i 'ii ait x. Kv&i m his Coracle. 1l'.~ 



boughs, which will still farther improve the position; meanwhile 

 we will Dot oeglect the water between, but fish it regularly down, 



till we come to the monkeys. Never mind its looking almost still 

 without any ripple on it, it may all hold fish. Drop an eiupiiring 

 line to know if there are any tools at home. You're sine to find 

 some, for the river is nearly as full of them as the world is.* 

 What should we do it' it was'nt ! 



Kuti says he has seen a fish rise just about a yard below that 

 In. uuli. Depend upon it he is right. He never takes any notice 

 of those little bits of fish which are too small for our present flies, 

 the Chela argentea, <w\ silvery chela (Tamil. VeUachi), and he will 

 tell you like a European whether the swirl is that of a good fish, 

 or of a smallish one. 



This same Kuti is no chicken. He and I were in a boat ap- 

 proaching a rapid, only half of which could be seen from the pool 

 above, and that half was anything but prepossessing; as the river 

 went roaring down the steep incline, which was so long that you 

 could not see the end of it, and could not therefore see, or even 

 guess, how it behaved itself at the far end. I confess I did not 

 like the look of it, and I asked suggestively. " Will the boat go ? " 

 He would not take the hint, but answered with perfect indiffe- 

 rence, " Don't know," letting the boat glide on the while. " Have 

 yi at never been here before ? " " 'No." " Are you going to try it ?" 

 Vs." It was a case of sit well down in the bottom of the boat, 

 and hold on to the edges, so as not to be overbalanced, for in another 

 moment the basket-bout was in the middle of it, being tossed about 

 like a feather on the waves, and flying down at great speed, while 

 Kuti jockeyed it with consummate skill, and cool collectedness, 

 taking in intuitively, from the shape of the water, the position of 

 each submerged rock, deciding whether to ride over this, or dodge 

 that, and all with such rapidity and such power of paddle. And 

 how the little boat obeyed him ! Now and then it would seem as 

 if it must be all U P. But the fellow was as cool as a cucumber, 

 and the next moment we were past the danger, still riding rapidly 

 on, ami after having had ample opportunity for fully appreciating 

 the advantages of holding on tight to the edges of the boat to avoid 

 being pitched out, there was a flop, and we had taken a drop into 



• Carlyle says tersely, I quote from memory, " There are three hundred millions 

 ■' in t In.* world, mostly fools." 



