Show I THROUGH THE INDIAN FOREST Still nights bring out the brilliant I fireflies dn swarms but the radiance is r such as that of sparkling gems and gives no guidance to the wayfarer So gve that unless there 1 a bright moon no march can be made in the forest Even then it is dangerous for snakes are numerous and the tribesmen when suspecting the approach of an enemy protect such paths as there are with sharp bamboo stakes concealed in the grass and capable of penetrating the foot Ten briars and roots often lie across the way and cause the traveler frequently to trip So that the best thing to do when overtaken by nightfall I night-fall is to make i rude shelter of branches roofeu with plantain leaves with a floor of dry elephant grass or rushes put out the fire as soon as cooking is done taKe off your damp clothes r l yourself in your blanket tuck your revolver beneath such pillow low as you have and go to sleep The merry little Ghoorka orderly will boil a tin of soup and stew a piece of the mahseer for his master clean and load the rifles oil the boots dry the clothes over the fire then cook his own chupatti or gridle cake of brown flour and having duly disposed of i make himself snug in his own improvised impro-vised shelter For a time everything is stall but wild animals are on the move a hyena circle around the camp attracted by the smell of cooked victuals tuals and the refuse of the fish 5Te makes a hurried snatch at what he can and retreats into the thicket The flap of the large wings of the vampire bats is frequently heard as they cluster clus-ter on the branches In search of wild fri There is the bark of the sanYbur stag as he calls together the herd cropping the leaves in the young tree jungle and shrouded in the grass in waiting for his coming Is his feline enemy visble only by two bright emerald eyes The hum of a thousand small flies blends wiith the murmur of the river and the rustle of the leaves as they are gently stirred by the night freeze and combine to lull the traveler to sleepThe Gentlemans Magazine iagaZlne 1 |