282 ROUGHING IT IN SOUTHERN INDIA 



to him. Their caste was broken, but the deadlock was at 

 an end, and the rest of the tribe away in the villages need 

 never know. After this the work went forward without a 

 hitch, and in the evening, when the boiling and roasting 

 were in full swing, all prepared to pretty near burst them- 

 selves. Caste was forgotten — were they not all in the same 

 boat together now ? 



F. said afterwards that he was in somewhat of a quandary 

 for the moment, but that two things were equally fixed — 

 that the bison head had got to be safely lodged in camp that 

 night, and that the men knew it, and meant to take it 

 there. All the same, he could not order them to do it, 

 slaves though they were to his every word and sign in all 

 respects save this one of caste. Talk of looks of affection, 

 of anger, of scorn, or aught else, none could exceed in 

 eloquence that of imploring greediness in the circle of eyes 

 around, which was indeed the illuminating source of inspira- 

 tion to F. Botha could read the minds of his brethren by 

 his own. 



This serio-comic bit of by-play, acted now for the first 

 time, was repeated over and over again when occasion arose, 

 but spoken of neither then nor afterwards. 



It befell once, when the men had just brought in gleefully 

 a fine sambur and laid it down still tied to the slings, that, 

 while standing beside it, I touched the body with the tip of 

 my shoe, perhaps by way of emphasising some remark, 

 knowing no better at that time. They noted the momentary 

 action, and instantly their joy changed into sorrow ; for 

 now they might not eat of it ! All that fat beast was lost 

 to them, a foot having touched it ! Luckily F., too, had 

 noticed. Deprecating the catastrophe as much as they 

 did — and truly, for he objected to such waste — he declared 

 the meat to be unfit for anybody's food, ours as well as 

 theirs, until certain munthrams (charms or incantations) 

 had been repeated over it, and said that in this case, as it 



