29-4 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



(which fronted nearly west and east respectively), 

 with a tremendous bang, and come howling upon 

 my bed as if Satan himself was going to take an 

 unfair advantage of the storm. This was in the end 

 of January and the beginning of February ; even ice 

 appeared at the time down in Rajkote ; and so it can 

 be judged how intense the cold must have been in 

 such a wind at the height of nearly 3000 feet. Never- 

 theless, in that high dry air it did me no harm, but 

 a great deal of good ; though after sunset I could not 

 venture to take off even my greatcoat till the morn- 

 ing, when the air became still, and there was no 

 danger of Satan getting into the room. 



The views from this roof or terrace Avere truly 

 magnificent in the bright clear mornings, in the 

 golden brilliance of noonday, and in the rosy even- 

 ing. I felt quite as if living above the earth ; and 

 it was curious to look down upon the eagle-vultures, 

 which had their nests in the crevices of the precipice 

 below, as they floated about beneath. They poised 

 themselves upon the wind so as to keep afloat, and 

 even to rise in the air, with scarcely a motion of their 

 wings, suggesting that if man is ever to overcome the 

 difficulty of aerial navigation, he is more likely to do 

 so as an individual than in machines supported by 

 balloons. These were very heavy birds, and they 

 had the greatest difficulty in rising from the ground ; 

 but they started with ease from their eyries in the 

 precipice floated for hours with scarcely a motion 



