34 TWO TEARS IN" THE JUNGLE. 



" Is this water good to drink ? " 



He replied -, 



" Yes, sir ; see, the people drink it," and he pointed to a woman 

 "who was filling an earthen jar. Perched upon the edge of the high 

 bank was a huge vulture {Otogyps calvus), with his eyes fixed upon 

 the corpse in the water, but the bathers were so near it he did not 

 venture farther just then. When I first saw the bird from below, 

 I decided to have him for a specimen, but when I found what he 

 had been feeding upon, and was waiting to feed upon again, I con- 

 cluded my collection would be complete without him. 



After getting clear of the bathers and the boats, two long and 

 light grass lines were made fast to the top of our stumpy little 

 mast, and two of the boatmen went ahead along the bank, towing 

 us canal-boat fashion, while the third man steered. The boat was 

 short, but broad, heavy, and clumsy, and could not be rowed 

 against a strong current. It had a roomy deck, with a thatch roof 

 over it, and was altogether a very comfortable little craft. As the 

 men slowly towed the boat along, we cooked, ate, skinned birds, 

 and loaded cartridges under the awning, while the boatmen kept a 

 sharp lookout ahead for any thing which needed to be shot. 



This little trip was full of interest and enjoyment, but so far as 

 gavials were concerned it was a failure. We went five days' jour- 

 ney up the river, found no gavials at all, save very small ones, not 

 worth the trouble of shooting, and when the natives told us there 

 were no gavials " two miles farther up," we knew the case was 

 hopeless. We collected a niamber of large birds, however, among 

 which were specimens of the black vulture {Otogyps calvus), brown 

 vulture {Gyps Bengalensis), the sea eagle {Halioetus albicilla), the 

 black-backed goose {Sarkidiornis melanonotus), bar-headed goose 

 {Anser Indicus), the Casarca rutila, and several fine specimens 

 of the curious Indian skimmer {Rhynchops albicollis). At our 

 farthest point, where the river is full of huge boulders, I shot an 

 otter that was resting upon the top of a large rock out in the 

 stream. The animal rolled off the rock into the water, was quickly 

 borne away by the swift current, and before we could get near it 

 had sunk out of sight. By digging rifle-pits in the sand, and lying 

 in them until I was almost roasted, I managed to kill two small 

 gavials ; but it was unprofitable work, and after having given the 

 place a fair trial, we returned to Allahabad. 



Leaving all our specimens and a portion of our heavy luggage 

 at the hotel, we lost no time in starting for Etawah. It is the rule 



