CHAPTER IX

A FOREST MARCH

Reasons for showing the flag--Soldierless Bengal--Planning the march--Difficulties of transport--The first day's march--Sepoys in the jungle--The water-creeper--The commander loses his men--The bivouac at Rajabhatkawa--Alipur Duar--A small Indian Station--Long-delayed pay--The Subdivisional Officer--A _dâk_ bungalow--The sub-judge--Brahmin pharisees--The _nautch_--A dusty march--Santals--A mission settlement--Crossing a river--Rafts--A bivouac in a tea garden--A dinner-party in an 80-lb. tent--Bears at night--A daring tiger--Chasing a tiger on elephants--In the forest again--A fickle river--A strange animal--The Maharajah of Cooch Behar's experiment--A scare and a disappointment--Across the Raidak--A woman killed by a bear--A planters' club--Hospitality in the jungle--The zareba--Impromptu sports--The Alarm Stakes--The raft race--Hathipota--Jainti 174