A PANTHER HUNT. 
249 
the better judgment of our shikarrees , we determined at 
once to beat the fort for him. 
Before going any further with my story it is necessary 
to give a short description of the place. The fort is built 
on ground very little higher than the surrounding plain, 
so that it never owed any strength to its situation ; but all 
that the art of the times could do was done to make up 
for this disadvantage. Its walls were of solid masonry, 
very thick and of great height, and at intervals there were 
strong bastions and towers. There were two strong gates, 
an outer and an inner, with flanking towers. A deep 
moat and mound surrounded the whole. Inside, a 
remarkably fine well supplied the garrison with water, 
while a temple and a mosque helped them to think that 
their religious needs were satisfied also. Such was the 
fort before time took it in hand. Now great trees of the 
fig tribe tower above the wall, while their roots straggle 
and sprawl over the masonry, separating and dislodging 
the massive stones. The “ hyssop on the wall,” rank 
grasses and pendant masses of creeping plants, make it 
difficult to see the fortifications from without. Within, 
aromatic shrubs, thorn bushes and fruit trees, tied together 
with the stinging cowitch, make it difficult to walk in any 
