FORESTS OF THE BHABAR AND FOOT-HILLS 197 



even more unhealthy, though there is absolutely no 

 water. It may be found that the mosquito is answerable 

 for the fevers in India as well as in Italy. There are 

 plenty of mosquitoes in the Bhabar after the rains ; in 

 December the frosts begin and kill them. At that time 

 fevers cease. The natives of the Terai are so naturalized 

 to the fever germs that they cannot live elsewhere. 

 They usually carry a piece of arsenic, from which they 

 scrape off a little daily with a knife and take some grains, 

 which, they say, keeps off fever. Garlic, onions, and asafoe- 

 tida are also taken in their food for the same purpose. 

 Plainsmen and paharis generally die if they sleep in the 

 Terai before November i or after June i. 



To return to our elephant ride. Turning to the south, 

 the jungle becomes of a different character, less timber and 

 more grass. The grass is now 10 feet high, and no man 

 on foot could get through it. In the winter months the 

 natives who graze their cattle in the forest take care to 

 burn all the long grass, so that young green stuff may 

 spring from the roots. We come across the line of fire, 

 which is advancing across the forest, generally against the 

 wind ; but there is very little wind, and the fire moves on 

 so slowly that no one seems to be afraid of it. The ele- 

 phant walks quite unconcernedly up to where the flames 

 are crackling and roaring 20 feet high. The insects suffer 

 most, and flutter up before the flames, a crowd of poor 

 scorching moths and butterflies. The king-crows, black 

 birds with forked tails, and fly-catchers, and even kites, 

 are seen feeding on the insects close to the flames and 

 smoke. It does not at all come up to the harrowing 

 description of forest fires one has read of in books. This 

 may be owing to the absence of wind. We shape our 

 course by the compass if the hills cannot be seen, and the 

 elephant now swings along over the open, blackened 



