BANDITTI OF THIEVES. 37 



platforms are made in trees, and often the people 

 wait in holes made in the ground, as I have 

 before described. 



A very curious circumstance happened to me 

 when I was sitting in a pit for the purpose of shoot- 

 ing Nylgaus, near the village of Pindar choon^ 

 on the New Road. When out shooting, a villager 

 informed me that some of those animals came 

 every night to feed in a gram field, about half a 

 mile from my tent: as there were not any large 

 trees near the spot, and I could not conveniently 

 get a michaun erected for want of some of the 

 materials, I had a pit dug as before represented, 

 and took with me an Harcarrah, two guns, one 

 single and one double-barrelled, and a spear ; at 

 twelve o'clock at night I had a shot at a Nylgau, 

 which I severely wounded; it was found dead 

 the next day at a considerable distance from the 

 pit. About half an hour afterwards we heard a 

 murmuring of voices, and presently saw a number 

 of men armed with match-lock guns, spears, bows 

 and arrows, and swords; although I understood 

 the common Hindoostanee language tolerably well, 



* It takes its name from a hot spring near it. 



