THE MAHADEO HILLS 79 



for their l5:ernels. They seem to be of a retired and melan- 

 choly nature, appropriate to the sunless ravines they 

 reside in ; and they are not very numerous either here or 

 at Amarkantak, which is the only other part of the hills 

 where I have met the species. They are easily captured 

 in the nests when young, but make most foolish and un- 

 interesting pets, having a singularly vacant expression of 

 countenance, and nothing of the light-hearted vivacity of 

 the other members of the squirrel family. If an exquisite 

 fur for a lady's mufi or a sporran is an object, some pretty 

 shooting may be had in knocking them off the tops of the 

 high trees with a small rifle. Numerous vultures and 

 birds of the rapacious order build on the ledges of the 

 cliffs. Among them is the grand imperial eagle {A. 

 imperialis), whose wings measure eight feet from tip to 

 tip, and whose soaring flight and harsh scream form a 

 grand feature in the scenery of this range of mountains. 

 On my return to the tent I had an interview with the 

 Thakur, or chief, of Puchmurree. This potentate is the 

 proprietor of a considerable tract of hill and forest in 

 the Mahadeo range, and the valleys at its base. He is the 

 representative of one of the families already referred to as 

 having been established in the early days of Aryan coloni- 

 sation, by an intermixture of the blood of the adventurous 

 Rajpiit with that of the aboriginal (in this case Korku) 

 occupants of the soil. In personal appearance and habits 

 the family exactly correspond to their descent. Taller 

 and fairer by far than the tmdiluted Korkiis about them, 

 they still possess the thick lips and prominent jaw of the 

 aborigines. With all the love of tinsel and sounding form 

 of the vain Rajput, they unite much of the apathy and 

 imthrift of the savage. In religion they are (hke all 

 converts) ultra Hindii, worshipping Siva, looking on the 

 slaughter of a cow with horror (though they will kill the 

 nearly related bison of their hiUs), wearing the holy thread 

 of the twice-born castes, and keeping a family Brahman to 

 do their household worship for them. The Puchmurree 

 Thakiir was a well-grown young man of about twenty-five, 

 but awkward in manner and incapable of any sort of con- 

 versation. I subsequently found that he was, like most 



