river, and there he was, standing in the torrent, every now and then menacing Ponto with his antlers, who was swimming in the stream, and had enough to do to evade his frantic rushes.

I was quite out of breath and powerless with the run, but Walter, standing up, at once firm and collected, took a deliberate aim with his unerring rifle; an echo was heard rumbling among the rocks, and the stag, taking a mighty spring, plunged into the stream, shot through the brain, and rose a lifeless thing.

The current, which was extremely rapid, bore the carcass down for some distance, dashing it amongst the rocks and whirling it in the eddies, and we had considerable difficulty in getting down to drag it out, as the ravine was very steep and full of precipices and huge rocks. At last we managed to haul him high and dry on the bank, and having gralloched and covered him over with branches and stones, we set off for the spot where we had left the Killadar some five or six hours before. Just awakened from sleep, he had no idea that we had been away so long, and fancied we were joking when we told him of our sport.

He sent his people, guided by Ponto, to sling the venison on poles and bring it in, and "there was a sound of revelry by night" in his little fortress, for after sending a couple of haunches into

cantonment, we divided the rest among his followers. I turned in that night very tired, and considerably bruised with sundry falls, but delighted with the success of my first day's deer stalking.

On the following morning the Killadar got us up a beat in the ravine where a tiger had been seen some days previously, but it proved "a blank;" and the day after, "our leave being. up," we had to bid adieu to our native friends and return to cantonment.

CHAPTER II.

HOG-HUNTING.

The fortress of Golconda.-The Tombs of the Kings.-The gardens. Persian inscriptions.-The gathering. Plan of operations. Reminiscences of the past. The start.— The rendezvous. My nag Lal Babba.-A moment of suspense.The find. We're away.-The chase.-The first blood.-A purl. -The advantages of being on good terms with one's nag.-The tug of war.-Exciting moments.-The struggle for the spear. -It is won.-The charge.- Mischief ensues. -The death of the boar.-The wounded hog-hunter. The death of an old friend. The trysting-tree. The trophies. The return to cantonment.

IT

T was evening; the oppressive glare and overpowering heat of the day were gone, and the sun was setting with that gorgeous magnificence which is rarely to be seen except in "land of the cedar and vine." His last expiring rays tinged the whole of the heavens, from the western horizon to the zenith, with indescribably beautiful gold and crimson hues, and striking upon the numerous gilt pinnacles of the mosques and minarets which rose

above the castellated walls of the hill-fort of Golconda, formed a contrast with the deep verdure of the mango groves and the lighter foliage of the graceful tamarind, on which the eye rested with delight.

On the one hand lay Golconda, with its lofty rock-built citadel, bastioned walls, and loop-holed battlements; and on the other rose those magnificent structures of ancient days, the tombs of the kings, with their massive domes, gigantic cupolas, towering minarets, and stately piazzas.

Many changes have taken place since the last of the Kootub Shawee dynasty was placed in his regal sepulchre. His kingdom has passed away into the hands of strangers, and his very name is now forgotten in the land where he was once pre-eminent; still, these time-worn but stately monuments will attest to many succeeding generations the splendour and magnificence of the ancient rulers of Hindostan.

No such works are carried on in the present day; and what makes these buildings more remarkable is, that the immense blocks of granite with which they are constructed have had to be transported from long distances, none being procurable in the immediate vicinity. The stupendous domes of these royal mausoleums were formerly ornamented with inlaid enamel of different colours,

forming beautiful arabesques; but time, aided by the depredations of the ignorant, has succeeded in obliterating a great part, and it is only in the more sheltered and out-of-the-way places that this beautiful enamel can be seen in the same freshness of colour as it exhibited when first laid on. The wilful damage these relics of the past have sustained is the more to be regretted, as the very art of making this beautiful enamel has been forgotten. The gray granite walls in the interior are beautifully carved, and in some places the doorways and ornamented niches are of highly-polished black granite.

The largest of the tombs will contain about 8,000 people, it being built in the shape of a square, having a verandah with forty-eight arches all round. Some of the pillars are carved out of single blocks of granite; and I noticed slabs with which the interior is paved upwards of sixty feet in length. Under the centre of the dome is the tomb itself, hewn out of a solid piece of black granite, highly polished as the finest marble, and covered with beautifully carved arabesques, Persian inscriptions, and verses from the Koran.

At each corner of the building is a small archway, and a circular staircase in the thickness of the wall, leading to the tops of the minarets, from the upper galleries of which the Moussins used to