THE NARBADA VALLEY 39 



the deep shade of some mango grove, near a populous 

 village wMcli supplies all your wants; starting after the 

 morning cup of hot coffee to ride slowly along through 

 green fields and grassy plains ; and looking on the forest- 

 covered hills on the. blue horizon only as an agreeable 

 vanishing point in the landscape, or as unpleasantly com- 

 plicating the questions of liquor excise and police adminis- 

 tration ! It is amaziag what a difference the point of 

 view makes. The man who has dwelt for years among 

 the forests, and their simple wild inhabitants, will regard 

 nearly every question that arises in a wholly different 

 light from him whose experience has lain only among the 

 corn fields of the plains, and their tame and settled tillers. 

 And each of them will probably arrive at a conclusion as 

 little comprehending the whole bearings of the question 

 as the other. 



The climate of Central India in the cold season, that 

 is, from November to March, is almost perfect for the 

 life of -combined outdoor exercise and indoor occupation 

 which forms the healthiest sort of existence in India. 

 The midday sun, if a little hot for hard work in the open 

 air, is just sufficient to make the temperature under 

 canvas dehghtful, while the mornings and evenings are 

 cool and bracing, and the nights cold enough to make 

 several blankets a necessity. In January, ice will generally 

 be found on water that has been exposed all night. 

 Nothing can, in my opinion, exceed the exhilarating effect 

 of a march at such a season, with pleasant companions, 

 through a country teeming with interest in its scenery, 

 its people, and its natural productions, such as is this 

 i^egion of the Narbada valley. 



The valley was not long ago — ^not long, that is, in the 

 history of countries — a hunting ground of the Gonds and 

 other wild tribes who are now chiefly confined to the 

 hills which surround it. At most, it could have been but 

 scantily patched by their rude tillage before the arrival 

 of the Hindu races, who have cleared its forests, driven 

 the wild elephant that roamed through them to the far 

 east, and covered its black soil with an unbroken stretch of 

 wheat cultivation that strikes every visitor with admiration. 



