TIGERLAND 



On the other were ourselves and our shikari, valet, cook 

 and butler as represented in the person of Dhundhos. 



The " site " we had selected for our hut was a tree we 

 knew of in the heart of the forest, about eight miles from 

 our camp, and after the first mile or two the path we had 

 been following led into a sea of thick, reed-grass some 

 twenty feet in height, and offering such resistance that the 

 elephants could hardly make their way. 



For here there was neither path nor track, and as the 

 animals crashed through we wondered how their drivers 

 could keep the right direction. Indeed they were occasion- 

 ally at fault, and but for the old man's marvellous know- 

 ledge of forest navigation must soon have lost their way. 

 The grass seemed to grow higher and more dense with 

 every step we took, till the elephants were forced to bore 

 their way through it, leaving a path behind them of tunnel- 

 like formation, most curious to look back on; but as we 

 proceeded further, we met with several similar tunnels, 

 made by wild elephants, and, presently, found ourselves 

 in one running in the direction we were going. 



This, from its size and smooth interior, we concluded 

 was one made by a "herd," for wild elephants, when 

 moving in large bodies, generally walk in single file, each 

 stepping in the footsteps of the other, with military pre- 

 cision. We continued along this channel for some distance 

 making more rapid progress, and finally, leaving the grass 

 behind us, entered the tree jungle. 



About five hours later, after forcing our way through 

 a mass of trees, dense undergrowth, and creepers, we 

 reached our destination, and dismounting, soon found the 

 tree we were in search of growing on the margin of a 

 pool. 



It was a monster of its kind, and exactly suited for 

 our purpose, its huge spreading branches affording a basis 

 for the flooring of the hut, while the lighter boughs, some 

 six feet higher up, would serve the purpose of a roof. 



However, as the platform was, obviously, the first 

 consideration, we set to work on it at once. Taking the 

 stoutest poles we had brought, we lashed them, at intervals, 

 transversely to the branches, crossing these again with 

 others of lighter make till we had made a kind of grating, 

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