From The Plain Now Described About Fifteen Others Diverge, Each
Springing From The Parent Plain, And Increasing In Extent As They
Proceed; These Are Connected More Or Less By Narrow Valleys, And Deep
Ravines.
Through the greater portion of these plains, the river winds
its wild course.
In the first a mere brook, it rapidly increases as it
traverses the lower portions of every valley, until it attains a width
of twenty or thirty yards, within a mile of the spot where it is first
discernible as a stream. Every plain in succession being lower than the
first, the course of the river is extremely irregular; now a maze of
tortuous winding, then a broad, still stream, bounded by grassy
undulations; now rushing wildly through a hundred channels formed by
obtruding rocks, then in a still, deep pool, gathering itself together
for a mad leap over a yawning precipice, and roaring at a hundred feet
beneath, it settles in the lower plain in a pool of unknown depth; and
once more it murmurs through another valley.
In the large pools formed by the sudden turns in the river, the elk
generally takes his last determined stand, and he sometimes keeps dogs
and men at bay for a couple of hours. These pools are generally about
sixty yards across, very deep in some parts, with a large shallow
sandbank in the centre, formed by the eddy of the river.
We built a hunting bivouac in a snug corner of the plains, which gloried
in the name of 'Elk Lodge.' This famous hermitage was a substantial
building, and afforded excellent accommodation: a verandah in the front,
twenty-eight feet by eight; a dining-room twenty feet by twelve, with a
fireplace eight feet wide; and two bed-rooms of twenty feet by eight.
Deer-hides were pegged down to form a carpet upon the floors, and the
walls were neatly covered with talipot leaves. The outhouses consisted
of the kennel, stables for three horses, kitchen, and sheds for twenty
coolies and servants.
The fireplace was a rough piece of art, upon which we prided ourselves
extremely. A party of eight persons could have sat before it with
comfort. Many a roaring fire has blazed up that rude chimney; and dinner
being over, the little round table before the hearth has steamed forth a
fragrant attraction, when the nightly bowl of mulled port has taken its
accustomed stand. I have spent many happy hours in this said spot; the
evenings were of a decidedly social character. The day's hunting over,
it was a delightful hour at about seven P.M.--dinner just concluded,
the chairs brought before the fire, cigars and the said mulled port.
Eight o'clock was the hour for bed, and five in the morning to rise, at
which time a cup of hot tea, and a slice of toast and anchovy paste were
always ready before the start. The great man of our establishment was
the cook.
This knight of the gridiron was a famous fellow, and could perform
wonders; of stoical countenance, he was never seen to smile. His whole
thoughts were concentrated in the mysteries of gravies, and the magic
transformation of one animal into another by the art of cookery; in this
he excelled to a marvellous degree. The farce of ordering dinner was
always absurd. It was something in this style: 'Cook!' (Cook answers)
'Coming, sar!' (enter cook): ' Now, cook, you make a good dinner; do you
hear?' Cook: `Yes, sar; master tell, I make.'--`Well, mulligatawny
soup.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Calves' head with tongue and brain sauce.' 'Yes,
sar.'--' Gravy omelette.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Mutton chops.' 'Yes,
sar.'--'Fowl cotelets.' `Yes, sar.'--'Beefsteaks.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Marrow-
bones.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Rissoles.' 'Yes, sar.' All these various dishes he
literally imitated uncommonly well, the different portions of an elk
being their only foundation.
The kennel bench was comfortably littered, and the pack took possession
of their new abode with the usual amount of growling and quarrelling for
places; the angry grumbling continuing throughout the night between the
three champions of the kennel--Smut, Bran, and Killbuck. After a night
much disturbed by this constant quarrelling, we unkennelled the hounds
just as the first grey streak of dawn spread above Totapella Peak.
The mist was hanging heavily on the lower parts of the plain like a
thick snowbank, although the sky was beautifully clear above, in which a
few pale stars still glimmered. Long lines of fog were slowly drifting
along the bottoms of the valleys, dispelled by a light breeze, and day
fast advancing bid fair for sport; a heavy dew lay upon the grass, and
we stood for some moments in uncertainty as to the first point of our
extensive hunting-grounds that we should beat. There were fresh tracks
of elk close to our 'lodge,' who had been surveying our new settlement
during the night. Crossing the river by wading waist-deep, we skirted
along the banks, winding through a narrow valley with grassy hills
capped with forest upon either side. Our object in doing this was to
seek for marks where the elk had come down to drink during the night, as
we knew that the tracks would then lead to the jungle upon either side
the river. We had strolled quietly along for about half a mile, when the
loud bark of an elk was suddenly heard in the jungle upon the opposite
hills. In a moment the hounds dashed across the river towards the
well-known sound, and entered the jungle at full speed. Judging the
direction which the elk would most probably take when found, I ran along
the bank of the river, down stream, for a quarter of a mile, towards a
jungle through which the river flowed previous to its descent into the
lower plains, and I waited, upon a steep grassy hill, about a hundred
feet above the river's bed.
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