story of those four days and nights which I spent in
travelling through the unknown parts of Bengal, riding along dark
forest paths with nothing to guide me but the stars, under mighty
trees whose boughs arched overhead like caverns and grew downwards
into the earth again, past sleeping Indian villages, where the dogs
bayed behind prickly fences, swimming dark rivers on whose surface the
reflections of strange idol temples rose and fell, and creeping
through thick jungles where my ears were stunned by the screams of
trooping jackals, and where my heart would sometimes come into my
mouth as I saw the brown grass bend and shake with the passage of some
great beast, and caught a glimpse of dark red stripes moving behind
the reeds, and heard the heavy padding of its paws. But only once
during this journey did I come into real danger, and that through a
neglect of the wise advice given to me by my good friend at starting.

For though Meer Jaffier had so strictly warned me against the Indians,
and particularly the Bramins, yet on the third night after my flight,
beginning to feel somewhat confident by having got so far in safety,
nothing would do but I must thrust my head into the lion's den, by
which I mean venture into one of their temples, at the very time they
were busy about a great religious ceremony. I had been on my way since
sundown, and had made very good progress, so that I supposed myself to
have got over the greater part of my journey, when towards the middle
of the night I came unexpectedly upon a great building, standing by
itself on the edge of a stream, which building I at once knew to be a
temple of the Gentoo religion.

Having passed several places of the same kind already I should not
have taken much notice of this one, perhaps, if my attention had not
been attracted by a peculiar drumming noise which seemed to proceed
from the inside, and sounded very strange and awful in the darkness. I
rode up as near as I dared, and then stopped, listening. The drumming
grew louder and louder, and I presently began to distinguish a purpose
in it. The sounds rose and fell in a certain regular order, very
unlike the melody of our musical instruments, but yet very impressive
to the ear. I found myself affected by a feeling of suspense as I
listened, which quickly passed into one of fear, and at the same time
I noticed that my horse had begun to shiver and sweat violently. The
only effect of this was to fill me with a bur