but a friendly villager volunteered his
services as guide, and led us safely to our destination. After a
cheerful evening with H., we persuaded him to accompany us back next
day. He took out his dogs, and we had a good course after a hare,
killing two jackals, and sending back the dogs by the sweeper. At
Burgamma, the outwork, we stopped to _tiffin_ on some cold fowl we had
brought with us. The old factory head man got us some milk, eggs, and
_chupatties_; and about three in the afternoon we started for the head
factory. In an evil moment F. proposed that, as we were near another
outwork called _Fusseah_, we should diverge thither, I could take over
charge, and we could thus save a ride on another day. Not knowing
anything of the country I acquiesced, and we reached Fusseah in time
to see the place, and do all that was needful. It was a miserable
tumbledown little spot, with four pair of vats; it had formerly been a
good working factory, but the river had cut away most of its best
lands, and completely washed away some of the villages, while the
whole of the cultivation was fast relapsing into jungle.

'Debnarain Singh' the _gomorsta_ or head man, asked us to stay for the
night, as he said we could never get home before dark. F. however
scouted the idea, and we resumed our way. The track, for it could not
be called a road, led us through one or two jungle villages completely
hidden by the dense bamboo clumps and long jungle grass. You can't see
a trace of habitation till you are fairly on the village, and as the
rice-fields are bordered with long strips of tall grass, the whole
country presents the appearance of a uniform jungle. We got through
the rice swamps, the villages, and the grass in safety, and as it was
getting dark, emerged on the great plain of undulating ridgy
sandbanks, that form the bed of the river during the annual floods. We
had our _syces_ (grooms) and two peons with us. We had to ride over
nearly two miles of sand before we could reach the _ghat_ where we
expected the ferry-boats, and, the main stream once crossed, we had
only two miles further to reach the factory. We were getting both
tired and hungry; a heavy dew was falling, and the night was raw and
chill. It was dark, there was no moon to light our way, and the stars
were obscured by the silently creeping fog, rising from the marshy
hollows among the sand. All at once F., who was leading, called out
that we were off the path, and before I coul