The domestic cattle of Nepaul, generally speaking, do not seem much superior to those ordinarily indigenous to Bengal and the Upper Provinces; but it is otherwise with regard to the native horses. It is true that they are but little distinguished in respect to size; yet they appear very strong and plump, and exhibit a greater variety, in point of colour, than is usually seen in the lower parts of India.*

The cows, though very good-looking, would differ considerably in comparison with our English cattle. Their milk, however, is not surpassed for sweetness or richness by any in the world. Besides the above, are the kustoora, or musk-deer, a native of Cachar, or Lower Thibet, commonly met with in Nepaul; the chowry (known in Hindostan by the name of soori-ghae); the chaugra, or shawl-goat; sheep of all kinds; and a peculiar dog. This dog, which is known in Bengal by the name of the

*Perhaps the most extraordinary is a pony called the hubshee, from the strong resemblance of its coat to a curly-headed negro.

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Nepaul dog, is, properly speaking, a native of the Upper and Lower Thibets, whence it is usually brought to Nepaul. It is a fierce and surly creature, about the size of an English Newfoundland, and covered with thick long hair. It is reckoned to be a good watch-dog, and never to sleep at night. The tanguns, or tanyans, so much esteemed in India for their hardiness, come entirely from Upper Thibet; and, notwithstanding their make, are so sure-footed that the people of Nepaul ride them without fear over very deep mountains and along the brink of the deepest precipice.

Of the birds, the principal are the chuckore, moonal, and damphia, the last two belong to the pheasant tribe; and the chuckore is well known by the name of the fire-eater. It is a species of partridge, bigger than the redgrouse, and derives its name from its fondness for red pepper and its reputed power of swallowing fire. The calidge, cyrus, ortolan, wild

goose, wild-duck, and several other species of the feathered tribe, common to Bengal and the

rest of the countries lying to the southward of Nepaul, are occasionally seen in this and the adjacent vallies, where, however, they appear merely as birds of passage, making only a stage of Nepaul in their flight from Hindostan to Thibet. They begin to migrate from their native plains towards the middle of April, whither they return from the elevated regions in the vicinity of the Himalayas become too inclement for their abode.

With regard to fish, Nepaul is as bad an angling as a bird country, for though some of the rivers may almost be said to be animated, yet they are at the same time so transparent and so rapid, that the fish with which they swarm can by no means be brought to bite. The Rapti abounds with fish of all kinds.

In many parts of the forests animals abound, particularly the elephant, and as the death of one of these magnificent animals will form the principal subject of the present chapter, I will here offer a few remarks upon their nature, and the course pursued by the Nepaulese

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in obtaining possession of them, which differs greatly from the means employed for similar purposes by the British government in the Chittagong districts, where the elephants are taken by pitfalls and khedahs. The former method is objectionable, because of the enormous bulk of the animals. When falling into the trap, about seven out of ten of them are generally severely injured, and are thus rendered useless to the government. The khedah or enclosure ensures only the taking of small or half-grown male elephants. Remarkably fine and full-grown females are frequently captured in this manner. In the Chittagong district are to be found by far the finest and the largest elephants caught in India, but the difficulty of acclimatising them to Upper India is so great that seldom more than four out of ten, when sent to the upper-provinces, are preserved; change of food, and what all natives declare to be a greater evil still, change of "pawnee" (water), are supposed to be the main causes of premature mortality. The natives of India are

firm believers in water, and every kind of sickness or ailment is invariably laid to the charge of that element. Being great consumers of that beverage, they certainly ought, generally speaking, to be good judges. Be this as it may, the Chittagong elephants are decided water-drinkers, and so are those in the upper country; we may therefore infer that the Chittagong water must be the better suited for these animals. It is, however, injuriously operative to humanity, as witness the frightful enlargement of human legs in that district, arising from elephantiasis, a disease which causes a moderate-sized person's leg to become increased to the dimensions of a muscular Yorkshireman's thigh, his wretched toes appearing like a fringe to his bloated limb. The catching and taming of wild elephants furnish a large source of revenue to the Nepaul government. The mode of taking them is this: The Taroos, or elephantcatchers, having marked down a wild herd of three hundred or four hundred elephants, the following preparations are made. About two