ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 169 



below, and, as far as they could reach, they had licked the 

 salt from the face of the bank. 



An old iron-pit in this jungle was shown to one of my 

 friends, some years after my visit, by one of the natives of 

 the place. He stated that he had on one occasion taken up a 

 youthful British sportsman to this cave, in which a tiger had 

 been marked down. A fragment of rock was hurled into the 

 pit, and out bolted the affrighted tiger. " There/' said the 

 shikaree, pointing to the left, " there ran the tiger ; the sahib 

 stood here ; and there" (pointing to a branch twenty-five feet 

 straight over his head) "there is the mark of the sahib's 

 bullet !" It is supposed that the tiger was not the only thing 

 that was frightened on that day. 



It was proposed by the Nawaub of Jowra, who had come 

 into Indore for the Dussera festival, that some of us should 

 go out some morning to see his cheetahs work. We accord- 

 ingly made an early start, and set out for some ground which 

 was preserved by Holkar, and on which was a good show of 

 black buck. The Nawaub, who was a stout heavy man, rode 

 a strong hill pony, which ambled along at a great pace, and 

 the other officers of our party were mounted on Arabs in the 

 hope of a run at something. In the open plain we came up 

 with the Nawaub's men, about a hundred and fifty in all ; 

 men mounted on screaming horses, and men on riding camels ; 

 men on foot with guns and dogs, and men with camels laden 

 with tents ; and last, but not least, men on elephants. There 

 were other men in attendance on the two cheetahs, each of 

 which rode on his own platform cart ; and, though hooded, 

 were apparently aware that some amusement was in store for 

 them. Several herds of deer were in sight, and they did not 

 seem much disconcerted by the troop of men, horses, etc. etc. 

 The place was not far from the town of Indore, and they were 



