32 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



haunts and habits of the tiger led him to this spot, 

 declared that the tiger was here, lying in some cave under 

 the rocks. He pointed out the perfectly fresh tracks on 

 the sand of the stream bed. He declared he had per- 

 formed a sacrifice to the devta or deity who haunted that 

 jungle, and the omens had been good, so that he felt 

 certain that this time the sahib would kill the man-eater ; 

 that fortune, which had not befriended us in many pre- 

 vious attempts, was now turned in our favour, and the 

 fairies were propitious. 



There is something weird and uncanny in the tiger- 

 frequented jungle, where not a sound is heard, and you 

 pass along seeing nothing, and yet knowing that he is 

 lurking close by, perhaps looking at you, yet invisible, 

 but his presence assured by the great impressions on the 

 sand, once seen never to be forgotten, into which the 

 water is fast oozing. This was a lovely glen with lofty 

 walls of rock rising high on one side, over-arched by 

 great trees of dark evergreen foliage, with sloping bank 

 rising opposite from the stream, clad with bushes of the 

 beri, or prickly thorn, in dense brakes topped by light- 

 green feathery mimosa, wild lemons, and other tropical 

 trees. The gay yellow-flowered cassia,* and various 

 creepers hanging in luxuriant wildness, presented a 

 picture of beauty and harmony like a huge conservatory 

 of the rarest plants, orchids of various forms clinging to 

 the rugged stems, the silence only broken by the murmur 

 of the pellucid green water over the fem-clad rocks, and 

 the shade of the huge overhanging mountain hiding the 

 almost vertical sun. Having chosen an open space under 

 some great trees of wild mango, Jussoo proceeded to tie 

 up a buffalo calf which his boy had been ordered to lead 

 to the spot. There was a suitable fork in a thick leafy 



* Cassia fistula. 



