A FINE COUNTRY, BUT NO GAME. 315 



do not resort to such woods, in which they will find all they 

 revel in, peace and the absence of man included. Nor is such 

 absence of big game a modern condition of things, for I have 

 read in an official report on the state of Manbhoom, written 

 in 1832, after the writer had traversed every part of it, im- 

 mediately after the insurrections in that and the adjoining 

 Singbhoom district, that he had been greatly impressed by 

 the paucity of big game in the country, and of the dangerous 

 kinds in particular. Bears were far more plentiful thirty 

 years ago than at present, and I have known seven to be shot 

 by one sportsman in the day, not ten miles from Rogonath- 

 poor, which itself was a famous place for them, although now 

 only visited by some stray individual on the move. 



If a small Rob Roy be used for shooting, or a narrow dug- 

 out, some caution is necessary, as they are apt to upset on 

 any sudden turn being made to right or left by the gunner to 

 secure a quick shot, as once occurred to a near relative of 

 mine in Manbhoom, who narrowly escaped drowning, though 

 a good swimmer, from being entangled among weeds, through 

 which he could not penetrate to the bank. As it was, he was 

 nearly exhausted before the spirit and intelligence of a native 

 saved him ; and when he reached land, it was long before he 

 was able to rise and walk off, having lost his gun, ammuni- 

 tion, and other articles in the deep water where his canoe 

 upset. A considerable crowd had collected from a neigh- 

 bouring village, helplessly bewailing the fate of the drowning 

 man, but without making any efforts to rescue him, till at 

 length one, cooler or more energetic than his fellows, having 

 fetched a couple of water-jars, swam out to his assistance. 

 One of these large globular jars (called "gharas" or "thilias " 

 in the vernacular), being inverted, will support a man in the 

 water with ease. 



It is also necessary to be cautious before wading deep into 

 swamps, especially those near tidal rivers, as they may har- 

 bour crocodiles, of which reptiles there are, I believe, three 

 distinct species in the Lower Provinces, besides the " gharial," 

 or long-nosed Gavialis gangeticus (Gharialis gangeticus ?), which 



