SMALL GAME IN INDIA 149 



the harems of the Mohammedan conquerors. One 

 princess there was, famed for her loveliness, on 

 whose account many a warrior attacked the state. 

 Tired of the long conflict, the reigning Maharana 

 ordered one of his nobles to slay his daughter that 

 peace might come to the land. The noble refusing 

 to obey, cursed him for a coward and as one unfit 

 to have the blood of Rajput princes in his veins, 

 saying that henceforth no direct son of his, nor his 

 descendants, should sit upon the throne of Meywar. 

 The prophecy has been fulfilled. Then the Maharana 

 sent soldiers to kill the princess, but, vanquished by 

 her beauty, they returned. Next he tried poison, 

 but an overdose saved her life. Then, in despair, 

 to give rest to the land she loved, the maiden took 

 her own life, but the curse remained ! 



Opposite the palace, just on the edge of the 

 jungle, from amid the tree-tops a small building 

 peers, at one end of which lies a yard surrounded 

 by high walls. Here animal fights take place. Its 

 occupant on our visit was a huge wild boar. A few 

 days previously a panther had been pitted against 

 him. The walls were twenty-five feet high, but so 

 terrified was the panther, that in one desperate effort 

 to escape he actually touched the edge of the coping 

 with his forepaws. He was soon killed. 



A noise like rain pattering upon a roof attracted 

 our attention, and on the dusty open space at the edge 

 of the jungle we saw at least two hundred wild swine. 

 They were regularly fed every evening, and even 



