104 
A NATURALIST ON THE PROWL. 
this must be the abode of the patel, or head rat, of the 
village. Finding the door closed in the manner I have 
described, I knew the owner must be in ; so I began 
to dig. We found first a sort of hall or lobby, and from 
that two passages went different ways. We followed 
up one which, after much toil, led us to an unfurnished 
apartment, which appeared to be a boudoir or spare 
room. We then took up the other passage and followed 
it patiently till it led us into the roots of a small tree. 
We overturned the tree and went on. The passage 
conducted us straight on into the roots of another tree. 
We overturned that also and went on. The passage now 
turned sharp to the right, then to the left, took a down- 
ward course, then turned upwards again. We dug on 
still, removing great stones and cutting through roots of 
trees. Again the path turned to the left, then to the 
right, then down, then up and round and round. I tried 
to lighten the labours of the men with a joke, remarking 
that the hole no doubt led to the village on the other 
side of the hill. One of the men saw the joke and laughed, 
and this unusual circumstance cheered me greatly and I 
went on. At last we came suddenly to the end of the 
passage and found — nothing ! 
