THE TIGER. 323 



never enjoyed anything so much as when I bared my 

 head to the cool breeze that swept over the Puchmurree 

 plateau, as I topped its edge after climbing up the stiff 

 ascent of the Eori Ghat. The thermometer in my tent 

 below had been ranging from 98 degrees to 110 degrees 

 during the heat of the day, and had once reached 120 

 degrees, when I went out and lay like a tiger under 

 some jaman bushes by the water-side. In the verandah 

 of the lodge on Puchmurree, which was now nearly 

 finished, it stood at 86 degrees, while the nights, which 

 below had not for weeks been free from hot winds, were 

 cool and delicious up here. Soon after coming up I was 

 fairly prostrated with fever, and remained delirious for 

 about a couple of days, emerging at last, thanks to a 

 very attentive native doctor we had, much shaken and 

 weak, but free from the fever. Nearly all my servants 

 and the camp followers who had been through the 

 hot weather with me also got fever on coming up to 

 Puchmurree, and the place presented much the appear- 

 ance of an extensive hospital for some weeks. 



The first rain of the monsoon fell on the 12th of 

 June, a smart shower, that, as if by magic, covered the 

 plateau with the greenest of tints. The wild flowers, 

 too, again burst forth on all sides, under the influence 

 of the gentle showers that now almost daily visited the 

 hill. It was inexpressibly delightful to be up here, in a 

 perfectly English climate, with cool gray skies, and 

 greenery all about, after the terrible grilling we had 

 sufiered for two long months down below. My Korku 

 friends seemed glad to see me back again, and I tried to 

 go out after the bison with them, but I found myself 

 far too weak to negotiate the formidable slopes of 

 Dhiipgarh. The early part of the rainy season which 

 was now approaching is the very best time of all for 



Y -2 



