was called Mein and Butter fish, and they are said to be
very good to eat, but they have a beard, which doesn't answer to my
standard of a game fish. I got about a dozen of these smaller fellows of
about one lb. each, not a bad way of putting in an hour or so, when the
time does not allow of gunning ashore.

31st--Tegine.--This morning we passed on our right the elephant Kedar
Camp, where natives are preparing to rope in wild elephants as they do
in Mysore. The bank was steep, about level with the top of our funnel.
The low jungle had been cleared, and we saw screens and houses of green
thatch and palm leaves. A very brown Britisher came out of his tent as
we passed, his face half white with soap lather, and his shirt sleeves
rolled up; he did unintelligible semaphore signalling with both arms, a
razor in one hand, paper in the other. He likewise spoke to us in words
that were barely audible for the sound of the rush of the water. When we
pieced together what each had heard, it came to "what the blankety blank
has come over your--tut tut-down-stream cargo boat? She was to bring me
tea and sugar! And I've no whiskey, and--" but there was a stiff turning
just at this part of the river, and the skipper and pilot and everyone
on board gave it all their attention, or we'd have been ashore. Soon
after we met the dilatory down-river cargo boat, and waited where the
channel was wide and she passed, its master shouting to us that the
channel somewhere further up was "only four feet six, and very
difficult." She had stranded somewhere for twenty-four hours or so.
There were apparently only two passengers on board! I don't think these
good days for passengers can last, the crowd is bound to come.

[Illustration]

Next small item in to-day's entertainment. An otter, rather larger than
any I've seen at home, performed to us on a sandbank, danced, and rolled
over its own shadow, or possibly a fish, in apparent exuberance of
spirit. It was a very pretty sight through the glass, and I think I
could have got him with a rifle, but it was rather far to risk a shot
and wounding with my Browning's colt pistol--the Woods and Forest man,
by the way, had a Browning colt, and rather fancied himself as a shot.
He told me his terrier puts up otters pretty often in the streams in the
jungle, in family parties, greatly to the amusement of the otters. So
there's another heading for a game book here; that might begin with
elephant and finish up wi