXTED BY SPQTTISWOODE AND CO., SEW-STUEET SQCAIIE AXO PARLIASIF.XT STREET SEONEE OR CAMP LIFE ON THE SATPURA RANGE A TALE OF INDIAN ADVENTURE EOBEET AEMITAGE STEENDALE, F.E.G.S. Ifllustvattir bg i\t ^utljor WITS A MAP and AN APPENDIX CONTAININO A BRIEF TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DISTRICT OF SEONEE IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA SECOND EDITION LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON CROWN BUILDINGS, 188 FLEET STREET 1877 All rights reserrfttl I ! ; ' , , • I ' V PEEFACE. I HAVE BEEN ASKED why I liave adopted the fonu in which this naiTative of Indian life appears, instead of treating the subject in the first person, the incidents all being personal experiences of my own and my ftiends. I had- several motives for so doing. For the sake of making the book more interesting to my youthiful readers ; to enable me to impart much in- formation in a pleasant colloquial manner, without the pedantry which might have been too obtioisive in an egotistical narration ; and, finally, to allow me to select from a mass of notes, jotted down at various times, those cases only which exliibited certain peculiarities in the animals concerned, and to arrange them in such a way as to carry the reader month by month through the succes- sive seasons of the year. I had no intention, Avhen I took up my pen, of writing for the veteran sportsman, though I dare say there are many bits in the following pages — notices of birds and plants and insects, and traits of animal character — that vnU recall fond memories of the past to many an old shikaree. My book is Avritten chiefly for younger followers of Saint Hubert, wliether they be bound for India or not, and my aim throughout has VI PKEFACE. been to inculcate a love for nature, and to make secondary to it the mei-e destrojdng of %vild beasts. The European characters have been created for the work, but the natives are real beings. Some of my readers will not only recognise tlie scenes, but will re- member old Sheykha, Soma the Lebhana, and my old follower the Lalla. The death of the latter by a tiger has been vividly desciibed by Captain Forsyth in his ' High- lands of Central India,' though the story of his life is incorrect ; the true account will be found in the Xotes at the end of this volume. In the nomenclature of the birds and mammals I have followed Dr. Jerdon, an old friend and encourager of the natural history prochvities of my youthful days. For the botany Eoxburgh's ' Flora Indica,' Voight's ' Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis,' and Balfour's ' Trees of India,' have been my authorities. The legend of Taj Klian illustrates the superstitious customs of the Mahomedaus, who are firm behevers in witchcraft and the raisins; and casting out of devils. The Lalla's story is a sample of the art of the Hindoo improv- visatore. A short topographical and historical account of the district appears in the Appendix. PiOBERT A. StERKDALE. Thames Ditton : March 1877. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Introductory — The blue bull— Halal or not Halal ? — Major Foi-dbam — The ride to camp — The friend's arrival — The camp — Bhoora — The wild cats — Kutcherry in camp — Xazir and Serishtadar — Anival of the blue bull — Principles of laud tenures — The disputed boundary — Pathan versus Ponwar — The Gond's evidence — Dongerdeo — The Puuchayet — Rifles, old and new — Water-fowl — The snake-bird — The peregrine falcon — The chikara — Netting a hill — ^The rib-faced deer — An unexpected boar — A. run for life — The long shot, ' Plugger ' retrieves his character — Paying ^the beaters . CHAPTER II. Sheykha the shikaree — Gond men and women-:— Stalking a panther — Loading matchlock — Shevkha reports himself — Spear-gi-ass — ^The dead panther — Jungle flowers — Muttol mutta — A risky shot — The she-bear — Cubs — Tomahawking — Beating up Bruin — A critical moment — Green pigeons — The pangolin — The panther's skull — • Rearing j'ouug cubs — An evening stroll — Tlie black buck — A dead shot — Pea-fowl — Jungle warnings — Meeting a, ttger — A narrow escape — Tigers on the high road — The man-eater — The shikaree's death 37 CHAPTER III. Character of tigers — Sheykha's proposal — Chand Khan's opinion — Tempting a tiger — The cocoon and its uses — The fate of Rajoo — Story of Urjoon Telee — An exciting stalk — The destroyer destroyed — Measuring the tiger and measurements in general — Sambur — Early rising — "Watching for deer — The hind — The shikaree's ruse — The stag approaches — Disappointment — Milford's success — CONTENTS. Painted partiidge — Hornbills— The lost stag recovered — Native bird-catchers — MoiJa, the Lalla — A suspicious tiger — The machauii — Sheykha's stratagem — Wearisome watching — Luminous sights — ■ The tiger wounded — Travelling on elephants — Tracking the wounded tiger — The elephant at work — A charge home — Bussunta's revenge — A receipt for a stout heart . . . .73 CHAPTER IV. Milfords home letter — Murdering a tiger — The quaU trapper and king- fisher anarer — TheMarabou adjutant — The Lalla's argument — Four- horned antelope — The iguana — Spotted deer and panther — Cromlechs — Kookra Dec's revenge — Umma Maiee — The sacred spring — A wary stag — Dongerdeo's complaisance .... 110 CHAPTER V. Seonee of the present — Seonee of the past — The environs of the station — The Ban Gunga river — A camel ride and camels in general — The pit at Barelipar — Night shooting — The sambur — A robber — The doctor's elephant — ■ Un enfant terrible — A serious plight — The doctor anathematizes ' Snuffles ' — The tic polonga — The tank at Cliownree — Water-fowl — The Lalla snares a hawk — The camel breaks his leg — A. new dish — Derivation of names — Demoiselle cranes — Spotted deer and tiger — Hide-and-seek — Poisoning fish — Alligators — A village belle — An unprovoked attack — Death of the fighting tia-er ... ] 43 CHAPTER VL M.ochagora — The Mahseer — The walk to the river — Fordham shoots a panther — From the sublime to the ridiculous — Flviug-foxes— The lamps of the angels — Starting a sulker — Milford gets a sixty-five pounder — Black buck — Driving a herd — A mysterious disappear- ance — Cooking a bustard — Eley's cartridge at forty yards — The road to Bamuuwarra — The blue bull at bay — The wild dog — Cbappara — A panther "by lamplight — Return to Seouee — A man killed — The tiger in the street — Bussunta put to flight — An un- cowed cow ISG CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER VII. The Koraie Pass — A work of charity — A uaiTow escape from the Rookhur man-eater — The dak bungalow — Drongo shrikes— The Singhara plant — A faithful buffalo — The Lalla tempts Milford — A moonlight expedition — A left-shoulder shot — The tiger lost — Allikutta — Dongertal — Shooting nylgai from a cart — The fakeer — The argument — The hermit's blessing — The Pathan warrior — Eaja Bukht Buland — The first step towards fame— An athletic damsel —The sorcerer — The curse — The disguised rival — The hermit's care — The incantation — The vision and the warning — The combat — Returning to die . CHAPTER VIII. Ironworks at Pukhara — A forest on fire^The mouse-deer — Sirdaree's adventure — 2\ative heroes — Strength of tigers — Four-horned antelope — The legend of the Shah bulhids — Bees' nest — An un- certain remedy— The chameleon — Soma the Lebhaua — Breaking of the monsoon^The Buujara camp — Teak-wood tar — A Bunjara stag hunt — A morning stroU — A snap shot— Boar versus' tiger — The result of over-confidence, .... . . CHAPTER IX. Bison jungles— The bison in the path— A jungle hamlet — Crossing a flood— The Baiga hut — Striking a ti-ail— A Sonawani torrent — The close of a fruitless day — The soUtary buU — The gam- — A shot in the forehead — A cow — Large red squirrel — Day dreams — Another solitaiy bull — Failm'e — Fish shooting at Ashta — Terrapins ■ — Pied kingfisher — Chikara boms— A fretful porcupine CHAPTER S. Autumn in Central India— Fordham's bouse-^Zalim — The menagerie — The Paradoxurus — Pips the muiigoose^ — A strange recover}- — Camel surgery — Musk^rats=— An unwieldy patient — Elephantine dentistry — An unruly princess — Pelicans and. sea snakes — Edible roots — Coming a cropper — Thirsty reflections — A resuscitated bull . 3:;^! CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. PAGK The improvvisatore — Raja Chand Sa — ^The sleeping princess — ^The Peri's advice — The hundred horsemen — The pursuit — The battle — The celestial bow — The fatal shot — ^The Wehr-Pard — The man-eating panther — Another victim — Lodhee thakoors — A truly oriental idea — Turning the tables — Kurria Qond — In luck's way at last . 350 CHAPTER XII. The cloud in the horizon — The voice of intrigue — Conflicting emotions — A tableau — Hiding in rebel country — An ambuscade — A brush with the enemy — An unlucky charger — The reveille — Across country — A rebel regiment — A dearly bought victory — In Memoriam .... .... . 38.5 Appendix 411 Notes . . . . 447 Glossaky or Indian Tikms 4.53 ILLUSTEATIONS. Bussunia's Revenge Running. DO WIT a Blue BtJLi Rib-faced Deer Close Qttariers A Orihcal Moment Ukjoon's Revenge Deer Ratile Umma SIatee . IsDO-ScTTEic Cromlechs . The Robber Skitll of Muggtje Chasing a Black Buce Mahsebr and Salmon Taj Khan's Exploit . The Invocation Sambitr Hoens . A NAin-E Hero . Knocking over a Bison A Pool in the Bison-Jungles A Resuscitated Bull Horns of the Gaur The Kahani Panther Paradosukus A Brush ^y^s. the Rebels . PAGE Frontispiece 1 36 37 to face 66 73 118 119 142 143 185 187 ■ 221 223 to face 264 269 270 29G to face 310 322 321 350 349 385 ^^ ^ ^ It was a bright, crisp morn- ing in the month of January. The sun had been up about an hour, driving the mists from the valleys and bathing the whole landscape in a flood of light. The air was cold and bracing more so than it usually is in the plains of India, even in the cold season. When we say the plains of India, the term is used in contradistinction to those mountain ranges which are commonly known as ' The Hills.' India is intersected by other ranges of lesser grandeur, whose plateaux, elevated above the sea some 2000 or SOOO feet, have a cooler range of temperature than the low levels of the true plains. Of all these highlands, the Highlands of Central India — so termed by an old friend and fellow-sportsman, now gone to his rest^ in his faithful 2 SEONEE. account of them — are the most enjoyable to the hunter and the naturahst. The lordly bison haunts the bamboo- clad slopes of the Satpura range, and interferes not with his unwieldy neighbour and cousin the buffalo, who keeps to his grass-grown plains. The red deer herd in the fertile valleys watered by the Halone and the Bunjur ; the sambur and the axis, the stately blue bull and the tiny, toy-like, mouse deer, all have their haunts in the forests that are spread over the imdulating plateaux. There are the rocky ravines for the bears, and the stony plains haunted by antelope and bustard. The grim tiger roams over thousands of square miles, and the stealthy panther scruples not to carry off his prey even from the heart of a station. Since the time of whicli we write, the axe and the plough have been steadily eating into the vast soUtiides ; but there are still thousands of square miles of forest-land which never will, and never can, be cleared — extensive beds of laterite and piles of trap boulders which, though bearing a dense covering of timber and underwood, are undisturbed by human hands unless for the excavation, here and there, of iron ore. Thus cover will always remain for wild animals, wliich find refuge during the day in the thickets, from whence they emerge at night to lay waste the growing crops, or attack the stragglers of the homeward-wending herds. It is in the district of Seonee, — which forms a portion of these high table-lands formed by the Satpura range of which we have been speaking, — that we would place our reader on that bright January morning. The road, or rather path, for it was httle else, had led over a gentle rise composed of red kterite, which when worn by the feet of men and cattle had all the appearance of a made gravel walk in a slirubbery, being fringed by a variety of bushes. THE BLUE BULL. 3 For a mile or two it had been thickly wooded as the traveller passes through a belt of salai ^ forest — a pecu- liar, aromatic, but rather worthless tree — but now it emerged on a broad low valley, down the centre of which ran a small brook, dotted here and there with clumps of butea'-'and grislea^ bushes. On the other side another gentle slope was covered with thick scrub, over which the morning mists were slowly floating off. The air was full of the songs of birds and the discor- dant cries of the peafowl and painted partridge. One old peacock was strutting about the grassy glades, spread- ing out his gorgeous plumes to the morning sun, whilst three or four more sober-coloured peahens ran about, fussUy looking for tit-bits. Kow and then a flock of green parroquets flew over, each one trying to out- scream the rest ; and occasionally a rocket-bird would glide across the open space between the two belts of wood, his long tail streaming like a white riband after him. But what makes the peacock suddenly lower his train, and his dusky wives to glide rapidly into cover ? Over the swell of the ground at the head of the valley dashes at full speed a noble blue bull : straining every nerve, with labouring breath and distended nostrils, with heaving flanks, that seem jet-black as the perspira- tion streams down his side, he dashes headlong down the grassy slope. A few j^ards behind pressed a horseman at the same reckless pace, and it was evident that the stride of his charger was too much for the pursued. As the crest of the hilhv as passed the rider, pressing his horse's flanks, urged him to a final rush, and, ranging up alongside the bull, the sharp crack of a rifle rang through the stillness ' Soswellia thurifera. " Biitea fromlor,n. •* Orhlen to)nc'nliisii. 4 SEONEE. of the glen. The nylghau staggered, but bvavelj' held on. Another shai'p report and he plunged heavily on his head, driving his short, pointed horns deep into the turf. The impetus of the horseman carried him a few yards beyond, when, wheehng sharp round, he sprang off by the side of his quarry. The fii'st glance the hunter gave at the dying bull was one of mingled satisfaction and pity ; his eyes flashed with pride at the well-placed shots, but a sadder expression came over them as they met the glazing orbs of the animal. He turned away to loosen his horse's girths, muttering to himself — ' Those lazy loons will lose their meat if they don't run harder than they did at first.' The bull lay in the stillness of death as he cast one more look at it, before proceeding to caress his reeking steed. It was a golden-chesnut Arab, promising great speed, sinewy and hard as nails ; not an ounce of super- fluous fat. His faulty point was his head, as far as good looks were concerned ; he lacked the Arab, deer-like head, so much admired. It was rather coarse and heavy, but he had an honest brown eye, and, as his master would proudly observe, little fault was to be found with the rest of him. Casting the bridle over his arm so as to let his favou- rite crop the dewy grass, the master sat down upon a trap boulder which cropped up out of the turf. About a yard from his feet lay the dead nylghau. ' Poor brute ! ' he softly said to himself, ' you had a sharp tussle for it ; but I gave you every chance. I might have shot you down standing where we first came upon you, but I gave you a run for your life ; not much chance though with Cossack at your heels. I wish those lazy fellows would run up, however,' he continued, scan- ning the landscape ; ' they will lose their meat, and serve UALAL OR NOT HALAL ? 5 them right. There will be a meal in every Gond's hut in the village, and all the more for the loss to the squeamish Mahomedans. I wanted some marrow-bones, too, for to- night's dinner. There's that boy coming out, and tough chicken is hardly the hunter's fare he expects. All ! here comes Nusseer Khan at last.' A shrill peal from the master's dog-whistle directed the panting runner, who had just paused on the crest of the slope, to the spot where the group was. The sight of the dead bull stirred the man's blood, and, waving his hand with a shout to his comrades behind, he bounded down the valley. 'Now, Nusseer Khan, look sharp,' said his master, pointing to the nylghau. The man drew a long Lahore knife from his girdle as he bent over the animal. ' It is too late,' he muttered, shaking his head ; ' his breath is gone out of him.' ' What of that ? ' impatiently exclaimed the Enghsh- man. ' I know more of the Book than you people do ; if blood follows the knife it is fit — it is no matter. Cut and lose no more time.' Murmuring the appointed prayer, the Pathan drew the heavy blade across the bull's throat, and looked incredulously at the crimson stream as it sank into the moist earth. By this time two other men, breathless w-itli hard limning, arrived, one a Pathan like Nusseer Khan, stalwart and fair-complexioned, the other a Goiid, or aboriginal dweller of the country, short in stature, dark as a negro in colour, and somewhat negritic in type, as far as curly hair, broad nose, and high cheek-bones are concerned. The denizen of the jungle came forward with a grin from ear to ear, as be foresaw a plenteous feast of meat that evening ; no scruples of conscience afflicted him as 6 SEONKE. to wliether the beast ^vas properly killed according to the Mosaic and Mahoinedan laws, whether ' the blood thereof which is the life thereof ' had been let in proper niauner, with the customary invocation; omnivorous, and by no means fastidious, his mouth watered at the thought of broiled collops. Leaving the Gond and the second Pathan to make arrangements for bringing the bull into camp, the Englishman tightened his horse's girths and, mounting, rode slowly off, followed by Nusseer Khan carrying his master's rifle. Major Fordham, our successful rider, was a tall, spare man, wiry, and bronzed with much exposure. He seemed about forty, had a mild grey eye, a pleasant, smiling mouth, shaded by a heavy grey moustache, and a quiet, low voice. He had th.e character of being a studious man, more of a naturalist than a shikaree ; but in this case popular opinion was wrong. If he was solitary in his habits, oljjecting to jovial hunting parties, it was because mere killing had no charm for him, and emulation was distastefid ; he never bragged of his own exploits, and so he lost much credit as a mighty hunter. His aim was deadly, his seat on a horse Avas sure ; perhaps he wai* a little over-cautious, but his coolness and com-age in difficulties were known to the native shikarees of the place more than to the residents of the station. The natives used to say of his gun that it Avas his gholam, or slave. For real jungle- knowledge concerning the habits of animals, skill in tracking, and reading the many signs essential to perfect woodcraft, he was far supeiior to many a more noted sportsman of his race. As a rule English sportsmen do not attain to the pitch arrived at by the native ; they are fearless, hard-hitting, straight- forward Kimrods, readv to ride down, spear, or shoot MAJOR FOEDHAM. 7 anything that is put before them. Compared with the lithe native they are indifferent stalkers. They cannot lie or sit for hours in a cramped position, nor does the bent twig or cropped blade of grass catch their eyes as they stride along the jungle path. We do not wish to decry our brethren, but we think they might learn more from the native than they do ; but it requires a special aptitude, quick sight, habitually observant nature, and unvarying patience — all these are necessary, and as they are exercised these faculties get stronger and stronger, till it becomes a second natiu-e to a man to let nothing escape his notice. Fordham was one of the few who had exercised these gifts, and he was little inferior to Jeythoo, tlie bison tracker of Sonawani, to whom in due time we will in- troduce the reader, whose wonderful powers of following up a trail quite equalled what Cooper tells us in his thrilling tales of the feats of the Eed Indians. Ford- ham's fondness for this kind of woodcraft had been in no small degree fostered in his youth by those very tales, and also by memoirs and traditions in his family, one of his ancestors having seceded in the War of Independence, and attained eminence under Washington. Many were the hours spent in his boyish days trying to hurl the tomahawk or dart the knife like the heroic Delawares, and, we must confess, with but indifferent success. Instead of sleeping quietly in his bed like other good boys of his age, he would drop out of his window, and roll himself up in a blanket under a low branching yew tree in the garden, greatly to the disgust of sundry cats who had made it a favourite trysting-place. Therefore when he came to years of greater discretion, and found himself his own master to a certain extent, and within reach of the forests he longed for in his boyhood, he entered SEONEE. thoroughly into the enjoyment of a hunter's life, spending days and nights out in the jungles, whenever he could get leave from his regiment. Scorning luxuries, he went in for roughing it, and rather overdid it at first, till a few severe bouts of jungle fever somewhat restrained him. Then the Punjaub campaign of '48 took him to more stirring scenes, after which, through the influence of some friends who were interested in him, he was given a staff appointment, and, at the time of which we write, he was holding a special post which enabled him to remain nine months out of the year in camp, and to carry out his favourite pursuits. He was now expecting a young friend to join him, who had lately landed in India. ' Nusseer Khan, was the mare taken out to Moh- gaon ? ' asked his master, who had ridden slowly about a mile towards his camp, which could now be seen in the far distance, the white tents showing like specks against the dark foliage of a mango grove. ' Was the mare taken out to Mohgaon, and the brown Cabul to Piperia for the chota sahib ? ' ' Yes, my lord, your slave himself saw them off.' - ' And did you send a Sowar with them to show the sahib the way across country ? ' ' Azim Khau went, protector of the poor.' ' 'Tis well,' replied Fordham, taking a glance up- wards at the sun. ' The boy ought to be in camp by this time if he started at the crow's dawn.' The crow's dawn is an expressive native term for the dark hour just before the first streak of grey in the eastern sky, when those sagacious birds seem to know that daybreak is at hand, and commence a vigorous cawing as if to stir up the lazy ones, who may feel in- clined to tuck a sleepy head under a wing once more. THE FRIEND'S ARKIVAL. 'j As the sun was beginning to get Avai'ra Fordliani ordered his attendant to come on leisurely, whilst he, giving rein to his horse, cantered off in the direction of the camp. A long stretch of rice fields lay between him and the tents. Here and there was a large tank studded at this time of the year with innumerable wild fowl. As he cleared a low bund, or mud embankment dividing two fields, he startled a large flock of grey geese, which flew off with discordant cries. Over another bund, and he shook his fist laughingly at a grey fox, which darted from under his horse's feet. The little rascal had been cautiously stalking the geese, and miight have secured one had his little game not been spoiled by Cossack's thundering hoofs, as he bounded over the hard soil in a manner which showed that his run of the morning had not much affected his spirits. A few more fields. A gentle declivity with a saridy bottom, which served as a watercourse in the rainy season ; a slope of turf, then a grove of huge, gnarled, old mango trees, and the horseman pulled up his snorting Arab at the door of a large single-pole tent. At a little distance another smoking steed was being rubbed down by a native groom or syce, whilst a dismounted trooper stood at his horse's head waiting to make his report. Seeing these signs of his friend's arrival, Fordham threw his reins to a bystander, and was soon welcoming to tent-life a slim young Englishman, Avhose fresh complexion showed that an Indian sun had not as yet had time to turn the roses of the old country into tan. The two men had mutual friends at home, and the 3'ounger one soon got over a certain amount of restraint ■which he could not help feeling at first at the other's superior age and position, and, whilst their baths were 10 SEONEE. being prepared, they were deep in an animated convei'sa- tion. Fordham's manner was so free from affectation of any kind that he seldom failed to make the most timid at home in a very short time, and he noted with pleasure that his young companion was also devoid of that worth- less lacquer which yomig men so often think passes for sterling gold, and with which they hide the natural com- plexion of their nature. Nothing is more to be admired than a young man, honest and open-hearted, just beginning life Avith all the ardent holies and sanguine nature of youth ; fresh and enthusiastic, willing, and not too proud to learn from those of greater experience, and straightforward in all things. And, on the other hand, nothing is more to be deplored, than to see a similar youth aged beyond his years, hipped and hlase, a wretched counterfeit of an old roue, who thinks he is up to a trick or two, in his own misera- ble parlance, and who considers it weak to show any natm'al freshness whatever. There was a striking contrast between Fordham and Ernest Milford in dress. The elder was clad in a close- fitting suit of stout drill, dyed with the barks of the mango and babool trees to the true shikar colour, a sort of ohve greenish-brown; the shoulders were pi'otected by pieces of leather to bear the friction of the rifle ; leather- lined pockets in front held a small powder flask, caps, and bails, sewed up in greased cloth — for these were the days before the common use of breech-loaders ; a hookrie or Ghoorka knife, an awkwai'd-looking but favourite weapon of Fordham's, and a short-bladed, straight, double-edged dagger were attached to a broad belt of sambur leatlier ; leggings of the same material completed his attire, Avhich savoured more of the backwoods than of civilisation, and formed a dingy contrast to tlie modern-cut shooting-coat. THE CAMP. 11 buckskin breeches, and highly varnished boots of his younger companion. A servant approaches to tell them their baths are ready ; so let us leave them for a while and look about the camp. The mango grove was on the borders of a noble tank, and was for some distance surrounded by a cultivated plain, beyond which rose a range of blue hills. A little to the right, nestled amongst trees, was a large native village, inhabited by an industrious and skilful race of cultivators called Ponwars, but a litigious, untrustworthy set, much given to removing, if they could, their neigh- bours' landmarks, and delighting in the incessant law-suits arising therefrom. A few miles on the left the smoke rose from another large village owned by a Pathan, and colonized by that more stalwart people. They were de- scendants of the Pathans who invaded the country in the armies of the emperors of Delhi, and who acquired lands in virtue of conquest, and when, about a.d. 1700, the district of Seonee was ceded by the ruhng prince of the Eaj Gond dynasty, Narendra Sa, to Bukht Boolund, the Kaja of Deogurh, a Pathan adventurer, named Taj Khan, so distinguished himself before the latter by slaying a bear with his sword that he gave him a command of horse, and afterwards the talooqa, or division of Doon- gertal, where he built a fort, of which the ruins still remain. Taj Khan's descendants soon spread themselves over the place, and one of them now held the village to our left, from whence he kept up an active quarrel with his Ponwar neighbour on the old subject of a disputed boun- dary, the ins and outs of which Fordham was now trying to unravel. The camp within the mango grove was an animated scene, from the various groups of which it was composed. 1 2 SEONEE. First there were four tents of sorts. The two larger ones for Fordhani's special use, round which clustered nume- rous servants in neat attire. Then there was a tent for bis office-people, and a fourth, consisting merely of two uprights, a ridge pole, and a cloth stretched over it, for the use of the Sepoy guard which escorted his camp, and in front of which paced a sentry guarding the piled arms. The Sepoys themselves were mostly away in a corner where the village dealers had opened an impromptu shop of groceries of various kinds, and were bargaining for the materials of which they make their frugal meals. Some of them were already hard at work making their flour into dough, and then roasting their flat cakes on round iron plates, whilst a little pot of dal — a kind of pulse — was simmering away beside the fire. Beyond the bunniaKs shop was a group of camels, most of them lying down ruminating after their morning's work. Further to the left was a fine female elephant, lazily fanning herself Avith a branch, whilst her keepers Avere busily preparing cakes similar to those of the Sepoye, only four times the size, which Avere intended for her special benefit, her allowance being thirty pounds of flour daily, with half-a-pound of ghee and half-a-pound of treacle to supply the place of butter and jam ; besides Avhich she was allowed as much as she could eat of grass, succulent branches, and millet stalks. So on the whole she was about the best treated of all the four-footed members of the camp. At some distance from the elephant were picketed two rows of horses — four of them in the front rank, from their superior accoutrements as well as appeai'ance, were easily to be recognised as Fordhara's; the other four belonged to his mounted orderlies. In those days district officials were more liberally supplied with attendance than BHOOKA. 1 3 they are now. Having inade the round of the camii, passuig a small tent, from which a savoury smell and sounds of hissing frying-pans issuing told that it was the kitchen, we find oi.u:selves again in front of the prin- cipal tent door. A large white dog of the common Pariah breed, but in better condition than most of his species, stood licking his lips as each dish was carried in by the khidmutgars and placed on the breakfast table. He knew his place better than to go in till his master called him — not that Fordham was his master beyond being master of the whole camp ; Bhoora's legitimate owner was a camel -driver, but the dog, having shown mar- vellous sagacity in tracking wounded deer on one or two occasions, was taken notice of by Fordham, and always at meals was allowed a bone from the major's table. Breakfast having been served, and the two Englishmen having bathed and changed their attire, they set to work with hunters' appetites. Omelettes and khichree — a favour- ite Indian dish of rice and pulse, boiled together with savoury spices, and served up with butter and fried onions — dry curries, a round of cold corned beef, potted wild duck, eggs, toast and chuppatties — a species of thin flour cake, or scone, baked on an iron plate, something like what we have seen the Sepoys making, only thinner ; various kinds of jams completed a meal to which ample justice was done. ' What will you drink, Milford ? ' asked his host. ' Oh, tea, please,' rejoined the other, laughing. ' I have not got over my Enghsh habits yet, and could not fancy beer and claret, as all the others did in the station.' ' I am very glad to hear it. I always take tea myself. if those fellows in the station would only drop beer in the morninss and take more exercise, we should hear less of 14 SEONEE. liver complaint among them. By the bye, I have for- gotten old " Bhoora " and the cats too. Here, " tit, tit, tit ! " there now, what do you think of those ? ' he con- tinued, as two beautiful little spotted cats came racing down from their resting-place on the inner canvas roof of the tent, and began rubbing themselves against his legs, and mewing for food. They were beautifully shaped, like miniature leopards — ^greyish in colour, with black spots, white chest and belly, with large black bands and splashes, and narrow stripes of black, white, and tan down the fore- head. ' What splendid little fellows ! ' exclaimed Milford ; ' what are they ? ' ' A species of Pardine cat, called by naturalists Felis rubiginosa. They were brought to me when very young by a Gond shikaree, as I am known throughout the district as a collector of animals. At first they were savage, but they gradually got tamer. Even now they will not let me handle them, although they both, and one especially, ■will lie in my lap for hours whilst I am read- ing or writing. They never leave the tents, and at night sleep in a basket, in which they are carried from stage to stage. You will see them by-and-by playing, and will marvel at their agility, which far exceeds that of the common cat. Here, Bhoora, old boj-, here is a bone for you. Now, Milford, I must do some office work, and, if you can amuse yourself in the mean time, we will go out at foiu: in the afternoon and see if we can beat a hoo- out of the cane fields beyond the village.' ' Well, if you will allow me to take a book and sit quietly in a corner of your office tent, I should like to see how you go on ; it will be a novelty to me, whose only notions of a court of justice are connected with bewigged and gowned judges and barrister?.' NAZIR AND SERISHTAJjAR. 15 ' All, we don't sport wigs and gowns in the jungles,' rejoined his companion, laughing, ' but I think we mete out as good justice, if not better, in our rough way; we have no intervention of attorneys and barristers ; the parties concerned plead their own causes, and bring up their own witnesses. However, come along and see for yourself.' To an adjoining tent the two Enghshmen adjourned. Milford chose an easy- arm-chair in a corner, where he pretended to read, wliilst Fordham took possession of a small table placed nearly in front of one door. Behind his chair stood a venerable old jemadar of chapprassies, or chief of the orderlies, a grey-bearded old Pathan, with snow-white turban with a gold band across it, blue cloth tunic and crimson shawl round his waist, in which was conspicuously thrust a handsome silver-moimted, ivory- handled Lahore knife, the badge of his rank. Behind him again stood two ordinary chapprassies, dressed in similar uniform but of inferior quality, and instead of the dagger they wore an engraved brass-plate, with the name of the office to which they belonged. Two natives now entered, and, making a low salaam to Major Fordham, sat down, one on each side ; one was a Mahomedan, stout and black-bearded, and with an air of considerable dignity and self-importance. This was the serishtadar, or native secretary of the office, a person- age of no small consequence. His rival (in many ways) on the other side was a sharp-faced Hindoo, meaner in appearance, much marked with small-pox, and very obsequious and insinuating in his manner. Milford, as he looked at him, thought him a most untrustworthy man, and set him down as a rogue at once ; tliinking the serishtadar rather a fine fellow : so much for appearances. As neither character will figure in our pages attain we 16 SKONEE. may us well say that the portly serishtadar was, if possible, the greater rascal of the two, and both of them were commonly supposed to fatten on ill-gotten gains — a state of things which the utmost vigilance on the part of the European district officers was powerless to prevent. Each man was accompanied by a clerk, and a peon carrying a large bundle of papers tied up in a red cloth. The Hindoo, who was the nazir, or financial secretary and accountant, opened his bundle, took out a paper, and, receiving a nod from his master, began in a very wheezy voice, that seemed to filter through a layer of cotton wool, to read a paper written in Hindi. Fordham listened, and rapidly gave some orders. The nazir passed the paper over to the clerk behind him, who entered the instructions on a corner of the document. The serishtadar now produced a lengthy report in the Persian character, which he read in sonorous tones, rocking his body to atid fro, and reading as much as could be done at a time in one breath, regardless of stops, when with a deep inspiration he made a dash on at another series of deeply-mouthed words. Milford thought nothing could be more monotonous, and Fordham slily winked at him as he watched his silent astonishment. Similar orders were passed on this paper, and endorsed in the same manner. Then the nazir got another innings, then the serishtadar, and so on, till all the reports for the day were finished. At this jimcture Nusseer Khan, divested of his brown shikar suit, and arrayed in uniform as a chapprassee, came in and informed his master that the blue bull had arrived. ' Some of my morning's work,' said Fordham, turning to his companion with a smile ; ' do you care to go out and see it ? ' THE AERIVAL OF THE BLUE BULL. 17 ' Oh, yes,' rejoined the other, springing up from his chair ; ' everything is fresh to me. Good gracious ! what a monster ! what do you call it ? ' ' Well, he is a big fellow, certainly,' replied Fordham ; ' it was almost a sin to shoot him. I generally call them blue bulls, for it is difficult what to call them ; they belong properly to a genus of antelopes which is more common in Africa than in this country. He has the mingled attributes of the antelope, cow, and horse. The native name, nylgdo, signifies blue bull.' ' He is almost as big as a horse,' remarked Milford. ' Yes, I suppose he is about Galloway height, 13^- or maybe 14 hands ; you can hardly judge of his size as he lies strapped up on this bullock-cart. Poor brute I he gave me a smart gallop before I knocked him over.' ' What ? did you kill him on horseback ? ' ' Yes, I generally do so when I kill them at all, and I only try to kill them when we are in want of meat, or for the villagers whose crops they destroy, and who are glad to get them to eat, poor fellows ! Now all these Gonds roundabout are rejoicing at the anticipated feast, whilst those stupid Mahomedans of mine will not touch it, I am sure, because Nusseer Khan did not arrive before the breath had left its body. It is no use my telling them that their law is founded on tlie old Mosaic ordination regarding the blood, and that as long as the blood flows at the cut and customary prayer they may safely eat it. They are mostly ignorant men, knowing but some of the fundamental rules and ceremonies of their religion, and a few prayers in Arabic which they learn like parrots ; and, by living so long amongst the Hindoos, they have insensibly imbibed many of their idolatrous neighbours' prejudices. I have a learned Mahomedan with me, a Moulvec, or Doctor of Divuiity, but he is absent from e 18 SEONEE. camp to-day on business, and will not return till the meat is all disposed of ; otherwise I am sure he would agree with me. The serishtadar is almost as great an ignoramus as the rest, whose mouths are watering for a bit, but they won't touch it for fear of its not being properly killed, or 'halal' as they term it. Here, Nusseer Khan, cut off the head and take it to the cook ; tell him to pickle the tongue and also to secure the marrow-bones, and then take the animal to the other side of the tank and cut him up. Give the meat to the Gonds, and you may keep the skin for yourself.' As Xusseer Klian made a low salaam Milford mis- understood the gesture, and asked if he had changed his mind and was going to take some of the meat. ' Oh, no,' rephed Fordham, ' it was for the skin he made the salaam ; they use it for various purposes ; some parts of it, the neck and chest especially, are as thick and tough as buffalo hide. The nylgai are the only members of the Indian deer tribe that are strong enough to bear a bm-den. I have seen them carry a man, whereas a sambur stag of equal size will not carry a child. Ycu shall see my menagerie when we return to the station, and judge for yourself; I have almost all the deer of this part of India.' They then returned to the tent, and Milford took to his book and easy chair again, whilst Fordham called on a case. It was one which he had come to investigate, and to which we have before alluded as having consti- tuted an old family feud between the old Pathan farmer or malgoozar as he is termed — and his Ponwar neighbour. We must here digress a httle from our story, and try to explain, in as few words as possible, the relation which exists between the State and the landholder in India generally. PRINCIPLES OF LAND TENURES. 19 The first principle is, that the whole of the land is the property of the State, and the use of it by the cultivator has to be paid for. It is only since the year 1861 that the surplus and waste lands of the State have been allowed to be sold to purchasers, who acquire entire proprietary right. So then the State is the great landlord, and it has to arrange to gather its rents in the form most convenient to itself. Now, if it were to deal directly with each tiller of the soU, there would be endless trouble — therefore it makes an arrangement with one, or sometimes two or more, head men in a village, for the half-yearly payments of the Government demand, leaving him or them to realise from the petty holders in detail. These petty holders become quasi-subtenants of the head men, but they have their prescriptive rights, which are protected by the State. For instance, as the head man — malgoozar or zemindar — cannot be turned out so long as he pays the Government assessment, and his office is hereditary, so the mourousee assamee, or hereditary tenant, cannot be ousted from his holding so long as he does his part in paying his rent regularly. His fields which he received from his father will descend to his son, so he is in fact a part proprietor. A tenant whose rights are not so secured becomes a tenant-at-will, and is liable to be ousted by the malgoozar, if a higher bid is made for his land. But twelve years' occupancy would entitle him to claim the rights of a mourousee tenant, and the law would protect him accordingly. Each village or group of villages has its canoongoe, or village accountant, whose duty it is to submit to the State the accounts of each tenant's holding. These canoongoes, or putwar- rees, are remunerated by fixed cesses levied on all the cultivators. In certain cases the State makes over a talooqa, or 20 SEONEE. division containing many villages, to one man — in olden days generally a noble. He is expected to pay a certain fixed sum to the Government, and he then makes his terms with his malgoozars, and they with their tenants — the rights of each being still guaranteed by the State. He then is termed a talooqdar. When for some special service the Government demand is remitted altogether, in favour of one or more individuals, the grant is termed a jaghir, and the holder a jaghirdar. Of coiurse the systems of land tenure vary greatly in different parts of India, but, as our story has to do with the Central Provinces only, the slight sketch above given is all that is necessary for present purposes. When those territories were ceded to the British in the year 1818 several settlements or assessments of the Government jumma, or revenue, were made for short periods, which was a wise arrangement. Much of the arable laud lay still covered wdtli forest, and the cultivated portion was impoverished by over- taxation. By a series of short but gradually lengthening settlements, at low rates, time was given for the cleared land to recover, and settlers were encouraged to open up the fertile valleys that had hitherto lain waste. It was now about the time for a. fresh assessment, and for thirty years ; and before entering into the question of how much each village ought to pay, it was necessary to have an accurate survey of the whole, with a definite demarcation of boundaries, and final adjustment of all disputes. And this was no easy matter : all the old feuds about a few yards of soil ; obsolete traditions of a river bed having been diverted by one of those freaks of nature, which will occasionally take place in the rainy season ; deliberate assertions of land- marks being forcibl}!^ removed ; every conceivable invention and falsehood THE DISPUTED BOUNDARY. 21 were brought into play on all sides, in the hope of getting a few extra acres out of a neighbour's land. Such was the case being now investigated by Fordham. The natural demarcation between the two villages was a nullah, or brook, which, amongst other contortions pecuhar to the brook kind, had made a decided start to the right, and then, after taking a short bend, tiu-ned back again, as if it had repented its little freak, and thus formed a horse- shoe before it flowed on again in its original direction. The few acres of ground thus enclosed were of good quality, and formed the casus belli ; not that quality mattered in the least — if it had been barren rock it would have been all the same, and Fordham often declai-ed that the final settlement of the quarrel would be a sad loss to both parties. The value of the land was the last thing they cared about ; it was a point of lionour with the fiery Pathan to have what he considered his own, in spite of the wily Ponwar, and he held it by force and put in his ploughs by force — and with the latter it was a secret pleasure to gall his neighbour by incessant appeals, and endless litigation, and now came the fijial tussle when the matter was to be decided for good. The Ponwar declared that the brook ran originally across the base of the loop, but that his opponent's grandfather made a dam which stopped the water in the rains, and caused it to find a fresh channel for itself, which it did by encroach- ing on his lands — that the boundary ran straight from a palas tree at the first bend to a semul tree at the second — and what could his ancestors do ? There was a Mussul- man Soobah at Seonee, and justice was not to be obtained by a Ponwar against a Mahomedan. The contending parties stood on opposite sides at the door of the Kutcherry tent, just in fi-ont of the table ; the space in the middle being occupied by the witness 22 SEONEE. wliose deposition was being recoixled. The Ponwar was an oily-looking, slim, fair man, with cringing manners, but with a vein of caustic humour with which he oc- casionally touched up his impetuous opponent, who formed a great contrast in appearance — a fine, soldiei'ly- looking man of about fifty, tall and portly, with bushy grey beard and whiskers, which were trained to stand out hke those of a wild cat ; a good rider, and keen sportsman ; a killer of tigers and bison. Was he to be bearded and thwarted by an idolatrous, effeminate Hindoo, and a mongrel sort of Hindoo to boot ? Soobhan Allah ! it was enough to make his hair bristle. Fordham was greatly amused at setting these two old foes against each other, but he was careful not to show the least favour or partiality to the Pathan, who was an old friend of his. ' It is very strange,' he remarked, ' that you two can- not live together in peace.' ' Two snakes in a basket ! ' murmured a bystander, at which there was a general titter ; the propensity of the larger reptile to swallow the weaker one seeming to apply to the present case. ' So we will, Maharaj,' pleaded the Ponwar; 'only give me my land.' 'His land!' snorted the Moslem. 'As much his land as the sahib's tent is his. Is not the nullah the boundary, and always has been? Am I a magician, that I can make the waters flow where I like ? Pah ! thooh ! but why should I talk before the sahib to one of a generation of liars.? Ghureeb-Purwar (protector of the poor),' continued he, altering his tone to a re- spectful one, as he turned to Fordham, ' let my witness be called. The Gonds are truthful and not like the Ponwars.' THE GOND'S evidence. 23 Fordham nodded to tlie serishtadar, wlio called out, ' Summon Bukloo Goud.' ' Bukloo Gond, Bukloo Goud ! ' shouted the court peons. ' Ho, dada ! ' replied a primitive-looking old savage. Rising from the ground, and casting his axe over his shoulder, he advanced to the table and stood on one leg, the Gondi attitude of respect, and with his hands joined. 'Administer the oath.' ' Nov7, repeat after me,' said the serishtadar, in his pompous manner. ' Ho, dada ! ' replied the simple old man. ' You mustn't say " Ho, dada ! " Eepeat the oath after me.' ' Ho, dada ! ' The serishtadar shrugged his shoulders and asked him in high-flown language what god lie worshipped. But it was of no avail. The old fellow could only grin and answer ' Ho, dada ! ' whilst the bystanders were con- vulsed with suppressed laughter, and Fordham himself [jould not help smiUng. Seeing at last that there was no chance of the serishtadar, who either could not or would aot descend to the level of the Gond's intellect, being ible to make the old man understand, Fordham took aim in hand himself. ' Now then, dada,' said he, addressing him in his own iialect, ' what god do you worship ? ' ' Burra Deo, Maharaj,' replied the old man, grinning Tom ear to ear. ' Well, then, hold your hand up and swear, " Burra Deo ka kirria." ' ' Burra Deo ka kirria,' repeated the old man solemnly, lolding up his hand. ' What's vour name ? ' 24 SBONEE. 'Bukloo.' ' How old are you ? ' ' How can I say, Maharaj ? — about twelve or thirteen years maybe — ' This from an old fellow of seventy-five or eighty elicited a burst of laughter, but Fordham interposed. ' How often have you seen the bamboo flower ? ' 'Twice, Maharaj, and a third approaches.' ' Put him down as seventy-five,' said Fordham to the serishtadar. ' Now go on and teU us what you know of the boundary of the village.' ' I knew it, Maharaj, when there was not an acre of ground on its banks under the plough. On either side for a quarter of a mile towards the villages was waste, and used for herding cattle. The brook ran where it does now : there has been no change.' ' There, see, my lord,' burst forth the fiery old Pathan ; ' it is true, the Gond speaks the truth ! ' ' Who gives him two khundies of land for kodoo, rent free ? ' glibly insinuated the Pouwar. A snort from the indignant Khan was followed by an injunction from the serishtadar to keep silence before the hakim. ' Do you know the palas tree and the semul tree at the two bends of the nullah ? ' ' Ho, Maharaj.' ' Beema Putail declares that his boundary runs in a straight line across, and that the nullah used to flow in that direction till it was diverted by Oomrao Khan, the present malgoozar's grandfather — is it true ? ' ' It is true, and it is not true, Maharaj. I knew tlie Khan sahib's grandfather, and Beema Putail's great-grand- father, and neither of them turned the brook ; it was a greater than either of them did it — it was,' continued the DOONGERDEO. 23 old man, lowering his voice to a solemn and mysterious whisper — 'it was Doongerdeo who did it. The nullah flowed on both sides of the land. So I have heard my fathers say ; and the land was an island sacred to him. In the midst of it stood an enormous semul tree, where the Gond people laid their offerings, and where the souls of our ancestors hved ; but one day Soojahut Khan, the father of Oomrao Khan, cut down the semul to make himself a large canoe for the tank, and since then there has been ill-feeling about this land. Doongerdeo dried up one channel of the nullah, and the place was no longer sacred ; for long no one would go near it. At last the cattle grazed there, and then Suka Putail, the great-grandfather of Beema Putail, laid claim to it, and there has been war about it ever since : but Doongerdeo dried up the nullah — my people have said it.' There were varied expressions at this old legend amongst the listeners. Not a few believed in it, for tales of wonder were not uncommon in a land of forest and mountain, peopled by superstition with woodland fays and deities. Fordham was amused with the tale, though in his own mind he was of opinion that the channel had been diverted by natural causes, not infrequent in the rainy season. The Pathan malgoozar's face showed a mixture of contempt and somewhat of disgust at the compromising nature of the evidence, but a smile gradually came over it at the mention of the tree having caused the feud, for he remembered the canoe as a boy ; it was now rotten and sunk, but it had been the finest donga ^ in the district. Beema Putail was half fiightened at the supernatural ' A dug-out canoe. 26 SCONEE. part of the story, and half disgusted at the evident cre- dence it obtained. ' Let my lord order a punchayet ^ on it,' at last he exclaimed. ' Nay,' said the Pathau, ' let Beema Putail put his hand on his son's head and walk over the boundary he claims.' ' Well,' remarked Fordham, ' I think the punchayet will be the best plan. Will you agree to one, Wuzeer Khan ? ' ' Ghureeb-Purwar, I will do whatever you advise.' ' Well, name one, Beema.' ' Earn Lall Seyt, Khodawund.' ' Well, Wuzeer Khan, do you agree ? ' ' Without doubt, my lord ; Eam Lall Seyt is a good man and a just, and urdike the rest of his caste. May the curse of the Prophet light on them ! ' he muttered in an undertone, as he remembered sundry cash transactions with the banker caste, of which Eam Lall was a member. ' Put down Eam Lall Seyt as sir-punch. Now, Wuzeer Khan, name another.' ' Bakm- Mahomed Khan.' ' His wife's sister's husband. I object, my lord,' cried Beema. ' Well, then, Eaheem Khan, of Bitlee ? ' demanded the other. ' Very well, I agree,' said the Ponwar, adding, sotto voce, ' He's the same religion, but they're reputed to dis- like each other.' ' Now, Beema, another on your side.' ' Nuncoo Putail, of Khapa.' ' No, no,' cried the Pathan ; ' you lent him three hun- ' A jury or board of arbitration, usually cousislinp of five, viz. four members and a sir-punch or president. THE PUNCH A YET. 27 dred rupees for his daughter's marriage, and do you think he will give fair j udgment ? ' Beema appealed to Fordham, but was told he must name some one to whom his opponent would agree, so after great wrangling they chose a Gond. Then the Pathan named another Gond, who was accepted without demur, both sides apparently having faith in the simple honesty of the aborigines. Finally, Beema proposed another Ponwar, who, after some discussion, was ac- cepted. And so the arbitration stood as follows. One Mahomedan and one Ponwar, twoGonds, and a Mahajun, or banker, for sir-punch, or president. Orders were then passed for the summoning of the arbitrators, and the court closed for the day. ' I am afraid it is rather late for the hog,' remarked Fordham, looking at his watch ; ' however, we can but try, though we have some little distance to ride. Allans, boot and saddle ! ' ' Are we sure to find them soon ? ' asked Milford. ' Pretty certain. There are few places in this district where you can ride pig, and we are going to one of the best. There are some sugar-cane fields, in which they lie sometimes for days together, and there is a clear run of about two miles before they can get into thick cover ; but it is ticklish riding over black cotton soil for the first mile : after that we come on a bed of laterite, which is first-rate.' Here the old jemadar came in and whispered some- thing to his master. ' Ah ! I quite forgot, Milford ; do you mind putting up with small game to-day and leaving the pig for the morning ? ' 'Ko, not in the least. I am ready for anything.' ' Well, then, I must tell you I want a live adult 28 SEONEE. male of the rilj-face, or barking deer, for my menagerie, and so I gave orders for a small hill, which is supposed to contain one or two of these animals, to be surrounded by nets on three sides and driven on the fourth. We will take spears, in case we get a tough customer like a panther or hyena in the nets.' The horses were already saddled, and a few minutes sufficed for the sportsmen to don their shikar suits. Fordham looked with interest at the bran-new guns in their glossy cases which his young companion had brought out, but there was no time to lose in looking over all the latest improvements ; so he turned to his own weather- beaten rifles, every piece of which had its story to tell of hair's-breadth escapes and stirring scenes, and his eye brightened, and his heait warmed towards them as he thought that the finest battery modern skill could turn out would hardly replace his old, well-tried friends. ' I shall take this with me to-day,' he said, turning to Nusseer EHian, and tapping a long single-barrelled rifle. ' You are in disgrace, my friend, since you missed the man-eating tiger at Sirekha ; but we will give you a chance now and then of retrieving your character.' ' That's a killing-looking weapon,' remarked Milford, as he noticed its great length, and the heaviness of the metal. ' Yes ; as a rule it carries very truly, but my faith was shaken in it the other day,' rejoined Fordham. ' I had been out after a tiger at Sirekha, at the confluence of the Hirrie river with the Ban Gunga, and after much toil came upon him, lying under a clump of bamboo. I was particularly anxious to get him, for he had lately taken to man-eating, and, as he lay looking at me with his head between his paws, I foolishly laid down the double rifle I had in my hand, and took up ' Plugger,' thinking WATER FOWL. 29 to brain him as he lay, and for the first time the weapon played me false, or rather, I should say, my own eye and hand, for, after all, it is httle a shooting-iron can do if the aimer's hand shakes.' Their route from the camp lay along the edge of the tank — a sheet of water which in England would pro- bably be called a lake — and the younger Englishman was greatly interested in the variety of water-fowl which, most of them new to him, dotted its surface or which sported along it's banks. Wild ducks in countless num- bers tlironged the placid bosom of the waters, or circled round and round in the air preparatory to settHng down — along the edges stalked long-legged cranes — the graceful sarus,^ with his crimson head and stately carriage, towering above the smaller storks and ibises around him. Here and there a solitary heron stood motionless, watch- ing for an unwary fish. Stilts and sandpipers hunted along the oozy margin for their food, and the elegant pheasant- tailed, golden-necked jacana glided swiftly over the leaves of the water lilies. ' Look,' said Fordham, pointing to a clear patch of water, out of the midst of which a slender-pointed head like that of a serpent rose, looked round for a second, and then withdrew again, to be raised afresh a few yards further. ' What is it ?— a snake ? ' asked Milford. ' No, not a snake, but a snake-bird. It is a most ex- traordinary creature, a very handsome species of diver ; ^ in the morning you may often see it perched on a stone, with its wings spread out like a Prussian Eagle, basking in the sun and looking the essence of stupidity, but in the Avater they are most wary birds, generally ' Griis Aniiffotie. ■ Plotus mclanogastcr. 30 SEONEE. swimming with the body submerged, and it is little use shooting at them, for, in addition to tlie very small mark they afford, they dive at the flash like an American loon ; they have beautiful plumes which, in some parts of the country, are considered emblems of nobility like those of the heron.' A large batch of teal now came whirling over their heads, and fell plump like a shower of shot into the lake ; at the same instant, with a sound like the whizz of an arrow as it passes close to the ear, darted a bhyri, or peregrine falcon, but this time the teal were too quick for him, and the disappointed hawk soared, on and upwards in his swoop, and passed over to the other side. By this time the horsemen had neared the end of the tank, and surmounting a slight slope, covered with low beyr bushes, they came in sight of the hill to be driven, which lay jutting out from a low range which bounded the horizon. ' Hist ! ' whispered Fordham, ' there is a chikara just within range. Now, Milford, try your luck.' The graceful little gazelle^ was unconsciously nibbling some of the tender shoots, and had not as yet noticed the party. Milford seized his glossy Purdey, fresh from its case, and, eagerly aiming, fired. The gazelle bounded high in the air, and went down the slope at a pace which showed that not much damage had been done. The young sportsman blushed with disappointment and vexation, but Fordham assured him a chikara was no easy mark for a beginner, and he would soon get over the little excitement that always prevails at first. And then, as they went on, he related several anecdotes of his own failures in years gone by. ' Gazella Bmnettii. NETTING A HILL. 31 On arriving at the hill they found the nets all arranged, and the beaters waiting. ' You must not consider this poaching business as an introduction to Indian sports, Milford,' remarked his com- panion. ' This is merely to gratify my mania for collecting living specimens of animals, and I find that if I trust to the natives to trap them, they invariably hurt the poor things in some way. Now, look here, these are long fishing nets, strong enough to hold the creatures I want, but you can never be certain in this district that the smallest copse does not contain a tiger or other savage animal, and therefore I warn you to look out. Hyenas are very common in such places as this ; consequently I have given each net- watcher a spear. I shall guard this run myself, as I see some tracks here of rib-faced deer, kakur or bherki as the natives call them. You take the next. Nusseer Khan, who has got the end net to the left ? it's a likely run.' ' That one-eyed shikaree from the Putail's village, my lord.' ' Oh ! that braggart ; he won't do much even with a hyena. Now tell the beaters to begin.' Some minutes elapsed before a messenger could get round to the back of the hiU where the beaters were assembled, and during the interval the two Englishmen hid themselves as much as possible behind bushes, and awaited the advance. The nets were placed on supports, so as give way with an animal of the size of the kakur and fall over him, and were partially hidden by light, feathery branches of the aonla tree,i planted here and there in front. Milford, to whom all was new and fresh, felt intensely excited as the faint sound of drums ' Phyllanthus emblica. 32 SEONEE. and shouts came, borne by the breeze which swept over the hilL Then birds of all kinds came flying over ; the chattering and screaming latora,^ or buflf-magpie, first attracted his notice. Then a jungle-fowl rose with a whirr and swept over his head ; then a peacock with a magnificent train — ^how his fingers itched to pull a trigger at it as it passed ; then another and another ; out dashed a liare, and fell into Fordham's net, but, not being heavy enough to bring it down, it was frightened back. As Milford watched he thought he could see something moving cautiously through the bushes, something with reddish hair ; his heart beat faster as he thought it might be a tiger or panther. However, his doubts were soon set at rest when a beautiful little deer stepped out of the dense copse, and advanced cautiously, now and then stopping with uphfted forefoot to listen to the approaching beaters. It was about three feet or so in length, and of a reddish chestnut colour, low in the fore-quarters; but its chief peculiarity lay in its head, which was unlike anything Milford had seen before. From the mouth projected two sharp little tusks curved downwards, the skin between the eyes was puckered up into longitudinal ridges, whence comes its name of rib-faced. Above each eye rose a bony pedicle, covered with skin and hair, to the height of three or four inches, and on each of these was a short two-pronged horn. These deer are not uncommon all over India in forest lands, but they are very shy, solitary animals, seldom found even in pairs. In captivity they get very tame, and evince most extraordinary freaks of appetite, eating meat fi-eely, and even gnawing bones. They are very good eating. The little animal was advancing with all the caution ' Dendrocitfa rufa. AN UNKXI'ECTED IiO.\H. 33 of a prowling lynx, when one of tlic foremost beaters ilunasse(l on with ponderous but silent strides hito the thicket. This was the young man's first chance of meeting with one of the feline race, and his heart beat a little faster than ordinary as he kept a sharp look-out, in hopes of turning out the wounded panther. At last Bussunta struck the end of her trunk upon the ground with a hollow sound, and lifted it high out of harm's way. ' Look out, sahib ! ' remarked the mahout ; ' the elephant smells the " tendua." ' Milford's feelings rose to the highest pitch of expecta- tion when Sheykha, quietly pointing to the left, said ' There he is, sahib, but he is dead.' So he was, lying stiflF and cold with two bullets through his ribs. It was a disappointment to the young man, who expected some fun. However, he was not of a jealous disposition, and the next moment he was off the elephant, and examining the panther with curiosity and interest ; he was a magnificent animal of the larger variety, and the boy envied Sheykha his good luck in coming across him. A young dhaman tree was quicklj'^ felled and stripped of its lateral branches, and the feet of the pard being tied together, the pole was passed under them, and four stout young fellows canried him off to the camp. ' Now, what are we to do, Sheykha ? ' asked the yoiuig sportsman. ' Is tltere any chance of anything on oiu" way home ? ' ' Allah only knows,' rejoined the old man, ' where the wandering tiger will rest or the sambur hides from the noonday sun, and there are both of them in the hills around us. But if your honour does not mind a circuit of a few miles, there is a little hill, chilled by the Gonds " Mullol Mutta," or the hare's hill, where we may with JUNGLE FLOWERS. 49 your lionour's good fortune get a bear. It is too late to look for the sambur as tliey return from their nightly forays ; you must intercept them before the day breaks, and the moon is yet too young to be of use ; but a bear we might find in the caves.' ' Come along, then, by all means,' exclaimed the impetuous youth ; ' en avant, en avant ! ' ' Have you got any fireworks in the howdah, Akbar Ali ? ' asked the hunter of the mahout. ' There are a few " anars " ^ in the locker under the back seat,' was the reply. ' Good ! we may need them, for at times a bear is not easily dislodged from a cave without a cracker or two.' The morning was still fresh and pleasant, and the breeze cool, though the sun was now well up, and the route lay through pretty country, undulating and wooded in parts, park-like, with here and there a stream mean- dering through the fields that lay between village and village. As there was not much chance of game in such a country, Milford beguiled the time by taking note of such plants and shrubs as were new to him, and the howdah was fast filling with branches and sprays of flowers. Along the banks of the nullahs the carounda ^ was bursting forth into blossom, its starry petals remind- ing him strongly of the jessamine ; the chmbing aspara- gus ^ was filling the air with its fragrance ; the plant sacred to the Gonds, who call it the tree of Narbode ; and the splendid flowers of the variegated kuchnar * re- sembling huge pelargoniums made gay the scene. Milford was about to pluck a bunch of curious ' A kind of squib. ' Carissa Carandas. ' Asparagus racemos%jis. ' SavJiinia varieyaia. 50 SEONEE. velvety beans, which hung from a creeper twined round a tree, when Sheykha hurriedly stopped him. ' JSTay, sahib, nay, don't you touch that ; your fingers will itch all day if you do. That is the kawanch ; ^ nobody touches that except for medicine.' Milford recognised in the native name the cowhage or cowitch, with which, as a schoolboy, he had played several mischievous tricks. Mullol Mutta now appeared in view, and the mounted orderly was sent off at a gallop to get a suffi- cient number of beaters from the village. The hill was a mass of volcanic rock, full of crevices and caves, and was reputed a favourite liu-king-place for bears, not only on account of the recesses in the rocks, but for the numbers of mohwa trees ^ in the neighbourhood, the sweet succulent flowers of which are particularly tempting to Bruin and his tribe ; and, though it was rather early yet for the flower, still there was a chance of the animals being in residence. The beaters were a long time in assembling, and lililford could not resist going up the hill a bit to recon- noitre. Azim Khan, one of the peons, and two or three Gonds followed, and after a few minutes' scrambling tliey all found themselves on a huge trap boulder, from which a commanding view could be had of the village, on the outskirts of which they could see the men mustering. Having satisfied himself that there was really some- thing done in the way of collecting men, Milford began to look about him. The boulder on which he and his followers stood seemed as though it had formed a part of another equally large mass, which was still connected with the main ' Dolichos pruricus. Carpopogon pruriens, Roxb. ' Bassia Inlifolia. A RISKY SHOT. 51 portion of the liill. The -whole was one of those curious natural freaks not uncommon in the overlying trap for- mation of the Satpura range, in which it appeared as though some volcano had burst through the upper crust, heaving great masses of igneous rock above the surface of what then may have been but barren lava beds, now decomposed by the wear and tear of ages into a fertile soil, covered with well-cultivated cornfields and verdant pastures. There was a deep irregular fissure between the two rocks, the corresponding indentations of which proved that, at one time, the masses had been one piece, subsequently separated by some convulsion of nature. As Milford was peering down the dark chasm he was startled by a savage growl, and, at the same instant, he perceived a pair of greenish eyes glaring at him out of the gloomy recesses of the cave. Impidsively he presented his rifle, and fired both barrels rapidly. The hastiness of the act rather startled him, on a moment's reflection, for he had no other gun with him, and now he had emptied both barrels, leaving himself totally un- prepared for a charge. The only thing to be done under the circumstances was to reload at once, when he found, to his dismay, that his ramrod, which was rather loose in the barrel, had dropped down the chasm at the time he fired. But not a sound was to be heard — all was still. Sending a man down for another gun, he waited im- patiently for his retm-n, when, seizing the fresh weapon, he ventured to the edge of the fissm-e again, and peered down. All was quiet, and, as his eyes got accustomed to the gloom, he thought he could see a dusky object extended below. Stones were thrown down, when, all at once, arose a shout from the Gonds, ' Asol na peela ! Asol na peela ! ' (bear's cubs ! bear's cubs !) and two little black, shaggy creatures rushed out, and began 52 SEONEE. tumbliiifif downhill. A bright little axe flew from the hand of one of the Gonds, and one of the pair fell brained ; the other got into a hole. It is astonishing with what accuracy these people use their little hatchets. Although we have never seen any- thing approaching to the marvellous feats of the North American Indians, as recoi-ded in the pages of Cooper and other writers (which, if not exaggerated, certainly emulate the Chinese knife-trick, and would make an antagonistic Omahaw, Sioux, or Pawnee an awkward customer to tackle with a regulation sword), still we have seen a Gond knock over a hare at full speed with a celerity and certainty of aim which would make one decidedly object to stand the test of a shy at one's own head. Milford was rather annoyed at the fate of the poor little fellow, who was not much bigger than a Skye terrier ; he would rather have secured him aHve. However, there was a chance of getting his brother out of the cave, or rather crevice, into which he had crept, and so he ventured in. The crevice narrowed inwards like the mould of a wedge, and he had not far to go in before he found young Bruin, like a frightened child, Avith liis head well stuffed into the corner ; from which he was lugged out by his hind legs, snarling and snapping in impotent rage, most anmsing in such a small creature. The Gonds in the mean time had dragged out the mother, who, luckily for her assailant, had been shot through the brain. Milfoi-d had quite got over the disappointment of the morning now ; at all events he would not go back empty- handed, and quite felt like a mighty hunter. But he had still more in store for him. The beaters had arrived at the hill, having started off BEATING UP BRUIN. S3 at a run when they heard the shots and the shouts of the Gonds chasing the young bears. Sheykha now pro- posed that they should beat the southern end of the hill, where there were some likely dens. It was very probable that the old male bear was in one of them, and it was a matter of consideration to kiU him, as he was reported to be a ' pucca budzat,' which may be translated ' a thorough bad lot,' having severely mauled an old woman of the village the preceding mohwa season. At the base of the hill ran a smaU gravelly nullah, on the opposite bank of which, and immediately facing the caves, Milford was posted, Sheykha guarding a corner a httle further off, in case he broke out in that direction. Sheykha had suggested that the sahib should mount his elephant, and thus be in a position of safety, but the mahout said that Bussunta, though steady as a rock with tigers, had a special aversion to bears and pigs, and could not be brought to face them steadily ; so Milford decided on standing on the edge of the nullah. The beat began, and came on merrily — jovial fellows the Gonds are at this kind of work ; laughter and shouts, uncouth yells as any unfortunate hare or small deer broke out of cover, practical jokes upon each other, and unrestrained mirth if any of the party came to any trifling mishap — and so on they came. But Sheykha had so ordered the beat, that between ten men of the village he placed one of the peons or camp followers, who were supphed with the ' anai-s ' to be thrown into the caves which abounded. Several of these missiles had been sent fizzing and smoking down the crevices in the rocks with- out much effect ; but at last one must, have hghted just on Bruin's nose, for, with a most astounding roar, which caused a universal stampede, he burst out of his den, and came blundering down the hill just in front of Milford. 54 SEONUE. The young sportsman's nerves were strung to the highest pitch. This was the first time he had been openly opposed to a savage beast, and it seemed likely to be a combat a outrance, for the bear had seen him, and, with a surly growl, was coming straight at him, and there was nothing for it but to trust to good shooting. Of his two guns one was useless, he having dropped his ramrod down upon the she-bear, and a Gond stepping on it in the dark had snapped it in two. His other gun was some inches shorter in the barrel, so its ramrod was of no use, and he was as yet too raw a woodsman to have thought of carrying a spare loading rod — a thing lie never forgot afterwards. When the bear was about half-way down the hill, he stopped for a moment, as if undecided whether to go straight at the young EngUshman, or branch off down the track, which would have led him to the corner guarded by old Sheykha. Milford took advantage of the pause, and after a steady aim fired. Bruin received the shot with a roar, dancing about for a second or two on his hind legs, and then quite made up his mind to charge his assailant, which he did with a vengeance, roaring as if he were the combined mouthpiece of the whole tribe. But it was not an old woman picking mohwa flowers that he had to deal with this time, and he received a second shot, which tumbled him headlong do^vn the hill into the little gravelly nullah. Picking himself up he held gallantly on, and matters were assuming a serious aspect for Milford, who was trying to reload as fast as possible. Azim Khan drew his knife and seemed inchued to stand b}^ his master, and Akbar Ali, the mahout, urged Bussunta in hopes of frightening off the savage brute. At this moment the old shikaree rushed up, and throwino- himself on his knees levelled his long matchlock, steadvino- A CRITICAI. MOMENT. 55 it on a little forked rest which depended from the barrel. Calmly he waited, as the fierce animal scrambled over the stony bed of the stream, gnashing his jaws as flakes of foam and blood flew from his fangs. There was a little slope for him to come up, and then the old hunter knew he should get a good aim at the V-shaped mark on his chest, the most vital spot. The little pan was full of priming, the match was burning brightly, now^ was the time. A fizz and a loud report, and the bear was hurled backwards into the ravine, with two bullets planted just under his thi'oat. MUford gave a sigh of relief. He had heard that it was not as a rule allowable for shikarees to carry their own arms or shoot when out with their master's, but on this occasion he was thankful to old Sheykha for having brought his matchlock, and for having used it with such deadly eflect at such a critical moment; and he learnt several lessons during the morning's work which he did not forget in after life, not the least of which was never to go out without a stout loading rod to suit all his guns. By the time MUford got back to camp it was late, and the sun had burnt his ruddy English cheeks to a fiery red, which in course of time would turn into the bronzed hue of the hardy shikaree. He was rapidly getting into jimgle ways. Naturally a fearless horseman, the six weeks' rough riding with Fordham — who could ride a horse barebacked, jump off and on, and change his stirrups at a gallop, and fire a deadly shot at full speed — had done him much good. Many a time would he have pulled up as a blue bull dashed down some break-neck place, had not Fordlaam shown him the way, shouting tliat where a blue bull could go a good horse could follow. He was also learning much from his elder and humane 56 SEOMEE. companion — to spare the doe with the tender fawn, and to let even the proud stag go when there was no necessity for killing him. Fordham's creed was that the life of God's creatures was not to be taken without just cause or need — for food, for defence, or for the protection of life and property. And yet he was a thorough sportsman at heart, delighting in overcoming difficulties and dangers. Having, as he said, no wife or child, and very few kith or kin to deplore his loss, he hesitated not at any time to expose his hfe if there seemed to be a necessity for it. But, as we have before said, no hunter was more cautious or careful of preserving the lives of his followers than he was, and he would sooner face a tiger himself than risk the chance of exposing a single beater. Milford found on his arrival that his companion had breakfasted long ago, and was busy at his office work ; so, interrupting him just for a few minutes to tell him of the good fortune of the morning, the young man went off for his bath and a good sohd repast to follow. Although the season was advancing, the air was still cool, and under the wide-spreading mango trees, which covered the tents, and shed an imchequered shade over the ground for hundreds of yards around, it was quite pleasant sitting outside ; so Milford took a book, and a cigar, and an easy chair, under one of the trees. We cannot say that he read much ; the early hour at which he had risen, the subsequent exciting events of the morning, the bath, the breakfast, and now the cigar, had all combined to make him drowsy, which was somewhat assisted by the mono- tonous note of the little red-headed barbet ^ (the copper- smith as he is called by the natives), which sounds like the steady strokes of a smith's hammer on a copper kettle. ' Mcgalaima pAilijypensis. Xant/iolama indica (Jerdon). THE GREEN PIGEON. 57 The mellow call of the golden oriole now and then re- sounded through the grove, and occasionally, hke a bright meteor, the bird itself would dart through the gloom of the overhanging branches of the mango trees. There was a large tree of a species of fig not far from the tent door, and it was now in finiit, if one could dignify its' small berries by such a title ; but the birds appreciated it greatly, and it swarmed with paroquets, hornbills, and starlings, all apparently enjoying themselves in good company. Milford's cigar had nearly dropped out of his lips, as his book had akeady found its way to the ground, when with his coming dreams was mingled a sweet, soothing sound, as of a plaintive call on a flute ; he had a sort of idea it belonged to a bird, but he was too sleepy to attend to it, when he was roused by Fordham's calUng out to him — ' Ernest ! we have got short commons for dinner, and there are some green pigeon on the pakur ^ tree ; will you shoot some for the cook r ' That worthy functionary, whilst cogitating over an extra side dish, had caught the tell-tale whistle, and rushed off to his master, and now he was aU expectancy, ladle in hand, waiting to pilot Milford to the spot. The green pigeon ^ of the Indian jungles is one of the most beautiful of birds. Every shade of delicate, well- matched colour blends in its plumage, the prevailing tints being green and pale yellow, with lilac and ashy grey ; its eyes are most lovely, the irides are brilliant carmine with an outer ring of intense blue. But there is nothing harsh about the colouring of the bird, everything is subdued and harmoniously blended, and, unlike most other birds ' Ficus infecioria. ' Crocopus phosnicopterus. 58 SEONEE. of gay plumage, its notes are sweet and plaintive, not the coo of the dove or ordinary pigeon, but a mellow, flute- like whistle, delightful to listen to. They are essentially frugivorous birds, and in action on a tree are not unlike parrots, as they move about plucking the berries of the various kinds of figs which form the staple of their diet. Wlien Milford appeared with his gun, which he had to get out of his tent, the knight of the ladle led the way in great excitement, and, halting under the fig tree, pointed mysteriously up into the thick foliage. There were so' many birds of sorts, that Milford was puzzled to know what to fire at. The words ' green pigeon ' warned him to look out for something of that colour. But as yet his eye lighted only on sprightly rose-coloured mynas, awk- ward-looking hornbills, and sombre-hued cuckoos. At last he noticed one as it reached over to peck at a cluster of berries, and raising his gun he fixed, and to his as- tonishment brought down three. The left barrel disposed of two more as they flew out, and the delighted bawarchee gathered them up with great glee. But Mil ford's heart rather smote him as he looked at the beautiful creatures, and he thought that after all he would have rather done without the pigeon pie, in which they were destined to make their next appearance. As he walked slowly back to the tent, admiringly stroking the soft plumage of one of the birds, he observed a new arrival in camp — a wild-looking Gond, Avith a basket, and a letter in Persian characters. As the man stood on one leg, and said something about the ' Burra sahib,' Milford took the letter to Fordham, who handed it over to the serishtadar to read. Before the monotonous recital was finished, Fordham jumped up with an exclama- tion, ' How lucky ! the very animal I want, and alive too ! Have him in ; bring in the basket.' THE PANGOLIN. 59 A peon returned with the Goud and his burden, which consisted of a basket with a net tied over it, and inside was an extraordinary-looking creature, with a snout and a long taU — but body, tail, and legs all covered with great scales like those of a fish. ' That's a queer-looking lot,' remarked Milford ; ' what is it ? ' ' Why, it's a pangolin,-^ a scaly ant-eater,' rejoined his companion, who was kneehng beside the basket. 'I have had thern brought to me dead, but this is the first Uveone I have got hold of.' The animal in question had tightly rolled himself up into a compact ball, and consequently did not show to advantage ; but after being left alone awhile he uncoiled. In colour he was dirty-white, and in length about 2| feet, including his tail. His scales were very fish-like; 'in fact,' continued Fordham, who had been giving his young companion some account of the beast, ' in fact, he is called by the natives in some parts bun rohoo, which means the jungle carp.' ' What do they eat ? ' asked MUford. ' Well, that puzzles me, how to keep him ahve. Their food consists of ants, and principally white ants ; they have no teeth, so there is no fear of his snapping your fingers off. We must do our best to find provender for him, and I doubt not we shall succeed. A few pice a day will bring him ants enough ; but a natm-alist friend of mine has had great difficulty in keeping one alive, even for a short tima' The Gond suggested that a little water should be given to it, as he had carried it far, and the sun had been hot. Milford ran for a saucer ; and, filling it, placed it in ' Manis pentadactyla. 60 SEONEE. the basket. They then retired a short distance. After a httle while the pangohn uncoiled itself, and, in an instant, its long flexible tongue was lapping up the water with a rapidity that raised a froth on the surface. But when any of the bystanders approached it turned itself into a ball again. Sheykha now came up with the panther's skin, and the skull, jfrom the latter of which all the superfluous flesh had been removed, preparatory to boiling it for its further cleansing. ' That's a grand panther, Sheykha ! ' remarked Ford- ham ; ' why, his skull is like that of a tigress ! ' ' Yes, sahib,' replied the old man, ' he is the biggest I have ever killed, and I have shot a good many in my time. But there is a curious thing about this panther, sahib ; look at these holes in his head.' ' Well, those are strange, certainly,' said Fordham, examining the skull. On either side of the occipital ridge were several holes, one as large as a sixpence, through which a probe would have passed to the brain. They were evidently carious, and the result of disease ; but in other respects the animal seemed a healthy one, and wa:s in first-rate condition. Fordham told Sheykha to clean the head carefully for him, promising him a present for it, as it would make a valuable addition to his collection on account of the pecuharity just mentioned. The rest of the day was spent by Milford in trying to make his young bear drink milk, but with small success. The little brute was as savage as his elders, and woidd do nothing but walk to the end of the string by which he was attached to a tent-peg, roll head over heels, and walk in a contrary direction, when a similar somersault would be performed. And he whined and wailed just like a child ; one might have mistaken it for the puling HEARING YOUNG CUBS. 61 of some villager's brat. Milford was going to give it pure cow's milk, when Fordham advised him not to do so, but to mix it with one half the quantity of water. ' The great mistake people make,' he said, ' who try to rear ^vild animals is to give them what they think is best for them, viz. good fresh cow's milk, and they wonder that the httle creatures pine away and die, instead of flourishing on it. Cow's milk is too rich ; buffalo's milk is better, but both should be mixed with water. It does not matter what the animal is, tiger cub, fawn, or baby monkey, all require the same caution.' Fordham 's experience in the nursing of wild animals had been extensive, and he had at that time a pet tiger, now full grown, whose ideas of milk were so con- nected with his early days that he still insisted on having it in a bottle, and his daily allowance was always ad- ministered to him in that way ; in fact, he would not have it in a pan, and always showed his disapprobation of such a proceeding by gravely putting his huge paAv into the dish and upsetting it. In the evening, after his office labours were over, Fordham suggested a walk along the borders of the neighbouring j ungle, by way of getting up an appetite for dinner ; so off they started, with their guns over their shoulders, and one attendant carrying a spare rifle. Their route lay over some fields, beyond which stretched a belt of grazing land plentifully dotted over with bushes, whilst the distance was bounded by a small range of low hills, and it was towards the base of these our friends were bound, in the hope of picking up a young peacock or two, which, at this time of the year, after having fattened on the aromatic buds of the jugnee, are as good eating as Christmas turkey. The larder in camp was not well supplied, and a stray gazelle or bherki was also hoped C2 SEONEE. for. But fortune smiled on them, and something better was in store. The country behind them was an open plain for miles, frequented by herds of antelope, and some of them had been seen near the camp. Milford was questioning his companion about the best method of curing skins, with a view to sending his trophies of the morning home to his widowed mother, who, he knew, would prize them as her son's first victories, and Fordham was deep in an explanation of the method he most approved of, when he suddenly came to a stop, and di-ew his young comrade behind a palas tree which grew by the side of the path. ' Look there,' he whispered, pointing to what appeared like two black twisted sticks, projecting from the ground like the letter V. ' Yes, yes, what is it ? ' enquired his excited com- panion. ' Why, it's a black buck, lying in that small nullah ; and a grand fellow he is to judge by his horns. Now, Ernest, will you try your luck at stalking ? He does not see us, and if you walk straight up to him he must spring up and give you a clear running shot. He is not more than a hundred yards from us.' ' Xo, no,' answered Milford, ' it is yours ; you saw him first. I would rather see you tackle him ; besides which we want meat, and I might fail.' ' All right, I'll soon dispose of him. Now, Ernest, right through the eye ; — mark ! ' Fordham stepped out from the tree and gave a loud whistle, and, as the startled buck looked up, exposing his noble head as he did so, an ounce ball crashed through his dark eye to the brain, and he sank as he lay, to rise no moi'e. ' Twenty-two inch horns,' remarked Fordham, as he PEA-FOWL. 63 measured them off on his ramrod, whicli was graduated to feet and inches — a plan which he had adopted and found yery convenient. ' Nusseer Khan,' said he, turning to his follower, ' you have been sharp enough in making this fellow " halal," eh ! Do you remember the blue bull ; and how you and your companions wouldn't eat it ? Did you ever ask the Moulvie Sahib about that ? ' ' Khodawund,' replied the man, hanging his head, and looking foolish, 'we were idiots, and lost our meat. The Moulvie Sahib said you were right.' ' Of course I was right,' rejoined his master ; ' I know more of the Book than you people do, and nearly as much as the Moulvie Sahib. Now, you stay by this animal, and have him carried into camp before the hyenas get hold of him.' The friends walked on, Fordham having reloaded his rifle and left the shot gun with Nusseer Khan. ' I must take my chance at the pea-fowl with a single bit of lead,' he remarked ; ' it would not do for both of us to have but shot in our barrels if anything bigger than a hare starts up.' The ground was getting more stony, and much covered with beyr and palas bushes, the intervening spaces being sparsely cultivated. The prevailing crop was a species of dwarf sunflower, called by the native 'jugnee,' from the seeds of which they express an oil. Pea-fowl are very fond of the aromatic buds of this plant, and it improves both the condition and the flavour of the bird. The sun was fast going down, and the stillness of evening was settling over the country. The little night- warblers were beginning their sibilant notes in the bushes, and the crickets were trilling a merry roundelay in the grass, although a flood of golden light was still G4 SEOI^E. poured over the landscape, making the yellow fields of jugnee glow with a rich cadmium tint. ' Hist ! ' whispered Fordham ; ' there is a splendid old peacock. I am afraid he is rather tough for the table, but you may be sure he has some hens Tvith him, so I will take him with a ball, and you knock over a hen, Ernest ; or, better still, a young cock, as they rise. The peacock is a grand bird anywhere, especially is he the fit ornament of the quaintly clipped yew gardens of our old ancestral homes in England ; so majestic a creature seems as though he were solely made for such a purpose ; but we never see one, or hear the wild cry, " Hank ! Pa-oo ! Pa-oo ! ' without being taken back to the jungles, where we have spent so many happy days. Visions of grassy glades, lovely little glens, and flower-embedded streams rise before us, with the proud bird dancing before his mates, and spreading forth his myriads of azure eyes to tlie sun. On this occasion the peacock singled out by Fordham was unconsciously picking his way to the jugnee field when the deadly buUet laid his glories low. At the report, as Fordham had predicted, rose several hens and one young cock, the latter of which was cleverly knocked over by MiUbrd, who was a decent bird shot. They now rather regretted not having brought another attendant, for a couple of pea-fowl are rather an inconvenient load when one has to walk and shoot too. There was no string either, for Nusseer Khan carried the big wallet with all the odds and ends that are required on such occasions. However, Fordham was quite equal to the situation, for, drawing his kookrie, he severed the stem of a tough fibrous creeper, and, splitting it longitudinally, made withes of a yard in length, with which he bound the legs of the birds together, and tliey took it in turns to carry them. JUNGLE AVAENINGS. 65 Eight in front of them was a low liill, covered with scrub. This they crossed and struck down into a pretty httle glen. They agreed to walk down this for a short distance, and then strike back over the hill and make for camp. Here, however, they met with no success, not a bird or beast came in sight ; not that they particularly wished for them, for they had already reason to be satisfied with what they had got ; and so they strolled along without much care, talking as they went. The sun had gone down by this time, and darkness was creeping on apace. There is but little twilight in India. However, we are wrong in saying darkness was creeping on apace, for mingling with the rays of depart- ing day was the silvery light of the moon, now nearly at the full. ' There is a cattle track here somewhere,' remarked Fordham ; ' I have noticed it before. Ah ! here it is ; by following this we cut across the hill and come out right above our camp, and shall just get in in time to do justice to Chand Khan's green-pigeon pie.' The track was a gravelly path with thick bushes on either side, with here and there a tree ; it was not likely cover for anything except nylgaie. ' The pea-fowl were settling themselves to roost on the branches of the taller trees, to be well out of harm's way, and several times Fordham noticed that the loud cry of ' Hank ! Pa-o6 ! Pa-oo ! ' was raised. ' The birds are restless to-night,' he said ; ' some prowhng jungle cat, or maybe a panther, is disturbing them.' By this time they had reached the crest of the hill, and the white tents were visible in the distance as they lay embedded in the grove of mango trees. Fordham was giving his comrade some useful advice concerning F 66 SEONEE. the carrying of a spare loading rod, in reference to the incidents of the morning. The crisp gravel cracked under their firm footsteps, and the moonbeams were glinting on the bits of quartz and mica that lay strewn around. The twilight was nearly gone, and but a dull- red flush Hngered in the western sky. Now and then a nightjar would start up with his peculiar erratic flight from almost under their feet, as he lay squatted close to the ground. The monotonous cry of his species resounded on all sides, resembling the oft-repeated words ' Chukoo ! chukoo ! chukoo ! ' Again burst forth the wild call of a peacock perched on a tree not far off. Fordham instinc- tively threw his rifle across his arm in readiness, knowing well that jungle warnings are not to be disregarded. But he said nothing to Milford, who unconsciously chatted away about the exploits of the morning. There was a slight rustle in the bushes before them, and in the next moment a magnificent tiger stood in the midst of the pathway, looking them full in the face. 'Steady, my boy,' muttered Fordham tlirough his teeth ; ' steady, my boy, flinch not a muscle.' His rifle had dropped into position to fire at once should the brute show any aggressive signs ; but he knew it would be folly to provoke an attack, and also that the jungle tiger will, if met boldly, be generally the first to give way. In the bright light of the moon the eyes of the beast glared like pale emeralds, and to Milford it seemed an age of agonizing suspense. But it was only for a few seconds. Another moment and he was gone, and they heard the rusthng of the branches as he bounded through the jungle. ' Thank God ! ' exclaimed the young fellow, with a long-drawn sigh of relief. * Wait a bit,' said his elder companion ; ' before we A NARROW ESCAPE. 67 go on send down a couple of bullets on the top of your shot ; we must be prepared ; the chances are he has made off, but there is no knowing. This is a nasty, ugly spot to meet such a brute in, and so unexpectedly too. I thought those pea-fowl did not call for nothing. Now,' continued he, seeing that the bullets were down, ' you keep close to me, but with your look-out to the right and rear. I will look out left and front as we go along. Speak not a word, but keep all yoiu: senses awake. Sometimes these brutes will make a detour and come in on you again a little further on. Now, allons — courage ! ' It seemed a weary trudge, that little quarter of a mile do^wn the hill and out through the belt of jungle, and right thankful were they when they stepped out once more on the open fields that lay between them and their camp. ' That was a close shave, Ernest,' was the first remark made by his companion. ' I'm uncommonly glad we're out of that ugly bit of jungle. If ever I felt inclined to take to my heels it was when that brute stood staring us in the face.' ' The worst thing ygu could have done, my boy,' rejoined Fordham ; ' he would have been down upon you like lightning. The best plan is to bear a bold front, and, though this has been your first meeting with the jungle king, it may not be your last if you stay long in these districts ; so be careful never to turn your back when you come face to face with a tiger.' ' Have you ever met them before in this way ? ' asked Milford. ' Yes, several times ; though never quite so close as our friend of this evenint?. On one occasion I was goincr down to Nagpore, and I missed a horse at Deolapar, so 68 SEONEE. the malgoozar said lie would take me on in his khanchar ^ to Chor Bowlee, where ray next nag was posted. OS we started about nine o'clock, a bright moonlight night, my friend the Pathan driving, and his game little bullocks v/ere trotting along at a rattling pace, when suddenly they stopped, and it was with the greatest difficulty their master could prevent them from bolting into the jungle. The cause for their alarm was a tiger, who had calmly taken possession of the road, and who seemed in no hurry to moveon, for he quietly squatted on his hams, waiting, I suppose, for the bullocks to tumble into his jaws. I believe if they had been allowed to bolt the tiger would have been at them at once ; but the stout young malgoozar held them with the power of a vice ; and I, thinking the situation demanded some sort of demonstration, fired one barrel of a light rifle I carried over the tiger's back. This seemed to astonish him, for .he jumped up with a deep ' Oumph ! ' and bounded into the thicket. On my return from Nagpore I met another tiger, a noted man-eater, at a place called Eookhur on the top of the Koraie Pass, and my horse bolted. It's a tigerish road that between Seonee and Kamptee. I have met them several times there, and have also come across them when out after deer, but on such occasions it has generally resulted in our becoming better acquainted, in a manner not quite to the poor tiger's advantage.' ' Have you ever seen a tiger kill a man ? ' asked Milford. ' Yes, I am sorry to say ; not one, but several. I will give you one story which will last us till we reach camp. It was the first accident of the kind I ever had, and it happened when I was younger than I no^v am hy about • A small country cart. THE MAN-EATER. 69 twelve or fifteen years. I was out in a very beautiful part of tlie Mundla district, on the look-out, for bara singha, or the twelve-tined red deer. There are a good many tigers there too, but not so many as the place has got credit for. But one of them whose beat happened to be near our camp was a noted man-eater. I was with a friend, a district officer, who had a fine elephant, and we hoped to get rid of this tiger as well as secure some fine antlers. Well, we went for him several times without success. At last one morning, my friend having office work to detain him, I went out alone on foot along the banks of the river to look for bara singha. A native shikaree from one of the villages accompanied me, and carried a spare rifle and ammunition bag. We had gone some miles without any success, but from some foot- prints my native friend was getting sanguine, and was pressing on through the brushwood on the river bank, when to our astonishment up got a tiger right in front of us. He was an old, mangy-looking brute, and from his appearance I had no doubt but that I had thus uncere- moniously forced myself into the presence of the man- eater we had been diligently searching for all these days. But then the circumstances were different, and I rather \vished myself out of the way at that present moment. However, the situation did not admit of much parleying. Catching tight hold of my dusky fi-iend, whose trembling limbs were on the turning point for flight, we stepped back pace by pace, keeping a front to our foe, who stealthily followed. At a little distance behind us was a good-sized tree, and I thought if we could once reach it we might get into a position of security. Nor Avas I Avrong in supposing that as long as we kept a brave front our cowardly enemy would follow at a respectful distance. Slowly retreating we at last reached the tree. 70 SEONEE. The shikaree was up like a monkey, nor was I long in following his example. It was not a moment too soon, for hardly had I settled myself on a branch about twelve feet from the ground when our man-eating friend made his appearance, sneaking along with his glaring eyes rolling in all directions to see whereabouts we were. I did not leave him long in doubt, for, as soon as I could get a steady shot, I sent a two-ounce ball crashing through his shoulder. Eoaring most horribly he retreated into a small patch of grass, where we could almost see him, and so, for a time, I kept up a vigorous cannonade on this patch. Every report at first was answered by a sullen roar, and then all was silent — no response to any of the shots. I then concluded that he must be dead. The river ran on the further side of the patch, and the country was tolerably open. I confess the thought of his having slipped away appeared to me impossible ; still I knew the necessity fcr caution. So, quietly getting down from the tree, we made our way speedily to the nearest village in hopes of getting some buffaloes, and before we got to it we fell in with a herd. My shikaree soon made a compact with the herdsmen, who for a couple of rupees promised to drive the tiger out of the patch with their animals.' ' Are buffaloes really so fearless of tigers ? ' asked Milford. ' I have read wonderful accounts of them, but did not know whether they were not travellers' tales.' ' No, they are quite coixect,' replied his companion. ' Buffaloes will attack and drive off a tiger, and. they not unfrequently save the lives of their keepers. Cows, on the other hand, are quite useless. But to return to my story. As I said before, the patch of grass into which the tiger retreated was just on the bank of the river, and T thought it highly probable that, if he were still alive, THli; SHIKAREE'S DEATH. 71 he would break out on the river side and try to cross it ; so I determined to be beforehand with him, and, accom- panied by the shikaree, crossed at a ford, and proceeded along the bank to a place opposite the patch of grass on the side we had left. There was not much scrub on the bank where we were, hardly enough to hide a hare, but the country sloped down towards the river, and the edge of the watershed was cut up into a lot of small channels by the action of the rains, mere ditches across which we leaped as we ran. I had cleared several of these with my eyes fixed on ahead, lest the brute should, on hearing the advance of the buSaloes, break his cover. We were nearly opposite his supposed lurking-place, and I had just sprung over one of these little nullahs, when a terrific roar and despairing shriek at my very ear electrified me. Trembling with excitement, I turned to see my poor shikaree down in the ditch, with the fiendish tiger worrying him. Quick as lightning, and quite regardless of consequences to my- self, I fired blindly at him. Whether I hit him or not it is difficult to say, but he left the poor fellow, and, spring- ing on to the opposite side of the ditch, stood looking at me. I was almost beside myself, and levelling full at his head fired again, but without deadly effect, for -he plunged down the bank of the river, and I was too sick at heart to follow him. I sprang to the assistance of my poor follower. It was useless, the man was beyond aid ; in fact death must have been almost instantaneous, and his head and face presented such a ghastly object that it haunted me for days-afiterwards. ' However, to cut my story short, for here we are at the tent door, the vicious brute had not much longer to live; on my return to camp, my friend eagerly joined me in a hunt for the man-eater, and he was soon found, ex- hausted and crippled from the wounds I had inflicted, 72 SEONEE. and was shot, and a nasty, mangy, ill-conditioned creature he was.' ' All man-eaters are mangy, are they not ? ' asked Milford. ' By no means,' answered Fordham. ' Old mangy tigers often take to man-eating, which they find easy work, but lots of man-eaters I have seen have had very glossy coats ; there is nothing in human flesh per se to cause manse or other disease.' So the friends entered their tents, and shortly afterr wards emerged ready for dinner. Chand Khan's pie was done ample justice to, and some fresh steaks from the black buck were not despised. The excitement of the evening had by no means damped the appetites of the hunters, but Milford could hardly look back to the glaring green eyes of the creature they had met but a short time before, and which made such a vivid impression on him, and couple with tJie recollection the tragic story related by his comrade, without a feeUng of thankfulness that his first meeting with the monarch of the jungle had passed over as harmlessly as it had done. Some of our readers may say ' Pooh ! what a tame affair ! they ought to have had a scrimmage.' Stout-hearted friend, reserve your judgment till you have, on a moonlight night in a dense jungle, found yourself face to face with a royal tiger! CHAPTEE ni. Old Shetkha was put on the trail of the tiger met by our friends in the httle hill near the camp, and he proceeded to make enquiries in the vil- lages round about as to the character of the animal ; for, strange though it may seem to the English reader that a tiger should have any special character beyond the general one for cruelty and cunning, it is nevertheless a fact that each animal has certain peculiarities of tempera- ment, which are well known to the villagei-s in the neigh- bourhood. They will tell j'ou that such a one is daring and rash ; another is cunning and not to be taken in by any artifice ; that one is savage and morose ; another is mild and liarmless. There are few villages ui the wilder parts of the 74 SEONEE. Seonee and Mundla districts without an attendant tiger, which undoubtedly does great damage in the way of destroying cattle, but which avoids the human inhabitants of the place. So accustomed do the people get to their unwelcome visitor, that we have known the boys of a village turn a tiger out of quarters which were reckoned too close, and pelt him with stones ; on one occasion, two of the juvenile assailants were killed by the animal they had approached too near. Herdsmen, in the same way, get callous to the danger of -meddling with so dreadful a creatm-e, and frequently rush to the rescue of their cattle when seized. On a certain occasion, one out of a herd of cattle was attacked close to our camp, and rescued single- handed by its owner, who laid his heavy iron-bound staff across the tiger's back, and, on our rushing out to see what was the matter, we found the man coolly dressing the wounds of his cow, muttering to himself, ' The robber, the robber ! my last cow, and I had five of them ! ' He did not seem to think he had done anything wonderful, and seemed rather surprised that we should suppose that he was going to let his last heifer go the way of all the others. It is fortunate for these dwellers in the backwoods that but a small percentage of tigers are man-eaters, perhaps not five per cent., otherwise village after village would be depopulated ; as it is, the yearly tale of human lives lost is a heavy one. Sheykha returned from his quest with the report that the tiger was one of the cunning sort, and that it was no use tying out baits for him, for he would come up and walk round the lure, sharpening his claws on the ground, and then would walk off; it had been tried over and over again. MiU'ord was inclined to disbelieve this latter part of SHEYKHA'S PBOPOSAL. 75 tlie story, but Fordliam told him it was quite credible, for he had himself known similar cases, and had seen the marks of the tiger's claws in the earth. 'Well, Sheykha, what do you propose? any chance with the elephant ? ' * My lord,' answered the old man, ' if your slave may speak, he would say, where can a hungry tiger be found in all this long strip of jungle? Whilst you are looking for him at one end he may be at the other, and, as he is so cimning, it is likely he will flee Uke a dove before a hawk when he hears the tread of the elephant. They tell me he has not killed for three days, so it is likely he will do so soon — this afternoon, or to-morrow perhaps ; and they also say he is a heavy feeder, never returning again to the carcase, for he was once wounded over a kill by a Gond. who sat up for him in a tree. If he eats well, he vpill drink at the Httle three-cornered tank on the other side of the hill, where your honour saw him, for there is no water nearer, and he will not go far from there. Then take the elephant.' ' I am afraid we must have patience, Ernest, and do as the old man advises,' said Fordham to his companion, who with the impetuosity of youth could hardly brook the delay. The old hunter keenly watched the disappointed look that came over the young man's eager face when he again spoke. ' Your slave has a petition. If the chota sahib will try an old shikaree's way of killing tigers, let him come with me this afternoon, and follow the herds. For the promise of a few rupees the herdsmen will take their cattle into the tiger's haunts, and then if he is hungry and takes one the sahib may by his good fortune get a shot.' 'Well, Ernest, what do you think of his proposal ? 76 SEONEE. You drive a herd of cows — not buflliloes, mind, they spoil sport — slowly through the jungle, until the tiger seizes one ; the rest will bolt, and whilst he is busily engaged in struggling with his victim, you creep up to within easy shooting distance, and secure him.' ' Well, that will be glorious fun ! By all means let us go,' eagerly replied the excited young fellow. ' I cannot go with you,' replied Fordham. ' Two of us would spoil sport. Let Sheykha take his matchlock, he may serve you at a pinch. The thing is not so danger- ous as it looks, and is often practised by native shikarees. There are only two or three points I would impress upon you ; always keep near a tree or stout bush, to dodge behind when the cattle bolt — for there will be a regular stampede if he comes out. Again, bvi very careful not to expose yourself in stalking him — take advantage of every bush, and, after you have fired, keep as still as a mouse, even though he should come towards your hiding-place ; if you are effectually concealed, he will be quite bewil- dered as to where the attack comes from, and will give you a second shot if the first does not settle hira. Above all, my dear boy, keep yourself quite cool. I want you to get self-reliant, and that is one reason why I don't go with you. You couldn't have a better guide amongst natives than old Sheykha — he and Soma, the Lebhana,^ are the most successful practisers of this way of killinor tigers. I have tried it, but disUke the monotony of wan- dering about all day in the jungle after a lot of cows, for frequently the attempt fails, and you have to go day after day before you succeed.' 'When are we to start .P ' said !Milford, looking at his watch ; ' it is now one o'clock.' Sheykha, on being appealed to, said that as soon as ' Soma, the iripiy. CHAMD KHAN'S OPINION. 77 the saliib had taken something to cat it would be time to go. Tigers often kill about four o'clock in the after- noon, and he had known them wait concealed in the midst of a herd, with fat kine wandering before their very noses, and they Avould not stir till about the evening, when the herd was on its way home, and then a straggling heifer or calf would fall a victim. ' Well, then, Ernest, I advise you to make a good tiffin before you start. Here! Koi hail tiffin! tiffin! sharp!' Away rau two or three men to stir up stout old Chand Khan. The sahib wanted his tiffin at once, and was going to kill the big tiger that nearly ate him and the chota sahib up the night before. 'Bah!' contemptuously replied the old fellow; 'is the sahib's gun a chowkeedar's staff that he should let a tiger eat him? Wasn't I Avith him in the Belaspore district when four tigers came out, and didn't the sahib knock over two of them with one gun right and left? Don't talk to me of tigers eating the sahib ; it's the sahib who eats the tigers, that's what it is ; ' and the fat old fellow, chuckling at his own conceit, stirred up a savoury curry preparatory to pouring it out into a dish. Chand Khan was a character in his way. Though he did all the cooking, he was nominally the khansamah, and was always respectfully addressed as such by the other servants, who knew that even the title khalifa jee, high though its origin, would in all probability fetch a crack over the head with a ladle ; and so khansamah jee he was. There never was a better cook, nor one who could make so much out of little, and in all Aveathers, under all circumstances. It did not matter how long the march, and whether the kitchen tent was up or not — Chand Khan could always, as his master said, make potatoes out of stones, and cutlets out of bark chips. 78 SEONEE. Milford was too excited to care much about tiffin, and on this occasion we are afraid Chand Khan's cuhntiry skill did not meet with that appreciation from the young man that it would have done had there not been a prospect of a tiger hunt that afternoon. . Sheykha had no need to complain of delay, for, barely giving himself time for a cutlet and a glass of cold water, the young sportsman appeared all ready for the encounter. ' That white liat of yours will never do, Ernest,' re- marked Fordham ; •■ why, that Brobdignagian mushroom, though first-rate for the sun, will be as plain to the tiger as a lighthouse on a cliff. Bide in it by all means, but take this dark-grey helmet of mine to put on when you get to yoiu: ground.' Milford acknowledged the force of his friend's remarks, for his hat was one of the largest-sized pith sunshades,^ a first-rate thing for howdah work, but fatal for stalking. He accepted Fordham's offer with thanks, and then having looked to his gims, amnmnition, &c., piloted by old Sheykha, the tyro in tiger hunting went off on his expedition. At the farthest point of the low hill, where they had met the animal the evening before, was a small village, and to this Sheykha rapidly led the way ; and, on amval, he assembled the head men for a palaver. The herds had been driven for pasturage to the open side of the village, in order to avoid the tiger, who was known to be lurking about the edge of the jungle on the side of the hill. There was some little opposition to the plan proposed b}"^ the old shikai-ee, which was to drive their cattle up the little glen between the two parallel ridges. Of course nobody wished to lose a cow, although all wished to ' Indian sun hats are usually made of a white pith called ' Sola.' TEMPTING A TIGEE. /9 have the tiger destroyed. At last it was made clear to them that the full value of the cow killed would be paid to the owner, and a present given to the herdsmen besides. On this there was a unanimous assent, and half the village rushed off to collect the scattered herds, and drive them up the glen. Milford got off his pony and left it at the village, changing his mushroom hat for the grey helmet, and, shouldering one rifle (Azim Khan carrjong the other), he joined Sheykha and the herdsmen in urging on the drove. After they had once entered the mouth of the glen the cattle were allowed to spread and graze about, and Sheykha advised his temporary master to take it easy and rest under the shade of a tree. ' There is no need to hurry,' said he in a low tone ; ' we must take time and saunter about as on ordinary occasions, otherwise he will suspect something. Allah knows he may be watching us now ' (' Pleasant ! ' thought Milford, taking a glance round), ' but even if he is not here, the lowing of the cows and the sound of their wooden clappers will attract him. The herd is all round us just now ; when they move higher up we wiU follow.' So saying, the old man motioned to Milford to sit down on the turf, and tlien squatted down beside him. One could see, however, that "with all this apparent carelessness every sense was on the alert ; his eye wan- dered round, and his ear caught eveiy rustle in the bushes. Once he rose, but it was only to drag down a branch of the tree under which they were sitting, a species of Lagerstrcemia, and to detach from it what appeared to Milford to be a kind of oval firuit attached to a slender stalk. The old man was stowinsr it awav in his wallet, when he was asked what it was. ' This,' said lie, producing the supposed fruit, ' is the cocoon of the Tusser silk moth ; I cut it spirally into a 80 SEONEE. long strip, after soaking it in water, and use it for binding the barrel of my matchlock to the stock. There is nothing so tough as this is. See, sahib, here is another, Avhich I have broken off twig and all. See, there is the round cocoon like a fruit, then a long stalk, and this is spun round the twig so tightly at the end that it looks like the fruit of the tree instead of the home of an insect.' ' How do they take the silk off? ' enquired Milford. ' By softening the cocoon in boiling water, when they reel off the silk. Now, sahib,' continued he, seeing the herd had moved higher up, ' we will go on a httle. Make for that rohnee tree ; there is good shade and shelter from the cattle if they rush back.' The herdsmen kept pretty close to our friends, so a little knot of half a dozen men were formed under the tree. They spoke but little, and that in a low, tone, and the greater share of the conversation fell to the old shikaree, who, with the garrulity of age, began to relate to the gaping rustics several wondrous tales connected with the kind of sport on which they were then engaged. ' I first began this way, sahib, when I was a boy, with an old shikaree who never hfted gun to anything but tigers. They were his enemies, and he slept neither day nor night if there was one to be killed. He was quite mad, and the people thought he had a charmed life, but his fate came at laf=t, and he was killed. He was not of a shikaree caste, being a telee, and he never fired a gun till he was over thirty years of age ; but Allah made him a shikaree to avenge the death of his wife. She was young and very handsome, and he would have cut off his right hand to please her. Xo telee's wife was ever treated so much like a Eanee as was this woman ; it used to be the joke of the village. Well, sahib, about three coss from his village was the stronw- THE FATE OF RAJOO. 81 hold of a very bad man-eating tiger ; he had depopulated several villages, and had baffled all the best shikarees. He lived in a big cave at the end of a rocky ravine, and there was no getting at it except by going straight for it ; at the same time the rocks were so piled about, that an animal like a tiger could enter the ravine some hundreds of paces below, and thread his way througli the boulders without being seen. All the traps that had been laid for him had proved useless, and the people said he was a shaitan in the form of a tiger. ' Well, one afternoon, Eajoo, the telee's wife, went down to the nullah to bathe, and she never returned. Her distracted husband rushed to the bathing-place, and it was but too apparent she had been carried off. There were the footprints of the tiger in the sand ; a little further on a gay-coloured cloth, now marked with the deeper stains of blood. The man went mad ; he would have rushed off to the tiger's cave there and then had not his friends held him back. Eor three days he raved, and would take no food. At last he got calmer, and people thought he would get over it, and the old women began to cast their eyes about for another wife for him, for Urjoon, telee, was well-to-do in the world according to their notions. But he disappointed them, and the villagers were astonished to hear that he had sold his oil-miU and bullocks to a rival telee, and was going off to Seonee. He could not live in the village, he said ; the ghost of Eajoo haunted him. So to Seonee he went, and when he got there the half of his money he laid out in the best matchlock he could get — this very matchlock which I carry ; I bought it from his people for the price of two tigers ^ — then he laid in a stock of ammunition and went off. ' Forty rupees, or 4/. At that time the Government reward for tisrers ft 82 SEONEE. ' Well, after three weeks had elajised, tlie people of his village were surj)rised by Urjoou walking into the little square in front of the Putail's house, where all the punchayets are held, and where one was being held that day. They hardly recognised him at first, he was so gaunt and wild-looking. Over his shoulder he carried a long matchlock ; from, his belt depended a powder horn and wallet, and in his hand he held a bundle composed of a fresh tiger skin. Could this be the sleek, respectable telee, Urjoon, who woidd have fled from the butt of a he-goat? this wild-eyed, long-haired shikaree? His own brethren hardly knew him j but they recognised his voice when he spoke. ' " My brothers," said he, unrolling the tiger skin and disclosing a ghastly skull and half-gnawed bones, mingled with black tresses and gold and silver ornaments, " these are the bones of Eajoo ; burn them decently, and I will carry the ashes to Nerbudda Mai." So saying he stalked into his own house. ' The needful ceremonies were performed. Urjoon silently went through them, shaving his head and distribut- ing alms to the priests ; but there was a fire in his eye that the people could not understand. " The spirit of the tiger has entered into him," they said ; and the maidens and children shrank from him as he approached. ' The evening before his departui-e for the Nerbudda he called liis friends together at the punchaj-et's chabootra ; he had arrayed himself again like a shikaree, and the tiger- skin bundle was in his hand. ' " My brothers," commenced he, when all were seated, " I am going to Nerbudda Mai, and when you will see me again Purmessur only knows ; but before I ■was twenty rupees ; afterwards it was reduced to ten, and then ag-aiu raised to fifty rupees. THE STORY OF UIUOON, TELEE. 83 go I will open my mouth. The bones you have burnt are Eajoo's ; her ashes 1 go to cast into the great mother's bosom, and she will be happy. This skin is the skin of her destroyer ; you can now till your fields in peace, and sleep in safety by the side of your maize plots. My brothers, when I went to Seonee I bought me this match- lock, and Purmessur has taught me how to use it. I fear no tiger now ; they fall before me like the mango at which the boy throws his stick. The ghost of Kajoo called me, and I followed. Seven bullets did I put into my gun — seven bullets and eight fingers' depth of powder. Three days I waited on the edge of the ravine ; at last the ghost of Eajoo beckoned me on. I followed — ay, followed her into the man-eater's cave. It was paved with bones, and I knew the bones of Rajoo ; there were the silver anklets, and the gold husli I had given her, and the long hair still clinging to the skull. She smiled as I gathered them together in a heap. ' Yes,' said I to myself, ' in the skin of your destroyer will 1 carry you back.' Hours I waited, but he came not. Food nor drink had passed my lips those three days. I thirsted only for vengeance. At last I heard a heavy breathing and a scrambling noise. The next minute he darkened the mouth of the cave. How his eyes glared as they met mine ! but I was not afraid. He was, and crouched, and snarled, but I smote him, my brothei's. With seven balls in his chest .aid brain I smote him, and took off his skin to wrap my Eajoo's bones in. I have said my say. I will go." ' So saying he shouldered liis matchlock and turned his back on his native village, and never went near it again. Years after that I met him, and he took a fancy to me, and made a shikaree of me. But Allah knows he was quite mad. On one occasion I went out with him, when ah ! sahib, be ready, hush ! ' 84 SEONEF. The old man's quick ear liad caught the angry cliirrup of a small bird, which would have ])assed unnoticed by the others. Milford looked around in silent expectancy; all seemed still save for the sound of warbhng birds, and the clatter of tlie wooden clappers worn round the neck by some of the cows. They were all quietly grazing, and the young man wondered what could have attracted the old shikaree's notice. Sheykha was still attentively listening, and nodding his head. ' Yes,' he said, ' it is, I think. Allah knows it may be a snake, or a mungoose, but some- thing is disturbing that latora ; it is the tiger, I think.' At some distance off, on the topmost spray of a grislea bush, a small species of shrike^ was hopping about, indignantly chattering. It might be, as Sheykha said, a snake or a mungoose that iad aroused its puny ire, but the old man evidently thought it worthy of attention. Milford felt impatient and disappointed ; the shadows were lengthening, and daylight would soon be gone. He looked up and down, but all was provokingly quiet. A lingering hope remained that Sheykha might be right about the bird, but even it was quiet now, and had ceased its demonstrations. Nothing disturbed the stillness save the clapper-clapper of the cattle, and a distant cry of a pea-fowl or partridge. He had risen to his feet, and was looking listlessly about, when, at some little distance up the glen, a yellow mass suddenly dashed out of the thicket on to the back of a white heifer, and bore it struggling to the ground. ' Urre ! bagh ! bagh ! ' shouted the herdsmen, as the cattle wildly dashed down the valley. For a few seconds nothing could be heard for the crashing of the bushes, as the terror-stricken drove madly careered ' Small livown sbrilce, Lanius cristatiis. AN EXCITING STALK. 85 tln-ough them. When they had passed tlie tree Sheykha whispered, ' Now, sahib, keep yon big pahis bush between you and the tiger, and run up ; here, give me the other rifle, Azim Khan, and you stay here. Don't you show yourself, or you may get killed.' The palas bush was about sixty yards from them, and, running in a crouching position, they got behind it. Carefully separating the branches, the old hunter peered through, and beckoned to his young companion to do so. Milford looked through the gap thus made, and could see the poor heifer kicking vigorously as it lay on its side, pressed down under the weight of its cruel captor, Avhose fangs were buried in its throat. Both tiger and heifer lay with their backs turned to the two men, which was favourable, for the distance was yet too great for a certain shot. Signing to Milford to follow by his side, the old man darted off at right angles, so as to bring another big bush betw^een them and the struggling animals ; up to this they ran again, crouching as they went, and again the old hunter peered through the leaves. Milford could hear the last groans of the poor heifer, and the stertorous breathing of the tiger, for they were now within forty yards. Old Sheykha noiselessly removed a few of the broad leaves of the palas, and Milford looking through almost started at the sight, so near did the tiger appear. He raised his rifle, but Sheykha quietly laid a hand upon his arm, and shaking his head drummed with his fingers upon his heart, and, touching the muzzle of the weapon, tremulously shook them in the air, thus signifying in pantomime — for they were too near to allow of speech — that his nerves were not steady enough for a shot. In truth Milford's nerves were anything but steady just then; his heart panted with excite- ment and the exertion of running in a crouching posture, 86 SEONEE. and Slieyklia was wise in not allowing him to risk a shot. The old man knew there was no immediate need for hurry, and the sight was too familiar to him to cause that rapid circulation of the blood that existed at that moment in the veins of the yoimg Englishman. At last the tiger shifted his position, and lay on the top of the heifer, with one massive fore-arm stretched out, holding down one of his victim's fore legs, whilst his jaws were still firmly fixed in its throat. Nothing could be more favourable than the posture, exposing as it did the most vital part. So Sheykha turned to Milford, and, patting his heart once more, made signs of enquiry whether he was steady. The young man nodded assent. Pointing in the direction of the tiger, the shikaree placed his hand on his side, just under the arm, as a hint where to aim, and a placid smile came over his face as he saw the deadly tube levelled with a steadiness that was all that could be desired. In another moment the bright flash leapt forth, and the stricken tiger sprang from his victim with an angry roar, and turned round and round, snapping at his side in a rage. Sheykha pressed a finn nervous hand on Milford's arm, for at these times, reader, when life and death hang on a trifle, there is a cessation of that obsequious defer- ence which is usually paid by the native to the Em-opean, and though Sheykha would have refrained from any inter- ference or suggestion with such an experienced shikaree as Fordham, he knew Milford was but a novice and a boy, and he was in great measure responsible for his safety. At last the tiger stopped, and looked wildlj^ round as if he were undecided where to go ; he was evidently badly hit, for the blood was begmning to pour from his THE DESTROYER DESTROYED. 87 mouth. Milford at this moment fired again, and, just as lie did so, the beast made a bound in the direction of the bush where they were, but checked as it were in his spring, he fell fiat on the ground with all four paws spread out, and was unable to rise ; his hind legs were paralysed, and helplessly he writhed, roaring most horribly. His close proximity made the young English- man almost shudder ; he was not more than twenty yards away, and he fancied he could almost smell the creature's breath. It was evident that the tiger's spine was broken by the last shot, and his sufferings were painful to witness. In his agony he seized one of his own paws and bit it through and through, and he tore up the turf around with his claws as far as he could reacli. At last, taking his second gun from Sheykha, Milford gave him the coup de grace. The first ball aimed at his head missed, but the second entered just behind the ear, and with a single groan the fell destroyer breathed his last. At this moment Fordham made his appearance on the elephant, and congratulated his young friend on his victory. ' I thought I would come and look after you, my boy,' he said, ' in case you might want help in searching for a woiuided tiger ; but I stayed near the \-illage so as not to interfere with your sport till I heard your shots, and I am glad you have been so successful without my aid. Ay, Sheykha, he's a fine heavy beast, that.^ ' ' Burra, kuttr-ha bagh, khodaAvund, khoob bhari walla.' To Alilford he seemed enormous, and his heart swelled with pride at liis success, though he was honest enough to lay much of it to the credit of the old shikaree ; still, as far as the shooting was concerned, it was all his own, and 88 SEONEE. he thought how proud his mother would be when lie wrote her an account of what had passed ; and there was also a passing thought of what a certain fair-haired girl — a neighbouring squire's daughter, who lived not far from his English home — would think of the tiger hunter whom, a few months before, she used rather to patronise as a boy, in the usual -way in which sweet seventeen re- gards the young lover of twenty. ' Nine feet ten inches,' said Fordham, rolling up his pocket tape. 'That is not anything very great, is it.?' asked Milford, his face showing some disappointment. ' I should have taken him to be ten or twelve feet ; he looks such a monster.' ' So he is, my dear Ernest, a very big tiger, and if all tigers were measured honestly, a twelve-foot animal would never be heard of. All your big fellows are measm-ed from stretched skins, and are as exaggerated as are the accounts of the dangers incurred in killing them, at least in many cases. But even the true method of measuring the unskinned animal is faulty ; it is an ap- parent fact that a tail has very little to do with the worthiness of a creature, otherwise our bull-dogs would have their caudal appendages left in peace. Now every shikaree knows that there may be a heavy tiger with a short tail and a light-bodied one with a long tail. Yet the measurement of each would be equal, and gives no criterion as to the size of the brute. Here's this tiger of yours ; I call him a heavy one — twenty-eight inches round the fore-arm and big in every wa5^ Yet his measurement does not sound large, and, had he six inches more tail, he would gain immensely by it in reputation. The biggest panther I ever shot had a stump only six inches long, and, according to the usual system of SAMBUR. 89 measuring, be would have read as being a very small creature indeed.' Whilst this measurement and chat were going on the elephant had been down to the village, and the howdah was taken off there. She now returned with only a pad on "her back, and on this the dead tiger was lifted to be carried home. ' My dear Ernest,' said Fordham, as they walked home, ' you are getting quite a shikaree ; two bears yesterday and a tiger this evening is luck that does not fall to a single gun every day. I hope your good star wiU be equally in the ascendant to-morrow morning, for I propose going . after sambur before daybreak, so as to catch them as they return from their nightly foraj'^s on the crops. The moon is about right now and yn\l give us light till dawn, and there are some fine antlered stags in these low hills. I want some sambur skiiis for my leggings, and the man who cures them for me has no more in hand.' ' I should hke to see a sambur,' rejoined Milford. ' I have never seen one yet.' ' Well, I hope your wish will be gratified to-morrow. Perhaps the American wapiti may be a handsomer animal on account of its horns, but I know of no finer sight than a noble sambur stag ; his size and majestic carriage com- bine to make him the king of the Indian deer. His horns are certainly wanting in tines, for there are only two at the top, with a brow antler at the base of each ; but they are graceful in sweep and curvatiure, and are frequently massive and of large size. One pair I have measure three feet five inches along the cm've. The bara singha, or twelve-tiued red deer, is smaller, and his horns are not jiearly so graceful as those of the European red deer : there is an angular branchiness about them which is ugh".' 90 SEONEE. ' They are difficult to stalk, are they uot ? ' enquired Milford. ' Very ; it is no easy matter to stalk an old sambur stag fairly. Many of them are killed by driving them with beaters as we drove the hill the other day when the boar got into the nets ; only that nets are not used on such occasions. The marksmen post themselves in con- venient spots, and the deer are driven past ; but I do not likef the plan and never join in " hanks " for sambur if I can possibly avoid it. There is more excitement in run- ning one down with dogs and spearing him as the Gonds do, for then the poor creature has a chance for life and dies gallantly standing at bay. You must get Soma, the Lebhana, to get up a party for you in the rains; he cannot join in the sport now himself, poor fellow, for he is lame, but his people are keen hunters, and the Bunjara dogs are noted.' - Chand Khan had prepared a glorious dinner for hungry sportsmen by the time they arrived at the tents, and they were fully incHned to do ample justice to it. Long before the crows' dawn, whilst the moon was shining brightly, about three o'clock in the morning, the sentry at Fordham's door woke up Nusseer Khan, who, in his turn, woke his master's bearer, who again went off to Avake his lord ; Old Chand Khan being the next per- son to whom Nusseer Khan administered his attentions. ' Khansamah jee ! ay Huzn.it ! get up quickly, the sahib wants his coffee ! hey Khansamah jee ! ' ' Oumph ! who are you ? Avhat do you want ? Be off, son of a bad father ! don't bother me.' So saying, the peppery old fellow rolled over on the other side. Nusseer Khan then diverted his attack to one of the minor fry, to whom he used less ceremony, and, catching hold of a sleeping khidmutgar by the shoulder, shook EAI^LY RISING. 91 liira vigorously. ' Hi ! get up, tlie saliib wants you ; get up ! get up ! ' The man jumped up with a grunt, sat up for a few minutes, di-eamily gazing about him, rubbed his eyes, yawned, and finally got on his feet, without saying a word. ' Now, brother, are you awake ? ' exclaimed the im- petuous peon. ' The sahib will be out in a minute, and there'll be a toofdn if his tea is not ready.' The man looked at him again and yawned once more, and then quietly, without a word, began to kindle a fire with a few small sticks: Nusseer Khan had hardly done speaking when the stout old khansamah, who was now fairly roused, sat up, and gave vent to a yawn which opened a mouth capacious enough to have taken down the elephant, howdah and all, which performance wound up with a prolonged groan, terminating with the pious ejaculation: *Bismillah! al rehman al raheem ! ' After which he seemed to be better, and, unrolling himself irom the folds of a comfortable rezai, began to stir himself amongst the pots and pans. As the chapprassee walked back, he noticed lights in both the tents where the sahibs were ; so, giving a rousing shake to a brother peon, who lay encased in his blanket under one of the flies of his master's tent, he went ofi" to the village to call the Gond who was to be their guide. In about half an hour the party stood all I'eady to start — the two Englishmen with their attendants, Nusseer Khan and Azim Khan, and a little, thin, wiry-looking Gond, whose poaching propensities had given him a fair knowledge of the ' runs ' usually taken by the sambur in tlieir nightly journeys between the forest and the fields. He had no notion of giving fair play, and of stalking according to the English fashion, and it was quite beyond 92 SEONEE. his weak niiud why the sahib logue should take so niucli trouble. He selected a likely run, and built himself a little ambush of branches, underneath which he lay snugly concealed tiU the deer almost walked up to the muzzle of his matchlock ; and why the sahibs could not do the same was a mystery, but they never would listen to his advice. However, he could show them the runs, and then they must settle with the sambur. Two horses were saddled, but both Fordham and his companion preferred to walk, especially as the morning Avas chilly ; and so, telling the Gond to go on ahead, they set forth. They had to cross by the same cattle path where they had met the tiger the night but one before, and then down through the little valley, and on through a belt of thick scrub-jungle which clothed the rise ; beyond this again lay an open plain of highly cultivated country, which during the night was frequented by the deer for the sake of the young green crops, which, in spite of carefal watching, they considerably despoiled. In England and other civilised countries, nay, even in the greater part of Bengal and the north-west, the husband- man ploughs and sows his land, and waits patiently for the appointed time of harvest, his only enemies being the weeds against which to wage war ; at all events he gets his rest at night comfortably in his own cot. But the poor Gond has to toil night as well as day ; from the time the gxeeu shoots appear above ground he builds himself a little wigwam in the midst of liis field, or a platform on high poles, from whence lie can keep watch and ward against deer and bison and wild pigs ; and he constructs ingenious rattles of two standard poles and two cross jiieces ; from the top one of the latter depend three or four swinging bars, whicli, wlien pulled by a string, rattle against the lower batten. These I'attles are placed in WATCHING FOR DEER. 9S each corner of a field and are tugged at in turn, but in spite of them the crops close to the jungle suffer not a little. About an hour's brisk walking brought them out over the crest of the second range of hills, just overlook- ing the plain. At the base of the range was a belt of uncultivated land, much covered with bushes, with here and there a winding path hke a sheep track. To one of these the Gond led them, and pointing said, ' Yehi acha mohree hai, sahib ' (this is a good run, sahib). His advice, that they should make an ambush of branches and squat behind them, not being met with approval, they determined to wait till daylight, and then scout along the base of the range. The morning star was already glim- mering near the horizon, and dawn was not far off. They sat down behind a bush so as to hide themselves for a time, and waited patiently, or rather we should say impatiently, for this waiting in the cold, damp morning was anything but agreeable. However, it was not for long they were so tried. The morning breeze, harbinger of daybreak, came sighing through the branches over- head ; the clear notes of the koel rang through the woods, and the distant whoop of the entellus monkey, or call of the pea-fowl, became more fi-equent as the grey streaks broadened in the east. ' I think there is just light enough to distinguish a deer now,' whispered Fordhara. ' Perhaps we had better move doAvn towards the fields, but we must move Avith caution ; luckily the wind is in our favour. The horses must be left here in the thicket.' Giving a few instructions in a low tone, Fordham led the Avay, the others following. Before they had gone very far they heard the distant bell of a stag, which gave them promise, and they pro- 9t SEONEE. ceoded with still more caution, in Indian fde. Suddenly their leader stopped and dropped behind a bush, motion- ing to the others to crouch, and beckoning Milford to his side. ' Look there,' he whispered, pointing through a gap in the bush. Milford looked and saw a large deer approaching with cautious steps, within easy rifle range. He clutched his piece with excitement, when his elder companion held up his hand, saying — 'Nay, Ernest, my boy, 'tis only a hind, and not worthy of your aim ; wait a bit, there is a stag with her to a certainty ; she is but a scout. I hope, however, she won't come straight upon us ; if she does Ave must manage to turn her, for if she once gets wind of us a\ e may say good-bye to both of them.' The hind was coming apparently straight towards them, stopping every now and then with her large bellrshaped ears advanced, then looking back to the point from which the hunters argued her mate would appear. Fordham beckoned to the Gond to approach, which he did by v/orming himself along the ground. A low- toned conversation took place, on which the dusky savage nodded and grinned like a cat. After satisfying himself by another look that the liind was really coming straight for their place of concealment, he bent down close to the ground, and imitated to the life the short, sharp bark of the little grey fox. The deer suddenly stopped and listened ; all was still. She petulantty struck her sharp hoofs agauist the ground and snorted, but hearing nothing more, she cast a dis- trustful look at the bush and slowly moved off at an angle. Their attention had been so fixed on her motions that they hardly noticed the advance of the slag, which TIIK STAG APPROACHES. M came leisurely up the slope from the fields in the wake of his consort, now and again stopping to cull a berry from a beyr bush, or scratch his shaggy sides with his massive antlers. Now he stood broadside on, a picture of animal beauty. In height he was about fourteen hands, Galloway size. His dark-brown hide, wet with the morning mists, seemed almost black; his massy neck, clothed with bristling hair, and his long sweeping antlers, gave him an air of grandeur which Milford had never seen before in the deer of the parks, or even in Landseer's noble pictures. Here was, as it were, the lion amongst deer, less of the usual grace of the tribe, but majestic beyond his conceptions. The boy was in quite a fever of excitement, lest such a noble quarry should escape, yet he was out of correct shooting range, and evidently he was coming no nearer, for, taking his cue from the hind, he shaped his course to the left of their place of ambush. ' Ay, that's a grand stag,' remarked Fordham ; ' I wish I had him headed for the plains with Cossack under me ; but we must try and circumvent him somehow before he gets into cover.' A few hundred yards behind them was a small nullah, fringed with dwarf jamoon ^ and grislea bushes. If they could gain this unseen, they might creep along the bed till they could cross the track the deer were taking. Bidding his followers to lie close, and Milford to follow his example, he flung himself full length on the ground, and, taking advantage of a slight inequality, began to drag himself along in a direction diametrically opposite to that taken by the stag. Milford followed as well as he could, but his heart was rather against widen- ing the distance, and his impatience was aggravated by ' Eiiyenia jnyiibolana. 96 SEONEE. the slow pi'ogress made by siicli a suaky sort of locomo- tion. However, thougli he groaned in spirit, he had faitli in Fordliam, and toiled away in silence. At last the nullah was reached ; and, bending low, they set off with rapid strides in the direction of the forest. After going some distance, Fordham stopped to reconnoitre. He chose for this a place where the bushes were rather thick, and, worming his way through them, found himself face to face with the hind, who stared at liim with astonishment for a moment, and then, uttering a short cry of alarm, dashed into the thicket. ' Come on, Ernest, come on,' whispered his com- panion, setting off at a run. Off they set, as hard as their legs could carry them ; but a clattering amongst the stones, and crashing of branches, told them that the stag had taken alarm ; and indeed they once got sight of his dark form as he dashed into the forest. ' Hold hai'd, my boy, hold hard ; there is no use your pumping yourself by a run up that hill. He's off — more's tlie pity, for he was a fine fellow, and we shall never see a hair of him again.' ' Confound that Avretched hind ! ' exclaimed tlie youno- man, dashing his hat on the ground, and sitting down on a stone to recover his breatli. ' I had set my heart on that stag, he was sucli a glorious fellow. Is there no way of getting hold of him ? ' ' None at all ; we must put up witli our disappoint- ment. But come along; he is not the only stag in these hills. I am going to walk along the edge of the junple, and then turn the point of the hill and come down tlie valley till we again strike oiu' homeward path, and, as the sun is not up yet, we may still get a straggler from the fields.' Whistling for his followers, Fordham took a look THE PAINTED PARTRIDGE. 9f round with his glasses, but without effect. However, nothing disheartened, cheerfully telling his young friend not to think too much of his disappointment, they were once more on their way, and they were rewarded ere long, for before they had gone half a mile they came upon another stag, who was quietly rubbing his horns against a tree, and Milford, who was the first to see him, got within easy distance, and dropped him with a single shot through the heart. He was a younger one than the last, but had fine horns nevertheless, and Milford's spirits revived with his success. Leaving Azim Khan to look after the carting home of the deer, the friends went on skirting the hill till they rounded the point, and took their way down the glen which they had before crossed, and at the farthest end of Avhich Milford had shot the tiger. It was a most enjoyable morning, cool and fresh. The sun had risen, and every spray sparkled with a thousand dewdrops. From all sides came the gladsome songs of birds — the plaintive notes of bush warblers, and the louder calls of the pea-fowl and painted partridge ; the cheerful cry of the latter struck the sportsmen as they stepped over the dewy sward. 'What is it that you people think this bird says?' asked Fordham of Xusseer Khan. 'Khodawund, they say it repeats a prayer every morning at sunrise : " Ya Soobhan ! teri koodrut I ya Soobhan ! teri koodi-ut ! " (Oh merciful one ! thy bene- ficence !) ' ' Eather far-fetched, but still a pretty idea,' rejoined his master, speaking in English to his companion. ' What sort of a bu'd is it ? ' asked Milford. ' A very pretty partridge, or FraucoUn, for it belongs to that genus of partridges. The upper part of its body, H 98 SEONEE. head, and neck are, generally speaking, brown — of course there are various shades — and the breast is black, witii white spots. At this time of the morning you may often find it perched on a low branch, a stump, or ant- hill, making this peculiar call.' As they walked up the glen it got gradually nar- rower, and also rose slightly towards the middle, and at last they found themselves on a saddleback as it is termed, a watershed being on either side. The wood was denser here, and the trees somewhat larger, and con- spicuous among them was a large ficus in fruit, and now thronged with birds of all kinds. Om- friends were watching the curious, awkward motions of several large hornbills, and the eccentric way in which they separated the fruit and tossed it up in the air, catching it with a snap and swallowing it whole ; and Fordhara was giving Milford some account of the habits of the creature, how the male plasters up his mate during the incubating season in a hole with mud, and feeds her attentively till she is ready to come out with her brood. At this moment they heard a crash in the bushes behind them, and a clatter of loose stones. Fordham wheeled sharp round, and, almost at the same moment, as he sighted a break in the wood, he pitched his ritle forward and fired. ' What is it ? what is it ? ' eagerly demanded Milford, as he heard some large animal vigorously kicking and struggling in the underwood. ' A stag,' replied his comrade, ' and, if I mistake not, it is our friend of this morning. I had just time to draw a bead on his shaggy neck. Come along.' They ran up the hill, and as they approached it the gallant animal staggered on to his feet, and looked Aviklly at them, as if he were going to charge. His eye rolled THE LOST STAG RECOVERED. 99 with excitement, the suborbital sinus being widely dis- tended ; the bristles of his neck stood out and greatly enhanced the fierceness of his appearance. But all this display was but momentar'y ; he fell heavily over and gave vent to some of the most piercing screams that ever shocked the human ear. Milford was horrified and put his hands to his ears. He had no idea such sounds could proceed from the throat of a deer. Fordham too seemed shocked, and motioned to Nusseer Khan to put the poor beast out of his misery. The Pathan sprang forward, and a stroke of his keen knife silenced the poor animal for ever. ' It is such things as these and the mute reproach of a dying stag's eye,' said the elder hunter, ' that often make one ashamed of oneself, and declare that one will never pull trigger again at a deer. But I must say it is not common to hear a stag scream as this one did.' ' It was horrible ! ' exclaimed Milford ; ' I had no idea they could make such a noise.' ' Well, the poor beast was shot, as you see, through the root of the neck, and that may have had something to do with it. I have shot many stags, but I never heard such screams before.' ' He is a magnificent creature,' remarked Mlford, musingly ; ' he is much bigger than mine. I am sure, Fordham, this is the stag we saw first.' ' I think it is,' said his companion. ' There was a hind with him ; in fact I saw the hind first as she led the way across the gap, and so was prepared for him to follow. You shall have the head of this fellow for your mother, Ernest, if you think she would like to have it, but I am sure she would prefer the one of your own shooting, and its head is nearly as good.' ' I \vish it were,' rejoined the youth ; ' but if you 100 SEONEE. don't mind parting with it, Fordliara, and will allow me to be greedy, I should like to have it, and will try to stuff the head.' ' All right, my boy, it is yours with pleasure, and, if you want assistance in stuffing, there is Moula, my fac- totum, who has been on leave for two months, and has just returned to Seonee ; he will help you in the skinning and curing. He is a good hand at these things ; I taught him myself, and he has been an apt pupil.' ' I shall be glad to avail myself of his superior know- ledge. But who is Mr. Moula ? I never heard of him before.' ' That is because he has been away ; otherwise Moula, or the Lalla-jee as he is called, is one of the greatest personages in my camp. I picked him up some years ago, and I will tell you how as we go along. Here, Nusseer Klian, we shall ride home, so you and the Gond had better arrange about bringing home the sambur. Well,' continued Fordham, as they rode slowly down the glen, ' I picked up the Lalla at Sasseram, where I was some time ago quartered with a detachment of my regiment. Having little or nothing to do during the day, and not being given, like many of my brother officers, to sleeping away spare time, I took up natural history as a study, and employed several men to catch birds for me, which they do with birdlime on a rod like a fishing-rod ; you have seen them, have you not? ' ' No, I cannot say I have,' replied Milford. ' Well, I dare say you Avill some day come across a man wdth a long slender bamboo in joints, like a light trout r-od, and a basket not unlike a fishing basket, and sometimes a shield of green leaves, and you will kuo\v him for a professional bird-catcher. You will see him watch a bulbul or a myna to a tree. Silently he creeps MOULA THE LALLA. 101 up, and, sheltering himself behind his target of leaves, he smears the top joint of his rod with birdlime, made from the milky juice of the bur tree ^ boiled with oil. Then he adds on joint to joint, cautiously pushing the whole up till within a few inches of the unsuspecting bird. A rapid dart and the thing is done. Down comes the fluttering prisoner, if not attached to the stick at any rate within easy distance ; for so viscid is the birdlime that flight is out of the question. Well, I had several of these fellows ; and one day, as I was riding along the road, I met my man Moula, then to me a stranger, with his basket and apparatus and a couple of fine merlins. I immediately entered into a conversation, in the course of which I found out that he was a touch above the common herd — in fact he was a catcher and trainer of hawks and falcons ; so I asked him if he would enter my service, to which he agreed. After a time, I found that he had a soul even above hawks, for he used to come back in the evening with an empty bag, but his head full of tigers, which he had been tracking in the jungle lands just above Sasseram. So he then became my tiger shikaree, and many a close shave we had, for it is very nasty country for tigers, that same jungle about Sasseram — open scrub, principally, if I remember right, beyr bushes with deep ravines — but he knew the ground Avell, and on one occasion asked me to sit out one night in a queer sort of imderground cellar, built in a nullah by a wealthy ze- mindar of the neighbourhood, who liked to kill his tigers with perfect safety to himself. Having been belated one night we tried the cellar in spite of snakes, but one trial was quite enough for me. The place was built in the bend of a nullah ; it was a room about twelve feet ' Ficus incUca. 102 SEONEE. square, looplioled on two sides, or rather one side and a corner ; about seven feet, or so, high, with a wooden trapdoor closing the entrance. The top of the cellar was flush with the ground, with steps leading down through the trapdoor, and the floor Avas level with the bed of the nullah. ' A more miserable night I never spent, for, what with the heat and the mosquitoes, sleep was out of the question. The place was damp and ill ventilated, and not a ghost of a tiger came down the nullah to be shot. Koonwur Sing, Avho built it, may possibly enjoy that sort of thing, but 1 much prefer a hole in the open air. " Well, when I came to the Central Provinces, Moula's imagination was so fired by my accounts of the shikar to be had here, that he agreed to follow my fortunes ; and, leaving a sum of money with his disconsolate family, he started with my carts for the long journey. He is a dreadful miser, and hves on air, I think, sending all his savings down periodically to Sasseram, where I firmly believe he has intentions of buying lands and dying a zemindar.^ He is supposed to belong to the Kyuth, or writer class, generally called Lallas, and therefore he is usually styled Lalla-jee ; but he is quite free from the prejudices of his class, and will skin any sort of animal, and has no more compunction in tying out a cow as a bait for a tiger than he has in eating his dinner. He has one pecuharity ; once a year he comes up and gravely asks for three days' leave — one day to get drunk in, and two days to recover, and on these occasions he keeps out of sight. His annual custom over, he is as sober as a judge for the next twelve months. I never ' The poor fellow was killed by a (itrer at last, instead of goin" back as a zemindar. See note at the end of this book for the slorv of his death, as given bv Oaiitain Forsyth, whose account of his early davt is incorrect. A SUSPICIOUS TIGER. 103 could make out Avhy he does it ; his headaches dreadfidly after these bouts, and he acknowledges his follj^ but he goes on doing it nevertheless.' On their arrival at the camp they were met by old Sheykha, who had some news to relate. The tiger beyond Khundipar, about which Fordham had sent for him, had at last made a HZZ— a Gond, runner had just come in to say so. But the ' cjara ' was lying out in the open, and far from a convenient tree, which was awk- ward, for the brute was one of those very suspicious ones that will not return to the kill if it be disturbed. ' Well, what do you propose to do, Sheykha ? ' asked Fordham. ' My lord, your slave's advice is that you send Nusseer Khan and Luchman with the Gond to make a machaun in the nearest tree, and I will manage the rest. You can cfo out about two o'clock in the afternoon so as to reach the spot by three or four, and with your honour's good fortune the tiger shall eat bullets. But your slave wants a calf to kill.' ' You shall have one ; but what for ? ' asked his master. ' Khodawund, it will never do to approach the gara with that tiger, and yet we must get it nearer to the tree. So my idea is to take the fresh skin of a calf, and I will Avrap my feet in it with the fleshy side out. I will then approach the kill and attach a cord to it by which we can haul it near to the machaun. The tisjer will not then smell my track, and he may think some other tijxer has carried off his meal, and will follow in search of it.' ' Bravo ! a good idea,' rejoined Fordham. ' Make all the necessary an-angements and send off the elephant with Luchman, who is a first-rate hand at building machauns, 104 SEONEE. and some one to assist liim. Nusseer Klian is bringing home a sambur, and will not be here for some time. Tell the men to he very silent, and to -chop their poles at some distance from the place and carry them on the elephant; and, mind, no hookah smoking or sliouting whilst at work.' ' I'll go with them,' said the old man, ' as soon as I have got the calfskin.' Sheykha went off in a great bustle to make all his preparations, and our friends to their baths and breakfast. The rest of the day was spent in ofBce-work on Fordham's part, and two hours w^ith a moonshee on Milford's ; after which the latter began to skin the sambur 's head, and he had only just finished it, and put it into a pickle of salt and alum, when tiffin was announced ; and at two o'clock they started for Khundipar. A brisk ride over pretty, undulating country brought them about half-past three o'clock to the village nearest to the kill ; here they were met by the Putad and elders of the village, and by Sheyklia and the peons, who re- ported that the machaun was ready. ' Have you moved the gara j-et ? ' asked Fordham of Sheykha. ' No, khodawund ; the later we move it the fresher the trail will be. When your honour is seated and ready, one of the Gonds and I will move the gara. He is sure to come back again, I think, sahib ; for he has only drunk the blood as yet, and it is a fat little cow.' ' Yes,' lugubriously broke in one of the villacrers, ' she was the best cow I had, and was in calf too ; and I am a poor man — where shall I get another ? My Httle ones want milk, and I have only an old stick of a beast left, that doesn't give half a seer in the twenty-four hours; and this very tiger last year killed one of mv THE MACHAUN. 105 plough bullocks, and I have liad to pay ever since for the use of another.' ' Well, never mind,' said Fordliam good-naturedly ; ' if I kill this tiger you shall have another bullock, or a cow, whichever you like.' ' May the Burra Deo make him eat your bullets, Maharaj ! ' replied the man, grinning with delight. It was such acts of liberality as this that gained Fordham a name in the district and influence with the people, who, like all natives, love the open hand. As time' was getting on Fordham ordered up the elephant, and, mounting with Milford, told Sheykha to lead the way. The ground beyond the village was a good deal cut up with ravines, all converging towards a deep dark valley, whose sides were clothed with dense forest, matted with mahoul creepers,^ and down the centre of which flowed a sluggish stream, stained brown with decaying vegetation. It was, as Fordham had remarked before, a place where an elephant would be useless, and beaters could not be used from the size of the valley ; so there was no chance of getting a tiger, except by watching for him over a bait. After crossing a few fields they came to the tree where the machaun had been built. This was con- structed of stout poles, lashed across the boughs of the tree at a convenient height, twelve or fifteen feet from the ground. On these cross poles was placed a charpoy, or common native bed, which is merely a framework of wood with a netting of stout cord. Over this were spread rugs and blankets, and green branches were woven all round and underneath, so as to hide the occupants. The whole had the appearance of a giofantic nest when viewed from a distance. ' Bauhinia racemosa. 106 SEONEE. The elephant marched up with soft and silent tread, and the two Englishmen scrambled into their eyrie, and away went Bussunta to the village again, the mahout receiving orders to come back on hearing three pistol shots fired in succession. The gara lay out in the open near some low bushes, too far from the tree for a certain shot, and Milford watched ■with some interest the proceedings of old Slieykha, who began to cut his calfekjn in four quarters ; two of these he wrapped over his own feet with the hair inwards, and the other two he handed to his Gondee assistant, who followed his example. When the two men were readj', Sheykha took a coil of rope and made a slip-knot and noose at one end, and drawing his long knife out of its sheath, he waddled away in his awkward mo- cassins, followed by the Gond in a goose-step. The first thing Sheykha did when he reached the dead cow was to slip his noose over its horns ; then "with his keen knife he slashed the body open, so that the viscera protruded and left a broader trail ; then the two men laid on the rope manfully and di-agged the cow slowly towards the tree. It was as much as they could manage, and the poor old shikaree was fairly out of breath by the time the kill was placed in its new position, about five-and- twenty yards firom the machaun. Our readers must remember that a small Indian cow, of the common breed, is ligliter even than the little Alderuej', otherwise the two men would have found it an impossible task. However, Sheykha, as he -vnped the perspiration from his brow, gave a triumphant smile, and pointed to the result of his labours, as much as to sa}", ' There ! What do you think of that piece of generalship ? ' Whispering to the Gond to be oft' to his villa"-e, the "WEAEISOME WATCHING. 107 old man divested himself of his calfskins, and with the agility of a boy climbed up into the tree, and seated himself at the back of the machaun. Fordham had already made himself comfortable with a book which he had brought with him, as talking is not allowable on such occasions. Milford had been suffi- ciently amused at watching the removal of the cow, and now he was all excitement about the approach of the tiger, and he found much to attract his attention in the birds and insects that flew about. The day was fast dechning, for much time had been taken up with the pre- parations, and Sheykha said the tiger might appear at any moment. In quiet places they frequently come out before dark ; if not then, they will come about eight or nine, or else four o'clock in the morning ; the supposi- tion in the latter case is that the tiger, being shy of coming back to his kill, starts off on another hunting ex- pedition, and, failing to get another victim, he returns early in the morning to the meal of the day before. In the present case, however, the day wore on, and night came without any sign of the tiger. Fordham had to close his book for want of light, and Milford was wearily yawning and longing to stretch his legs, as machaun work is rather cramping for British limbs. Natives can rest in any posture, but English joints lack the suppleness of the Oriental. Sheykha's head was bowed on his arms, which were crossed over his knees, and he appeared to be asleep, but it Avas the sleep of the proverbial weasel. The moon Avas rising over the distant forests, and gave light enough to distinguish any animal that might approach. Now and then came the short, sharp bark of the grey fox, which was answered by the scream of the plover, as the marauder passed too close to her nest. 1 08 SEONEE. The nightjars kept up tlieu- incessant cry of ' Chuckoo- chuckoo, cli uckoo-chuckoo ! ' and at times the cry of the pea-fowl came borne on the breeze from tlie dark woods in the distance. Once Milford thought he heard the deep ' A-o-ungh ! ' of a tiger far away, but Fordham whispered to him that the deceptive sounds came from the crreat owl ^ and not from a feline thi'oat. A little later on, our friends having in the mean time discussed in silence a packet of sandwiches and a liask of brandy and water, they were startled by heaiing the loud explosive bell of a sambur from the direction of the valley, and immediately after it was answered by alow muttering growl. Sheykha lifted a warning finger and whispered ' Bagh ! ' Milford lost all his lassitude at once, and eagerly expected the tiger at every rustle of a dry leaf toyed Avith by the evening breeze. His companion remained passive and calm, knowing by experience that there is many a slip between the cup and the Up at this kind of sport, and that the least thing might turn the animal away at the last moment. It had been arranged that Fordham Avas to take the first shot at the tiger. He wished to give it to his young friend, but Milford would not hear of it, and begged him to take it, especially as he was unaccustomed to night- shooting, and as this tiger had begun to kill men it was most desirable that he should not escape. The latter argument had some weight with Fordham, Avho would otherwise have not been outdone in generosity, or would have insisted at all events in tossing for the first shot ; but as important results depended on his aim, he thouo-ht that after all it would be better to leave it to him. It was about ten o'clock -when the old shikaree's keen ' HuJnui nijjalensis. JERnox. THE LUMINOUS SIGHTS. 109 eyes noticed a gliding form stealing along the field. Suddenly it stopped where the gara had been, and a low growl Avas distinctly heard. The old man tapped Ford- ham on the arm and pointed. The animal was evidently at fault, and walked round and round, now and then giving vent to an impatient growl. At last he seemed to perceive the trail, and slowly followed it up, till his eyes fell on the gara in its new situation. Then he stopped, and looked about as if to reconnoitre the ground before proceeding, and he exercised so much caution that Fordham almost grew doubtful whether he would come up or not. Finally he made up his, mind, and, boldly coming forward, he bmied his fangs in the cow's neck, and gave her a violent shake as if he thought she still had life in her. There was no time to lose now, for Fordham suspected that his intention was to drag oiF the body to a more sheltered place. The moon shone brightly and full on the tiger and the dead cow, but the sportsmen were hidden in dense shade from the overhanging branches, and it was impossible in such a light to see the fine sights of a rifle. The natives, on such occasions, use a fluff of cotton wool which they tie to the muzzle of their guns, and Avhen the moonlight falls on the barrel, a bit of wax covered with scales of coarsely powdered mica is some- times useful, for when an angle of the mineral catches a ray of the moon it glows like a diamond spark. But both these makeshifts are faulty and apt to fail. Fordham had a plan of his own. Drawing from his pocket a small phial, containing a mixture of phosphorus and olive oil, he applied with a finger a small dab on the fore and hind sights of his rifle, which for a minute or so glowed with a clear, pale light. The tiger, savagely shaking his lifeless victim, once 110 SEONEE. more proceeded to drag it away, and as he lifted up tlie cow's head in liis massive jaws, the moonlight streamed full over his broad flanks, which seemed pale grey in the uncertain light, with the black stripes standing out clear and distinct. The two luminous patches blended in one in a line between the hollow behind his shoulder and the keen eye of the hunter, and the gloomy valley beyond gave out a mufHed echo, as the sharp report was answered by a sullen roar. Quick as thought a second barrel was poured into him, as he lay gasping on the ground by the side of the gara. ' Now, Ernest, give him a dose,' exclaimed Fordham. The young man fired, but he was not accustomed to the light, and both his bullets went harmlessly into the dead cow, when the tiger, to their astonishment, suddenly jumped up and bolted, roaring lustily. The two men looked at each other in blank amaze- ment. ' Well, I declare that is a sell ! ' cried Milford. ' He won't go far,' said old Sheykha ; ' he may get to the Semul-walla bhugra,^ but not beyond ; he is too badly hit, sahib, to travel far to-night.' ' Well, we'll see in the morning. Anyhow, I don't think he'll live long with a couple of two-ounce bullets through his lungs. And now we'll call up the elephant ; there is no use our staying here any longer. Hand me my revolver, Sheykha.' Firing three shots in the air, he sat down and waited for her arrival, and in half an hour they were on their way home, which they reached about one o'clock, and were glad to turn into comfortable beds for the remainder ' The OottoH-livc Ravine. TRAVELLING ON ELEPHAXTS. Ill of tlie niglit, promising to themselves to follow up the track of the wounded tiger on the morrow. Next morning, at break of day, Bussunta, with her howdah strapped on, with Nusseer Khan, Luchman, and Sheykha, passed silently out of the sleeping camp, and took their way to Khundipar. The battery of rifles and ammunition, and a plentiful supply of rockets and anars, were stowed away in the howdah. Fordham had ordered her an hour's start, for he and Milford intended to ride out. It is a wise thing to avoid as much as possible journeying on an elephant, especially iu a howdah, for the motion is anything but pleasant, and the locomotion is but slow. As long as one is on the look-out for game it does not so much signify, but with nothing to relieve the tedium of a long stage, the jolting after a time becomes intolerable. Once we tried, when short of horses, to make out one stage of twenty miles oii our elephant. We strapped on the pad a bedstead with the legs turned up, round which we passed ropes so as to make a rail, and then, with a soft mattress underneath, and bolsters on either side, we thought we might sleep in comfort. Vain delusion. JSTo wretch in a fishing coble, in a chopping sea, in the English Channel, ever was so pitched and rolled about as we were on that eventful night. After trying it for some time our patience gave way, and, the monotony becoming unendurable, we ousted the mahout, and, crossing the animaVs neck, drove her for the rest of the stage. At six o'clock the camp was astir. Cossack stood saddled for Fordham, and a grey mare for Milford, and they soon appeared fresh for tlie fray, liaving made a good chota liazaree of tea, and toast, and eggs. A couple of soAvars were in attendance, and the four mounted, and 112 SEONEE. were soon dasliing along at a stretching gallop over the little cart-road loading to Khundipar. There is nothing more enjoyable in India than a smart gallop on fresh horses, in the cool early morning in the month of February. The air is exhilarating and, at least in Central India, the scenery is ever-varying and beautiful. Now one dashes past a wide-spreading banyan tree, its leafy colonnades echoing with countless songsters ; then a butea, covered with its blaze of gorgeous orange-scarlet blossoms, comes in the way ;. then a stately cotton tree with the honejf-suckers fluttering about its crimson chalices. Away in the distance rise blue hills with wreaths of grey mist slowly floating up, from the midst of which comes The mournful cry of sunward sailing cranes, as flocks of sai'us wend their way to the tanks that stud the plains of Kerola below the ghats. But the two horsemen noted Httle of these things, as they held steadily on their way. They were anxious to get to the groimd before the tiger had moved further away ; if he once got into the big valley it was hopeless to think of securing him, but the ' Semul-walla bhugra ' was a sure find, a cul de sac, from which escape would be almost impossible. The sun was Avell up by the time they reached Khun- dipar, and, riding through the village, they made straight for tlie tree where they had sat up the night before. Here they found the elephant and the peons ; old Sheykha had gone off on the track of the tiger, and he was expected back immediately. Fordliaui got off and examined the ground. Close to the bod}- of the cow was a dark stain, where the ground had soaked in the blood from the tiger's wounds ; large drops marked the direction he had taken, and there was but little doubt tliat he could THE ELEPHANT AT WORK. 113 not go far. Milford looked with considerable disgust at the two holes, about eight inches apart, his bullets had made in the cow, but he consoled himself with the idea that it was really too dark to see his sights, and that he had had no time to apply any of Fordham's preparation of phosphorus. Sheykha now made his appearance, and confidently reported that the tiger was in the Semul-walla bhugra. So the elephant was mounted, and they proceeded there at once. The Cotton-tree Eavine took its name, as may be supposed, from a large bombax ^ growing at the head of the nullah which was one of the feeders of the dark valley before mentioned. The place was not very deep, but was densely overgrown with brushwood, which grew amongst the rocks of which the bottom was composed. The sides, instead of being abrupt, sloped gently, and the whole was easily traversed by the elephant. ' I am pretty certain he is there,' remarked Fordham, as he watched the antics of some large grey monkeys called lungoors,^ which leaped from branch to branch of an old kouha tree, jabbering and grinning most insanely. ' There is verj- little doubt about it,' he continued ; ' those lungoors are just above where he lies. Akbar Ali, take the elephant down into the bed of the nullah to the left, and work up.' Those who have only seen an elephant in a menagerie, or paid sixpence for a ride on one in the Zoological Gardens, have but a faint notion, if any at all, of the wonderful power and sagacity displayed by this animal in the forests, and especially in the hilly and rocky forests, of Central India. Trained to obey every word of com- ' JBomba.i heptaphylhim. ~ Preshjtis Enlellus. 114 SEONEE. mand, and to judge with extreme nicety every intonation of the driver's voice, the feats performed are ahnost incredible, and seem still more marvellous when, as is often the case, the elephant is one which has been but a year or two in captivity. Watch Bussunta now, as she goes down the steep bank ; were she to do so as a horse or other animal would, the occupants of the howdah would find themselves at a most uncomfortable angle. Her fore legs are straight, but she drags her hind ones along the gi-ound ; now she recovers herself, as she gains more level footing, but the branches are thick and hinder her passage. "• Lay hold, my sweet one, my life ! lay hold, my brave one ! Shabash ! shabash ! ' cried Akbar Ali, as she laid hold of branch after branch and tore it from its tree. ' Shabash, my daughter, shabash ! now another one ; no, no, not that, take the higher branch ; there, my queen, my pearl, shabash ! ' and, as he showered endearing epithets on her, Bussunta proudly -stalked through the thicket into the more open bed of the ravine, with a purring noise of self-satisfaction ; then she suddenly struck her trunk on the ground with a hollow drum-like sound, and coiled it tightly up. ' The tiger is near, Ernest ; look out ! ' said Fordham, ' that Avas a warning note of old Bussunta's.' Cautiously peering about, they went slowly up the ravine. ' Ha ! there he is ! ' exclaimed Milford, pitching for- ward his rifle and firing. A short, sullen roar follo-\ved. ' You touched ■ him up there, Ernest,' said his com- panion. ' Chello ! mahout ! chello ! after him quick ! He seems inclined to sneak off and break out into the open.' Akbar Ali ui-gcd on his clepliant in the direction A CHARGE HOME. 115 taken by the tiger, but the bank was steep, and progress impeded by heavy masses of inahoul creeper. Bussunta had just torn away one of these obstructions when, Avith a savage growl, a yellow mass sprang up and clung to the elephant's head. The situation was critical, but it lasted only a moment. Neither of the sportsmen liked to fire for fear of injuring Bussunta; but she, with a shrill trumpet and a violent effort, shook off her assailant, who was weak and faint with loss of blood, and backed down- hill into the bed of the nullah. As the tiger fell off, Fordham planted two more balls in his chest, and he now lay in the last throes of death, with a low, bubbling growl issuing from his clenched jaws. Akbar Ali was in a great state of mind. about his charge, who Avas restless and excited after her encoimter, but on carefully examining her head he was able to report that the injuries were but slight. She was rather badly scratched about the ears and cheeks, where the tiger had embraced' her head Avith his fore paws, and there Avere two teeth marks on the bump in the middle of her forehead, but he could not bring his under-jaAv into play, so the bite was not effectual 4 on the whole she Avas more excited than hurt. ' I am afraid I must sacrifice the skin of that tiger,' said Fordham, ' and let Bussunta Avork her Avicked Avill on him, so that she may regain confidence.' Old Sheykha and half a dozen Gonds noAv made their appearance, but Fordham Avould not let them go near the tiger yet. ' One never knoAVS when these creatures are dead,' he remarked, ' and many a life is lost by incautiously approaching a tiger Avhich has been shot. Here, Ernest, you have an odd barrel loaded ; fire it at his head ' The young man raised his rifle and fired. The heavy 116 SEONEE. two-ounce conical bullet impinged on the tiger's jaw, and, glancing off at an angle, went singing over the hill. But there was no sign of life. ' He is dead, sahib,' said Sheykha, going up with the Gonds. ' Drag him down here, Sheykha,' called out Fordham, ' drag him doAvn here, and give him to the elephant. Now, Ernest, we'll get off, for it won't be pleasant when she gets hold of that brute.' The tiger was dragged down, and when the elephant saw it she gave another trumpet, and backed. ' Go on, my brave one, go on ! ' cried Akbar Ali, urging her forward. It was curious to mark the influence of the man over the natural timidity of the animal. ' Go on, my daughter ; shabash, what is it but a cat ? Shabash ! well done ! hit him again.' She went up wriggling and shuffling, but still she went up and hit the tiger a tremendous blow with her trunk, enough to smash all his ribs, and then backed a few yards. ' Shabash ! shabash ! my queen, have at him again : who is he that he should stand against my brave one ? Shabash ! there, toss him well.' This time, after giving the tiger a second blow, she turned sideways and administered a kick which sent him flying ; then she rushed at him and tried to trample on him, and finally got the body between her legs, when she kept up a sort of ball play, kicking it forward with a hind leg, and pitching it back with a fore-foot till the tiger was almost pounded to a jelly. ' There, there, that will do, my beauty, that will do ; you have well beaten him ; who is he that he should spit on our beai-ds ? Shabash hi ! well done, well done ! now leave him. Enougli, enough. There, go up to your master ; salaam, daiigliter of elephants, salaam ! ' A RECEIPT FOR A STOUT HEART. 117 The proud creature raised her trunk to her forelicad and waved it in the air with a slight trumpet. ' Bravo, Bussunta,' said Fordham, caressing her trunk; ' you shall have lots of sweetmeats, and a bottle of liquor to-night.' The sagacious creature acknowledged the caress by a pecuhar purring noise, and, as her master mentioned the sweetmeats, the mahout gave her a quiet hint, and she salaamed again. The tiger was not such a finely marked animal as the one shot by Milford, but still he was a good-si^ed beast, and his skin had to be taken off for the Government reward. His skull was also wanted by Fordham for his collection, the bullet having glanced off the jaw-bone giving it an additional interest. So he told Sheykha to have it skinned there and then, whilst he and Milford rode home. Great were the rejoicings among the villagers at the death of their enemy, for one or two men had fallen victims to this tiger, and they were beginning to be afraid of him. The Putail begged for some of the fat, which is looked upon as a specific for rheumatism, and the old Gond who had lost his cow asked for a portion of the liver to eat, it being a popular superstition that tiger's liver gives a stout heart. Accordingly Sheykha was told to comply with these requests, and the old Gond went up to the dead tiger, and thus apostrophized him — ' Ah, budzat! you ate my cattle, now I will eat you !' a tit-for-tat which seemed to afford him infinite satisfac- tion. The vultures were swooping round the carcase of the poor little cow, as our friends galloped past on their way home. They might now have undisturbed possession of it, for the heat and exposure were beginning to tell upon it, and rendered it unfit even for a Gond's consumption. 118 SKONEB. Had Fordham not sat over it, and orders been given for it to be left untouched, it would have been cut up and carried off the first day, for the Gonds are omnivorous, and, thinking that it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, make the most of a comrade's misfortune, and eat up what the tiger may choose to leave of his cow. It was mid-day when the horsemen galloped into camp, and the two Englishmen were not sorry to get out of the glare and heat of the sun, and exchange for it cool, shady tents, refreshing baths, and a substantial breakfast. DEEU HATTLE. Seonee, March 20, 185 — . My dearest Mother — We have returned to the station for a fortnight, so I am going to pack up my boxes of shikar trophies, and send them off to you. There will be quite an Indian museum at the Lodge by the time I retm-n to England. I have already given you accounts of the sambur horns and my first tiger, but I have still many others whose histories are as j^et unwritten, and I am afraid I shall cover many sheets of paper ere you have had a full account of the doings of the last month. However, I know I am writing to a partial reader, and you wiU not find my adventures tedious, whatever they might be to other people. 120 SEONEE. I am glad to hear Uncle Tom is interested in my doings. I think he used to consider me rather a milksop because I preferred a day's rabbit-shooting or fishing to hard riding after a fox. What you tell me about his having made me his heir, as regards the Terndale estate, is news, and good news too if he keeps to it, and I don't forfeit his good opinion somehow. I suppose I must send him a skin or two, but my first ones must go to you. How are the Lloyds.? Have you seen Edith lately? Tell her I haven't had a lavender kid on my fist for many months, and my complexion is copper-coloured enough for a Pawnee Indian. I hope Uncle Tom is of a constant mind. I like India well enough for the present, but I should like to rest my old bones (when it comes to that time) in a house of my own in old England. I always thought he had pitched upon that harum-scarum, hard-riding, and equally hard-drinking cousin, Eoderick, for his successor at Ferndale. Of coiu'se I keep a journal. Wasn't it your parting injunction that I should faithfully chronicle all ray small beer, even of the mildest tap ? and did I not fill that morocco album with inane recordings of sharks and albatrosses, lobscouse and salt junk, stormy petrels and flying fish in that dreary voyage round the Cape ? And have I not been giving you monthly extracts firom it in letters of a magnitude which gives the Bengalee Baboo here, who officiates as postmaster, a very erroneous idea of my importance, for he is firmly possessed of the notion that I am the ' Times ' correspondent for Central India ? 1 told you in my last of our success with the tiger at Khundipar. Well, we struck camp next day and nnarched down into Kerola, a division of this district lying in tlie valley of the Ban Gunga, belo\v the plateau MURDERING A TIGER. 131 on wliich this station is built. Part of our route lay along the Hii-rie river, a lovely little stream which joins the Gunga at Sirekha. At Amoda Gurh, where there is one of the old rock-fortresses of the ancient Gonds, we tried for bison, which inhabit the bamboo jungle, and failed, but we got some spotted deer — two very fine stags, and one day we murdered a tiger ; I say murdered, for we found him asleep and shot him — a rather uncommon occurrence, for tigers, like weasels, are seldom found napping. We were skirting the banks of a deep nullah, one of the feeders of the Hirrie, when my eye was attracted by a beautiful wild jessamine bush covered with blossom, which hung in snowy wreaths over the steep bank ; there was a httle cool shady arbour underneath the drooping branches, and there, to my astonishment, I saw a fine tiger lying fast asleep, his head resting against the bank, and his fore paws, as he lay on his side, were stretched out and crossed — an attitude frequently taken bv a greyhound as he lies on his side. I never saw anything more striking than this fine animal, usually so wild and fierce, now in calm repose. But there was no time to seutimentahze over him ; it took but a second to direct Fordham's attention, and to stop the elephant, whose silent tread had not disturbed his majesty's slumbers. Another moment and four bullets were buried in his broad chest; he sprang to his feet, and, with. a single bound, cleared the opposite bank, and, charging about a hundred yards, he pitched heavily on his head, and b}' the time we got up he was dead. It was on this trip I came across two queer specimens of humanitj' — a quail catcher and a snarer of kingfishers. The former I met on a wild upland, whither I had gone in search of a blue bull. He was a little shrivelled- up man, in scanty attire, with a bullock as desiccated in 122 SEONEE. appearance as himself, a large flat basket to hold his birds, and a trap. I entered into conversation with him, and asked him if he could show me how he caught the birds, promising to buy all he could catch there and then. It was late in the year for quail, which are generally found in greater abundance in the early part of the cold season ; but there were a few fields of millet in the neighbourhood, and there was a chance of getting a few birds. After hunting about for a time my friend flushed a covey, and marked where they alighted ; then, making a detour, he proceeded to set his traps, which consisted of a series of frames about two feet long by one foot broad, joined at the ends, which folded up like a long map. There were about a dozen of these frames, and the centre one had a hole in it large enough to admit a partridge. With a few bamboo pegs the trapper soon arranged his apparatus in the form of a semicircular wall, and behind the hole in the centre frame he fastened a large net-bag, propped up with a few sticks ; this done, he ran back to the place from which we had started the birds, and began to work his bullock backwards and forwards, gradually with each tack nearing the hiding-place of the covey Soon the little brown heads were to be seen popping up from the grass, and then, seeing that there was no immediate descent threatened, they edged off slowly, as the bullock came nearer and nearer. By a little judicious dodging, the trapper managed to get the birds within the sweep of his nets, and then he waited. The stupid little things toddled on and ou till they were stopped by the net, when they took off to tlie left, which was quite a wrong direction ; so my friend by a flank movement headed them again, and turned them back towards the centre of the net. Now and then a silly bird would try and poke his head through the meshes. QUAIL TRAPPERS AND KINGFISHER SNAREES. .123 but none thought of hopping over. At last the leader came to the hole in the centre. Ah I liere was a grand opportunity! In he popped, and in popped all the others, and my dusky teacher in the art of snaring rushed forward with a triumphant whoop, and tied up the mouth of the bag with all the struggling quail inside. I gave him a rupee for the birds and his trouble, and he was very well pleased with his morning's work. The kingfisher catcher I met on the banks of an affluent of the Gunga. I first noticed some pieces of mat put out in the sun to dry, with a number of bright blue birdskins, which, on nearer approach, I saw were of a species of kingfisher. Other mats were covered with bits of flesh drying in the sun. The trapper w^as a Madrassee, who told me he took his skins down to Madras, where he got a good price for them from merchants who ex- ported them to Burmah and China. His mode of working was with, a decoy bird, Avhich he had in a little cage. According to his account kingfishers are excessively 23ugnacious, and resent fiercely any intrusion on their accustomed beats. The trapper, taking advantage of this, puts his decoy in a conspicuous place, and surrounds him with Aveli-limed twigs. The kingfisher of the place, on coming across the stranger, indignantly rushes at him, and falls a victim to his rashness. The bird, when killed, is carefiilly freed from the birdlime by an application of hot oil, and then skinned and dried. I estimated about 150 skins of two kinds of kingfishers in his possession. I bought one skin from him of the great kingfisher.^ A huge bird compared with our little English one, or some of the brilliant-coloured Indian dwarf species,^ being six- teen inches in length. It cannot compare with the latter ' Halcyon Jexwoceplialm. " Halcyon fusciis and Cey.v tridaHyla. 124 • SEONEE. for brightness of colour, being in fact rather a clingy bird to look at by the side of the others, but notable on account of its great size. The bill, which is between three and four inches long, is of a deep crimson, the head brown, the back and wings blue and olive-green, and the under-parts buff, as are also the breast and throat. In a corner of the box I am sending you will find a small tin, labelled ' marabou plumes,' which you may give to Edith, if she cares to have them. I owe them to Moula, or the Lalla, as he is commonly called, Fordham's shikaree. I was walking along one day, Avhen I saw what I thought was a common adjutant — at a little distance there Avas not much difference. Moula seized me by the arm, and, in an excited manner, pointed to the bird, and urged me to shoot it. ' Why shoot an adjutant?' I exclaimed, thinking the man was out of his senses. ' Nay, sahib,' he answered, ' that is no common bird, that is a chooniaree, not an adjutant. Its feathers are Avorth their weight in gold ; it is very rare, and when I used to get one near Sasseram I made enough money to keep me for months.' Seeing him so eager about it, I stalked the bird, which seemed very wary, and shot it ; and found it to be very like the common adjutant, only with more glossy plumage of a greenish hue. But the twelve feathers of the under-tail coverts are the valuable part of the bird, and which the Lalla set such store by. Similar plumes are obtainable from the common adjutant, but Moula assured me they were fai- inferior, and did not command such a price as the genuine ones, except when the purchasers were ignorant, and Avere taken in. Unlike its repulsive toAvn cousin, the marabou adjutant^ avoids ' Leptoptilosjavanica. THE LALLA'S ARGUMENT. 125 human habitations, and keeps to the lonely pools and streams of the forests, where it lives on frogs and fish. The Lalla and I have struck up a great friendship, and I find his knowledge of birds most useful. Fordham taught him to skin birds, but he cannot mount them like his master, who is as good as a professional at setting up. Moula is a queer-looking little man, with a comical face, especially when he breaks out into a broad gi'in at some of his own jokes ; very untidy, his hair and his turban are always awry, and he is never happy unless he is ferreting out the whereabouts of a tiger, or skinning some animal, or polishing his master's guns. I can hardly believe that he belongs to the Kyuth, or writer class, a set of men who consider themselves first class Hindoos outside the Brahminical circle, and as a rule they are ultra-fastidious about their religious observances. But Moula would skin a cat or a monkey, or tie out the sacred cow for a tiger, without the least compunction. I told him one day he would never go to his particular heaven if he went on tying out cows. ' / don't tie out the cow, sahib,' replied he with a pawky leer ; ' it is not my cow ; I obey orders, and if the tiger kills her, why, the sin lies on my master's shoulders, not mine. I am told to tie a knot in a rope, and if there is a cow at the other end it is not my fault.' He always has a fund of comical stories with which to enliven a dreary march, and one of these struck me as being particularly good. He had just finished a marvellous legend at which we all laughed, and on which I remarked that he had the faculty of pulling the long bow to a considerable extent. ' Why, sahib,' he answered with a grin, ' we are all more or less liars in my country, and if one tells a story, another immediately caps it. There were two young men of my country who had a boasting match, and one 126 SEONEE. said, " My father is so rich and has so many horses, that his stable is of such extent as to take a horse eleven months to go from one end stall to the other." ' " Shabash, brother," replied the second boaster, " that is very good. My father has a bamboo so long that he can sweep the clouds away with it when they obscure the sun in harvest time." ' " Hi, hi," exclaimed the first, " that is very wonder- ful ; but pray, brother, where does your father keep such a long bamboo ? " ' " Why, you stupid ! " was the answer, " in your father's stable to be sure." ' The story is not unlike J^sop's fable of the two travellers, but has far more humour in it. Wliilst we were ir the valley of the Gunga, we visited the old Oondian hill fort of Kohurgurh. These fastnesses are mostly naturally defensible positions, with slight additions of masonry here and there. With the rude weapons of olden time most of these forts were impregnable, but with modern artillery they could be easily shelled out. Kohiurgurh hardly deserves the name of a fort ; it is more properly a hill, protected by outwoi-ks on its accessible points, nature having done the rest. We started early one morning, and, after riding to the foot of the hill, we dismounted and proceeded up a sort of gorge or defile, which would admit but one man at a time, or at most but two abreast. On the left top of the bank were the remains of a small bastion, loopholed so as to command the roadway. Very little of the wall remained, and the interior was overgrown with brush- ■\vood and d^varf bamboo. A little farther on we fol- lowed the course of a sandy nullah for some distance, when, after ascending a little higher, we came to the THE FOUE-HORNED ANTELOPE. 127 second barrier — a massive wall and gateway built across the road. About two-thirds of the way from the summit of the hill is a fine large baoh, or stone-lined well, with a flight of steps leading down to the water. Moula, who had been pumping the Gonds about the legends of the place, and had got some wonderfid story about one mythological raja of olden time, called Bobal Sah, now exclaimed with great glee, ' Eaja Bobal Sah kee jai ! see what a fine well he has made among the rocks ! ' Onwards we toiled, over rocks and boulders, in and out of bamboo clumps, and along mdlah beds. At last we came to a sort of cleared space, an amphitheatre, with some fine jamoon ^ trees. ' There, sahib,' exclaimed Moula, who had been in- cessantly chattering the whole way ; ' there, those jamoon trees bear fruit that weigh three rupees each. Wah, wah ! Eaja Bobal Sah kee jai ! such trees as he planted in the rocky hills ! ' After going a little ftu'ther the pathway (it scarcely deserved the name) took a dip downwards, and after leading us across a grassy ravine, filled with spear-grass, we again mounted through a dense bamboo thicket. Fordham, from whose eye nothing ever escapes, here suddenly pitched forward his rifle and fired, and on rtmning up we found, in the long grass, shot through the heart, a curious little four-horned antelope.^ In colour it was a brownish-bay, lighter beneath fore legs, muzzle and edge of ear dark, and inside the legs and ears white. The longer pair of horns were about five inches Ions, and the little ones in front about one and a half inch. * Euyeniti jambokma. ^ Tetraceros quadricornk. 128 SEONEE. The animal is a little smaller than the rib-faced deer, which it rather resembles as it darts through the bamboo thicket. We tried the venison afterwards, but it cannot compare with that of the rib-face, being dry, which Chaud Khan tried to remedy by roasting it with mutton fat. However, to return to our journey up the hill, the pathway now became more difficult — fallen trees, huge boulders, slippery ascents of black sandy earth, which the Lalla declared to be the refuse gunpowder of the great battles of old, indignantly refusing to entertain the idea that gunpowder was not known to the great Eaja Bobai Sah. Eocks Avere climbed over, clumps of bamboo squeezed through, till at last we found ourselves before a narrow cleft in an opposing rock, forming a passagp about three feet wide. Across the top of the fissure rested three huge boulders, the third making the passage, which sloped upwards, so narrow that we had to creep through on our hands and knees. After toiling on a short distance from this natiual postern, we turned round a small rock, and came upon a broad platform, called the Kutcherry, commanding a fine view of the country. This, however, was not the highest point, so we turned again and struck ofi" to oiu- right, through a tangled thicket of creepers, when, finally diving down a gully and wriggling through a small hole under a rock, we scrambled up a sloping boulder, and found oiu'selves at last on the top of Kohurgurli. Below us stretched the dark jungle in range after range ; beyond it were spread the fertile fields of the valley of the Ban Gunga, the pergunnahs of Kerola, and Kuttunghee, and the far distance was bounded by the blue hills of Mandla. The woods were ringing with the merry notes of countless birds ; the Indian bull" niag[)ie THE IGUANA. 129 chattered away on a withered branch close by ; down in the dark valleys darted the golden oriole ; far in the blue heavens soared the circling vultiures, ever on the look-out for prey, whUst hundreds of httle.bush warblers twittered in the shrubs around us. I made a sketch of the view before leaving, and whilst I was thus engaged Fordham went off on an ex- ploring trip. Soon after Nusseer Khan came running up to tell me his sahib wanted me at once. I shut up my sketch book and ran down the rocks to where he was. ' Look here, Ernest,' he said, ' what do you think of that creature ? ' Anything more hideous I never saw, and replied to that effect. Across a small ravine, basking on some rocks, lay an enormous hzard, or iguana, about foiu: feet in length, a most repulsive-looking creatm-e. As I did not care about adding such a reptile to my collection, and Fordham had specimens already, we con- tented ourselves with miners' courtesy, and heaved half a brick, alias a piece of rock, at him, on which he wobbled — for I cannot express his ungainly action in a more apposite phrase — into a crack and disappeared. We then started for home, and were glad to get to our tents again, for it was excessively hot. A few days afterwards we found ourselves at Sirekha, at the confluence of the Hirrie and the Gunga. Across the river we got some line spotted deer. I must say spotted deer shooting is most enjoyable. They are generally found near rivers, and frequently in bam- boo jungle intersected by ravines, where the chances are in favour of your finding a tiger instead of a deer ; this of course adds to the excitement, and keeps you constantly on the look-out for squalls. One morning we were out, we saw a herd of about a dozen, with one very fine stag — a magnificent fellow. We made a con- K 130 SEONEE. siderable detour, and crept up a grassy ravine till within shot, when we lay down under the crest of the rise to regain breath. At a little distance from us on our left I noticed what I took to be a stone, but the movement of something black on it attracted my attention again — perhaps a butterfly or a small bird on it — however, on looking at it attentively, I found myself staring a fine panther in the face. The movement that struck me was that of one of his ears, and but for this he might have passed unnoticed, so nearly did his spotted head assimi- late with the dry grass and leaves. He too was evidently after the deer, when seeing he was discovered he quietly sneaked off before we could get a fair shot at him, and as he passed the herd they got wind of him and came tearing past us at full speed. Pordham took the big stag, and dropped him dead, and a noble fellow he was. I took a younger stag and planted two bullets in him, yet he got away ; but in the afternoon we sent Nusseer Klian and the Lalla, with Bhoora, the camel man's dog, and the sagacious fellow tracked the deer for three miles, and at last found him in a nullah stone-dead. The next day we had a fruitless hunt after a tiger, but found some curious remains, and heard a quaint legend in connection with them. To show you that I do keep a journal I will quote from it now.^ ' The elephant was toiling slowly up one of the many rocky and bamboo-choked ravines which run down to the river, when, on reaching the top of the bank, we came suddenly upon some most curious remains of the rudest form of stone architecture ; there were large slabs placed in groups of four or five, with a massive flat one placed table-wise above, forming the cromlech of our ■ See Note at tlie end of the volume. CROMLECHS. 131 Druids. Some of these groups wanted the horizontal slab ; other stones were arranged in circles, forty or fifty feet in diameter ; and the whole occupied a considerable space of ground. We felt greatly puzzled how to account for these remains. The place was an unlikely one for the burial-ground of a village or city, had any- thing tended to prove the existence of such, for it was rocky and full of ravines ; unless it had been chosen for the facility for quarrying the blocks. Perhaps a battle had been fought and the slain piously interred by the survivors, and sacrifices oflFered within the circles; that it was a mere accidental chaotic jumble of rocks, pro- duced by natural causes, was an idea which could not be entertained for a moment. Hoping to find some clue, we got a few men to dig up some of the cromlechs, and whilst they were at work we squatted under a tree, on a huge trap boulder, and sending for an old Baiga priest who was reported to have some knowledge of the origin of the place, we asked for his opinion on the subject. After a little shyness, smoothed away by a few quids of tobacco, he began his narrative thus : ' " In times long ago, sahib, long before we Gonds came into existence, and the country was peopled by deotas (i.e. gods), the Hirrie river was born, and was to be married to the Gunga. Ah! in those days the Gunga was a finer river than it is now ; Bhim Sen spoilt it, he did. There were Donger Deo and Soonder Deo, and Kookra Deo, and ever so many deotas, but Bhim Sen was the most powerful of all, as Kookra Deo was the most crabbed and ill-favoured. In those days Bhim Sen wanted to dam up the Gunga to make a fish-pond, so he began at night, for the deos only work at night, maharaj, and he began to tear up the hills by the roots and to throw them down into the valley. That big 132 SEONEE. spur near the bend of the river is one, and the big liog- backed hill, where the Goorera Deo still lives, is another. A little gap only remained, the space between the hills where the river still runs, and Bhim Sen toiled hard, for if he could not do it before morning he would never be able to do it at all. So he tore up two hills by the roots and, tying them to the ends of his staff, slung them across his shoulder and carried them down to the river; but just before he got there the cock crew ! Bhim Sen flung down his load in a rage, and there ai-e ' the hills to this day, sahib ; there, those conical ones out in the plains. It is true, maharaj," continued he, gravely, seeing a smile on our faces ; " what should hills do out there by themselves if Bhim Deo had not thrown them down there ? And he hurled away his staff across the river ; they say it is still to be seen some thirty miles from here ; it is of stone, and is forty paces long. Well, sahib, as Bhim Sen could not stop the Gunga, the Gunga went on, and at last wanted a wife, and the deotas agreed it was only just and fair he should have a wife as other rivers mostly have. So the young Hirrie was born, and there was to be a gi-and wedding. All the deotas and woodland fays were to attend — all except Kookra Deo, for he was, as I have said, crabbed and ill-favoured, and made everybody miserable ; so they all agreed they would not invite Kookra Deo. Alas ! they forgot that he was one of the most powerful as well as the most malicious of the deotas. It was a sad mistake, and Kookra Deo laughed a savage laugh when he heard of it, and vowed to be revenged. ' " So all the deotas and woodland fays attended the marriage of the pretty Hirrie with the wild and capricious Gunga ; all the deos, and from yonder pointed hill, yon far away came Eajah Bobal Sah on his winged KOOKRA DEO'S BEVENGE. 133 horses — yes, sahib, liorses had wings in those days; Rajah Indra cut them off, but they carry the marks to this day. Look at your liorse's legs, sahib, and you will see the marks. ' " Well, maharaj, the party assembled at the suggum (confluence) of the two streams, and the feast began. The elder and more sober deotas sat in groups of four or five, talking and watching the younger ones, who were dancing round hand in hand in rings. All were bright and gay, and aU said, ' Well it is that crabbed old Kookra Deo is not here to spoil our pleasure.' But old Kookra Deo laughed to himself from behind the rock from whence he watched the dancers ; he laughed with savage glee as he hugged something under his arm. The mirth grew fast and furious, and the revel was at its height, when Kookra Deo, chuckling to himself and filling his ears with clay, pulled out the bundle from under his arm — it was a cock fast asleep. Placing it on the rock before him he gave it a shake, and, snatching a handful of feathers from its tail, he plunged with a triumphant yell into the Gunga. ' " The startled bbd awoke with a scream, looked round half sleepily for a second, and then clapped his wings and crew, loud and clear. ' " That instant sudden silence fell on the place ; the dancers, the groups of watchers, all turned into stone ! rude blocks occupied the place of nymph and fay, and hushed was the sound of revelry. Weeping, the silver Hirrie fell into the arms of the Gunga, who bore her sobbing away. There are no more deotas or woodland fays left in the silent valley since the night when the wicked Kookra Deo turned them all into stone ! " ' The general style of the story, combined with the strangely coincident superstition of cock-crow, reminded 134 SEONEE. US Strongly of the Trolls and Necks of Northern mytho- logy, and the rude cromlechs and cycloUths around us strengthened in no small degree the resemblance. The hero of the hills, Bhim Sen, is by no means a Goud creation, as he is well known in many parts of India, and a goodly supply of ponderous staves he must have had, to judge by the number of Idts or monohths, some of vast size, which up and down the country bear his name. ' Our excavations came to nothing ; in fact we did not go deep enough. Pordham said they were Indo-Scythic, and that he had seen them in other parts of Central India ; and, promising ourselves another visit and more patient exploration than we had then time for, we left Sirekha next morning. It was at Sirekha I saw for the first time one of the most beautiful of the pigeon kind, the bronzed-winged ground-dove.^ They should call it the emerald-winged dove, for its back and wings are of that hue, with a faint golden sheen ; the under part and breast are I'eddish brown. It is a most lovely little bird, and, as it strutted about on the opposite bank of a ravine we were descending, I quite forgot all about the tiger we were after.' Now, my dear mother, I am going to give you one more extract from my journal ; I am afraid the rhythmic part of it will show you that the son's poetical powers are not equal to his father's, but you must remember the lines are but jungle jottings, written down on the spur of the moment to kill time, when, as the Yankees say, I was up a tall tree. ' Ujima Maiee. ' It was in this month of March that I was in the south-east corner of this district. We had not had much 1 Chalcoplwps indiL-us. UMMA MAIEE. 135 in the way of sport. On the plains, near tlie Gondee village of Moorh-air, I ran down and shot a couple of blue bulls ; bison, the chief object of our trip, we had not seen a hoof of, and we were on our way back to the station when the Lalla, who was always poking his nose about into every corner for khubbur, came to me and informed me, in a confidential sort of way, that he had heard from some Gonds of a spring far in the depths of the jungle ; a spring of cold water flowing all the year round. '"Now, sahib," said he, "the Gonds consider this place as sacred ; they say the ghosts of their forefathers in- habit a big tree there, and they never go there at night. Now, such a place must needs have thousands of animals coming to drink ; therefore, if it is an order, I will go and build a machaun ; we are sure to get sambur and perhaps a tiger." ' Of course I jumped at the idea, and off he went. It was noon ere he returned, full of the wonders of the place ; so, dining early, I started about 4 P.M. ' Our course lay over a series of the same monotonous bamboo-clad hills that prevail in that part of the district. Now and then, as we skirted a spur of the range, an opening vista showed us the broad plains of Kerola, studded with a thousand tanks, glittering in the golden flood of light poured by the setting sun, like a shield of bright enamel set with precious gems. Beyond the Ban Gunga rose the blue hills of Mhow, with behind them the verdant valleys of the Bunjurand theHalone — the haunts of the red deer. Down below us the gorges were darken- ing into the shades of night, and warned us to make haste lest we should lose our way in the forests. We had persuaded a young Gond to be our guide, though he undertook the task rather reluctantly. ' " You will never shoot anythmg there," said he ; 1 36 SEONEE. " Doongerdeo permits not his beasts to be slain ; besides," continued he, gravely, " it is not good to appear before him empty-handed ; it is not wise." * " Who is Doongerdeo? " I asked. ' " Who is Doongerdeo ? Why, he is a great deo, the lord of the forests. The sahib should have brought five pan leaves and a betel nut, and then perhaps he might slay one of the deer." ' The sun was just going down over the darkened forest, when the guide suddenly led the way with rapid steps into a lonely glen. Down we went through the dark shadows of the forest trees, the gloom increasing as we descended, and the moonbeams began to flicker over our path through the overhanging branches. The grey monkey, startli^d at our intrusion, made the woods resound with his ghostly " Whoop ! whoop ! whoop ! " the nightjars flew around us in their eccentric manner, and the large horned owl sailed through the gloomy arches like some disembodied sj)irit seeking rest. In sooth it Avas an uncanny-looking spot; no wonder the supersti- tious aborigines avoided it at night. ' Turning round a clump of bamboo, we hurried down into the gravelly bed of a mountain ton-ent, now quite dry, and a few steps farther led us into a httle dell. Ah ! how lovely it seemed ; hke an oasis in a desert amid the hisfh ruffed hills that surrouujed it. The grass was as soft as velvet, and the air was laden with the perfume of the harsiuga^ and the tinsa.''' Shut in Ijy waving bamboo and twining creeper, it was as a gem in a casket. ' At the upper end was a sort of natural bower formed in the side of the bank, and from the luxuriant vege- tation that surrounded it shot up into the cold, clear ' yi/d<(iil/tei nrbor Irislis. ' DalOeiyia o