IN A DAK GHARI. 285 



reaching the ravines, they were compelled to give up the 

 chase. 



February 6th. — There is no chance of another tiger, so 

 we all returned to Ulwar to-day. We now propose going 

 on a visit to the Maharajas of Kotah and Oodeypore, and 

 then to Jodhpore for some pig-sticking. We are asked to 

 join the Archduke of Austria's tiger-shooting party here, 

 but our time is now so short that we are obliged to abandon 

 this and several other expeditions we should have liked to 

 make. One invitation we especially regretted — to take 

 part in an elephant-catching " Kheddah " in Nepaul. 



We left Ulwar by rail on Monday afternoon, and arrived 

 at Ajmere station at 3 a.m. After a bath and tea at the 

 hotel, we drove to the cantonment of Nusserabad — about 

 fourteen miles distant — where we breakfasted at the dak 

 office in the sanctum of the proprietor, a cheery old Parsee. 



Kotah is about a hundred and twenty miles from 

 Nusserabad. About half-way is the English cantonment of 

 Deoli, where the celebrated Irregular force officered by 

 Englishmen is stationed. As far as Deoli the road is 

 metalled and in good repair ; beyond, it is a mere unbridged 

 track. 



We had ordered a horse-dak, to be laid to Deoli, and 

 started about 9 a.m. in a nondescript carriage called a dak 

 ghari. A cross between a bathing-machine and a four- 

 wheeled cab is the nearest approach to a description of it 



