THE TEAK EEGION 197 



developed by the exertion was greatly out of proportion 

 to the progress made. At last, however, we sighted the 

 red-topped tree under which we had marked our stag; 

 and then "the Moon," stripping himself of next to his 

 last fragment of raiment, swarmed up a teak pole to look 

 out ahead. Nothing was seen, however, and so we stole 

 on again, friend Chand swarming up trees at intervals, 

 and I balancing myself in fear and trembling on the rounded 

 boulders. We were not to succeed, however ; for the Bheel 

 in coming ofE a tree accidentally stepped on a leaf, and 

 the game was up. Though I dashed ahead at once, 

 knowing that we could steal in no further, it was too late ; 

 and all I saw was a dark form running low, but at a great 

 pace, through the teak scrub, too far off for a shot. I 

 beUeve that this was about the only sambar then on the 

 hiUs; for though the forms where they had been lying 

 were numerous, and both T. and I hunted the livelong 

 day for them, not another hoof or horn did we see. The 

 Bheels said they had all gone to " Dhowtea " — a place 

 which we afterwards found was so difficult of access that 

 very few of them had ever been there ; and so they used 

 it, much as we do " Jericho," to express an indefinite 

 region where everything that can't be found elsewhere 

 must certainly have gone. 



Greatly to the surprise of the Bheels, we did shortly 

 after this go to Dhowtea ; and if its name was great before, 

 it certainly became much more so after we had been 

 there. Neither of us ever saw anything so extraordinary 

 in our lives ; and to the Bheels there was nothing short 

 of magical devilry in what we found, or rather did not 

 find, Dhowtea was a hollow on the top of the range 

 surrounded by flat plateaux of small elevation, with a fine 

 stream of water in the centre, and long grass all about. 

 After a long struggle, through thick jungle and over 

 desperate rocky ground, we reached it long after sundown, 

 and encamped uncomfortably in the open plain for the 

 night. The place was perfectly puddled up with the 

 feet of sambar, the footmarks ranging from a day to weeks 

 old ; and in the grass around were literally thousands of 

 sambar forms, wlule every second or third tree was peeled 



