70 TWO TEAES IN THE JUNGLE. 



with very many portions of India, Etawab is very thinly settled ; but, 

 upon an area of 1,631 square miles, of which quite twenty per cent 

 is unculturable ravines or reh-stricken plains, there are 1,591 villages 

 and 668,581 people — nearly one \'illage and quite 408 people to 

 every square mile, fertile or barren. No wonder the fields along 

 the roadside were little garden-plots of one to two acres, or that 

 there was no ground to spare for fences, and nothing to make them 

 of. Each tiny field was bounded by a little ridge of earth, and 

 fences, hedges, and ditches were alike unkno-mi. The landscape 

 was only redeemed from utter barrenness (for the winter crojDS had 

 just been harvested), by the scattering mangos, acacias, and occa- 

 sional banyan trees, which dotted the plain at long distances apart. 



After two hours and a half of cramped limbs and aching backs, 

 we alighted from our antiquated jaunting-car at Major Ross's camp. 

 If the ride was cramped and shaky, it was also cheap, for the twelve 

 miles cost us only one rupee. 



Mrs. Eoss led me at once to a mango tree near the tents, and 

 pointed out a strange-looking animal which had taken refuge in it 

 the night before, and been fairly " treed " ever since. A charge of 

 shot soon brought it to the gi'ound, and it proved to be a tree-cat 

 {Paradoxurus musanga) ; length, head and body, 23^ inches, tail 204^, 

 color, dark gray washed with black. 



I was surprised at the elegance and completeness of my fi-iend's 

 camping establishment, which was simj^ly luxurious as compared 

 with all the camping-out I had ever seen before, and it was man- 

 aged with military precision. There was a main waU-tent, large and 

 roomy, with a double roof and verandah all around, and divided into 

 an office, dining-room, and bath-room. Major and Mrs. Ross had 

 a sleeping-tent, the khansama (cook) had a kitchen-tent, and there 

 was another for me. Contrary to the ordinary rule of camp-hfe 

 there was an abundance of furniture, but it was all made to fold 

 up and pack snugly away. There were five gharrys (bullock-carts) 

 to transport the equipage, and three excellent saddle-horses for the 

 "Sahib" and the "Memsahib." Counting cooks, sweepers, gun- 

 bearers, horse-keepers, and gharry-drivers, there were just twenty- 

 four servants of various castes attached to the camp. The morning 

 after my an-ival, the camp was struck as soon as we had breakfasted, 

 and moved off to a village nearer the ravines. Major and IVIrs. Ross 

 and I went shooting along the way, and when we reached Jeyt- 

 pore, late in the evening, we found the tents pitched in a green grove 

 of mango trees, the ground cleanly swept, the lamps Hghted, and 



