210 THE HUNTING GEOUNDS 



begins in October and ends in March, although soli- 

 tary birds may be found a month earlier or later. 



On my first arrival, Ooty was very full ; and as 

 vacant bungalows were scarce, I put up for some 

 time at Dawson's Hotel, where I had every reason 

 to be highly satisfied with the accommodation, for 

 my quarters were extremely comfortable, and the 

 living first - rate ; indeed, I have seldom come 

 across such a cuisine. There was certainly only 

 another like it on the Madras side, that of the Club 

 of Secunderabad, where the mighty Tatiah ruled the 

 roast. 



Having all my establishment with me, including 

 my celebrated hunting-gang, which comprised some 

 of the best trackers in the country, my old chum 



B and I took a snug compact little box called 



Burnside Cottage, with good stabling, outhouses for 

 servants, and a well-stocked garden ; which was 

 most delightfully situated just below the crest of a 

 hill, and overlooking the glen of the Mala-mund, 

 a village inhabited by the Todas, a strange race of 

 people, who are supposed by some to be a remnant 

 of " the lost tribes." The men are generally above 

 the common height, well made, athletic, and with 

 open prepossessing countenances. They have a 

 decidedly Jewish type of nose, large oriental eyes, 

 fine teeth, and oval faces, the lower part of which 

 is generally covered with a fine jet-black beard. 

 They wear no head-dress, but the hair, which grows 

 in great profusion, is parted in the centre, and flows 



