148 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



Louisa, and all three of us sat with our heads close 

 together while another brave man lit another fire all 

 round us and smoked the remainder of the bees off. 

 Then we got up and made for the village where we 

 had left the tonga. There we found poor Dial sitting 

 in the middle of a circle of fire and smoke ; he had 

 been stung the worst of anybody, stung wherever 

 they could get at him. As for Bumps Raja, he did 

 look so funny, poor man, sitting up all ready to 

 start, on the box seat of the tonga, his nose and eyes 

 dreadfully swelled up and long stings sticking out 

 in every direction. 



The village people set to work and pulled out the 

 stings left in Louisa's face and neck and all Dial's, 

 while I attended to the " Raja." 



No more partridge shooting for us that day ; the 

 ponies were put in and we started for camp and 

 ammonia, and none of us were much the worse for 

 the adventure. 



We had a series of uneventful beats and unsuccess- 

 ful nights sitting up ; and things went wrong for us 

 generally. We went to a fresh camp and my tent 

 was pitched under a beautiful shady tamarind tree, 

 where I was laid low with fever. One is always 

 warned not to camp under tamarinds for fear of 

 getting fever, but one never does heed any warning 

 and only learns by experience, and the tent was 

 moved next day. I have certainly camped under 

 them since with no bad results, however. We 

 changed camp altogether after a few days, and on 

 arrival at the new ground, before anything could 

 be unpacked, a most violent thunderstorm came on. 



