tendency
to drive the wild creatures of the district deeper into the jungle,
but after a while they to some extent get accustomed to the passing of
the train, and delightful glimpses of animal life can sometimes be got
when travelling. Monkeys, for instance, have insatiable curiosity, and
when they have got over their first alarm the quaint sight may
sometimes be seen of a row of monkeys seated on the top of the
boundary wall to watch the train go by.

Monkeys have become lawless citizens of Delhi, and will no doubt
greatly welcome the enlarged scope for mischief which the new city
will open out to them. They travel in troops over the flat roofs, and
are very bold and mischievous, and great thieves. But monkeys must be
studied in their wild freedom in the woods to appreciate them. When
seen leaping from tree to tree with refreshing elasticity, or from
rock to rock in the open country, their spirit of fun and mischief
having full scope, the sight is a delightful one. They stick very
closely to their own districts, although now and then a solitary
monkey will detach himself from the rest and search for pastures new.

Wild pigs are common in some parts, looking like the poor relations of
their tame brethren. They do great harm amongst crops, and no weapon
is of much avail against them except the gun. The Christian who shot
the panther mentioned in the last chapter was largely employed by the
Hindu farmers round about to shoot any wild pig that came into their
fields. It was for him a profitable job, because, besides his fee, he
got the carcase of the pig, for which he could always get Rs. 10 from
a Parsee, who regarded the flesh as a great luxury. Wild pigs are also
chased in the so-called "sport" of pig-sticking, which is popular
amongst some English residents.

Now and then the mongoose, useful as a destroyer of snakes and rats,
may be caught sight of, with his long coarse fur, running across the
road, or hunting along a fence, much in the same way as a weasel
shows himself in England, although the mongoose is a good deal larger.
Sometimes they will even venture into a bungalow to prospect, and
young ones are easily tamed and become domestic pets.

Every morning a lumbering buffalo shambles into the compound to be
milked on the premises, in order to ensure getting the unadulterated
article. Even then it is expedient to look into the bottom of the
vessel to see that no water has been put there before the milking
beg