CHAPTER XIV

A JUNGLE FORT

I decide on Fort Bower--Felling trees--A big python--Clearing the jungle--Laying out the post--Stockades and _Sungars_--The bastions--_Panjis_ and _abattis_--The huts--Jungle materials--Ingenious craftsmen--The furniture--Sentry-posts--Alarm signals--The _machicoulis_ gallery--Booby-traps--The water-lifter--The hospital--Chloroforming a monkey--Jungle dogs--An extraordinary shot--An unlucky deer--A meeting with a panther--The alarm--Sohanpal Singh and the tiger--Turning out to the rescue--The General's arrival--Closed gates--The inspection--The "Bower" and the "'Ump"--Flares and bombs--The General's praise--Night firing--A Christmas camp 280