ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 69 



receding tide, and had consequently heeled over, and lay com- 

 pletely on her side. We had some difficulty in settling down 

 again, and on the day breaking we all landed and joined the 

 camp. We were halted here two or three days, waiting for 

 some of the boats that had not arrived. When the whole 

 regiment was landed, the head-quarters moved on Baroda, and 

 the major, another subaltern, and myself, with three companies, 

 were told off for detachment duty at Broach. 



I was much struck by the numbers of wildfowl and game 

 of all sorts which surrounded us. Every field was swarming 

 with quail, and in every patch of rushes we found snipe, while 

 the pools furnished ducks of many kinds, and waders innumer- 

 able. Here, for the first time, I saw the coolen a large blue 

 crane, which comes in great numbers in the cold weather ; and 

 I here fell in for the first time with the sarus, a huge bird, 

 also of the crane family. They are very numerous in Guzerat 

 and Central India, feeding in the corn-fields, and in the 

 neighbourhood of tanks and rivers. They are generally found 

 in even numbers. Every Jack is supposed to have his Jill, 

 and, according to native report, the death of one is soon 

 followed by that of the other. I have at times seen them in 

 large numbers together, generally in the sandy bed of some 

 river, where they assemble during the heat of the day, or at 

 night. The bird is of a light blue colour, with some white 

 about the tail ; the head, and about eight inches of the neck, 

 are bright red, but nearly devoid of feathers. The natives 

 regard them with some degree of veneration, and they are 

 seldom molested by the European sportsman. 



Soon after landing I was out after snipe, having with me 

 several small dogs. I was beating a patch of rushes, when I 

 saw two of the huge birds above mentioned flying towards 

 me, uttering their peculiar cry. I had loaded with No. 8, but 



