126 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



we took the shoes off rather a lengthy business 

 and she went barefoot on the softish ground. 



We went for a gentle ride one morning while her feet 

 were hardening, and I felt something terribly prickly 

 all round my neck. I put up my hand but could 

 feel nothing. Then I touched my eyelid and that 

 began to prick too. I touched different parts of 

 my face to try to find out what it was, and every- 

 where my finger went pricks started : it was like a 

 nightmare ! I opened my collar and a large, black, 

 hairy caterpillar fell out. He was an awful beast, 

 as dangerous as a tiger though without the excite- 

 ment. The itching was dreadful, and I had to turn 

 and come back at once. I told Govind to try and 

 take the hairs out of my neck. He found some, but 

 most of them were too small to see or get hold of. 

 He searched in boxes for a looking-glass so that I 

 might try and take them out, but I had forgotten to 

 bring one with me (I did not happen to see a reflection 

 of my face for some months, and when I suddenly 

 saw it in a glass, in the railway train, do not remember 

 feeling very much elated), but he found a small 

 broken bit that the cook had for shaving purposes, 

 and gave it to me, but I could not find them either. 

 He suggested soap and water and I scrubbed round 

 hard with a nailbrush and rubbed in grease, but I was 

 really miserable for some days with the wretched 

 itching and burning, and then I suppose the hairs 

 wore off. 



To add to the discomforts, after being mauled by 

 a caterpillar I was evicted by ants, the long red 

 thin kind. I came home from seeing the baits next 



