92 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA. 



peated acts of treachery, escaped and fled to the fastnesses of 

 the Mahadeo hills ; and it was in this secluded ravine, if tra- 

 dition speaks the truth, that he was concealed by the fidelity 

 of his aboriginal subjects till he finally made his escape, while 

 detachments of British troops were hunting for him in every 

 other nook and recess of the mountains. 



Beyond the Jambo-Dwip, or " great ravine " as we called 

 it, and between it and the valley of the Sonbhadra, lies 

 another group of wild hills, a little lower than the Puchmurree 

 block in elevation, and with few level plateaux of any extent. 

 One or two poor hamlets of Korkus occupy its most sheltered 

 nooks ; but the soil is everywhere extremely thin, and there is 

 a great absence of water in this section of the Mali&deo range, 

 so that it is almost uninhabited. The Sonbhadrd, valley itself 

 can only be entered where it leaves the southern face of the 

 hills, by a difficult pathway along the edges of the rapid 

 stream ; but the scene is well deserving of the scramble of 

 eight or ten miles on foot by which it is reached. , It is utterly 

 untenanted even by animals, save a few melancholy bears, and 

 its steep precipices, and long slopes of grey and naked rock, 

 interspersed with scanty moor-like vegetation, are singularly 

 suggestive of a comparison with the well-known valley of 

 Glencoe. 



These deep and gloomy dells that seam the Puchmurree 

 block are the home of a splendid squirrel (Sciurus maximus), 

 measuring two and a half to three feet in length, and of a rich 

 deep claret colour, with a blue metallic lustre on the upper 

 parts of the body, the lower parts being rufous yellow. They 

 dwell in the upper branches of the wild mango trees, making 

 nests of the leaves, generally in the very top. They live 

 ehiefly on the mango fruit, lavishly squandering the supply 

 while the fresh mangoes are attainable, and afterwards crack- 



