

Reminiscences of Jungly pur. 121 



weather, certain pools of which always lasted out the hot 

 season. In spite of the continual presence of grass-cutters 

 from Cantonments, the natural attractions of this pretty 

 little valley were irresistible to the bears, sambar, nilgae, 

 occasional panthers, and smaller deer which had their 

 homes in its sheltered nooks. Much of the soil was saline, 

 and it was conveniently close to the crops on the plains 

 below. 



In the same way that a favourite eddy behind a rock will 

 be found tenanted by a good fish, no matter how often its 

 former finny resident may have been removed, this Barhan- 

 pur valley, if not overshot, never failed to attract fresh 

 denizens to take the place of those we killed. 



I remember one bitterly chill and misty morning, in the 

 early part of the cold weather, rising at 5 a.m., lighting the 

 lamp, and, getting on my bike, a twenty minutes' exhilara- 

 ting spin along the capital road brought me to the lower 

 foot-hills, and shortly later to the "village" about half-a- 

 dozen wattle-and-daub huts of Burhanpur, where my 

 orderly met me with a few Korkus ; the rest had been 

 already posted as look-out men. 



A sharp walk for about a mile up the dank and chilly 

 bed of the yet misty valley, which was already waking 

 to the shrill cries of the grey jungle-cocks and the mewing 

 of peafowl, landed us at the mouth of one of the side glens 

 the Am khora near which a good stag sambar had been 

 seen the previous day. On a little peak, silhouetted 

 against the flush of coming dawn, I made out the forms of 

 two of the scouts. They had seen nothing however, and 

 we held on up the glen in silence, spreading out through 

 the long dewy spear-grass that clothed the level ground 

 bordering the stony watercourse. From a thicket there 

 suddenly rose the beating of heavy wings, and a loud 



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