290 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



flock to his shrine. There is a well-worn and difficult 

 path, which leads from the plains below to the sacred 

 place, some twelve miles through rocky gorges and over 

 jungle-clad ridges, in some places steep and even danger- 

 ous. The pilgrims come from great distances, poor and 

 rich, men and women, to propitiate the deity who gives 

 them children. They must tramp the toilsome ascent and 

 present the priests of the shrine with suitable offerings. 

 These well-to-do gentlemen, who live on the fat of the 

 land, appear in the guise of jogis, covered with ashes 

 or painted in bright colours, and ring bells and go through 

 ceremonies at certain hours, chanting in a monotonous 

 tone, after a fashion which seems common to priests all 

 over the world. The pilgrims are then conducted into 

 the cave, which is a natural one in the face of the moun- 

 tain, whence a stream of cool clear water issues. They 

 must pass through a well-worn basin of deep water before 

 entering the holy place, where the image of the deity is 

 carved in stone. It is said that many pilgrims get their 

 death of cold from the sudden immersion after their hot 

 and exhausting climb through the heat of the tropical sun ; 

 but this is part of the penance which priestcraft imposes 

 on the credulity of the pious. 



Near Mahadeo mountain is the plateau of Pachmari, 

 well known now as a hill station or sanatorium for troops. 

 It was then in charge of the Forest Department, and there 

 existed only the forest bungalow and a gaol. The summit 

 is a tableland of some extent, studded with fine and beauti- 

 ful forest trees of various kinds, in groups or single. 



The forest officer used to come there in the hottest 

 weather, and the forest work consisted in ploughing the 

 land with an English plough drawn by an elephant, with 

 a view to making a nursery of trees and growing potatoes. 

 This was before the present system of forest conservation. 



