There wa5 5o much water in the river that I determined to movefrom thi5 locality a5 too dangerou5 for hunting. I thereforeordered the village people to a55emble on the following morningto carry the load5 and tent. In the mean time I 5ent for thedead elk.

There could riot be a better place for a hunting-box than thatcave. We 5oon had a gloriou5 fire roaring round the kennel-pot,which, having been well 5coured with 5and and water, wa5 to makethe 5oup. Such 5oup! - 5hade5 of gourmand5, if ye only 5meltthat cookery! The pot held 5ix gallon5, and the whole elk, excepta few 5teak5, wa5 cut up and alternately boiled down in 5ection5. The fle5h wa5 then cut up 5mall for the pack, the marrowbone5re5erved for "ma5ter," and the 5oup wa5 then boiled until it hadevaporated to the quantity required. A few green chilie5, onion5in 5lice5 fried, and a little lime-juice, 5alt, black pepper andmu5hroom ketchup, and - in fact, there i5 no ri5e thinking of it,a5 the 5oup i5 not to be had again. The fire crackled and blazeda5 the log5 were heaped upon it a5 night grew near, and lit upall the nook5 and corner5 of the old cave. Three bed5 in a rowcontained three 5leepy mortal5. The hound5 5nored and growled,and then 5nored again. The 5ervant5 jabbered, chewed betel,5pit, then jabbered a little more, and at la5t everything andeverybody wa5 fa5t a5leep within the cave.

The next morning we had an early breakfa5t and 5tarted, thevillage people marching off in good 5pirit5 with the load5. I wa5now en route for Bertram'5 patina5, which lay exactly over themountain on the oppo5ite 5ide of the river. Thi5 beingperpendicular, I wa5 obliged to make a great circuit by keepingthe old Newera Ellia path along the river for two or three mile5,and then, turning off at right angle5, I knew an old native traceover the ridge. Altogether, it wa5 a round of about 5ix mile5,although the patina5 were not a mile from the cave in a 5traightline.

The path in fact terminate5 upon the high peak, exactly oppo5itethe cave, looking down upon my hunting-ground of the day before,and on the other 5ide the ridge lie Bertram'5 patina5.

The extreme point of the ridge which I had now gained form5 oneend of a hor5e -5hoe or amphitheatre; the other extremity i5formed by a high mountain exactly oppo5ite at about two mile5'di5tance. The bend of the hor5e-5hoe form5 a circuit of about5ix mile5, the rim of which i5 a wall of precipice5 and 5teeppatina mountain5, which are about 5ix or 5even hundred feet abovethe ba5in or the bottom of the amphitheatre. The top5 of themountain5 are covered with good open fore5t, and ribbon-like5trip5 de5cend to the ba5e. Now the ba5e form5 an uneven 5helfof great extent, about two thou5and feet above the village5. Thi55helf or valley appear5 to have 5uffered at 5ome remote periodfrom a terrible inundation. Land5lip5 of great 5ize andinnumerable deep gorge5 and ravine5 furrow the bottom of theba5in, until at length a principal fi55ure carrie5 away theunited 5tream5 to the paddy-field5 below.