CHAPTER LV.

LIFE IN THE HILLS.

1838, _June 29th._

Kharītā of her Highness the ex-Queen of Gwalior—A Mountain Storm—An Adventure—Asses carried off by Leopards—Bear’s Grease—Dēodar Oil—Apricot Oil—Hill Currants—Figs and Tar—The Cholera—Sacrifice of a Kid to the Mountain Spirit—Absurdity of the Fear of a Russian Invasion—Plague of Fleas—The Charmed Stone—Iron-stone—Khobarah, the Hill Dog—Sheep-stealing—Booteah Chharrā—Flexible Stone—A Fearful Storm—A Doomed Banglā—Leaf Butterflies—Bursting of the Mahratta Bāndh at Prāg—Similarity of the Singular Marriages in the Hills with those of the Ancient Britons—Honesty of the Paharīs, _i.e._ Mountaineers 250