THE TOUR 315 



As I thus speculated the sun began to approach 

 the horizon. Seen in its mellow beams, the river-bed 

 presented a reddish glow that reminded me of the 

 gold that was in it. There is really gold in 

 the sand, and that everywhere, though not much. 

 When work in the fields is slack, some few of the 

 villagers employ themselves in collecting it. They 

 obtain just about sufficient to supply themselves with 

 the means of subsistence. When formerly I was in 

 charge of the Doon, I happened once to be encamped 

 near this river, though higher up the stream. The 

 thought occurred to me to procure some of its gold 

 as a memento. I sent for two labourers who under- 

 stood the process, and set them to work to wash 

 the sand. They washed all day, and by the evening 

 they had collected about a teaspoonful of grains of 

 gold. I had them melted down, and they formed a 

 ball the size of a large pea. I kept the ball as a 

 curiosity till the Mutiny, when it was either lost or 

 plundered. 



The tents were now pitched, and I returned to the 

 camping-ground, and there I found some visitors 

 awaiting me. There was a village near. The pro- 

 prietors had known me in former days ; they had 

 heard of my arrival, and were come to pay their 

 respects. While dinner was getting ready we sat and 

 chatted. We talked of old times and recent events, 

 and among these I learnt that a herd of elephants had 

 just lately come through the Shewalic and eaten up 

 a good part of their sugarcane crop. Very possibly 

 this might have been the same herd whose tracks I 



