186 



goTernment. The neiphhourhood of Hyderabad is rich in 

 beautiful lakes. Jtnd we also visited an old and deser-ed fortress 

 called Golconda It is n't the famous riolconda, rich in pn-ci>ius 

 stones, but, appnrently. it has been name I aft.-i tint cele- 

 brated place, for even to this day it is believed to contain 

 hidden treasure, and so jealous are the natives of the possible 

 discovery of this treasure by unauthorized persons, that con- 

 siderable difficulty is experienced in getting a pciniit to visit. 

 We found the gate guarded by sohliers, b it when iit last we 

 ■were admitted amd had passed up the riig/cd pnthway to 

 the summit of the hill, witl in the f rtress. we saw little else but 

 a tangle of weeds and bushes We passed through sub- 

 terranean chambers and passngts, all more or less dilapidated, 

 but felt no temptation to diiZ for treasure amo gst the heaps 

 of bricks and mortar, or beneath the rank overgrowth outside. 



iJut it was now time to leave Hyderabad, and we once 

 more settled down to a long, hot dusty railway journey. Little 

 occurred to break the monotony of the route. Fields of cotton, 

 or of rice corn and other cereals, were interspersed with waste 

 land covered with prickly cactus, and mimosa trees Gor- 

 geous rollers sat on the trees or telegraph posts, or flashed 

 their brilliant blue and brown plumage in the sun, looking 

 like enormous jays, while the quaint little drugon shrike, or 

 king crow, as he is familiarly called, with his glossy black 

 plumage and forked tail, found a happy resting place on the 

 telegraph wires. Delicate green bee-eaters flitted from bush 

 to bush in search of food. I may mention heie that 1 found 

 these three birds generally distributed over the plains of India, 

 and through Burma. Three of the most striking, they seemed 

 at the same time to be three of the commonest birds in the 

 country. In the irrigated rice fields we passed labourers 

 ploughing with oxen, in the mud and water and closely 

 attended by white egrets, and other wading birds, on the look 

 out for food, much as the rook follows the plough at home. 

 An occasional snipe would get up from the rice, and it may 

 be remarked here that enormous bags of snipe are often 

 made in a single day in these paddy fields Two or three 

 species of snipe occur. The commonest is identical with the 

 English species, Scolopax gallinago, and, as Ave hud often 

 occasion to prove, is quite equal in plumpness and delicacy to 

 its European representative. Teal are also very common 

 throughout the plains, and form a welcome dish in the winter 

 months. 



At length 'we reached Madras tired out and covered with 

 dust, and glad of a plunge in the fine swimming bath belonging 

 to the Club. Quarters had been provided for us in the Club 



