DEHRA DOON. 7 



of ropes formed of twigs, twisted and bound tightly together, 

 which, though more elaborate in its construction, requires 

 more nerve to cross. For the crosser has to perform a sort 

 of dance on the slack-rope, with nothing to prevent his fall- 

 ing from it into the water but two smaller ropes for his hands 

 to clutch on either side. 



The crow of the black partridge (francolin) was frequently 

 heard by the wayside, and pheasants of various kinds were 

 said to be pretty numerous. But even had there been 

 leisure for shooting, it was the nesting season. 



Before descending from Mussoorie to the Dehra Boon, 

 through which a portion of our route lay, the view of this 

 beautiful valley, as we looked down on it from the heights 

 abruptly rising 5000 or 6000 thousand feet above it, was 

 singularly imposing. Some fifty miles long by about twelve 

 miles broad, and over 2000 feet high, this forest-clad valley 

 or " Boon " lies along the base of the mountains, its wide- 

 spreading jungles interspersed here and there with open 

 tracts of long grass, irregular patches of reclaimed land, and 

 intersected by broad beds of shingle and sand, where the 

 tortuous streams flowing along them shone afar in the sun- 

 light like bright threads of silver. On the east and west it 

 is bounded by the rivers Ganges and Jumna respectively, 

 where they first issue from the vast mountain-gorges through 

 which they roll^ down from their sources among the eternal 

 snow ; on the south, by the low but very rugged and wooded 

 belt of the Sewalik hills separating it from the plains beyond, 

 which fade gradually away in the distant heat-haze that 

 blurs the horizon. 



Our way next led through these dense woods, in which, one 

 morning, I chanced to have a rather exciting interview with 

 some of their wild denizens. Having heard pea-fowl calling 

 hard by, I had left the road in quest of them, followed by a 

 little Goorkha carrying my rifle. As we were skirting along 

 a large patch of very tall reeds (called null or nurkul), a rust- 



