COMMENCEMENT OF THE RAINS 79 



insects, I have heard of an instance of its being 

 considered agreeable. It used to be said of a very high 

 EngHsh official of former days in these parts that 

 during the season when these " flying bugs " appear he 

 always kept a few tied up in a corner of his handker- 

 chief, and used to refresh himself at short intervals by 

 inhaling their aroma, as one might salts from a smelling- 

 bottle. 



From these odious little creatures I will turn to the 

 inoffensive and more interesting insects the crickets. 

 Of the cricket there are here in India numerous 

 varieties. Those most commonly seen are the small 

 black cricket, which flies as well as hops, the larger 

 brown cricket, termed the bhughah, another very much 

 resembling it, known as the jheengoo, and a fourth, 

 of still greater size and more active, named the 

 lukharee. 



The crickets all inhabit holes in the ground. The 

 holes are so long and so deep that I doubted at first 

 if the crickets could themselves have constructed them. 

 I even doubted, moreover, from the appearance of the 

 crickets, whether they were capable of excavating holes 

 at all. To satisfy myself on these points I made some 

 experiments. At different times I had a cricket of 

 each variety placed on one of the garden paths. These 

 paths, as I have mentioned, are of earth and consider- 

 ably raised. To prevent the crickets from wandering 

 away when left, I had a large earthen pan placed over 

 them upside down. These pans are termed nands. 

 They are made of the coarsest earthenware, and are 

 very capacious. Those I used were nearly a yard in 



