196 JUNGLES OF INDIA 



had dull and uninteresting features ; and when, upon a 

 warm, bright morning, we rode away from the dingy walls, 

 the sight of the dark-green foliage of the forests was re- 

 freshing to my eyes. About five miles from the city we 

 entered upon jungle land. 



There is a very erroneous idea of a jungle among those 

 who have never visited India. The word is generally 

 supposed to mean a luxuriant thicket ; but in India, every 

 patch of wild, uncultivated country, whether forest or 

 grassy plain, is designated as jungle. The country through 

 which we now began to travel was generally level or un- 

 dulating, the Ghaut range of mountains terminating below 

 Surat. It was very thinly settled, and for miles we could 

 ride over open grassy plains, or through forests of palm, 

 bamboo, and other Indian trees. We kept almost constantly 

 in sight of the Gulf of Cambay. 



On approaching a patch of forest rather thicker than 

 any we had seen since leaving Surat, one of the Parsees 

 who was riding near me, called out that he saw a large 

 serpent, lying coiled up near the edge. Curious, yet 

 doubtful, as to the propriety of advancing, we checked our 

 horses, and began to examine the object pointed out by 

 the Parsee. We were about two hundred yards from the 

 first trees of the forest. Upon the ground, between two 

 tall palms, I saw a huge coiled mass of brilliant colors, one 

 portion being much more bulky than the rest ; but I could 



