72 TWO YEARS IN THE JUNGLE. 



disintegrating action of moisture ; so that now, instead of the 

 rich alluvial tracts of low " bottom-land," between the river and the 

 uplands, which we would see had this clay been soft and friable, 

 hke that along the banks of our western rivers, we see the deso- 

 late " ravines." Between the fertile uplands and the river lies a 

 broad belt of rugged and baiTen clay peaks, divided by ragged 

 hollows, the tops of the highest just on a level with the uplands, 

 and their steep sides sprinkled with a scraggy growth of low 

 bushes which seem to put forth thorns instead of leaves. Here 

 and there are miniature table-mountains foriy to sixty feet high, 

 their flat tops marking the level of the former plain. Every rainy 

 season the ravines eat farther and farther into the fertile plain^ 

 and one field after another is abandoned as the mould and disin- 

 tegrated soil is washed into the ravines, lea-sing onlv the hard and 

 barren clay. Upon the toj) of one little table-mountain, haK a 

 mile fi"om the present head of the ravines, we saw the ruins of a 

 village that was once surrounded by fertile fields. A bu'd's-eye 

 view of the Jumna ravines reveals a "gray and melancholy waste," 

 apparently desolate and Hfeless ; yet these miniature mountains, 

 this lab}TT.nth of hills and hollows affords shelter for the gazelle, 

 nil-gai, jackal, wolf, hare, wild-hog, panther, and even the leopard. 



The Indian gazelle ( Gazella Bennetti) is commonly called by In- 

 dian sportsmen the " ravine deer," because it is generally found in 

 the dry and baiTen ra^ines along the Jumna, and in similar por- 

 tions of Bundelkund, Rewah, the Central Provinces, and Gwalior. 

 It is also found in the Punjab and Eajpootana, but does not occur 

 south of the Godavery River. 



This gracefvd little animal is of a pale, reddish-brown color, 

 varying in the females, the entire under parts from chin to tail 

 being white, while the tail itself is black. My largest buck meas- 

 ured 26 inches in height at shoulders, length of head and body, 3 

 feet 5 inches, tail 8 inches, and honis 13 inches. The horns of the 

 male are almost perfectly straight, except that the points are 

 tipped sHghtly forward, and are encircled with rings varying in 

 number from eighteen to twenty-three, from the base to within 

 two inches of the point. The horns never exceed 14^ inches in 

 length, and only one pair out of a hundred exceeds 14. 



Unlike all other antelopes, the female gazelle possesses horns, 

 although they are short, very slender, and seldom systematically 

 curved. They are usually 4 to 5 inches in length, sometimes 6, 

 but during my hunt with Major Eoss I was fortunate enough to 



