THE TEAK REGION. 261 



could appreciate unless be has hunted the " bounding 

 bison " through an April day in the trap hills of Nimar, 

 we jumped on the welcome ponies and galloped up the 

 valley to our tent. Revived by breakfast and cold 

 claret cup, we spent the rest of the day in skinning and 

 preserving the head of the bison we had shot. A fine 

 solemn look have the features of a dead bull. The 

 horns alone are nothing of a trophy compared to the 

 complete head, which should if possible be saved entire. 



Next morning our Bheels were out early, and we 

 ourselves made for the hill of Ali-Bal-K(jt, or the 

 " Hioh Exalted Fort," which beinor translated means 

 the ruinous little mud keep of one of these pensioned 

 Bheel chiefs. They are all " Rajas " of course, and 

 maintain standins^ armies of one or two rao^amuffins 

 apiece. We always had the " king " of the territory we 

 were in in our camp, and it was really disappointing to 

 find how little His Majesty difi'ered from any other of 

 these debauched-looking, opium-eating, and utterly 

 ignorant and brutal Mahomedan Bheels. Our shikari 

 and scouts — Shrimp, Skunk, and Co. — were ordinary 

 unconverted Bheels, and far superior in every respect 

 to the converts, who, however, looked down upon them 

 as an unregenerate lot. 



We had not proceeded far towards the foot of the 

 hills when a Bheel on a hill-toj) waving a cloth caught 

 our sight ; and on going up we saw about five or six 

 stag sambar slowly wending their way along the far side 

 of a valley towards the interior of the hills. Our 

 yesterday's shooting had no doubt cleared this part 

 of the hills of all the bison, so we made after these 

 deer, watching them over the rising grounds and then 

 running close in behind them. At last we saw them 



