A dove sat invitingly on a neighbouring bough; I gave a long pull and a strong pull, and, och! hit my thumb a whack that bared it to the bone. Away I tossed the pellet-bow to the distance of about twenty yards, thrust the mutilated member into my mouth, and immediately fell to dancing something very like Jim Crow. In a little time the agony subsided; I had swathed the ex-member in fine linen, when Fyz Buccas came to summon us to dinner. “Come along, sir,” said I; “I hope you can dine off a hind-quarter of mutton and a Bombay pudding.” “Nothing can be better,” said he; “but where did you get your meat?” “I bought it of a bazaar fellow at Allahabad, and a splendid joint it is.” My companion, more experienced in the tricks of India than myself, smiled incredulously, and then looked a little grave. “I hope they have not given you a made-up article.” “Made-up!” said I; “I don’t understand you.” “Why,” he replied, “these bazaar rascals stuff and blow up their meat, and use half a dozen other different ways of taking in the unwary passenger.” “’Pon my life,” said I, “you frighten me; if this my best bower fails, we shall go plump on the rocks of short commons, that’s certain.” “Oh, never mind,” said he; “at the worst, my place is not far off, and there is abundance of prog there; besides, I can eat bazaar mutton, or goat, or anything else at a pinch, particularly if there is a good glass of Hodgson to wash it down.” This dialogue was cut short by the entry of the mutton; it certainly did not look as respectable mutton should look. I seized the carver, eager to know the worst, and gave a cut; the murder was out, and so was the wind; the unhappy mutton falling into a state of collapse. “Ha! ha! ha!” roared the sub: “I thought as much; now try that mass of fat containing the kidney, and you will have farther evidence of the skill with which an Indian butcher can manufacture a fat joint of mutton.” I made a transverse incision into the membraneous sac, and there lay a beautiful and compact stratification of suet, skin, and other extraneous matters, which I extracted _seriatim_ at the point of my fork. I confess I was thunderstruck at this profligacy of the heathen, which is, however, common enough. Currah is an interesting spot, abounding in picturesque ruins; and good sporting is to be had there, the neighbourhood abounding in hares, wild pea-fowl, grey partridges, and quail; the best cover in which to find the latter is, my friend told me, the soft feathery undergrowth of grass to be found in the indigo fields. In some of the islands of the Ganges, black partridge, florikin, and hog-deer are to be met with, and there are also plenty of wolves and hyænas amongst the ruins, for those who are fond of such sport.