Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/84

 the great composers of the 'Sporting Magazine' term, of a fulvous colour; he was decidedly, in the opinion of the beaters, a very heavy deer, of three or four m[)u]ns. Hark forward! was now the word, as the same great composers would again say; we crossed a hollow road, entered the jungle on the opposite side, a little below the direction the animal had taken, and had not gone fifteen yards when up rose, without hurry, a handsome large tiger, just out of arm's length, and a little from behind me; his gait was slunk and shuffling; I saw at once that he was going from me, and, owing to that circumstance, I passed in review his sleeky flank and black stripes with much pleasure. I was a good deal excited, it being my first wild beast sight au naturel; I almost felt an inclination to slap my shot at him."

The sketch, entitled "The Spring Bow," was taken in the Rajmahal hills, not far from the jungle in which my friend saw the tiger; the bête sauvage represented in it might perhaps have been the very one whose sleeky flank and black stripes he viewed with so much pleasure.

August.—The cows are now in the finest order possible; they are fed on Lucerne grass and cotton seed, and go out grazing. The cotton seed is considered very fattening for cattle; it is separated, by the aid of a very simple machine, from the fine white cotton in which it is immersed in the cells of the capsule; and this work is usually performed by women. Butter is made every morning and evening; and, now and then, a cream cheese. The butter is very fine, of a bright yellow colour, and the cream cheese excellent. The extra butter having been clarified, and sealed down in jars, keeps good for twelve months.

9th.—Nagapanchmee: This day is sacred to the demigods, in the form of serpents; the natives smear the doors of their houses with cow-dung and nīm-leaves, to preserve them from poisonous reptiles. Nīm-leaves are put amongst shawls and clothes, and also in books, to defend them from moths and insects.

23rd.—During the night it began to blow most furiously, accompanied by heavy rain and utter darkness; so fierce a tūfān I never witnessed before. It blew without cessation, raining