t was a fine cool afternoon, and it was not long ere I
reached the neighbouring factory of Im[=a]mnugger. Here I had a little
refreshment with Old Tom, and after exchanging greetings, I resumed my
way over a part of the country with which I was totally unacquainted.

I rode on, past villages nestling in the mango groves, past huge
tanks, excavated by the busy labour of generations long since
departed; past decaying temples, overshadowed by mighty tamarind
trees, with the _peepul_ and _pakur_ insinuating their twining roots
amid the shattered and crumbling masonry. In one large village I
passed through the bustling bazaar, where the din, and dust, and
mingled odours, were almost overpowering. The country was now assuming
quite an undulating character. The banks of the creeks were steep and
rugged, and in some cases the water actually tumbled from rock to
rock, with a purling pleasant ripple and plash, a welcome sound to a
Scotch ear, and a pleasant surprise after the dull, dead, leaden,
noiseless flow of the streams further down on the plains.

Far in front lay the gloomy belt of Terai, or border forest, here
called the _morung_, where the British territories had their extreme
limit in that direction. Behind this belt, tier on tier, rose the
mighty ranges of the majestic Himalayas, towering up in solemn
grandeur from the bushy masses of forest-clad hills till their
snow-capped summits seemed to pierce the sky. The country was covered
by green crops, with here and there patches of dingy rice-stubble, and
an occasional stretch of dense grass jungle. Quail, partridge, and
plover rose from the ground in coveys, as my horse cantered through;
and an occasional peafowl or florican scudded across the track as I
ambled onward. I asked at a wretched little accumulation of weavers'
huts where the ghat was, and if my elephant had gone on. To both my
queries I received satisfactory replies, and as the day was now
drawing in, I pushed my nag into a sharp canter and hurried forward.

I soon perceived the bulky outline of my elephant ahead, and on coming
up, found that my men had come too far up the river, had missed the
ghat to which I had sent my spare horse, and were now making for
another ferry still higher up. My horse was jaded, so I got on the
elephant, and made one of the peons lead the horse behind. It was
rapidly getting dark, and the mahout, or elephant driver, a miserable
low caste stupid fellow, evidently knew nothing of