CREED OR CONDUCT? 71 



medan he is certainly broad-minded, although his creed 

 is one more of works than faith. He jeered when Alan 

 touched on the Peris of Paradise, was rather sceptical of 

 a hereafter, and averred if there were, it was not in "man's 

 imagination," and would be gained by good deeds, or 

 meted out to men in proportion to their merits. Such 

 of us who have been lucky enough to be born, as the 

 hymn says " a happy Christian child," of course know 

 better than my poor half-heathen shikari. Yet I cannot 

 help thinking that his belief is healthier than some of the 

 superstitions clung to by more highly educated people. 



This is not the first time that Alan has been ap- 

 proached on religious subjects by natives, and some of 

 them Hindoos of very high caste. But he thinks it 

 wrong to unsettle their beliefs, and always advises them 

 to stick to the religion they are born in, try to lead an 

 honest and pure life, and leave dogmas to the priests. 



November 5th. — We started early this morning to 

 march up the range of hills which divide the Chingam 

 and Marbul valleys. A local shikari says it is a good 

 place for barasingh, so we decide to pitch our camp nearer 

 to the shooting ground. The path is a very steep ascent 

 through a magnificent pine forest. Many of the enormous 

 deodar cedars and cypresses must have seen centuries of 

 life, and are at least thirty or forty feet in girth and of 

 immense height. We came to a beautiful place to camp, 



