Ranching, Sport and Travel | Page 4

table and topped with new
fresh young leaf-shoots, four to eight inches high, in full flush, ready

for the pluckers' nimble fingers.
At the end of one year I was offered and accepted the position of
assistant at a Sylhet garden, called Kessoregool, the property consisting
of three distinct gardens, the principal one being directly overseered by
the manager, an American. He, of course, was my superior. My charge
was the Lucky Cherra Gardens, some few miles away. There I spent
two years, learning what I could of the business, but without the
advantage of European society; in fact, the Burra Sahib and myself
were almost the only whites in the district, and as he was drunk quite
half the time, and we did not pull very well together, I was left to my
own resources. I found amusement in various ways. There was no polo,
but some of the native zemindars (landed proprietors) were always
ready to get up a beat for leopards, tigers, deer and pig. Their method
was simply to drive the game into a net corral and spear them to death.
The Government Keddas, under Colonel Nuttal, were also not far away
in hill Tipperah, and it was intensely interesting to watch operations.
Close to my garden also was a sacred pool and a very beautiful
waterfall. This was visited twice a year by immense numbers of natives,
some from great distances, for it was a famous and renowned place of
pilgrimage. It could only be approached through my garden; and as
there was no wagon road, the pilgrims were always open to inspection,
so to speak; and they were well worth inspection, as among them were
many races, all ages, both sexes, every caste or jat; robes, turbans and
cupras of every shape and colour; fakirs and wonder-workers, and
beggars galore. Here, and on such an occasion only, could the sahib see
face to face the harems of the wealthy natives, consisting of women
who at no other time showed themselves out of doors. Being the only
sahib present I had all the "fun of the fair" to myself, but always
regretted the want of a companion to share it with me.
As to wild game, there were lots of jungle fowl (original stock of our
familiar barn-door cocks and hens), a few pigeons, Argus pheasants,
small barking deer, pigs, sambur, barrasingha, metnas, crocodiles,
leopards, tigers, bears and elephants; but I had little time for shooting
and it was expensive work, the jungle being so thick that riding
elephants were quite necessary. If keen enough, one could sit all night

on a machan in a tree near a recent "kill," on the chance of Stripes
showing himself; but it never appealed to me much, that kind of sport.
If a tiger was raiding the cattle I would poison the "kill" with strychnine.
In this way I secured several very fine animals, getting two at one time,
so successfully poisoned that their bodies actually lay on the dead
bullock. One time I shot an enormous python, some eighteen feet in
length, which took several men to carry home. Monkeys were plentiful
and of several kinds. I was very fond of wandering amongst the
high-tree jungle and quietly watching their antics. In the dense forest
there is little undergrowth, so that one can move about freely and study
the extraordinary forms of vegetation displayed. Ticks and leeches are
to be dreaded--a perfect nuisance. If you sit down or pause for a few
moments where no leeches are in sight, suddenly and quickly they will
appear marching on you, or at you, at a gallop.
The popular idea of a wealth of flowers in tropical jungles is a
misconception. In tree jungle no flowers are to be found, or at any rate
they are not visible. But if one can by some means attain an elevation
and so be able to overlook the tree-tops, he will probably be rewarded
with a wonderful display, as many jungle trees are glorified with
crowns of gorgeous colours. There will he also discover the
honey-suckers, moths, butterflies, the beetles, and all the other insect
brood which he had also vainly looked for before. The fruits are
likewise borne aloft, and therefore at the proper time these tree-tops
will be the haunt of the monkeys, the parrots, the bats, the toucans, and
all frugivorous creation.
Of all fruits the durian is the most delicious. Such is the universal
opinion of men, including A. R. Wallace, who have had the opportunity
of becoming familiar with it. It is purely tropical, grows on a lofty tree,
is round and nearly as large as a cocoanut. A thick and tough rind
protects the delicacy contained within. When opened five cells are
revealed, satiny white, containing masses of cream-coloured