ferns were seen rising up
and towering high above the common brake-fern of the English moors;
while the wild strawberry of Britain was seen covering the ground in
patches of large extent. Its fruit, however, in the Himalayas is quite
insipid, but a fine yellow raspberry--one of the most luscious fruits
met with in these mountains--was found growing in the same districts, as
if to compensate for the absence of flavour in the strawberry.

Under one of these magnificent magnolias, whose large wax-like corollas
filled the air with their odorous perfume, our travellers had just
stretched themselves--intending, after a few minutes of rest, to make
the necessary arrangements for passing the night there.

Ossaroo was chewing his betel-nut, and Karl and Caspar, both very tired,
were doing nothing and saying as little. Fritz, too, lay along the
ground, with his tongue out, and panting after the hot day's rambling
among the bushes.

Just at that moment, Caspar, whose sharp hunter eye was always on the
alert, caught Karl by the sleeve, and in a hurried whisper, said--

"See, Karl! see!--Isn't it a beauty?"

As Caspar said this, he pointed to an animal that had just come out of
the jungle, and stood within a few feet of its edge. The creature in
question had the shape, size, and general appearance of a fallow-deer,
and its slender limbs and well proportioned body bespoke it to be a near
kin to that animal. In colour, however, it essentially differed from
the fallow-deer. Its ground-colour was much the same, but it was
spotted all over with snow-white spots that gave it a very beautiful
appearance. It looked somewhat like the young of the fallow-deer, and
might have been taken for an overgrown fawn. Karl, however, knew what
it was.

"A spotted deer," he replied, also in a whisper. "It is the _axis_.
Hold back Fritz, and let us watch it a moment."

Karl had guessed correctly what kind of animal it was. It was the axis,
one of the best known of the Indian deer, and closely allied to the
_linsa_ group of Asia as well as to the fallow-deer of Europe. There
are several species of the axis in eastern Asia, more or less marked
with spots, and in no part are they more common than in the country
through which the plant-hunters were passing--the country of the Ganges
and the Burrampooter.

Caspar caught Fritz as desired, and held him fast; and the travellers,
without making any noise, sat watching the movements of the axis.