1 86 



THE MONKEY-EATERS. 



WHILE tramping along the banks of the northern 

 Karo river, just above the point where it precipi- 

 tates itself over a waterfall eighty feet high, into the 

 Koel river, in the south-east corner of Lohardugga, 

 in Chota Nagpore, strange shouts of " hill-hillo- 

 lowee / hill-hillo-lowee ! hill-hillo-lowee / ' (with a 

 long pause on the second word) were heard from 

 an elbow in the river a little way up stream. On 

 inquiry I was told that the shouts came from a 

 party of Behurs, or monkey-eaters, who were en- 

 gaged in hunting monkeys, and that if we concealed 

 ourselves and approached cautiously we should 

 be able to witness the hunt, but that the advance 

 must be made carefully, as the Behurs are a very 

 wild race who live only in the forests, on the trees, 

 or in holes in the rocks ; that they hold no inter- 

 course with any but their own people, and avoid 

 all villages, and that if they saw us they would most 

 likely make off. As the hunt was evidently being 

 made towards the river from its right bank, we 

 went over to the opposite side and concealed our- 

 selves in the forest just opposite the elbow or bend 

 in the river towards which the hunt seemed to 



