though so abundant, all these wild creatures are shy, and one may
travel many days without adventure, and any sense of danger is soon
lost in admiration of the beauties of these wilds.

Riding through such a forest is very fascinating in the early winter
months. Then the ground is fairly hard, and riding would be easy were
it not for the thorny vines and fallen tree-trunks which lie among the
thickets. At this time, also, foliage and flowers are still luxuriant,
and all kinds of wild life abundant.

But from May to October the south-west monsoon, bringing in the
heavily-laden rain-clouds from the sea, pours upon the country its
torrential rains, which change this beautiful forest into a swamp. The
quiet creeks become turbid rivers, while the hill-sides are torn by
innumerable torrents, which, washing away the earth from the roots of
the trees, cause them to fall crashing among the dripping undergrowth.
Bridges are swept away, and the paths become morasses. Travelling in
the forest is then wellnigh impossible, though it is this time that
the native woodman and the large number of young Englishmen engaged in
forest-work find the busiest of the year.

Gradually the rains cease, and with the return of sunshine birds and
flowers spring into renewed life, more beautiful than ever, and at no
time of the year is the forest more lovely than immediately after the
monsoon rains.

Presently the hot weather of March and April comes to strip the trees
of their leaves, while the dak and other flowering trees are a blaze
of crimson among the autumn tints. Then, when everything is dry and
withered, forest fires break out in many parts of the country,
consuming all but the larger trees, and leaving a blackened waste
where once was a paradise of flowers. It is sad to ride in the track
of such a fire, but this is no doubt Nature's way of _cleaning_ the
country, and destroying a vast amount of decaying vegetable matter and
keeping in check many venomous insects and reptiles. The forest
appears to be dead until the advent of the next monsoon restores to
the sun-bleached skeleton its usual luxuriant vegetation.

But I hear some one asking, How do you live and travel in such a
country? All through India and Burma at intervals along the main
routes of travel dak bungalows have been erected for the use of
travellers. These are small houses, containing two or three rooms,
raised on poles above the ground. They are built of timber, with
matt