Roughing it in Southern India. By Mrs. M. A. Ha n dl ey .
(Edward Arnold. 12s. 6d. net.)—Mrs. Handley went out to Southern India with her husband, who was a forest officer. In this volume she gives us somo of her experiences, vouching for the fact that every word of narrative or description is "literally true." Very curious many of these experiences are. The author saw or heard at first hand of many strange creatures, the man- eating tiger being, perhaps, the strangest. He is, indeed, a terror, not because he is particularly strong or swift--ho seldom takes to this evil course till lie begins to fail—but on account of his fiendish sagacity, and he soon learns to be dainty. There is a grim story here of a fat Brahmin who, having to traverse the jungle, took all precautions to ensure safety. He rode in a closed carriage, in the middle of tho caravan, with the leanest of native drivers for his coachman ; yet the tiger singled him out with unerring precision and carried him off. Hero is another grim tiger story, though not in this case a man-eater. A bullock-cart had to go by a pass where a tiger was lying. Happily nothing took place. " What should you have done if the tiger had moved ? " asked the English passenger. "Thrown the boy to him," the driver said. The "boy " was a child of nine years—his own son—who heard it without resentment. It was fate. Then we hear of native life in high quarters and low. Mrs. Handley teas us something about the zonana, certainly a dark place of the earth, and often full of cruelty. It must not be supposed, however, that she takes a sombre view of native life and native character as a whole. Her appreciation of it seems to us very just and sympathetic. Among other good qualities she is a lover of dogs. We are quite glad to make the acquaintance of " Lady;' a pariah of high qualities, as pariahs not infrequently are. Altogether this is a most read- able book.
Previous page
