212 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



the dark, and a grass-cutter also got bitten and died. 

 I gave brandy on each occasion, but it was useless. 

 Grass snakes and tree snakes and harmless water snakes 

 are common, but seldom annoy one. 



The insects in the forest would take books to describe. 

 Wild bees are the most obnoxious, and if disturbed in 

 their nest will sting a horse, dog, or man to death if they 

 can. Centipedes and scorpions are legion. But the most 

 beautiful of insects is the giant spider, bottle-green and 

 golden, which measures 6 inches across, counting his 

 numerous legs. He makes a web between two tall trees, 

 and sits in the centre of it, his great golden body shin- 

 ing in the sun. When passing through the forest on an 

 elephant I have refrained from going on through a web, 

 not liking to encounter the spider or destroy so beautiful 

 a web. There are too many wonderful and beautiful 

 creatures in the forests to describe the tenth part of them, 

 and the reader must be referred to works of natural 

 history, where they are described scientifically. 



