210 



JOURNEY ACROSS 



foot of a hill. On reaching it I was struck 

 with the absence of all the men; all the animals 

 too had disappeared j except one calf which 

 was tied to a stake. This desolation extended 

 to the inside of a farm yard, surrounded by 

 mud walls, which we entered by a wooden 

 door. A great umbu-tree stood in the middle, 

 casting a broad shade over the place ; but no 

 where was any living creature to be seen. Pre- 

 sently up started from an inner nook on the 

 premises, first a half-naked boy and an old 

 man, and then another person. 



We were informed that the report of the 

 approach of the Indians had induced these 

 poor people to send their women into a village 

 close to the next post among the hills ; and 



post. Their horses were tired and unbridled, which gave 

 the travellers time to distance their pursuers, who soon 

 followed them with the most horrible yells and threats, 

 for thirty miles, but without overtaking the fugitives. 



