200 A Sportswoman in India 



As soon as possible we cut short such a wretched 

 day by going to bed. The whole boat was infested 

 with mice, which were scurrying over the floor, among 

 the matting, and across my bedclothes all night. There 

 was no room or place to unpack or wash either, in 

 these very confined quarters. I lay down, minding 

 the mice less than the boatmen's families, who were 

 in painfully close proximity, and who grunted and 

 snored peal after peal the whole night long. In 

 vain I shouted at them. If they awoke, and for ten 

 minutes there was silence, they began again after that 

 lapse of time, as surely as does night follow day. 



Morning dawned with a bright sky, the matting 

 was rolled up, and we sat at breakfast in warm sun- 

 shine, the river banks, valley, and mountains looking 

 more lovely than ever. A few hours and we were 

 at Soper. The servants in their kishty seemed to have 

 recovered their spirits, though Sala Bux complained 

 bitterly of fever, and consumed many capsules of 

 phenacetin with which we provided him. It need 

 never be feared that a native will endure the least 

 discomfort in stoical silence. 



Both of us were very well satisfied to be starting on 

 a shoot again. Sight-seeing palls, the most enchanting 

 country after a time loses its first keen attraction, and 

 needs a soupfon of adventure and of action, behind 

 which it can sink into its own natural position of a 

 beautiful background. Many people are quite content 

 to journey across the Indian Ocean, to find their 

 pleasure solely in Anglo-Indian society, and in seeing 



