postulate with the birds about making such a noise, they would laugh and whistle at me for my pains.

In the evenings I strolled out to the beautiful gardens of the Delhi Institute, and went through the large museum, or watched the tigers, leopards, and other animals in the Menagerie. I also studied the interesting phases of the swarming streetlife, where camels, elephants, monkeys, and gaylycostumed Hindoos of all castes, mingled together in endless confusion.

It soon became apparent, however, after three weeks' exposure to heat, that my nervous system could not withstand the thermal strain much longer, and I was forced to consider how best I might escape to the mountains, whither most of the other foreigners had gone before me. The Monsoons and rains would not set in until the 20th of June, when the technical hot season of India would be over, and a small deluge would succeed it. Meanwhile, to remain upon the plains would be unsafe, for the temperature became so intolerable that I could neither eat in the daytime nor sleep at night. Not being accustomed to such a climate, my condition became far from comfortable; but how to reach "the hills," as the summer sanitariums of Mussoorie and Simla are called, without undue exposure in the

daytime, became a serious question. While pondering the subject somewhat soberly, I picked up the Bible and opened casually to the 121st Psalm, and read, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.......... The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil."

These words of Scripture came to me with peculiar force under the circumstances, and I immediately decided to start for the "hills," or lower range of the Himalayas.

Accordingly I left Delhi on the afternoon of June 2 for Gazeeabad, where I took the "Scinde, Punjab, and Delhi Railway" for Saharunpore, arriving there at II o'clock P. M. On the way our train passed Meerut, where the mutiny first broke out. Lines of native cavalry were here seen drilling. Before reaching this point it was "rather warm in the train, and the gentle breeze which came in at the car-window was like the blast of a small reverberatory furnace.

At the station above Meerut we passed the down-train, and I was informed that one passenger

upon it had "kicked over" at the station beyond. "What is that?" I innocently asked. "Found dead from heat-apoplexy," was the cool and heartless. reply.

At Saharunpore I found an omnibus waiting, and as usual I had the whole vehicle to myself; the extra space was improved by lying down and taking a much-needed sleep. The omnibus had no seats, but was a covered "stage" in the literal sense of the word, with mattresses upon the floor. For one person it was very comfortable, but for many it would prove rather crowded.

Leaving the station about midnight, we soon began a gradual ascent and passed through some very fine scenery, which, however, I did not seebeing asleep! I was awakened every six miles or so, for they made a great noise in changing the horses; besides, one of the drivers blew an immense brass horn repeatedly, to the consternation both of his solitary passenger and of the people of the villages through which we passed.

As morning came on I could see that we were steadily rising far above the heated and hazy plains, and the country assumed a fresher appearance; the foliage was greener, and the air was more invigorating. Many beautiful residences were scattered

along the roadside, and the scenery became more home-like. For forty-five miles we passed along a sloping table-land, with occasional steep ascents; but the omnibus made good time, for we had four horses, and these were frequently changed for fresh relays. Judging by the number of changes, there were two dozen horses and eight white bullocks required to pull our vehicle fifty miles, and all this for eleven rupees!

Arriving at Rajpoor, at the foot of the mountains proper, I rested for one day and night at the Dak-Bungalow. Here I was not disturbed, except once at night, when a wild jackal crept slyly in at my window, and mounting the table, began quietly to devour the supper which I had left there. Waking up suddenly, I saw the strange black object. upon the table, and aiming my slipper at the animal's head, I sent it with such effect that the unwelcome intruder jumped out of the window and disappeared in the woods.

1

CHAPTER X.

THE VALLEY OF DEHRA-DOON.

DEHRA-DOON is a beautiful valley, sixty miles long, situated at the base of the Himalayas, and separated from the hot plains of the south by a range of hills called the Shivalick, or "Abode of Shiva."

At the ends it opens out in an easterly and westerly direction, allowing the Ganges to flow from one side, and the Jumna from the other, the two rivers having their respective sources not far distant from each other. Both have tributaries which rise in the vicinity of the town of Dehra, and flow down the gentle water-shed towards the ends of the valley. Deep gorges and thickly-wooded glens form a wild and picturesque background to the north, and these, with the broken patches of jungle and rocky depressions scattered through the valley, make most appropriate retreats for the tiger, leopard, wolf, and other wild beasts, which abundantly infest the locality. Even droves of wild elephants may occasionally be seen taking their stately