210 HAUNTS AND HOBBIES 



one by one the travellers retired. Most of the servants 

 did the same ; and I also, after sitting a little longer, 

 entered my tent and went to bed. I was tired, and 

 soon fell asleep, and slept that delicious sleep that 

 is only in tents to be obtained, for though the canvas 

 walls exclude the draughts, the pure, fresh air still 

 for ever passes through them. 



Our march next day was to be through a defile 

 in the mountains into the valley of the Doon. As 

 the march would be a long one, I breakfasted early. 

 The meal over, the tents were struck, and the servants 

 commenced to load the carts ; and I, in fulfilment of 

 my engagement, walked up to the bungalow to see 

 the tracks of the elephants. I found the servant 

 waiting to conduct me. Immediately behind the 

 bungalow there projected a small spur of the mountain ; 

 a narrow footpath led round it. On reaching the other 

 side I beheld, to my astonishment, plain and un- 

 mistakable, the tracks of evidently a large number 

 of elephants. 



The tracks extended from the base of the mountain 

 to the summit of the spur, a height, I should say, 

 of nearly three hundred feet. The slope was through- 

 out extremely steep. Towards the summit it was 

 indeed so steep that I could only ascend it on my 

 hands and knees, and not unfrequently I had also 

 to draw myself up by catching hold of the stems 

 of the coarse grass and the brushwood. 



The appearance of the track explained the mode 

 by which the elephants had ascended. Where the 

 soil was sandy there were numerous impressions of 



