312 THE HIGHLANDS OF CENTRAL INDIA 



being attempted among the unsophisticated savages of 

 these wilds by those who are now preaching in vain to the 

 semi-Hindu tribes further west. 



Some time ago a French gentleman took up a con- 

 siderable tract of the finest land in one of these valleys. 

 But it soon appeared that he had no intention of real 

 colonisation, and had, in fact, been merely speculating on 

 the value of the forest produce of the land. This and 

 other symptoms of land-jobbing have, I beUeve, induced 

 some reconsideration of the rtdes for. the sale of the fee 

 simple of waste lands. One thing may be rehed on, 

 however — ^that whatever title a settler may here obtain 

 from the Government will be an absolute one, every 

 existing or possible private interest having been fvdly 

 determined before the available wastes were declared by 

 law to be state property. 



In such a well-watered, shady, and grassy region as 

 this upper Narbada valley, it is inevitable that wild 

 animals should abound. The hilly ranges which separate 

 the valleys contain the bison, the sambar, and the black 

 bear, like similar tracts in other parts of the province. 

 These are animals pecuhar to no part of India, and the 

 same may be said of the spotted deer, which affects the 

 densely wooded banks of the larger streams. But, as I 

 have said, we are here within the hmits of the great sal 

 belt, and come upon some animals which I have noticed 

 as coinciding in range therewith. 



Chief in interest among these is the beautiful twelve- 

 tined deer {Rucervus Duvaucellii), called by some the 

 Bara-singha, a name which simply means " twelve-tined," 

 and which is applied also to the Kashmir stag (C Cash- 

 miriensis). In size it is intermediate between the sambar 

 and the spotted deer, and almost the same as the red 

 deer of Scotland. In colour it is a reddish brown during 

 the cold season, passing through a bright rufous chestnut 

 in spring to a rich golden red in summer. The antlers 

 are very handsome, and differently shaped from those of 

 any other deer in the world. They have but one basal 

 tine over the forehead, no median tines at all, and all the 

 other branches arranged at the summit of the beam. 



