Seonee, or, camp life on the Satpura Range ... Illustrated by the author, etc

Appendix

CONTAINING A BRIEF TOPOGRAPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE DISTRICT OF SEONEE IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES OF INDIA SECOND EDITION. CALCUTTA : Thacker, Spink and Co. Bombay: THACKER AND CO., LIMITED. London: W. THACKER AND CO., 87 NEWGATE STREET. 1887. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. Natural History of the Mammalia of India, Burma, and Ceylon. With 170 Hlustrations by the Author and Others. Square 16mo. Rs. 10. " The very model of what a popular Natural History ought to be." — KnoivUdge. ' ' The notices of each animal are, as a rule, short ; though on some of the larger Mammals ample and interesting details are given, including Occasional Anecdotes of Adventure."— The Times. Denizens Of the Jungle : A Series of Sketches of Wild Animals, Illustrating their Forms and Natural Attitudes. With Letterpress Description.

Rs. 10. "The volume is well got up, and the drawings are spirited and natural." — Illustrated London News. The Cut of an Afghan Knife. A Novel. 1 vol.

Preface

. I have been asked why I have adopted the form in which this narrative of Indian life appears, instead of treating the subject in the first person, the incidents all being personal experiences of my own and my friends. I had several motives for so doing. For the sake of making the book more interesting to my youthful readers ; to enable me to impart much in formation in a pleasant colloquial manner, without the pedantry which might have been too obtrusive in an egotistical narration ; and, finally, to allow me to select from a mass of notes, jotted down at various times, those cases only which exhibited certain peculiarities in the animals concerned, and to arrange them in such a way as to carry the reader month by month through the successive seasons of the year. I had no intention, when I took up my pen, of writing for the veteran sportsman, though I dare say there are many bits in the following pages — notices of birds and plants and insects, and traits of animal character — that will recall fond memories of the past to many an old shikaree. My book is written chiefly for younger followers of Saint Hubert, whether they be bound for India or not, and my aim throughout has

PREFACE.

VIII been to inculcate a love for nature, and to make secondary to it the mere destroying of wild beasts. The European characters have been created for the work, but the natives are real beings. Some of my readers will not only recognise the scenes, but will remember old Sheykha, Soma the Lebhana, and my old follower the Lalla. The death of the latter by a tiger has been vividly described by Captain Eorsyth in his " Highlands of Central India," though the story of his Use is incorrect • the true account will be found in the Notes at the end of this volume. In the nomenclature of the birds and mammals I have followed Dr. Jerdon, an old friend and encourager of the natural history proclivities of my youthful days. Eor the botany Roxburgh's " Elora Indica," Voight's " Hortus Suburb anus Calcuttensis," and Balfour's " Trees of India," have been my authorities.

The legend of Taj Khan illustrates the superstitious customs of the Mahomedans, who are firm believers in witchcraft and the raising and casting out of devils. The LaUa's story is a sample of the art of the Hindoo improvisator e. A short topographical and historical account of the district appears in the Appendix. Robert A. Sterndale. Thames Ditton, March, PAGE 1 CONTENTS. CHAPTEE I. Introductory — The blue bull — Halai or not Halai— Major Fordham — -The ride to camp — The friend's arrival — The camp — Bhoora — The wild cats — Kutcherry in camp — Nazir and Serishtadar — Arrival of the blue bull — Principles of land tenures — The disputed boundary — Pa than wmws Pon war — The Gond's evidence — Dongerdeo — The punchayet — Eifles, old and new — Water-fowl — The snake-bird — The peregrine falcon — The chikara — Netting a hill — The rib-faced deer — An unexpected boar — A run for life — The long shot, "Plugger" retrieves his character — Paying the beaters ....

CHAPTEE II. Sheykha the shikaree — Gond men and women — Stalking a panther — Loading matchlock — Sheykha reports him self — Spear-grass — The dead panther — Jungle flowers — Muttol mutta — A risky shot — The she-bear — Cubs — X CONTENTS. PAGE 27 55 Tomahawking — Beating up Bruin — A critical moment — Green pigeons — The Pangolin — The panther's skull — Bearing young cubs — An evening stroll — The black buck — A dead shot — Pea-fowl — Jungle warnings — Meeting a tiger — A narrow escape — Tigers on the high road — The man-eater — The shikaree's death . CHAPTEE III. Character of tigers — Sheykha's proposal — Chand Khan's opinion — Tempting a tiger — The cocoon and its uses — The fate of Eajoo — Story of Urjoon Telee — An exciting stalk — The destroyer destroyed — Measuring the tiger, and measurements in general — Sambur — Early rising — Watching for deer — The hind — The shikaree's ruse — The stag approaches — Disappointment — Milford's success — Painted partridge — Hornbills — The lost stag recovered — Native bird-catchers — Moula, the Lalla — A suspicious tiger — The machaun — Sheykha's stratagem — Wearisome watching — Luminous sights — The tiger wounded —Travelling on elephants — Tracking the wounded tiger — The elephant at work — A charge home — Bussunta's revenge — A receipt for a stout heart ....

CHAPTEE IV. Milford's home letter — Murdering a tiger — The quail trapper and kingfisher snarer — The Marabou adjutant — The Lalla's argument — Four-horned antelope — The iguana — CONTENTS. XI PAGE Spotted deer and panther — Cromlechs — Kookra Deo's revenge — Umma Maiee — The sacred spring — A wary stag — Dongerdeo's complaisance ..... 88 CHAPTEE V. Seonee of the present — Seonee of the past — The environs of the station — The Ban Gunga river — A camel ride and camels hi general — The pit at Barelipar — Night shooting — The sambur — A robber — The doctor's elephant — Un enfant terrible — A serious plight — The doctor anathematizes "Snuffles" — The tic polonga — The tank at Chownree — Water-fowl — The Lalla snares a hawk — The camel breaks his leg — A new dish — Derivation of names — Demoiselle cranes — Spotted deer and tiger — Hide-and-seek — Poisoning fish — Alligators — A village belle — An unprovoked attack — Death of the fighting tiger 105 CHAPTEE VI.

Machagora — The mahseer — The walk to the river — Fordham shoots a panther — From the sublime to the ridiculous — Flying-foxes — The lamps of the angels — Starting a sulker — Milford gets a sixty-five pounder — Black buck — Driving a herd — A mysterious disappearance — Cooking a bustard — Eley's cartridge at forty yards — The road to Bamanwarra — The blue bull at bay — The wild dog — CONTENTS. XII PAGE 161 Chappara — A panther by lamplight — Eeturn to Seonee — A man killed — The tiger in the street— Bussunta put to flight — An unco wed cow 135 CHAPTEE VII. The Koraie Pass — A work of charity — A narrow escape from the Eookhur man-eater — The dak bungalow — Drongo shrikes — The Singhara plant — A faithful buffalo — The Lalla tempts Milford — A moonlight expedition — A leftshoulder shot — The tiger lost — Alhkutta — Dongertal — Shooting nylgai from a cart — The fakeer — The argument — The hermit's blessing — The Pathan warrior — Eajah Bukht Buland — The first step towards fame — An athletic damsel— The sorcerer — The curse — The disguised rival — The hermit's cave — The incantation — The vision and the warning — The combat — Eeturning to die CHAPTEE VEIL Ironworks at Pukhara — A forest on fire — The mouse-deer — Sirdaree's adventure — Native heroes — Strength of tigers — Four-horned antelope — The legend of the Shah bulbuls — Bees' nest — An uncertain remedy — The chameleon — Soma the Lebhana — Breaking of the monsoon — The Bunjara camp — Teak-wood tar — A Bunjara stag hunt — A morning stroll — A snap shot — Boar versus tiger — The result of over-confidence .196 CONTENTS.

XIII PAGE 215 CHAPTEE IX. Bison jungles — The bison in the path — A jungle hamlet — Crossing a flood — The Baiga hut — Striking a trail — A Sonawani torrent — The close of a fruitless day — The solitary bull — The gaur — A shot in the forehead — A cow — Large red squirrel — Day dreams — Another solitary bull — Failure — Fish shooting at Ashta — Terrapins — Pied kingfisher — Chikara homs — A fretful porcupine . CHAPTEE X. Autumn in Central India — Fordham's house — Zalim — The menagerie — The Paradoxurus — Pips the mungoose — A strange recovery — Camel surgery — Musk-rats — An unwieldy patient — Elephantine dentistry — An unruly princess — Pelicans and sea snakes — Edible roots — Coming a cropper — Thirsty reflections — A resuscitated bull .... 234 CHAPTEE XI. The improvisatore — Eajah Chand Sa — The sleeping princess — The peri's advice — The hundred horsemen — The pursuit — The battle — The celestial bow — The fatal shot — The wehr-pard — The man-eating panther — Another victim — Lodhee thakoors — A truly oriental idea — Turning the tables — Kurria Gond — In luck's way at last CONTENTS.

XIV PAGE CHAPTEE XII. The cloud in the horizon — The voice of intrigue— Conflicting emotions — A tableau — Biding in rebel country — An ambuscade — A brush with the enemy — An unluckycharger — The reveille — Across country — A rebel regiment — A dearly bought victory — In Memoriam . . 279 Appendix . 297 Notes 320 Glossary of Ii^dian Terms 326 MAHSEER AND SALMON. ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Bussunta's Eevenge .... Frontispiece. Mahseer and Salmon ....... xiv Hog-Badger ......... xvi EUNNING DOWN A BLUE BULL ..... 1 Chikara ......... 21 Bib-Faced Deer ........ 26 Close Quarters . . . . . . . .27 Pangolin — Scaly Ant-Eater 42 A Critical Moment ....... 49 Deer Battle ........ 54 Urjoon's Eevenge ........ 55 Sambur 67 Lungoor ..... .... 84 Umma Maiee — On the Prowl 88 Four-Horned Antelope . . . . . . .94 Indo-Scythic Cromlechs . . . . . . 104 The Eobber ......... 105 Chasing a Black Buck 135 Flying Fox 141 Wild Dog 153 Taj Khan's Exploit 161 The Invocation ........ 191 A Native Hero . . . . . . .196 Boar 212 Skull of Muggur ........ 214 Knocking over a Bison 215 Gaur 226 Horns of the Gaur ....... 233 A Eesuscitated Bull 234 Mungoose ......... 239 Paradoxurus 253 The Kahani Panther 254 Sambur Horns ........ 278 A Brush with the Eebels HOG-BADGEE,

Chapter I

It was a bright, crisp morning in the month of January. The sun had been up about an hour, driving the mists from the valleys and bathing the whole landscape in a flood of light. The air was cold and bracing — more so than it usually is in the plains of India, even in the cold season. When we say the plains of India, the term is used in contradistinction to those mountain ranges which are commonly known as " The Hills." India is intersected by other ranges of lesser grandeur, whose plateaux, elevated above the sea some 2,000 or 3,000 feet, have a cooler range of temperature than the low levels of the true plains. Of all these highlands, the Highlands of Central India — so termed by an old friend and fellow sportsman, now gone to rest, in his faithful account of them — are the most enjoyable to the hunter and the naturalist.

The lordly bison haunts the bamboo-clad slopes of the Satpura range, SEONEE. and interferes not with his unwieldy neighbour and cousin the buffalo, who keeps to his grass-grown plains. The red deer herd in the fertile valleys watered by the Halone and the Bunjur ; the sambur and the axis, the stately blue bull and the tiny, toy-like, mouse deer, all have their haunts in the forests that are spread over the undulating plateaux. There are the rocky ravines for the bears, and the stony plains haunted by antelope and bustard. The grim tiger roams over thousands of square miles, and the stealthy panther scruples not to carry off his prey even fromthe heart of a station. Since the time of which we write, the axe and the plough have been steadily eating into the vast solitudes ; but there are still thousands of square miles of forest land which never will, and never can, be cleared — extensive beds of laterite and piles of trap boulders wliich, though bearing a dense covering of timber and underwood, are undisturbed by human hands unless for the excavation, here and there, of iron ore.

Thus cover will always remain for wild animals, which find refuge during the day in the thickets, from whence they emerge at night to lay waste the growing crops, or attack the stragglers of the homeward-wending herds. It is in the district of Seonee — which forms a portion of these high table-lands formed by the Satpura range of which we have been speaking — that we would place our reader on that bright January morning. The road, or rather path, for it was httle else, had led over a gentle rise composed of red laterite, which, when worn by the feet of men and cattle, had all the appearance of a made gravel walk in a shrubbery, being fringed by a variety of bushes. For a mile or two it had been thickly wooded as the traveller passes through a belt of salai * forest — a peculiar, aromatic, but rather worthless tree — but now it emerged on a broad, low valley, down the centre of wliich ran a small brook, dotted here and there with clumps of butea t and grislea J bushes.

On the other side another gentle slope was covered with thick scrub, over which the morning mists were slowly floating off. The air was full of the songs of birds and the discordant cries of the peafowl and painted partridge. One old peacock was strut ting about the grassy glades, spreading out his gorgeous plumes to the morning sun, whilst three or four more sober-coloured peahens ran about, fussily looking for tit-bits. Now and then * Boswellia thurifera. t Butea fmndosa. XGi Idea tomentosct. THE BLUE BULL. 3 a flock of green parroquets flew over, each one trying to out-scream the rest ; and occasionally a rocket-bird would glide across the open space between tho two belts of wood, his long tail streaming like a white riband after him. But what makes the peacock suddenly lower his train, and his dusky wives to glide rapidly into cover ?

Over the swell of the ground at the head of the valley dashes at full speed a noble blue bull : straining every nerve, with labouring breath and distended nostrils, with heaving flanks, that seem jet-black as the perspiration streams down his side, he dashes headlong down the grassy slope. A few yards behind pressed a horseman at the same reckless pace, and it was evident that the stride of his charger was too much for the pursued. As the crest of the hill was passed the rider, pressing his horse's flanks, urged him to a final rush, and, ranging up alongside the bull, the sharp crack of a rifle rang through the stillness of the glen. The nylghau staggered, but bravely held on. Another sharp report and he plunged heavily on his head, driving his short, pointed horns deep into the turf. The impetus of the horseman carried him a few yards beyond, when, wheeling sharp round, he sprang off by the side of his quarry.

The first glance the hunter gave at the dying bull was one of mingled satisfaction and pity ; his eyes flashed with pride at the well-placed shots, but a sadder expression came over them as they met the glazing orbs of the animal. He turned away to loosen his horse's girths, muttering to himself — "Those lazy loons will lose their meat if they don't run harder than they did at first." The bull lay in the stillness of death as he cast one more look at it, before proceeding to caress his reeking steed. It was a goldenchestnut Arab, promising great speed, sinewy and hard as nails ; not an ounce of superfluous fat. His faulty point was his head, as far as good looks were concerned • he lacked the Arab, deer-like head, so much admired. It was rather coarse and heavy, but he had an honest brown eye, and, as his master would proudly observe, little fault was to be found with the rest of him.

Casting the bridle over his arm so as to let his favourite crop the dewy grass, the master sat down upon a trap boulder which cropped up out of the turf. About a yard from his feet lay the dead nylghau. "Poor brute!" he softly said to himself, "you had a sharp tussle for it ; but I gave you every chance. I might have shot you down standing where we first came upon you, but I gave you a run for your life ; not much chance, though, with Cossack at your 1 — SEONEE. heels. I wish those lazy fellows would run up, however," he continued, scanning the landscape; "they will lose their meat, and serve them right. There will be a meal in every Gond's hut in the village, and all the more for the loss to the squeamish Mahomedans. I wanted some marrow-bones, too, for to-night's dinner. There's that boy coming out, and tough chicken is hardly the hunter's fare he expects.

Ah ! here comes Nusseer Khan at last." A shrill peal from the master's dog-whistle directed the panting runner, who had just paused on the crest of the slope, to the spot where the group was. The sight of the dead bull stirred the man's blood, and, waving his hand with a shout to his comrades behind, he bounded down the valley. "Now, Nusseer Khan, look sharp," said his master, pointing to the nylghau. The man drew a long Lahore knife from his girdle as he bent over the animal. " It is too late," he muttered, shaking his head ; "his breath is gone out of him." "What of that 1" impatiently exclaimed the Englishman. "I know more of the Book than you people do ; if blood follows the knife it is fit — it is no matter. Cut and lose no more time." Murmuring the appointed prayer, the Pathan drew the heavy blade across the bull's throat, and looked increduously at the crimson stream as it sank into the moist earth.

By this time two other men, breathless with hard running, arrived, one a Pathan like Nusseer Khan, stalwart and fair-com plexioned, the other a Gond, or aboriginal dweller of the country, and somewhat negritic in type, as far as curly hair, broad nose, and high cheek-bones are concerned. The denizen of the jungle came forward with a grin from ear to ear, as he foresaw a plenteous feast of meat that evening ; no scruples of conscience afflicted him as to whether the beast was properly killed according to the Mosaic and Mahomedan laws, whether "the blood thereof which is the life thereof" had been let in proper manner, with the customary invocation ; omnivorous, and by no means fastidious, his mouth watered at the thought of broiled collops. Leaving the Gond and the second Pathan to make arrangements for bringing the bull into camp, the Englishman tightened his horse's girths and, mounting, rode slowly off, followed by Nusseer Khan carrying his master's rifle.

Major Fordham, our successful rider, was a tall, spare man, wiry, and bronzed with much exposure. He seemed about forty, had a MAJOR FORDHAM. 5 mild grey eye, a pleasant, smiling mouth, shaded by a heavy grey moustache, and a quiet, low voice. He had the character of being a studious man, more of a naturalist than a shikaree • but in this case popular opinion was wrong. If he was solitary in his habits, objecting to jovial hunting parties, it was because mere killing had no charm for him, and emulation was distasteful ; he never bragged <>f his own exploits, and so he lost much credit as a mighty hunter. His aim was deadly, his seat on a horse was sure ; perhaps he was a little over-cautious, but his coolness and courage in difficulties were known to the native shikarees of the place more than to the residents of the station.

The natives used to say of his gun that it was his gholam, or slave. For real jungle-knowledge, concerning the habits of animals, skill in tracking, and reading the many signs essential to perfect woodcraft, he was far superior to many a more noted sportsman of his race. As a rule English sportsmen do not attain to the pitch arrived at by the native ; they are fearless, hard-hitting, straight-forward Nimrods, ready to ride down, spear, or shoot anything that is put before them. Compared with the lithe native they are indifferent stalkers. They cannot he or sit for hours in a cramped position, nor does the bent twig or cropped blade of grass catch their eye as they stride along the jungle path. We do not wish to decry our brethren, but we think they might learn more from the native than they do ; but it requires a special aptitude, quick sight, habitually observant nature, and unvarying patience — all these are necessary, and as they are exercised these faculties get stronger and stronger, till it becomes a second nature to a man to let nothing escape his notice.

Fordham was one of the few who had exercised these gifts, and he was little inferior to Jeythoo, the bison tracker of Sonawani, to whom in due time we will introduce the reader, whose wonderful powers of following up a trail quite equalled what Cooper tells us in his thrilling tales of the feats of the Eed Indians. Fordham's fondness of this kind of woodcraft had been in no small degree fostered in his youth by those very tales, and also by memories and traditions in his family, one of his ancestors having seceded in the War of Independence, and attained eminence under AVashington. Many were the hours spent in his boyish days trying to hurl the tomahawk or dart the knife like the heroic Delawares, and, we must confess, with but indifferent success. Instead of sleeping quietly in his bed like other good boys of his age, he would drop out of his window, and roll himself up in a blanket under a low branching yew tree in the garden, greatly to the disgust of sundry SEONEE. cats who had made it a favourite trysting-place.

Therefore, when he came to years of greater discretion, and found himself his own master to a certain extent, and within reach of the forests he longed for in his boyhood, he entered thoroughly into the enjoyment of a hunter's life, spending days and nights out in the jungles, when ever he could get leave from his regiment. Scorning luxuries, he went in for roughing it, and rather overdid it at first, till a few severe bouts of jungle fever somewhat restrained him. Then the Punjaub campaign of '48 took him to more stirring scenes, after which, through the influence of some friends who were interested in him, he was given a staff appointment, and, at the time of which we write, he was holding a special post which enabled him to remain nine months out of the year in camp, and to carry out his favourite pursuits.

He was now expecting a young friend to join him, who had lately landed in India. "Nusseer Khan, was the mare taken out to Mohgaon?" asked his master, who had ridden slowly about a mile towards his camp, which could now be seen in the far distance, the white tents showing like specks against the dark foliage of a mango grove. " Was the mare taken out to Mohgaon, and the brown Cabul to Piperia for the chota sahib ? " "Yes, my lord, your slave himself saw them off." "And did you send a Sowar with them to show the Sahib the way across country 1 " "Azim Khan went, protector of the poor." "'Tis well," replied Fordham, taking a glance upwards at the sun. "The boy ought to be in camp by this time if he started at the crow's dawn." The crow's dawn is an expressive native term for the dark hour just before the first streak of grey in the eastern sky, when those sagacious birds seem to know that daybreak is at hand, and commence a vigorous cawing as if to stir up the lazy ones, who may feel inclined to tuck a sleepy head under a wing once more.

As the sun was beginning to get warm, Fordham ordered his attendant to come on leisurely, whilst he, giving rein to his horse, cantered off in the direction of the camp. A long stretch of rice fields lay between him and the tents. Here and there was a large tank studded at this time of the year with innumerable wild fowl. As he cleared a low bund, or mud embankment dividing two fields, he startled a large flock of grey geese, which flew off with discordant cries. THE FRIEND'S ARRIVAL. 7 Over another bund, and he shook his fist laughingly at a grey fox, which darted from under his horse's feet. The little rascal had been cautiously stalking the geese, and might have secured one had his little game not been spoiled by Cossack's thundering hoofs, as he bounded over the hard soil in a manner which showed that his run of the morning had not much affected his spirits.

A few more fields. A gentle declivity with a sandy bottom, which served as a watercourse in the rainy season ; a slope of turf, then a grove of huge, gnarled, old mango trees, and the horseman pulled up his snorting Arab at the door of a large single pole tent. At a little distance another smoking steed was being rubbed down by a native groom or syce, whilst a dismounted trooper stood at his horse's head waiting to make his report. Seeing these signs .of his friend's arrival, Fordham threw his reins to a bystander, and was soon welcoming to tent-life a slim young Englishman, whose fresh complexion showed that an Indian sun had not as yet had time to turn the roses of the old country into tan. The two men had mutual friends at home, and the younger one soon got over a certain amount of restraint which he could not help feeling at first at the other's superior age and position, and, whilst their baths were being prepared, they were in a deep animated conversation.

Fordham's manner was so free from affectation of any kind that he seldom failed to make the most timid at home in a very short time, and he noted with pleasure that his young com panion was also devoid of that worthless lacquer which young men so often think passes for sterling gold, and with which they hide the natural complexion of their nature. Nothing is more to be admired than a young man, honest and open-hearted, just beginning life with all the ardent hopes and sanguine nature of youth ; fresh and enthusiastic, willing, and not too proud to learn from those of greater experience, and straight forward in all things. And, on the other hand, nothing is more to be deplored, than to see a similar youth aged beyond his years, hipped and blase, a wretched counterfeit of an old roue, who thinks he is up to a trick or two, in his own miserable parlance, and who considers it is weak to show any natural freshness whatever.

There was a striking contrast between Fordham and Ernest Milford in dress. The elder was clad in a close-fitting suit of stout drill, dyed with the barks of the mango and babool trees to the true shikar colour, a sort of olive greenish-brown ; the shoulders were protected by pieces of leather to bear the friction of the rifle ; SEONEE. leather-lined pockets in front held a small powder flask, caps, and balls, sewed up in a greased cloth — for these were the days before the common use of breech-loaders ; a kookrie or Ghoorka knife, an awkward-looking but favourite weapon of Fordham's, and a short bladed, straight, double-edged dagger were attached to a broad belt of sambur leather ; leggings of the same material completed his attire, which savoured more of the backwoods than of civihzation, and formed a dingy contrast to the modern-cut shooting-coat, buckskin breeches, and highly varnished boots of his younger companion.

A servant approaches to tell them their baths are ready ; so let us leave them for a while and look about the camp. The mango grove was on the borders of a noble tank, and was for some distance surrounded by a cultivated plain, beyond which was a range of blue hills. A little to the right, nestled amongst trees, was a large native village, inhabited by an industrious and skilful race of cultivators, called Ponwars, but a litigious, untrustworthy set, much given to removing, if they could, their neighbours' landmarks, and delighting in the incessant law-suits arising there from. A few miles on the left the smoke rose from another large village owned by a Pathan, and colonized by that more stalwart people. They were descendants of the Pathans who invaded the country in the armies of the emperors of Delhi, and who acquired lands in virtue of conquest, and when, about a.d. 1700, the district of Seonee was ceded by the ruling prince of the Eaj Gond dynasty, Narendra Sa, to Bukht Boolund, the Baja of Deogurh, a Pathan adventurer, named Taj Khan, so distinguished himself before the latter by slaying a bear with his sword that he gave him a command of horse, and afterwards the talooqa, or division of Doongertal, where he built a fort, of which the ruins still remain.