CHAPTEE III 



THE mIhADEO hills 



In tlie eyes of the Hindu inhabitants of the neigh- 

 bouring plains, the whole of the range of hills which 

 culminated in the Puchmurree plateau is sacred to their 

 deity Siva, called Mahadeo, or the Great God; and the 

 hills themselves are called by his name, the Mahadeos. 

 A conception of awe and mystery had always been asso- 

 ciated with their lofty peaks, embosomed among which 

 lies one of the most sacred shrines of the god, to which 

 at least one pilgrimage was a necessity in the life of every 

 devout Hindii. But excepting at the appointed season 

 for this pilgrimage, no dweller of the plains would venture 

 at the time of which I am writing, to set his foot on the 

 holy^ soil of Mahadeo's hills ; and, as we approached its 

 neighbourhood, gloomy looks began to gather on the 

 faces of my followers, whose fears had been acted on 

 by the conversation of the people they had met. The 

 road to the top was represented as impassable from 

 natiiral difficulties ; and guarded by wild beasts, goblins, 

 and fell disease. 



I halted a day at Jhilpa, the last village on the plains, 

 to make arrangements for the ascent, and procure guides ; 

 and on the 22nd packed my small tent and a few neces- 

 saries on a pony, and with two attendants started up the 

 hill on foot. For the first ten miles or so the pathway 

 led up an easy and regular ascent over shelving rocks 

 and scanty soil, whereon grew a thin forest of the com- 

 moner sorts of trees, Salei (Boswellia thurifera), Dhaora 

 (Conocarpus latifolia), and Saj {Pentaftera glabra), being 

 the most numerous species; the grass and vegetation on 

 these slopes had begim already to assume the yellow 

 tinge of the dry season. Such a prospect as this, which 



