232 " PONTO." 



custom before I got up in the morning to have 

 cooled soda-water in cantonment, or black coffee 

 in camp ; and if the servant whose business it was 

 to prepare it happened to oversleep himself, I 

 had only to tell Ponto, and he would rouse him 

 at once, distinguishing him from the rest of the 

 servants without the slightest hesitation, although 

 a dozen of them might be lying on mats in the 

 verandah, all entirely enveloped in the same kind 

 of white chedder or sheet. He also knew most 

 of my people by name, and would bring them to 

 me whenever I ordered him. After all kinds of 

 game, small as well as large, I never saw his 

 equal; for whenever anything was afoot, by 

 watching his master's looks, he seemed to un- 

 derstand his meaning. He would retrieve a 

 snipe, or track a wounded tiger, with equal 

 certainty; in the latter case, leading his master 

 fearlessly and quietly a pace in advance along 

 the trail with the greatest precision and address. 

 When out deer-stalking, he would creep along by 

 my side with the greatest caution, never showing 



