PREFACE vii 



Although I have devoted much of my narrative to 

 the animals, I have treated also of other matters. 

 Indian society in the hills and at the large stations 

 has been frequently described, and as such descriptions 

 are popular I have thought that a picture of the quiet 

 life of a European official in the plains might also 

 be worthy of record. In order to render my picture 

 accurate I have described, and at some length, many 

 ordinary matters which, in works on India, are usually 

 either left unnoticed or but incidentally alluded to. 

 I have, for example, not only described the appearance 

 of my house, but also the arrangement of the rooms ; 

 I have said much on the weather and the climate and 

 the changes of the seasons; I have besides given a brief 

 account of my office, and also, as in a way connected 

 with it, of the jail and its inmates ; and I have added 

 to my account some weird stories, all true and within 

 my own experience. 



In various parts of my narrative I have introduced 

 notices of native habits, institutions, and superstitions, 

 all of which may, I hope, be interesting, and many of 

 them new, to most readers ; some few will be so even 

 to those acquainted with India. 



I have concluded my narrative with an account of a 

 tour I made during one cold season through the valley 

 of the Doon, but I have introduced into the account 

 recollections of an earlier period, when the valley 

 was under my charge, and a description of the 



