REMINISCENCES OF JUNGLYPUR 241 



mournfully together in the moisture-laden wind, take the 

 raindrops with a metallic patter. Great masses of yellowish- 

 white blossom adorn their heavy heads. The woody hill- 

 sides rise sheer, their emerald heights concealed in drifting 

 mists, which ever and anon drench the forest in torrential 

 downpours. There is a sound of many waters abroad. In 

 the valley a broad river brattles clear and amber-tinted 

 over its shingly bed. The red muddy floodtime is past, 

 and the once friable earth is again bound firmly down by 

 the monsoon verdure. 



Fevers and dysenteries wait on the luckless sportsman 

 who at such a season ventures to tarry long in these 

 wildernesses, the general unhealthiness of which is not 

 dried up until another four or five months have enabled 

 the sun to strip off the thick leafage and get well at the 

 roots of the long grass. 



The higher plateaux, however, enjoy a very pleasant 

 climate during breaks in the monsoon. Shrouded in dense 

 white vapour this is at an altitude of close on 4,000 feet 

 until the mists lift about eight o'clock in the morning, to 

 display grand views of woody mountain scenery, one may 

 prowl the lighter up-lying jungles and open grass land 

 very pleasantly throughout the day in search of casual 

 shikar^ and in the evening enjoy a fire in the corner of the 

 shooting-hut. The woods are full of orchids, wild balsams, 

 moss, ferns, and tinkling streams. It might be a region 

 very remote from India's plains ; yet, only a few miles off, 

 down below, our little cantonment lies sweltering in the 

 muggy atmosphere of one of the hottest provinces in the 

 land. 



Large herds of cattle are pastured on these uplands 

 now, and the herdsmen are not averse to furnishing news 

 to the sportsman when a wandering tiger or a leopard 

 takes his toll of them. Other methods being futile at this 

 season, a patient seat in a tree is the only way of bringing 

 the feline to book ; and he may now return to his " kill " at 

 R 



