200 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTEAL INDIA 



I rode out to his camp at Chondi — one of the deserted 

 village sites in the valley below Gharri. A loveUer spot 

 for a hunting camp in the hot weather could not be found. 

 Close by a clear and beautiful pool of water stood an 

 enormous banyan tree, so old that many of the suckers 

 thrown out by the branches of the parent tree had them- 

 selves become mighty stems, with branches which again 

 had given birth to trunks of considerable girth, while the 

 stem of the original tree had utterly decayed away. 

 Beneath its copious shade were sheltered from the sun 

 several tents, and numerous servants, lascars, and Bheels, 

 besides our horses, dogs, etc. The grass on the lower 

 hills had mostly been burnt since we were last here, and 

 the Mhowa flowers had been f alhng for some time. Sambar 

 nightly visited some fine clumps of that tree in the bottom 

 of the valley, a little higher up than the camp. 



The next morning we sent out about half-a-dozen pairs 

 of Bheels to look out on the hill-tops long before daybreak ; 

 and soon after ourselves started up the valley to a point 

 where we intended to separate and take different beats. 

 A colony of monkeys in the trees overhanging the river 

 were " swearing " lustily about half a mile to our left, 

 and presently we found the remains of a sambar that had 

 been killed during the night under the Mhowa trees by a 

 tiger. The brute himself was doubtless making ofi up 

 the valley when seen by the monkeys. Many sambar 

 had been feeding on the Mhowa, and fresh tracks led ofi 

 in almost all directions. Just where we were about to 

 separate a long spur ran down from the hills on the right 

 to the valley up which we were proceeding; and as we 

 approached it we saw in the dim gray light a long Hne of 

 deer file over the top, each pausing for a second on the sky 

 line before passing over to the far side. Watching them 

 for a few seconds, we saw that they were followed by a 

 large stag at a good distance in the rear. In fact, he had 

 just commenced to climb the spur when we saw him; 

 and at the same time he must have seen us pausing on the 

 path, for his leisurely walk then became a run — ^the low 

 crouching run, almost hke a tiger's, with antlers thrown 

 back, often adopted by a stag who wants to escape quickly 



