30 THE HUNTING GEOUNDS 



"We waited some twenty minutes without being 

 able to distinguish anything, although we heard the 

 distant sounds of tomtoms (a kind of drum,) and 

 cholera horns, (a huge brass trumpet shaped like the 

 letter S.) 



After some time we began to discover, here and 

 there, a long line of men slowly advancing through 

 the bushes, and when they got near enough for us 

 to distinguish their turbans and black faces, the 

 yells and ferocious shouts, together with the wild 

 flourishes of the cholera horn, the rolling of tom- 

 toms, and the constant discharge of matchlocks and 

 rockets, made them appear like some wild horde 

 advancing to attack us, with some slight show of 

 discipline. 



As they closed upon us the din became horrid, and 

 their screams and yells were more discordant than 

 ever, when suddenly loud cries were heard along the 

 line of " Soor ! soor ! (hog ! hog !) Kalee j an war ! " 

 (black beasts) and each horseman stood up in his 

 stirrups and strained his eyes to ascertain which 

 way the game had broken. It was an anxious 

 moment, and intense excitement was depicted on 

 every face, as we waited impatiently in our hiding- 

 place for the signal bugle which was to announce 

 the start. 



At last the long-wished-for note rang forth ; each 

 horseman grasped his spear, crushed his hunting- 

 cap firmly on his head, dug in his spurs, and sprang 

 from his cover at speed upon the plain. A sounder 



