OF THE OLD WORLD. 91 



a ' jheel ' or swamp, which was nearly dry, orchideous 

 plants of every form and hue formed such a parterre 

 that Chiswick itself could hardly equal ; and never 

 did I behold such luxurious vegetation. Yet this 

 was in the centre of dark and almost impenetrable 

 jungle, and at least twenty miles from the nearest 

 habitation we knew of. Whilst we were remarking 

 on the extreme beauty of the scene, suddenly I 

 observed that the sky had become overcast, and 

 thunder was heard rumbling in the distant hills. 

 Presently large drops fell, and we had every indi- 

 cation of a heavy fall of rain. I gave orders to 

 my people to pitch a small hill-tent we had with 

 us as soon as possible, so that at any fate we might 

 keep the guns and ammunition dry, and in the 

 meantime we took shelter under the banian tree, 

 where the people were employed in cutting tent- 

 pegs and gathering firewood. M was reclining 



smoking on a carpet, close to the main trunk of 

 the tree, when suddenly we thought we heard a 

 rustling above our heads, about ten feet from the 

 ground, just where the branches and arms began 

 to shoot, and almost immediately we heard an extra- 

 ordinary kind of sneeze coming from the same quarter. 

 We started up and seized our guns, but could see 

 nothing, for the whole fork of the tree was covered 

 with masses of various kinds of parasitical plants 



' Look out, Harry !' cried M , 'there is some beast 



in that tree ; most likely a leopard lying in wait for 

 deer.' Having warned our people to move out of the 



