84 FOREST LIFE AND SPORT IN INDIA 
and Ganges forests, and comprises various “ doons,” 
or high-level valleys, such as the Kotah Doon, the 
P4tli Doon, and the Kothri Doon. Through these 
flow perennial streams of various sizes, the largest 
being the Ramganga River in the Pétli Doon; all 
of these rivers hold fish of a size proportionate to 
the volume of water, and afford good sport, while 
the configuration of the country, with its mountains 
and passes, supplies constant change of scene, and 
obviates the drawback of monotony. There are 
now roads and houses all over this area of about 
500 square miles; but at that date the house at 
Dhikdla, standing on a bluff above the Ramganga, 
was, besides the building at Ramnagar, the only 
adequate shelter in these forests. 
Dhikdla is a charming spot in an open plain, with 
low hills all around, and in the spring, when the hill 
forest is white with the ‘‘s4]1” blossoms, and the low- 
lands shaded with the young foliage of the ‘“‘shisham,” 
while the river flows in wide sweeps between, it is 
one of the most delightful headquarters that either 
a forester or a sportsman could desire. Often from 
the upper veranda of the house hundreds of animals 
might be seen grazing on the new grass, and at one 
and the same time elephants, deer of several kinds, 
and pigs, might have been observed. During the 
winter, when the grass is high, most of the animals 
keep on the high ground, but in the spring they 
descend to the “doons”; at that season it was but 
natural that the tigers should take up their quarters 
close to their food-supply, and, as they were then not 
much molested save by occasional shooting-parties, 
the Forest Officer had to slay many, if only to protect 
