The jungle is full of interesting plants and animals, and we could fill a large book with their names and habits, but we must only take time to speak of one other creature. It will form a link for us between jungle sights and sounds, and the splendour of the courts of the olden rulers of which children may still see relics in some parts of India. The animal that links the palace with the jungle is the cheetah, for six cheetahs have been taken from their wild haunts to guard the Uzar Bhagh Palace in Baroda. Through the day they are muzzled, and wander freely in the gardens. They are like small leopards, and they steal about amongst the trees or lie sleeping in the sun through the long hot hours. But each evening they are shut up in the palace. Their muzzles are taken off, and all night long the fierce creatures wander through the passages and halls. For within the closed doors that they guard, the jewels of Baroda, the richest in all India, lie. In the collar of state alone, there are five hundred diamonds, and some of them are as large as walnuts. Round the edge of this collar three bands of emeralds run, and each emerald in the outer row is about an inch square, while a great diamond, that is called the star of the Deccan, hangs down in front. There are many other treasures there besides the wonderful collar, and the most interesting of them are a rug and two pillow covers. The rug is more than ten feet in length and six feet wide, and it and the pillow covers are made of strings of pearls woven together and decorated with diamonds. These jewelled cloths brought the present ruler of Baroda to his throne in a strange way. Baroda is a native state, whose princes are called Gaikwars. The word Gaikwar means cowherd really, but for hundreds of years it has been the royal title of the rulers of Baroda. These men trace their family far back into the times of the ancient stories, for they believe that they descended from a Hindu hero called Rama, who is now worshipped as a god. This belief strengthened their power, because no one dared to oppose anything that was done by the children of a god, and sometimes they used their power very badly. The British Government tries not to interfere with the Indian rulers, so it honoured this ancient house, and whenever the Gaikwar came to state ceremonies he was received with a salute of twenty-one guns. But though the Government acknowledged the ruler of Baroda, it did not wish cruelty and wrong to go unpunished in the lands it protected, so there was always a representative of the Viceroy in each protected state. During the reign of Malar Rao, the last Gaikwar, Colonel Phayre was the British Representative at Baroda, and while he was there he heard terrible stories of the heartless cruelty of the Indian ruler. He was sure that many of these stories were true, but it was difficult to prove anything against a man who was so powerful.