THE HAVILDAH'S STORY 



171 



living in our parts, and you know, sahib, that the jungles 

 of Nepal are full of beasts. Tigers are common, so are 

 leopards, the rhinoceros roam about the jungles, and 

 buffaloes exist there and are very fierce. All the deer tribe 

 are plentiful and mighty sambhar are killed at times. I 

 never had any difficulty in persuading old Sher Bahadur 

 (the Great Tiger, as he was called) to take me out, once 

 I had grown strong enough to be able to keep up with 

 him. And, sahib, you should see the jungles of Nepal. 

 Perhaps some day you may be lucky enough to do so. 

 They are a shikari's paradise. Great stretches of tiger 

 grass, interspersed with high sal forest, with open 

 savannah-like grassy plains where you may count the 



. .iMtov I'll hi i ! ! '// t 



herds of chital in hundreds and sambhar and barasingha 

 in scores. 



One day we set out from the village on a shooting excur- 

 sion to the lower jungles, to procure meat for the village, 

 and such skins and horns for sale as our luck gave us. It 

 was in a break in the rains, and for two days the sun had 

 been shining brightly and the heat was very great. It 

 would be hotter lower down, we knew, but what cared we 

 for the heat when there was shikar to be had. Our village 

 was situated at about four thousand feet in the hills, 

 and looked like the villages you see out in the district 

 round here. It consisted of some twenty-five houses, 

 and to me it was not only home, but it contained the 

 thing I most valued on earth, for I had recently been 

 betrothed to the most beautiful girl in our village or in 



