UP A HILL. 458 



common bird hereabouts, but the great Black and White Hornbill is 

 more abundant in the valley of the Savitri than anywhere to the 

 northwards in our province, and is a very noticeable bird to a visitor 

 from the plains. 



Like many forest birds and beasts, it makes foraging excursions 

 to some distance from its natural cover, especially to pipal or pipri 

 figs where and when ripe. And on such occasions, when flying 

 across the open, it irresistibly suggests the Prussian eagle broken 

 loose from one of his thousand shields and flags, to take the air on 

 his own account, without soldiers in company for once. This 

 Hornbill, though not an appetizing bird to look at, is as good as 

 bustard for the table. I once furnished this information, as a " thing 

 not generally known " to a Bombay regiment bound for the Burman 

 "War, and asked, on its return in peace with honour, whether the 

 same had been verified. The answer was " Yes, and more than once 

 it was worth a meal to us." 



On the next day*s march the valley gradually narrows, until at 

 Konjan, the river runs in a ravine, with steep rock-walls on one side, 

 and towering, but climbable hills, on the other, the eastern. Up this 

 a foot-path winds through the woods to a wide ledge on the side of 

 the E-aigarh range, where lies the little village of Pachad, once a 

 sort of suburb and market to the metropolis far above it. During 

 the whole of this march, one is struck by the very unoriental appear- 

 ance of the country. At Nate we parted with palm and bamboo, 

 and all the valley suggests recollections of those sub- Alpine glens 

 in which the chestnut takes the place here filled by the mango. 



At Pachad, however, a few remnants of old buildings, a temple, 

 and a dome, bring us back to the east, and the black cliffs, now near 

 neighbours on all sides, have a colouring and character which is 

 their own even in the Sahyadri region. A man, long familiar with 

 this range, if set down at night in a glen new to him, like a Prince in 

 the Arabian Nights, would yet tell you in the morning where the 

 water of its burn would seek the sea ; and a view from Mahablesh- 

 war is very different from one near Khandala or Igatpuri. Here 

 at Pachad, we seem to be on part of a great level plain, loo king doAvn 

 upon another to the north-west, (the valley of Manga um), and 

 dominated by the Mahabaleshwar Ghats to the south-east, while here 

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