SMALL GAME IN INDIA 151 



Fine old Rajput warriors with carefully brushed 

 whiskers and moustaches strode past, sword or rifle in 

 hand. Children with black-rimmed eyes gazed stolidly 

 from astride their mothers' hips, or squealed shrill 

 salutes from the shadow of some carved gateway. 



It took us a good half-hour to reach the castle. 

 We entered through an arched door above which 

 hung a metal gong struck by a wooden beam. It 

 sounded musically as we passed beneath. Round 

 a small fire were squatting a group of fiercely bearded 

 retainers, picturesque in gaily coloured turbans, and 

 armed with long curved swords. They rose and 

 salaamed. We presented our letter. 



After a short wait a man beckoned to us. Through 

 a bewildering maze of white courts we followed, past 

 square bathing pools and fountains, orange groves 

 and flowering shrubs. Coming to the pierced and 

 crenellated outer wall, on which were perched vultures 

 and the grey-headed Indian crow, we climbed a 

 rickety iron stair and entered a small poorly furnished 

 cupboard. Off' this lay another room containing a 

 few cheap European articles of furniture and beyond 

 yet another. In the centre of the latter was a huge 

 eiderdown quilt, from which came muffled groans. 

 No sign of Raj Singh, and we hung back. Three 

 Rajputs were in the first room and these motioned 

 us forward. In we went, and from one corner of 

 the quilt a great unwinking eye suddenly held us. 

 The groans continued with the accurately-timed 

 intervals of a salute. A long lean arm shot out 



