COMMENCEMENT OF THE RAINS 79 



insects, I have heard of an instance of its being 

 considered agreeable. It used to be said of a very high 

 English official of former days in these parts that 

 during the season when these " flying bugs " appear he 

 always kept a few tied up in a corner of his handker- 

 chief, and used to refresh himself at short intervals by 

 inhaling their aroma, as one might salts from a smelling- 

 bottle. 



From these odious little creatures I will turn to the 



inoffensive and more interesting insects the crickets. 



►f the cricket there are here in India numerous 



varieties. Those most commonly seen are the small 



)lack cricket, which flies as well as hops, the larger 



>rown cricket, termed the bhughah, another very much 



jsembling it, known as the jheengoo, and a fourth, 



►f still greater size and more active, named the 



lukharee. 



The crickets all inhabit holes in the ground. The 

 holes are so long and so deep that I doubted at first 

 if the crickets could themselves have constructed them. 

 I even doubted, moreover, from the appearance of the 

 crickets, whether they were capable of excavating holes 

 at all. To satisfy myself on these points I made some 

 experiments. At different times I had a cricket of 

 each variety placed on one of the garden paths. These 

 paths, as I have mentioned, are of earth and consider- 

 ably raised. To prevent the crickets from wandering 

 away when left, I had a large earthen pan placed over 

 them upside down. These pans are termed ndnds. 

 They are made of the coarsest earthenware, and are 

 very capacious. Those I used were nearly a yard in 



