CHAP VII MY FIRST TIGER 69 



My bungalow itself was situated on a hill 

 surrounded by virgin jungle and grassy slopes. 

 The forest was always green and cool. While out 

 in the coffee clearings, in March and April 

 especially, the sun would strike very hot, but there 

 was always a cool breeze, and the moment you 

 entered the shade of the jungle it was wonder- 

 fully cold — in fact to sit down, overheated from 

 walking in the sun, was unwise, until at least you 

 had walked yourself cooler. Visitors who came 

 to our hills to escape the hot weather of Bangalore 

 have declared we had an Italian climate. I never 

 knew what it was to use a mosquito curtain, and a 

 blanket at night all the year round was necessary. 

 There was one lovely stretch of jungle through 

 which a well-graded road wound for three miles. 

 Many a time, during the hottest part of the 

 year, have I ridden or walked along this road 

 in a forest so dense and shady that the midday 

 sun could barely penetrate and never be felt, 

 everywhere green freshness meeting the eye, 

 cool streams splashing at intervals, huge trees 

 towering above one ; to take a walk there was 

 indeed a tonic — one's worries seemed to slide 

 away. Of course in the south-west monsoon these 

 shady spots were damp and perhaps uninviting ; 

 the leeches, too, were rather bad, but I have seen 

 them much worse in other places. 



The grass hillsides too had their beauty, especi- 

 ally when the young grass shot up in April or May. 

 Many's the tough climb I have had up their sides. 



From the bungalow, sambhur, bear, elephant, 

 (and once a tiger) have been seen wandering 

 along the slopes. 



