TRAVERSE A TIGER HAUNT. S3 



lage, surrounded by very extensive coffee planta- 

 tions, with broad green lanes overshadowed by 

 trees and the most lovely rural scenery. Evans and 

 I, having missed Hill about sunset, made homewards 

 by a straight course across the country, and just 

 before it got dark found ourselves on a broad rise of 

 gentle elevation, covered with alang alang, and 

 crowned by a few trees, which I recognised as the 

 borders of Ranoo Pakis, the most noted haunt of 

 tigers in the whole country. Cocking our guns, 

 however, we pushed through the grass, that was often 

 three feet above our heads, for about half a mile — 

 not without a feeling of half hope, half fear, of at 

 least hearing the roar of a tiger or his rush through 

 the jungle. Nothing of the kind occurred, however, 

 but I have no doubt that a party well provided with 

 a few good horses and dogs, and a spearman or two, 

 might have most excellent sport in this neighbour- 

 hood, whether at jungle fowl and deer, or wild pigs 

 and tigers. The jungle fowl we killed to-day, 

 although having a great resemblance to our barn- 

 door poultry, were most beautiful birds, the cock 

 especially, whose plumage is almost entirely a dark 

 glossy green, streaked here and there with yellow. 

 The cock, too, is excellent eating, and far superior 

 to the hen. They are to be met with in the morn- 

 ing and evening at the edges of the coffee planta- 

 tions ; they run very rapidly, but if suddenly sprung 

 out of a tussock of grass, they rise splendidly with 

 a flight intermediate between that of a pheasant 



VOL. II. D 



