SITUATION OF ENCAMPMENT. 9 



The huts of which it was composed were well 

 sheltered by tamarind, mango, and peepul trees, 

 which grew thickly in and around it. It was on 

 the same side of the river as the camp, the inter- 

 vening space being cleared and cultivated. Fields, 

 now mostly fallow, also extended for a considerable 

 distance around, and these were dotted with trees 

 and wells, the latter used for purposes of irrigation. 



At this season, the very middle of the hot weather, 

 the rivers attain their smallest dimensions. The 

 one I am describing now consisted of a succession 

 of pools connected by mere rivulets of running 

 water. A few hundred yards above the camp, 

 where cultivation ceased, its banks were fringed by 

 narrow broken strips of trees and low jungle, and 

 its bed filled with large boulders of rock, partly 

 hidden by the bastard cypress and high tiger grass 

 which there grew plentiful and thick. A few bushes 

 and stunted trees were also scattered amongst the 

 rocks. It was the excellent cover this afforded for 

 tigers, which, in the hot season, delight in such cool 

 retreats in the beds of rivers, that had induced 

 the native Shikarees to select Mungaum as a favour- 

 able starting-point for the campaign. 



Nor was the expected presence of tigers the only 

 attraction which existed for the sportsman. The 

 neighbouring hills were, as I have said, thickly 



