Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c43.t1.495

v3.c43.t1.495

Return to Kotah.—Having halted a few days, we returned to Kotah by the towns of Pachpahar and Anandpur; both large and thriving, situated upon the banks of fine pieces of water. Madho Singh, at the head of a splendid cavalcade, with six field-pieces, advanced a couple of miles to conduct me to my old residence, the garden-house, east of the town. During the six weeks that we remained here to watch the result of the measures elsewhere described, we endeavoured to find amusement in various ways, to divert us from brooding upon the cholera which was raging around us. This season attracts flocks of wild geese to prey upon the young corn, and we had the double pleasure of shooting and eating them. Occasionally, we had a shot at a deer, or hunted them down with the regent’s *chitas* (hunting-leopards); or with the dogs ran down jackals [741], foxes, or hares. There was a *ramna* for wild-hogs about five miles from our abode, and a delightful summer retreat in the midst of a fine sheet of water. The animals were so tame, from the custom of feeding them, that it was almost unsportsmanlike to shoot at them. On one occasion, the Maharao prepared an excursion upon the water, in which I was not well enough to join. Numerous Shikaris, or ‘hunters,’ proceeded up either bank to rouse the bears or tigers that find cover there, when the party from the boats shot at them as they passed. Partly for the purpose of enjoying this sport, and partly to see the fortress of Ekelgarh, six miles south of the city, we afterwards made another excursion, which, though not unattended by danger, afforded a good deal of merriment. The river here is confined by perpendicular rocks, full three hundred feet in height; and amidst the debris, these wild animals find shelter. As the side on which we were did not promise much sport, we determined to cross the stream, and finding a quantity of timber suited to the purpose, we set to work to construct a raft; but had only pushed a few paces from the shore when we began to sink, and were compelled to make a Jonas of the doctor, though we afterwards sent the vessel back for him, and in due time landed all our party and appendages. Being furnished with huntsmen by the regent, who knew the lairs of the animals, we dispatched them up the stream, taking post ourselves behind some masses of rock in the only path by which they could advance. We had been seated about half an hour, when the shouts of the hunters were heard, and soon a huge bear, his muzzle grey from age, came slowly trotting up the pathway. Being unable to repress the mirth of Captain Waugh and the doctor, who were conning over the events of the morning, just before he came in sight, I had quitted them, and was trying to gain a point of security a little remote from them; but before I could attain it, they had both fired and missed, and Bruin came at a full gallop towards me. When within ten paces, I fired and hit him in the flank; he fell, but almost instantly recovered, and charged me open-mouthed, when one of my domestics boldly attacked him with a hog-spear and saved me from a hug. Between the spear and the shot, he went floundering off, and was lost in the crevices of the rock. On our return, we passed the day amidst the ruins of Ekelgarh, an enormous pile of stones without cement; in all probability, a fortress of some of the aboriginal Bhils. Both crests of the mountain are covered with jungle, affording abundant sport to the princes of Kotah. There is a spot of some celebrity a few coss to the south of this, called Gayapur-Mahadeo, where there is a cascade from a stream that falls into the Chambal, whose banks are said to be here upwards of six [742] hundred feet in height. There are few more remarkable spots in India than the course of the river from Kotah to Bhainsror, where both the naturalist and the painter might find ample employment.