84 WANDERINGS OF A 



several veins of gneiss appeared, and masses of limestone, in 

 the shape of boulders, strewed its course. 



The following day we crossed the swollen river, which 

 delayed the passage of our baggage for several hours. It was 

 a strange sight to witness our copper-coloured followers toil- 

 ing across the rapids, with our goods and chattels on their 

 heads, some immersed even to the arm-pits ; but they braved 

 it manfully. An hour's march brought us to the little village 

 of Thor, situated on a gentle incline some 200 feet above the 

 level of the river, and surrounded by small fields raised one 

 above the other. 



We pitched our tent under the spreading boughs of a ban- 

 yan-tree, and breakfasted on fish, which the natives catch in the 

 river by means of nets. All were evidently a species of mullet, 

 and several weighed about 1^ lbs. each. Besides the masseer, 

 we were told that three other different kinds of fish are plenti- 

 ful in the river, and there are doubtless many more. 



In the jungle along the banks we found abundance of 

 pea-fowl, and I observed two white-cheeked weasels — one 

 with a black partridge in its mouth. I managed to bag a 

 brace of jungle-fowl {Gallus lanhiva). These birds, in habits 

 and general appearance, bear a close resemblance to varieties 

 of the domestic bird, especially the hen and young. The 

 jungle-fowl flies with great rapidity ; it is generally met with 

 in small flocks, in dense covers by the side'of fields or ravines. 

 Its cackle is like that of the tame bird, from which it does 

 not seem to differ in any material degree.- Probably many 

 of the former wander from the villages, and take to the wild 

 life of their congeners. 



We were up at daybreak on the 10th. My friends 

 enjoyed themselves among the kalij pheasants and jungle 



* Known likewise as the yellow-throated marten (M. flavigula). 



