THE VISIT TO THE CHIEFS. 345 



is a crow both shrill and clear, and audible at a 

 considerable distance. As there appeared to be no 

 chance of finding a tiger, the hunters spent an hour 

 or so in a beat for them, and succeeded in bagging 

 several brace. They were then guided to the cart 

 track, which led to the village near which their new 

 camp was pitched, and cantered off, leaving the 

 men to follow more leisurely. 



About four o'clock they Avere again astir, with 

 the object of fulfilling their promise of visiting the 

 chiefs, who lived about two miles off. Arraying 

 themselves in the least stained of their shooting- 

 jackets, and, in the cases of Mackenzie and Norman, 

 discarding their leggings and assuming the more 

 conventional trowser of civilisation, they started 

 under the guidance of a messenger who had been 

 deputed by the chiefs to attend them. Another 

 functionary or two of greater importance met them 

 at the entrance to the village, and escorted them 

 to the gateway of the small fort, which, situated on 

 high ground at one end, had a fair command of the 

 village itself and of the surrounding country. It 

 was a rectangular pile of buildings, with an open 

 quadrangle in the centre. Flanked by rounded 

 bastions at the corners, the connecting curtains 

 presented a bare uninteresting appearance, except 

 where a line of gaping slits broke its dull monotony. 



