134 BUNGALOW ADVENTURE. 



all on one floor. At the entrance stood the smiling 

 dhorasani, my host's better half as some people thought, 

 ready to do honours at the head of a well-appointed 

 tiffin table, an invitation I politely declined, however, 

 not wishing to spoil my dinner, and enjoyed a good 

 rest instead. 



During the very first night I spent at Pore, I 

 experienced the disadvantage of a thatched roof, for 

 rats came in by the dozen, and seemed to make 

 themselves quite at home in my room. At one time 

 they had a grand steeple-chase overhead, and one or 

 two fell upon my mosquito curtains ; at another, hide 

 and seek was evidently their game, whilst some more 

 hungry than their playful brethren began to gnaw at 

 my boots, which I found in the morning more or less 

 the worse for their appetites and sharp teeth. There 

 was little sleep to be had under such circumstances, 

 but by the first appearance of dawn my entertainers 

 suddenly disappeared, and I determined to make up 

 for lost time ; however, living in the jungle means 

 early rising, for as soon as nature wakes there are 

 thousands of birds ready with their morning song. 

 I well remember the Plaintive or Hawk-Cookoo, one 

 of the earliest birds, who in time became simply 

 detestable to me owing to his peculiar whining tune, con- 

 sisting of the notes of nearly an octave from treble to 



