Elephant Shooting. 91 



space sufficient for one or two human beings to sit 

 on. I would not be at the trouble to mount as my 

 servant could not cook up there, and it would cause 

 a great deal of bother to hand up the eatables, &c. 

 However, I was told that there were man-eaters 

 about, so I ordered the people to collect brushwood, 

 and soon had fires lighted all round. My dinner I 

 enjoyed, washed down with a bottle of that divine 

 nectar, Bass's pale ale. Then, commending myself to 

 the powers above, lay down and slept like a top. 

 There was no disturbance during the night, and we 

 were up and away at dawn. This morning it was a 

 case of ascending and descending. Being the inter- 

 mediary stage between the real mountains and the 

 hills, which are invariably separated by what in India 

 are called " Teelahs," and horrible ground it is to 

 travel over. We took a snack at about 10A.M., but did 

 not reach our destination till close upon 6 P.M., 

 when we halted at the top of a slope fully thirty 

 miles from Mendoon we must have come. Above us 

 rose abruptly the steep sides of the Arrakan mount- 

 ains, and close alongside a rivulet rushed in a small 

 torrent to the plains ; the water was deliciously cool 

 and as clear as if it had been filtered. I am very fond 

 of water for bathing and washing purposes, or for cool- 

 ing stimulants in, but as a beverage, I prefer some- 

 thing stronger. Here our few followers soon cut down 

 branches and rigged up huts. I don't care to sleep on 

 the ground if I can avoid it, so had a raised platform 

 made, as bamboos were plentiful. On this a " razai," 

 or a quilt stuffed or padded with cotton, was placed ; 

 an air pillow gave support to the head, and a light 

 native counterpane formed a covering, for the night 



