THE MAHADEO HILLS. 93 



ing the discarded stones for their kernels. They seem to be 

 of a retired and melancholy nature, appropriate to the sunless 

 ravines they reside in ; and they are not very numerous either 

 here or at Amarkantak, which is the only other part of the 

 hills where I have met the species. They are easily captured 

 in the nests when young, but make most foolish and unin- 

 teresting pets, having a singularly vacant expression of coun- 

 tenance, and nothing of the light-hearted vivacity of the other 

 members of the squirrel family. If an exquisite fur for a lady's 

 muff or a sporran is an object, some pretty shooting may be 

 had in knocking them off the tops of the high trees with a 

 small rifle. Numerous vultures and birds of the rapacious 

 order build on the ledges of the cliffs. Among them is the 

 grand imperial eagle (A. imperialis), whose wings measure 

 eight feet from tip to tip, and whose soaring flight and harsh 

 scream forms a grand feature in the scenery of this range of 

 mountains. 



On my return to the tent I had an interview with the 

 Th&kur, or chief, of Puchmurree. This potentate is the pro- 

 prietor of a considerable tract of hill and forest in the MaMdeo 

 range, and the valleys at its base. He is the representative 

 of one of the families already referred to as having been estab- 

 lished in the early days of Aryan colonisation, by an inter- 

 mixture of the blood of the adventurous Kajpiit with that of 

 the aboriginal (in this case Korku) occupants of the soil. In 

 personal appearance and habits the family exactly correspond 

 to their descent. Taller and fairer by far than the undiluted 

 Korkus about them, they still possess the thick lips and pro- 

 minent jaw of the aborigines. With all the love of tinsel and 

 sounding form of the vain Eajput, they unite much of the 

 apathy and unthrift of the savage. In religion they are (like 

 all converts) ultra Hindu, worshipping Sivd, looking on the 



