208 The Hunting Grounds 



Section 3. The Mountain Ranges. 

 CHAPTER XIV. 



THE NEILGHERRIES. 



" Primaeval woods, and forests vast and rude, 

 Where reigns a deep unbroken solitude : 

 Eternal teaks, who 've wider stretched their arms 

 And deeper struck their roots amid the storms." 



Index. Pleasing recollections. The deep forest described. The 

 pleasures and excitement of a hunter's life. The requisite quali- 

 fications. The Neilgherries and their productions. Variety 

 of game. Ootacamund. Englishmen arid their love of Sport. 

 Dawson's Hotel. Burnside Cottage. Mala-mund. The 

 Todas : their women, habitations, and strange customs. 

 News of elk. The start : preliminaries. The drive. Game 

 afoot. A capital shot. Three deer bite the dust, and Bruin 

 yields up his spoils. A stag at bay. The return. Con- 

 vivial gathering. The Major's story. 



Neilgherries. How many pleasing recoil ec- 

 tions of heart-stirring events are associated with 

 that name ; how many glorious days' sport does it 

 recall to mind ; how many a dear friend does it bring 

 before me, with whom I have bearded the tiger in 

 his lair, tracked the mighty elephant to his haunt in 



