30 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



father's property should fairly come to all alike. 

 It is a glaring instance of the bad effects of a 

 plurality of wives ; and being contrary to our con- 

 stitutional laws of marriage, I declined giving them 

 an opinion as to who was right or wrong. 



To avoid the seat of war my track was rather tor- 

 tuous. On the east or right side the country was 

 open, and afforded a spacious view ; but on the west 

 this was limited by an irregularly-disposed series of 

 low hills. Cultivation and scrub-jungle alternated 

 the whole way. The miserable Goanese, like a dog 

 slinking off to die, slipped away behind the caravan, 

 and hid himself in the jungle to suffer the pangs of 

 fever in solitude. I sent men to look for him in 

 vain : party succeeded party in the search, till at last 

 night set in without his appearing. It is singular in 

 this country to find how few men escape some fever 

 or other sickness, who make a sudden march after 

 living a quiet stationary life. It appears as if the bile 

 got stirred, suffused the body, and, exciting the blood, 

 produced this effect. I had to admonish a silly Bel- 

 ooch, who, foolishly thinking that powder alone could 

 not hurt a man, fired his gun off into a mass of naked 

 Imman legs, in order, as he said, to clear the court. 

 The consequence was, that at least fifty pairs got 

 covered with numerous small bleeding wounds, all 

 dreadfully painful from the saltpetre contained in the 

 powder. It was fortunate that the sultan was a good 

 man, and was present at the time it occurred, else a 



