ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 159 



Loquats were also common, now growing wild, though 

 not originally so ; flavoured like a plum, they are a most 

 delightful fruit, small and golden-tinted. 



Truly might it be said of parts of The Wynad, ' Tickle 

 the land with a hoe and it laughs with a harvest/ Among 

 many easily raised fruits and vegetables the creeping or 

 ground tomato was one of the best. It is a native, but, like 

 most plants, it well repays cultivation ; so a piece of our 

 garden was devoted to this crop, which one special season 

 promised to outdo itself. 



No particular watch was ever kept ; porcupines were the 

 only likely thieves, and they were sure to help themselves 

 by night — nor were they grudged a share ; but when the 

 tomatoes began to colour the quantity seemed to diminish 

 all of a sudden. This was noticeable several mornings 

 running, so as a hint to pilferers a trap was set, all blame 

 being laid on the porcupines ; indeed, nothing else was 

 thought of, with their footprints distinctly visible in the 

 weedless furrows. One night piercing yells were heard 

 coming from the tomato patch. It was no porcupine at all, 

 but a grey-haired old Kurumber, detained much against his 

 will by the trap, which was clipped round his ankle. Nor 

 was it the kind of night usually beloved of thieves, for the 

 moon was high, lighting up everything clearly, and the man 

 could be seen capering about even from the bungalow. He 

 was released at once, and made to say how he got there, 

 as we were struck by the curious absence of human foot- 

 prints, except just where he had been stamping in his efforts 

 to shake off the detaining trap, though there was a procession 

 of the tiny marks we were accustomed to find. For answer 

 the old rogue produced a porcupine's foot. We were begin- 

 ning to understand, so as a penance he was bidden further 

 to give us an exhibition of his mode of progress. Practice 

 had made him perfect in it, for in spite of age he hopped 

 along with agility, scratching over and obliterating every 



