Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: May 5, 2025
In the villages perched on the steep sides of the mountains the Bhuttia women rejoiced to know that the peace of the Borderland would never be broken again while the dread hand of a god lay on it. And in their bamboo huts they tried to hush their little children with the mention of his name. But the sturdy, naked babies had no fear of him.
Now, Bhuttias do not wear the janeo, not being Hindus. But high-caste Hindus do and a Brahmin would never be without it." "Oh, no. So you mean that the man wasn't a Bhuttia?" "This is the last exhibit, as they say in the Law Courts," said Dermot, producing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. "You don't find Bhuttias wearing these." "By Jove, no," said Granger, taking them up and trying them.
Up this path, as a paling in the east betokened the dawn, the long line of elephants climbed in the same order of march as on the previous day. Badshah led; and behind him followed the oldest elephants, on which the steep ascent told heavily. Two thousand feet above the forest the track led close to a Bhuttia village.
He called out but got no answer; and after listening for some time and hearing nothing further he returned to bed and at last fell asleep. In the morning he learned that the panther had made a daring raid on a hut and carried off a Bhuttia wood-cutter's baby from its sleeping mother's side, and had devoured it in the jungle not two hundred yards away.
When they had got Miss Daleham safely hidden away in the labyrinths of a native bazaar, perhaps in Calcutta, they'd have let everyone know who had carried her off." "Who was the other fellow with Narain Dass the chap who talked Bengali?" "Probably a Bhuttia who knew the language was given the Brahmin as an interpreter."
I tried to struggle, but I was powerless in their grasp. I was fastened to the chair, poles were tied to it, and at a sign from the man who stood alone he seemed to be the leader I was lifted up and carried off." "Did you notice anything about this man the leader?" asked Dermot. "Yes, he was not like the others in face. He didn't seem to me to be a Bhuttia at all.
Sometimes Dermot assembled the herd, which had learned to obey him almost like a pack of hounds, and, concealed among them, penetrated across the border into Bhutan and explored hidden spots where hostile troops might be concentrated. Only rarely a wandering Bhuttia chanced to see him, and then the terrified man would veil his eyes, fearing to behold the doings of the terrible Elephant God.
Chunerbutty rushed forward. He was evidently greatly agitated. "Oh, Major Dermot! Major Dermot! Help! Help!" he cried excitedly. "A terrible thing has happened. Miss Daleham has been carried off by a party of Bhuttia raiders." "Carried off? By Bhuttias?" exclaimed the soldier. "When?" He made the elephant kneel and slipped off to the ground. "Barely two hours ago," replied the engineer.
I promise you I'll go at them hard." "You'll have a fellow-student for part of the time. Miss Benson's coming to stay with us during the Monsoons for a bit; and she has asked me to teach her Bhutanese, too. She wants it, as she has to deal with Bhuttia woodcutters and hill folk generally. Well, that's fixed. Goodnight."
No sum however large could tempt any Bhuttia on either side of the border-line, or any Hindu in the Duars. Even the Brahmin extremists acting as missionaries on the tea-gardens fought shy of him. Superstition was his sure shield. Then the Dewan fell back on the bazaar of Lalpuri City.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking