Hanging from various points among the surrounding trees, among which it twists and turns, may be seen large racemes of Papillonaceous purple blossoms, harmless, except for their unpleasant smell. At a latter stage, however, when they have podded, the outer surface becomes covered with fine, brittle hairs, which shower down whenever the creeper is agitated. Should they lodge on the naked skin, the irritation becomes maddening in the course of a few minutes, increasing as one scratches. It is the _Mucuna pruens_ of botanists; in popular phraseology, cowage or Cow-itch. Strange to say, on this occasion three out of the four elephants steered clear of this undesirable “thing of beauty;” the fourth did _not_, and its occupant, Captain H——, the short one this time—received a dose on the nape of his neck which caused him to struggle as if he would pull his head off his shoulders. He would without a doubt have inflicted serious injury on his neck, had not a native suggested a remedy: if an apothecary’s shop had been available, we might have found something less disagreeable and equally oleaginous, the quality on which its efficacy mainly depended. In lieu thereof, we proceeded to a village where cows were kept, and the remedy was applied. The natives have great faith in it here as in many parts of India. Formerly, it was considered an excellent vermifuge, and was administered incorporated with treacle, honey or syrup. How the rest of us escaped the same annoyance was a wonder! The other drawback to the pleasures of this kind of sport was the tiring movement, half jolting, half lounging, of the elephant. Given the choice under ordinary conditions, I had rather walk ten miles than ride an elephant over two; bad as he is, however, the motion of a camel is a thousand times worse. There may be camels and camels, but agonizing are the best. The stockade having been swept and garnished for the reception of the men detailed for this especial garrison duty, and friendly relations having been established with the natives, the elephants conveyed our equipage over a ford, and the pedestrians crossed the bamboo bridge, to a point on the other side of the river, where the camp would remain a few days preparatory to our final departure. This was a diplomatic test of how our friends would fare when we had marched off altogether. The surroundings were still more wild and picturesque, the hills were also more broken, often almost perpendicular, and covered with very fine timber.