1839.] Lieut. Kittoe's Journey through the Forests of Orissa. 607 



Three miles and seven furlongs beyond Bumpura, I reached my 

 encamping ground at Goorsunk ; most of the huts in the village were 

 falling to ruins, one third of the population having perished from 

 famine and cholera the previous year ; it is situated at the entrance 

 of a narrow pass between two low ranges of hills, and is surrounded 

 with fine topes, in one of which I spread my carpets and made myself 

 snug for the day. 



While passing through the forest a peculiar sound attracted my at- 

 tention, it was like that of a wooden ball dropped on a board and al- 

 lowed to vibrate; I at* first thought it might be a woodpecker, as it 

 proceeded from the top of a lofty and withered tree, but upon inquiry 

 I was told that it was a kind of frog which inhabited the trees 

 (the tree frog?) and that its call was a sure harbinger of rain ;* it is 

 considered venomous, indeed that its bite is certain death. I regret 

 that I could not obtain a specimen ; its color is said to be dark with 

 white spots. At this place I remarked a number of stones placed in 

 the same manner as the druidical monuments (such as the Kitscotty 

 house near Boxley in Kent) viz., three set upright, with one on the top 

 of them, the dimensions of these are however very small, and have the 

 appearance of a number of three legged stools. A custom prevails in these 

 parts, of relatives collecting the ashes and bones of the deceased, and 

 after burying them, placing stones over the spots in the manner above 

 described. 



Before my arrival the male part of the small population had fled to 

 the jungles, leaving their better halves to protect themselves and 

 property as they best could. It is a common practice throughout these 

 provinces ; the instant strangers are perceived, off the people run (as if 

 their lives were at stake) and are hid in the depths of the jungle in a 

 moment, — it is to facilitate their escape that the jungle is never entire- 

 ly cleared near the villages ; a narrow belt connected with the forest 

 is usually to be found. I forbade my followers leaving camp in order 

 to prevent pilfering; the villagers returned towards the afternoon, 

 and crowded round me to see what description of being the Sahib was, 

 never having beheld a white man before. 



The view from Goorsunk is very confined, the place being situated in 

 a hollow ; to the eastward rise the Keunjur mountains over which I was 

 to pass, they appear to be near 2,000 feet, and are thickly studded with 

 trees. To the southward the Malagir mountain is distinctly visible above 



* I have since heard many, and am inclined to think that these reptiles do not call 

 except on the near approach of and during wet weather, as I have never heard them 

 at any other time.— M. K. 



