148 WILD LIFE IN NORTH CANARA. 



to an ibex ground and just examine 

 it ; who knows but the sahib might 

 get a buck before breakfast ! " So the 

 sahib, against his better judgment, for- 

 sook the road and took to the hill- 

 sides. The first drawback to this 

 course soon presented itself; a brook 

 at the bottom of one of the long slopes 

 had to be crossed, the hither bank high 

 and broken, but the opposite landing 

 a sward of emerald moss. The width 

 was no great matter, and within the 

 pony's compass ; he gathered himself 

 bravely for the leap, and landed well 

 on the centre of the moss, disappear- 

 ing up to the withers ! the said moss 

 being a moss in a different sense from 

 what I fondly supposed. Such places 

 are common enough on the Nilgherries. 



