AN INDIAN SUMMER'S DAY 3 



thatched, open-sided shelter, has been erected adjoining 

 it, 'neath which on snowy napery tiffin is ready laid ! 



We sink into the inviting arms of a long-cane chair. 



" Yes, my excellent Abdul, you may remove my boots ; 

 but, before all, bear swiftly hither a chalice brimming o'er 

 with nectar such as the sahibs do love ! 



" Al-hamdu-l-illah ! but that's well worth a thirty-mile 

 ride! 



"Two tigers located here, did you say? and the men 

 are away preparing for my honour's hunting? and the 

 lukewarm tub is ready ? The gods be propitious indeed ! " 



NIGHT 



The glare of a long, hot-weather day is past, and the 

 misty river breathes cool airs that stir the lighter foliage. 

 An excellent dinner, prepared by the faithful ' Bulbul 

 Amir,' is just over, and a long cheroot glows peacefully 

 as the grateful smoke curls slowly aloft. Cicada and 

 crickets maintain their ceaseless songs, and from the 

 margin of the pool beyond that dark bank rises the 

 occasional croak of a wakeful frog. 



We are set out in the open, away from the now heat- 

 retaining trees, and may gaze straight up into the serene, 

 star-pricked arch of the sky. The moon is up, turning 

 the jungle into fairyland; and its inhabitants, that have 

 hidden in silence during the heat of day, are now 

 abroad, wandering in search of food and water throughout 

 this wonderful tropical night. The nightjars that sail 

 mysteriously about during the crepuscular hour, uttering 

 a strange cry of " Chyeece chyeece ! " have taken up their 

 nocturnal call, and u Chuckoo chuckoo chuckoo!" con- 

 tinuously to each other across the broad shingly river-bed. 

 Very faintly, so far downstream is he, may be heard the 

 distant braying of a chital stag. 



