RESCUE A DROWNING WOMAN 



curtain of the bed, and so escaped, but the rest of us, 

 including her husband, were all badly stung. 



But the strangest part of the proceedings was that 

 while all the human beings who were stung eventually 

 recovered, two of our horses actually died from the effects 

 of the stings. True, both these animals had been very 

 severely bitten, yet one would hardly have imagined that 

 a strong, comparatively thick-skinned aninial like a horse, 

 could be killed by the sting of so small an insect as a bee, 

 however severely stung. It would be interesting to know 

 whether such a case has been heard of before, though so 

 far as my own experience goes, I believe it to be unique, 

 or I would not have recorded it, for to be attacked by bees 

 is by no means an uncommon experience when in camp or 



in the jungles. 



1 * * * * * 



Khandesh was periodically visited by heavy floods, 

 which often carried away small villages situated on the 

 banks of the Tapti river, and it was during one of its flooded 

 periods that I met with a somewhat exciting, not to say 

 dangerous, adventure. 



I was moving my camp that day, and, on my way to 

 the next encampment, was riding along the banks of the 

 river mentioned, which at the moment was rushing like a 

 torrent, when, amongst all the timber and different refuse 

 sweeping past, I noticed what I took to be a chatte * 

 bobbing up and down in the stream about forty yards off, 



Examining it more carefully, I saw that it was a human 

 head, and from the length of the hair on it, evidently that 

 of a woman. On the impulse of the moment, and foolishly, 

 perhaps, I spurred my horse into the river, but it was 

 swept away from under me immediately and carried down 

 the stream. 



Left to swim alone, I managed with some difficulty to 

 clutch the woman, and holding her up as best I could, we 

 were swept some distance down, till we reached some 

 shallow water, when, finding I had got a footing, I drew 

 her on to the bank close to a village, where I found my 

 horse, which the villagers had caught. 



* Earthen pot for carrying water. 



F 65 



