of the Old World. 263 



equator, for at this period the range of the thermo- 

 meter in the shade is from sixty-two to eighty de- 

 grees, and the climate is there delightful, the north-east 

 wind proving enlivening and bracing, and at this time 

 the jungle is considered free from fever, the greatest 

 danger to which the Indian sportsman is exposed. 



I had left my eyrie, " Burnside Cottage," near 

 Ooty, having received information that a herd of 

 elephants were said to have been seen near one of the 

 collector's spice-gardens in the Bolanputty Valley, 

 and was staying with M , who was in the regi- 

 ment then quartered at Coimbatore, whilst my gang 

 went out to gather intelligence. After an absence of 

 five days they returned, their search having proved a 

 blank, no fresh trails having been discovered. 



As was my general custom before the departure 

 of my gang on an expedition, I had distributed 

 some few rupees to purchase sheep, fowls, &c., for 

 sacrificial offerings to their " Sawmies," so as to 

 propitiate the deities, and bring good luck on the 

 enterprise, and on this occasion it appears that the 

 non-success of the reconnaissance had excited the 

 indignation of the whole gang against a certain stone 

 image of Haniman (the monkey-god) in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the lake, as sheep had been sacrificed, 

 cocks immolated, cocoa-nuts broken, and incense 

 burnt before him, and yet the search for game had 

 proved a failure. 



