THE MAHADEO HILLS. 95 



I found I was likely to have a good deal of trouble in getting 

 the wild hill people to help in building our lodge. The 

 Thakur made all sorts of excuses for withholding from us his 

 influence with his " subjects." There was great scarcity among 

 them, owing to a failure of their precarious crops ; they had 

 nearly all left the hills to seek service in the plains ; they were 

 engaged in preparing the land for their crops ; they hated 

 work they had not been accustomed to ; they would be afraid 

 to help in making a house on Mahadeo's hill and so on. 

 Truth was, I saw the chief himself and his advisers hated our 

 intrusion. With some truth they feared we were come to 

 break up their much -loved seclusion, and untrammelled bar- 

 barism ; their rich harvest from the taxation of pilgrims to 

 Mahadeo's shrine they thought was in danger ; and they would 

 have none of us. They promised, however, to send me a gang 

 of men to start wood and grass cutting next morning. Of 

 course they did not come ; and the Thakur I found had gone 

 off to a village he had below the hill, and quite out of reach 

 of my camp ; and he did not return to Puchmurree, except 

 when I sent for him, all the time I was there. Luckily I had 

 a friend in council in the shape of the younger brother, who 

 had shown me the lions of the place. Not being a chief he 

 had little to live on, and was in fact scarcely to be dis- 

 tinguished in position or worldly wealth from the common 

 Korkus about. He promised to use his influence to get them 

 to come and work for me, and went oft* on a visit to the 

 neighbouring hamlets, partly with this object, and partly to 

 look for traces of any bison or other larger game there might 

 be on the hills, as I contemplated a grand hunting party at 

 which I hoped to overcome the shyness of the jungle popu- 

 lation. 



They were really in great distress owing to the failure of 



