ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 55 



shouted till a servant came with a light, when we found that 

 I had cut fair, and the two ends of the snake lay wriggling 

 under the mat. 



The game round Kolapoor was much reduced by the 

 hunting expeditions of the Eajah, which were frequent in the 

 cold weather and during the breaks in the rainy season. His 

 party consisted of several hundred men, mounted and on foot, 

 and about thirty brace of greyhounds. They moved across the 

 country in a long line. Everybody who had a gun fired, and 

 all the dogs were slipped at any running beast that got up. 



The lake below the cantonment was full of fish of large 

 size ; and in the cold weather a fair amount of ducks and snipe 

 might be got. 



About twelve miles off were the hill forts of Punalla and 

 Powagurh, rising about 800 feet above the low ground. Here 

 some of the political officers had bungalows, which gave a 

 pleasant retreat from the heat of the cantonment. To the 

 eastward of these forts was the hill of Jotebaz, crowned with 

 picturesque temples, where large numbers of Hindoo devotees 

 were wont to congregate. On the north side of this range 

 was a good deal of scrub bush, well stocked with peafowl, 

 hares, partridges, and a small species of jungle antelope. My 

 chum Hayward and I frequently shot over these hills, and 

 invariably made good bags. 



Fourteen miles to the west of the cantonment lay some good 

 coursing ground ; and thither Langton, of my regiment, and I, set 

 out for a three days' trip, taking with us an old native officer 

 of the corps, who was fond of sport of all kinds, and generally 

 kept two or three good dogs of his own. Bheema was a native 

 of Malabar, an intelligent man, and a good and trustworthy 

 officer. His sporting get-up was very fine short drawers from 

 the waist to the middle of the thigh, an old cloth jacket, and 



