the insects began to hum the decline of day and gloom gathered around, we halted for the night in this wild solitude.
Dawn broke obscurely through a mist that did not disperse until noon, and then our retrograde “goose-step” movement towards the plains began; and presently we were gladdened by seeing the open country again, with much the same feeling as castaway mariners are wont to enjoy when in sight of land once more.
But what was to be done next? To abandon the search altogether in uncertainty would doubtless stimulate the panic in the districts where its symptoms had already appeared. Sinister rumours gained ground; alarm spread abroad; a body of revolted troops was known to be " somewhere in the neighbourhood, and unless their locality was traced out, or their mysterious disappearance accounted for, the departure of the column from so inhospitable a region could not be sanctioned. At all events, that being the “order” of the day, a second search, with the aid of Nipal Gūrkhas, instead of us, immediately commenced.
While the adventurous hunt on the outer fringe of jungles was going on, time with ourselves, now bivouacked in Nipal territory, passed in vigilant monotony, and without any affair of moment occurring. In these inactive moments, therefore, I subjoin a few remarks concerning the Nipal troops, called Gūrkhas — with whom we are now in confederate intercourse, and with whom I was well acquainted in days prior to
