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BULLET AND SHOT

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BULLET AND SHOT

Indian Forest, Plain and Hill

WITH HINTS TO BEGINNERS
IN INDIAN SHOOTING.

C. E. M. RUSSELL,

BARRISTER-AT-LAW OF THE INNER TEMPLE, M.R.A.C,
LATE SENIOR DEPUTY CONSERVATOR OF FORESTS, MYSORE SERVICE.

LONDON :
W. THACKER AND CO., 2, CREED LANE, E.C.

CALCUTTA: THACKER, SPINK AND CO.

BOMBAY: THACKER AND CO., LIMITED.

1900

HIS UNSELFISH AND DEVOTED WIFE,

WHO, REGARDLESS OF HER OWN PREFERENCES,

HAS SHARED HER HUSBAND'S EXILE,

EVER LOYALLY SUPPORTING HIM AND CHEERFULLY BEARING

DISCOMFORTS AND INCONVENIENCES FOR HIS SAKE;

TO WHOM HE IS MOREOVER INDEBTED

FOR VALUABLE ASSISTANCE IN THE REVISION OF THIS WORK,

THE LATTER IS MOST LOVINGLY AND

GRATEFULLY INSCRIBED BY

THE AUTHOR.

^

PREFACE

THE Author hopes that, in spite of the many
able works upon Indian Sport which have
been written, a welcome may yet be accorded to
the present effort to supply what he believes to be
a want, viz., reliable and detailed information' for
the use of beginners in Indian Shooting. He also
trusts that brother sportsmen and the general read-
ing public may derive some pleasure from the
perusal of his personal experiences.

The Author first went to India in the autumn
of 1876, remained for five years in Assam and
Sylhet, and then, having been offered an appoint-
ment in the forest department of the Mysore State,
he accepted the same and entered upon his duties
in Mysore upon the first day of the year 1882.
From that date (with the exception, of course, of
periods spent on leave at home) till 1896, when
he left Mysore in order to practise at the Bar
in Madura (S. India), he had constant opportunities,
when on inspection duty in the forests, as well as
on leave, of enjoying hi^ favourite sport, and also

BULLET AND SHOT

of conferring with other sportsmen (chiefly military
officers) whose experience had in some cases been
gained in other parts of India, the fauna of which
the writer had never seen.

With a view to making this book as complete
and generally useful as possible, the Author has
not confined himself to the Game which he has
personally shot, but, for the use of the beginner
in Indian Shooting, a brief description of each of
the principal game animals of that country not
falling within the category of his own experience,
has been compiled from other sources, his acknow-
ledgments for assistance in this and other respects
being due to the following Authors, whose valuable
works have been studied and indented upon for
various information contained in the present
volume :

General A. A. A. Kinloch's Large Game Shooting,
Thibet and Northern India.

Mr. R. A. Sterndale's Natural History of Indian
Mammalia.

Dr. Jerdon's The Mammals of India.

Colonel R. Heber Percy, in the Badminton volume
on Indian large game.

Colonel Ward's The Sportsman s Guide to Cash-
mere and Ladak, etc.

Mr. Rowland Ward s Horn Measurements.

PREFACE

Mr. A. O. Hume and Colonel Marshall's The
Game Birds of India.

In writing the chapters upon " Rifles and Guns,"
etc., and that upon ** Preparatory Taxidermy," the
Author is indebted for valuable assistance to Mr,
Henry Holland (Messrs. Holland and Holland,
Ltd.) and Mr. G. Butt, of 49, Wigmore Street,
respectively.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introduction . . . . . i

II. The Indian Bison . . ' . . . lo

III. Bison Shooting . . ... 26

IV. Reminiscences of Bison Shooting . . . 43
V. Hints to Beginners in Bison Shooting . . 68

VI. The Wild Buffalo, the Yak, and the Tsine . 88

VII. The Tiger . . . . • . 97
VIII. Tiger Shooting in Southern India, with Advice

TO Beginners . . ... 109
IX. Incidents in Tiger Shooting . . .138
X. The Panther, Hunting Cheetah, Clouded

Leopard, Snow Leopard, and Indian Lion . 170

XI. The Chief Bears of India . . . . 197
XII. The Indian Elephant, and Notes for Beginners

IN Elephant Shooting . ... 206

XIII. Episodes in Elephant Shooting . . . 228

XIV. The Deer of India and the Himalayas . . 244
XV. The Nilgiri Wild Goat, or Ibex of Southern

India . . . ... 267

XVI. Brief Notes on the Wild Goats of Cashmere

AND Ladak . . ... 292

XVII. Some Brief Notes on the Wild Sheep of India

AND the Himalayas . ... 307

XVI 1 1. The Antelopes and Gazelles of India and the

Himalayas . . ... 316

XIX. The Rhinocerotid^e and Suid^e of India . . 339

XX. Poachers and Nuisances . ... 346

xi

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

XXI. Small Animals Worth Shooting . • • 356

XXII. Indian Snipe Shooting . . • • 363

XXIII. Brief Notes on Some of the Game Birds and

Wild-Fowl of India . ... "380

XXIV. The Forests, Plains, and Hills of Mysore,

THEIR Denizens, and the Favourite Haunts

OF THE LATTER . . ... 399

XXV. Hints on Camp Equipment, Travelling in

India, Outfit, Servants, etc. . . . 430

XXVI. Rifles and Guns, Ammunition and Accessories 446
XXVII. Hints on Skinning, and on the Preservation

OF Trophies . . ... 470

APPENDICES.
Thamin, and their Quest . . ... 477

The Banting or Tsine in Upper Burmah . . . 484

Game Laws and Rules of the Madras Presidency and

THE NiLGiRi Hills . ... 495

Revenue Department Notifications . . . 499

The Rules of the Nilgiri Game and Fish Preservation
Association, as amended at the General
Meeting held on the 23RD August, 1893 . 504
Rules for Observance by Visitors and Residents in
THE Territories of H.H. the Maharaja of
Jammu and Kashmir . ... 506

Brief Notes on Travelling in Cashmere . . . 529

INDEX

537

Xll

BULLET AND SHOT

IN

INDIAN FOREST, PLAIN, AND HILL

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION

SPORT, as distinguished from butchery, needs
neither apology nor excuse ; the former is the
moderate and humane exercise of an inherent
instinct worthy of a cultivated gentleman, the latter
the revolting outcome of the undisciplined nature
of the savage.

Amongst real sportsmen and the bravest soldiers
will be found the most gentle and tender-hearted
members of their sex, whilst the pursuit of large
game in the spirit of true sport is an education in
itself

Field-Marshal Lord Roberts, v.c, etc., when, as
Sir F. Roberts, he was Commander-in-Chief in
Madras, gave a very practical indication of his
opinion of the value of such training in the case
of young officers, by encouraging the latter to go

B

BULLET AND SHOT

out shooting whenever it was compatible with the
exigencies of duty for them to do so.

Not only must the sportsman in pursuit of large
game learn infinite patience during frequent periods
of unrequited toil, but he must, in order to be
really successful, often exercise much self-denial,
more particularly when hill-shooting, or when work-
ing localities wherein the scarcity of means of
transport circumscribes the amount of necessaries
which can be taken with him. He must, moreover,
be temperate in all things, if he is to attain the
physical condition which alone will enable him to
support severe exertion — often in great heat — under
circumstances diametrically opposed to those of his
usual life in his headquarters.

Then again, the sportsman who is in pursuit
of dangerous game must learn to keep cool in
moments of peril, and to strive to do always the
right thing at the right moment, often with no time
for deliberation.

As an incentive to exercise in climates which
engender languor and a disinclination for exertion,
the pursuit of both large and small game is in-
valuable ; and the love of this form of sport, so
common amongst our countrymen, is a potent factor
in the preservation of the health of Europeans in
India. It is not often that residents in the country,
who are obliged to work for their living, have any
opportunity of bagging more than a certain pro-
portion of the long list of game animals inhabiting
the vast continent of India, but there are at home
many men with both leisure and ample means, who

INTRODUCTION

may go out there to shoot large game, and to such
are open the endless hunting - grounds between
Little Thibet and Cape Comorin. The collections
of trophies which may be made by such are
limited only by the amount of time and labour
which these fortunate ones of the earth may devote
to this pursuit. Let me briefly sketch the distribu-
tion of the various species of large game which
inhabit this enormous peninsula.

In the extreme south we find the elephant, tiger,
panther, bison, sloth bear, hunting cheetah (rare),
sambur, spotted deer, muntjac, Indian antelope,
Indian gazelle, four-horned antelope, wolf, wild dog,
wild boar, neelghaie, and the Neilgherry ibex, all
of which, with the exception of the two last, are also
to be found in Mysore.

Further north than Mysore we come to the
Nizam's dominions, or the Deccan, which is one
of the best tiger countries in India. Long before
we reach these, however, the Neilgherry ibex, whose
range is confined to the extreme south, has dis-
appeared. Further north still, after the Nerbudda
river has been crossed, the wild buffalo must be
added to the list, and in Guzerat are to be found
the very few specimens of the Indian lion still
remaining in the empire. The Sunderbunds at the
mouths of the Ganges afford shelter to the Javan
rhinoceros, which also occurs in Burmah. The Salt
range in the Punjab is the home of the Punjab wild
sheep, or oorial ; and Burmah contributes the tsine,
and the thamine, as well as many of the animals
already mentioned. On yet, and we come to the

3

BULLET AND SHOT

great Bikanir Desert, the home of the finest black
buck in India; while in the Nepaul Terai, Assam,
and the Bhootan dooars, a further addition of the
great Indian rhinoceros must be made. Once the
Himalayas are reached, most of the southern game
animals disappear, though a few of them are found
at comparatively low elevations on those hills. In
the sub- Himalayan tracts, in addition to most of the
game animals of the south, the swamp deer and
hog deer occur, as well as the buffalo and rhinoceros.
On the Himalayas, an entirely new set of fauna is
met with, comprising at various altitudes, the mark-
hor, Himalayan ibex, serow, gooral, ovis ammon,
burhel, shapoo, Cashmere and Sikkim stags, musk-
deer, the red and black bears of the Himalayas, the
snow leopard and the yak.

It will be observed from the above that the north
of India offers a far greater variety of large game
to the sportsman than does the south, for most of
the game animals which inhabit the latter are found
in some parts of the former also, while the north
can boast in addition a large and exclusive game-
list of its own.

The difference in the size of the trophies of the
same species obtainable in various parts of India
is very marked, as also the methods which must,
according to local conditions, be employed in re-
ducing the game into possession, some of the latter
being far more enjoyable than are others.

Speaking very generally and comprehensively,
the south, the Central Provinces, and hill ranges
everywhere are the fields wherein shooting on

INTRODUCTION

foot, i.e.y shooting without the employment of
tame elephants, is practised. In Bengal, Assam,
Nepaul, the Bhootan dooars, and Burmah, the
sportsman who cannot command a number of
elephants has but little chance of success.

The south appears on the whole to be more
prolific in large elephant tusks and fine bison heads
than is any other part of India, while, the forests
admitting of shooting on foot, the game can be
pursued under very pleasurable conditions.

In so vast a continent, the whole gamut of
temperature is run through, from the fierce summer
heat of the Deccan and the Punjab, the compara-
tively temperate climate of the Mysore plateau,
the still cooler heights of the various hill ranges,
up to the abode of eternal snow on the lofty
Himalayas.

The best country for tiger shooting on foot is
the Deccan, and the best season the hot weather —
say from February ist till the end of April. The
most favourable season for the fine bison forests
of Mysore is the early part of the south-west
monsoon — say from June 15th to the middle of
August. Oorial shooting on the Salt Range should
be attempted only in November, December, and
January, on account of the intense heat which
prevails there. The best months for Cashmere
are from April to the middle of June, after which
the sportsman should move on to the compara-
tively small portion of Thibet which is open to
him. From the middle of September to the end
of December is the most favourable time in which

BULLET AND SHOT

to try for the Cashmere stag, who then facilitates
the sportsman's search for him by "calling."

It is a sad fact that all over India game is
rapidly decreasing in numbers, and this is due
entirely to the destruction wrought amongst them
by natives, not for sport, but as a means of gain.

The sportsman's aim is to obtain the finest
specimens which he can secure of each species,
and he may, and often does, work hard for days
together without firing his rifle. He in no
appreciable way affects the numbers of the game,
though, of course, in localities much frequented by
his class, fine heads soon become scarce, the latter
requiring time, and in many cases a long period
thereof, to grow to first-class dimensions.

Day by day, and in every village, native poachers
are at work, as if the sole aim and object of their
existence were the extermination of every edible
species. So loth is Government to interfere with
what the poachers consider their vested rights,
and so timid is it in risking opposition on the part
of native agitators, that the inevitable day when
legislation must at last interpose to save many
beautiful, interesting, and harmless species from
total extinction, is being put off and off with
terribly sad effects. Locking the stable door after
the horse has been stolen is admittedly a somewhat
futile procedure, and it behoves the Indian Govern-
ment to at once bestir itself, and, by a little highly
necessary legislation, to stem the torrent which is
fast sweeping away so many species of large game
before it is too late.

6

INTRODUCTION

As will be seen from the Appendix, the Cashmere
Government has at last been brought to see the
necessity for game regulations, and it is to be
hoped that the wild game of the Himalayas may
be effectively protected against the usual whole-
sale butchery by natives during the winter months.

The Madras Government has, it will be observed,
at last introduced game laws, which, however, apply
only to the Neilgherry district, whereas it is quite
time that effective protection should be afforded
to game throughout the presidency, as well as in
the independent, protected state of Mysore.

The author's personal experience of Indian sport
has been derived from many years spent, for the
most part, under very favourable circumstances for
the pursuit of large game, chiefly in the south of
I ndia.

He can claim a somewhat intimate and extensive
acquaintance with the game animals of the south,
having bagged all of them with the single exception
of the nilghaie. He has not shot the striped hyaena,
though he has seen it in the jungle, nor does he
include this scavenger amongst game animals.

As briefly indicated in the Preface, he has, with
a view to rendering this work more complete, com-
piled from other authors brief notices of nearly all
the game animals of India which have not fallen
to his own rifle, and he hopes that these, together
with the references which he has given to other
books which deal comprehensively with them, may
prove of service to the beginner who may wish
to shoot large game in India.

7

BULLET AND SHOT

For the native names in different Indian
languages of the various species of game, as also
in many cases for measurements, he is much
indebted to the works of Mr. Sterndale and Dr.
Jerdon, though he has occasionally seen fit to
slightly modify their nomenclature.

During his long residence in the Mysore province
as District Forest Officer, the author's advice and
assistance in large game shooting was constantly
invoked by other sportsmen (chiefly military officers),
and he has had very clearly put before him the
difficulty which beginners find in the prosecution
of this sport before they have had time to learn
for themselves by occasionally bitter, and often
dearly -bought personal experience, how best to
proceed.

With a view to smoothing the path of the
tyro in the Indian jungles, the author has been
careful to go into all details which have occurred
to him as likely to aid in attaining that object,
and he trusts that his efforts in this direction may
prove successful.

Chapter XXIV. will be found a complete guide to
the chief shooting grounds of the Mysore country,
and as the language spoken therein (as also in
Canara) ig Canarese, a limited number of words
likely to be useful to the sportsman have been
furnished, with their Canarese equivalents spelt as
phonetically as possible, without any regard to their
spelling in the vernacular. The author has often
supplied other sportsmen who did not know
Canarese with a few of these words, which have,

8

INTRODUCTION

he has been subsequently told, proved of service
to them in the jungles.

For record heads, the author has consulted Mr.
Rowland Ward's last edition, viz., Horn Measure-
ments.

He is indebted for valuable assistance in writing
Chapter XXVI. to Mr. Henry Holland (of Messrs.
Holland and Holland, Limited), and in the case of
Chapter XXVII. to Mr. G. Butt (late Edwin Ward),
of 49, Wigmore Street.

He closes this introduction wishing his brother
sportsmen the best of good fortune and health in
the enjoyment of large and small game shooting
in India.

CHAPTER II.

THE INDIAN BISON {GAV^US GAURUS)

THE Indian bison — Gavaus Gaurus — is a mag-
nificent animal, which may well be described
as emperor of all the bovinae in the world. In point
of size, his height, averaging in a big bull about six
feet (or a few inches more) at the shoulder, is superior
to that of any of the others, while he yields to none
in activity, gameness, and symmetry of form.

The mature bull is black, with yellow-and-dirty
white -coloured stockings. The cows are dark-
brown, while young animals vary in hue from
reddish-brown to brown. The dorsal ridge, which
rises between the shoulders and terminates over
the loins, is a striking feature in the Indian bison.
The horns of mature bulls vary in shape and size
so much that it is not easy to describe them.
Roughly speaking, however, they may be said to
curve outwards, upwards, and inwards, and in the
case of old specimens to be very much corrugated
from the bases to a considerable portion of their
length, while the tips are usually more or less worn
down and blunted by use. In colour they are very
dark at the bases, greenish or yellowish above, and
black at and near the tips. The horns of young
bulls curve outwards much less than do those of
bulls of mature age, and they are quite smooth.
In size, the horns of old bulls vary enormously.

lo

THE INDIAN BISON

Some exceedingly old heads which I have seen
are quite small, with a very narrow sweep and a
paltry girth measurement, while others are grand
trophies. A bull with a sweep measurement of 33
inches, if the head is a fair one in other respects, is
well worth shooting, and heads of 40 inches or
above in sweep are uncommon. Only one of 40
inches has ever fallen to my share, and I give the
measurements of this head in detail : —

Width across sweep . . . over 40 inches.

Girth round base of horn . . . 18 „

From tip to tip round outer edge and

across forehead — in flesh . . . 78 „

ditto in bone . . . . . 72 „

Between tips .... nearly 28 „

Perpendicular distance between line

drawn between tips and crest . .11 „

My next best heads are two of 3 7 J- inches,
and one of 35|- inches respectively across sweep.
These are all big measurements, yet I have known
much larger heads bagged by other sportsmen, in
each of three instances the bull being, I believe,
the fortunate Nimrod's first bison.

A well-known Madras sportsman — Mr. Gordon
Hadfield, of the Forest Department — has compara-
tively recently bagged a bull near Nelambur (South
India), the measurements of whose head are : —

Width across sweep . . . -44 inches.

Girth round base of horn . . • 19! »
From tip to tip round outer edge and

across forehead . . . . 83 „

Between tips 31 „

Perpendicular distance between line

drawn between tips and crest . • I3i »

II

BULLET AND SHOT

This is undoubtedly the record head bagged by
the present generation of sportsmen.

In Mysore Major L. (R.A.M.C.) bagged a bull
with a sweep measurement of 42;!^ inches, and horns
measuring 2 1 inches in girth : and in Canara, Mr.
St. Q. (of the 19th Hussars) bagged another head,
which beats my biggest in all its measurements. In
each of these last two instances, the bull was the
first one ever shot by the fortunate sportsman.

About a month before writing this, I saw a
magnificent head which had been bagged on the

higher Travancore hills by Mr. W. M , a

planter there, the sweep measurement of which is
either 42 or 41^ inches.

The proper method by which to obtain the
accurate sweep measurement is to place the head
flat on a table, the forehead downwards, and with
a knife to make a scratch round the outside edge
of each of the horns at the widest part, and then,
after removal of the head, to measure the distance
between the scratches.

A fine bull bison's head, well mounted, is a
splendid trophy, and the pale blue eye of the animal
is well imitated in the glass eyes made in America
for the use of taxidermists. The operator, in
mounting the head, should be careful to preserve
the curve caused by the arched nasal bones in
the original.

Bison are widely distributed throughout the large
primeval forest tracts, and the secondary forest
adjoining such, all over India, and they are to be
found in hill ranges of great altitude, as well as in

THE INDIAN BISON

fiat forests at low elevations. Speaking generally,
and with the reservation that Burmah has yielded
some very fine heads, the further south one goes
the finer bison heads become, though I have seen
some very poor specimens which had been shot in
the forests of South Canara, which also yields fine
trophies.

Bison are impatient of disturbance by man, and
many places in the hills, in which they used to be
numerous, are now deserted by them owing to the
opening up of tea, cinchona, and coffee estates.
Bison are great travellers, and they wander over
immense areas. When the grass in one part
becomes too coarse to please them, they move to
another locality in which it is later in springing.
No hills appear too steep for them ; on the contrary,
they can gallop down so abrupt a declivity that
anyone unacquainted with the powers of this most
active animal would consider it negotiable by a
beast of such a size only with due caution and at
a slow pace. Comparatively recently, when in
the Travancore hills, I came suddenly upon two
bison while I was in the act of stalking an ibex,
and upon getting our wind, the animals, without
hesitation, crossed the steep ibex -hill, and gained
the forest (from whence they had doubtless strayed
in their search for tender grass) as if the formidable
obstacle were not worthy of consideration. They
could have reached the forest without much climb-
ing by making a short detour, but they preferred
the short cut — precipitous though it was.

Bison browse a good deal, and so vary their

13

BULLET AND SHOT

ordinary diet of grass. They are very fond of the
young, tender, sprouting bamboos, from one foot
to three or four feet in height. They feed and lie
down alternately both by day and by night, always
selecting the longest grass which they can find
in the vicinity for their siesta, which lasts from
about ten a.m. till two or three o'clock p.m. if the
sun be hot, but, if the weather be moist and cool,
they often graze between those hours, and lie down
when they feel so inclined on their grazing ground.
Their necessity for chewing the cud renders it
imperative for them to occasionally repose, if only
for that purpose.

Bison are very fond of salt, and they are, in
common with deer, elephants, and tame cattle, in
the habit of resorting, generally by night or at
early dawn, to any places where salt earth may
be exposed in the vicinity of their grazing grounds
for the time being.

Bison are gregarious, and are generally found
in herds of from ten, fifteen, to twenty or more
animals. Usually each herd contains only one
black bull, the other males with it being immature
beasts. Occasionally two black bulls are found
at the same time with a herd, but in such cases
one of them is probably a visitor or an interloper,
whose stay with the herd, unless indeed he should
be able to vanquish and drive off the bull in
possession, will be but a very brief one. But it
is a very common thing to find a herd without
even one black bull accompanying it, for the mature
males of many species of animals prefer solitude

THE INDIAN BISON

at certain times ; consequently it by no means
follows, when a male bison is found alone, that
he is a veritable "solitary bull." The real solitary
bull is an aged animal who is no longer able to
hold his own with younger and stronger rivals,
and who is therefore compelled by stern necessity
to lead a life apart from the females. Frequently
two single bulls meet and keep together for some
time at least, the absence of the other sex prevent-
ing any reason for disagreement between them.
Owing mainly to the fact that comparatively few
natives will eat bison meat, this noble animal is
still very plentiful in suitable localities. If the
majority, or even a considerable minority, of the
meat-eating sections of the people of the country
were not imbued with this prejudice, the natives
would long ere this have done their best to exter-
minate the bison, as they are doing in the case
of deer, antelope, etc., which the carnivorous castes
shoot down, snare, and destroy, irrespective of sex
or age.

Bison calves, if captured, are exceedingly difficult
to rear, and they usually die while quite young.
A few have, however, been brought up in captivity,
notably one belonging to Major R. (of the
Royal Scots), who shipped it home at the age of
two years as a present to Her Majesty the Queen
Empress. This young bull most unfortunately
died at Aden while on the voyage. So far as I
am aware, but one specimen of the Indian bison
has reached England alive, and that was a member
of a herd captured by a Rajah in the Straits, who

15

BULLET AND SHOT

succeeded in driving a herd of the animals into a
stockade. It subsequently died in the Regents'
Park Zoological Gardens.

Mr. M., a planter on the Travancore hills,
conceived and actually carried out to completion
the brilliant idea of capturing a full-grown bull
bison in a pitfall, and then of surrounding the latter
with a roomy and strong stockade, and of letting
the bull loose within this enclosure. The success
of his achievement was complete, and the bull
soon became so tame that he would allow Mr.
M. to handle him freely, though he would
not permit a native to go near him. At last, to
Mr. M.'s great disappointment, the bull succeeded
one night in displacing the bars of the gate of the
stockade, disappeared, and was never seen again.

The only bison calf which I have ever possessed
died almost immediately after I received it, since it
had been nearly starved for some days in a native
village before it was brought to me, its captors
being very ignorant and careless. I have seen a
very young calf left behind, crouching like a hare
in its form, after I had fired at and had killed a
member of the herd, the rest of which, with the
exception of the little calf, had rushed away at the
shot. The tiny animal was, however, far too active
to allow itself to be caught, and easily made good
its escape.

Bison in southern India are exceedingly timid,
inoffensive creatures, and it is only when one has
been wounded and is being followed up, that the
sportsman may possibly be charged. Even in such

i6

THE INDIAN BISON

event, the bison usually contents himself with one
rush and then goes on, though he may charge again
and again if further followed up, but far more fre-
quently he does not charge at all. The usual
reason for a bison charging is that the animal, very
probably struck through the lungs, or with a leg
broken, betakes itself to the densest cover which it
can find, and, when it feels itself unable to travel
further, turns round and stands motionless, watching
for its enemies. The sportsman and his gun-bearers
following the blood trail are apparent to the bison's
keen sense of hearing, and if the wind be from them
to him, they are also obvious to his very acute sense
of smell ; while, since the animal is standing silently
in thick cover, they can neither hear nor see hinty
till, with a premonitory snort, and "like an express
train," he is upon, or past them.

Usually he goes on, either having upset one or
more of the party, or having missed them, as the
case may be, but there have been instances in which
a bull bison has stuck to his man with great per-
tinacity. One of these occurred in my own dis-
trict to Mr. (now Colonel) N. C, who was at the
time a member of Sir F. (now Lord) Roberts' staff.
Mr. N. C, having read in Sanderson's book that
one should always rapidly pursue bison immediately
after firing at them — on account of a habit which
they have when suddenly alarmed, or being fired
at, of pulling up and facing round after they have
run a short distance — ran forward after firing at a
bull, trying as he went to reload his 8-bore which
had rather a stiff action. He had only just reached
C 17

BULLET AND SHOT

the spot where the bull was standing at the shot,
when, from behind a clump of bamboos, the bull
came at him at speed. C. interposed a tree be-
tween himself and the bull, who cut a piece out
of the bark with his horn as he rushed by, and
then turned round and went at him again with the
same result. C. then thought that he would try
to reach a more distant tree, and ran to do so,
but, being tripped up by a fallen branch, log, or bam-
boo hidden in the grass, he fell prone, upon which
the bull came and did all that he could to horn
him, but succeeded only in ripping his garments
considerably, and at last, getting his horn round
C, tossed him, and then came and stood over him
again. C, a strong, athletic man, now did what
was very unwise, viz., he sat up and hit the bison
with his fists in the eyes, and kicked him on the
vnose, until, for some unexplained reason, the bull
left him and went off. That the bull was but very
slightly wounded was evident from the fact that,
though C. followed him up for some miles, he
never saw him again. C.'s knuckles were de-
scribed to me, by a man who saw him soon after
the adventure, as being terribly skinned, and
he afterwards showed me a thick, plain gold ring,
which he was wearing at the time, battered out
of all shape. Now this bison did not act at all in
the way in which one would expect an animal of
his kind to behave. In the first place, although
not severely wounded, he remained where he was
standing when first fired at ; and in the second, he
displayed great pertinacity ; while the third, and

i8

THE INDIAN BISON

perhaps most extraordinary proceeding upon his
part, was his leaving C. (although he was in such
a vindictive temper) while that officer was pommel-
ling him — for I cannot believe that C.'s efforts could
have really inconvenienced him.

One of my favourite jungle-men — a little Kurraba
— was an eye-witness of the encounter, since he
was jumping about behind a bamboo clump, be-
wailing C.'s fate, but never thinking of firing off
the spare rifle which he carried ! This little
Kurraba's idea was that the bull left C. because
the latter beat him so severely, but I find it
impossible to imagine that so huge a beast could
be hurt by kicks and by blows from a man's feet
and fists.

Quite recently Mr. R. M., a planter on the
Billiga-Rungun hills in Mysore, had the narrowest
possible escape, being so fearfully injured by a bison
that his recovery was little short of miraculous.
Mr. M. had been out shooting, and had bagged a
bull. He was walking back, accompanied by one
native, when all of a sudden a bison rushed at him
from behind and horned him through the back, the
horn making a huge wound, and penetrating the
lung. But for the kindness of one of the Army
Medical Staff in Bangalore, who went and stayed
with him, and the unremitting care of his charming
and plucky wife, Mr. M. could not have recovered,
and in fact, with every advantage in their favour,
very few men could have survived such a wound.
It is quite unknown what induced the bison to
attack Mr. M. ; whether the animal was one which

19

BULLET AND SHOT

had been wounded by a brother sportsman, or a cow
with a very young calf very close to whom Mr. M.
unawares passed, will never be ascertained. So
sudden and so effectual was the attack, that even
the sex of the assailant is unknown.

Many years ago a sportsman was killed in the
Pulney hills by a wounded bull. In this case death
ensued very quickly after the wound was inflicted,
the horn having penetrated the stomach.

In 1897 ^ Colonel Syers was killed by a bison in
the Malay Peninsula.

It is quite extraordinary how very few people
have been hurt by bison, as compared with the
great number who have been upset, or even tossed
by them. I have known many men who have been
knocked over by bison, several of them while shoot-
ing in my own district, but not one, with the single
exception of Mr. M., was at all seriously injured.

The big bull mentioned above as having been
bagged by Mr. St. Q., tossed that sportsman on to
his back, and Mr. St. Q. fell off behind as the bull
rushed on, having got rid of his very temporary
jockey ! Captain H., of the Bedfordshire Regi-
ment, was shooting in my district, and fired at a
bull bison. He followed the blood trail, and was
charged furiously from the front by a cow. He
fired at and dropped her, but the impetus of her
rush carried her on, and she upset H., who fell
with his leg under the expiring beast, and was
unable to extricate it till the latter died. He then
found a second blood trail, and following it up,
came upon a bull standing, in a helpless state, with

THE INDIAN BISON

its throat cut by the bullet. H.'s ball had first cut
the throat of the bull, and had then gone on into
the cow beyond. As may well be imagined, his
leg was very badly bruised. Curiously enough, his
companion in this trip — Captain F., of the same
regiment — was also upset by a wounded bull, who
knocked him (a big, powerful man) clean over,
although missing his aim, by a creeper, which he
took with him in his rush, and which cut through
F.'s gaiter and stocking, and the skin of his leg.
The bull then went on and lay down, and F. fol-
lowed him up alone and killed him.

I have known several different sounds emitted
by bison. The one most frequently heard is their
snort of alarm when suddenly disturbed ; I have
also heard them give vent to a low "moo," very
like that of domestic cattle. In the Versinaad
valley, in the Madura district, I heard bison
making a noise which I mistook for one made by
elephants ; and I once heard a bison, which had
been struck in the neck by a '500 Express (solid)
bullet and was floundering forward on its knees,
bellow plaintively. This last animal recovered
itself without falling right over, and went off and
I did not see it again.

Bison are forest-loving animals, and on the hill
ranges inhabited by them, where open grassy
slopes and dense cover alternate, the hot hours
of the day are spent in the latter, and they must
be stalked and shot, like other hill game, when
they are out on the grass in the mornings and
afternoons.

BULLET AND SHOT

The tail of a bison makes excellent soup, the
tongue is a delicacy, the marrow-bones afford first-
rate material for marrow-toast, and the under-cut,
though somewhat rich, is well-flavoured and tender.

Although as a rule a bison has no dewlap, the
first bull which I ever bagged had a well-defined
one. Captain (now Colonel) W. (late of the 43rd
O. L. I.), who was with me, and who had shot a
very large number of bison, was greatly struck
by the dewlap carried by this animal — a solitary
bull with a very fair head — and he called my
attention to it.

When close to bison, a strong smell as of the
domestic cow is often very apparent, but this is
not an unfailing guide to the proximity of the
animals, as it remains in a place where the bison
have been lying down for some time after they
have moved off.

It is very curious how the natives inhabiting
the Cossya hills in Assam fear bison. The late
Major Cock — a great Assam sportsman, who was
killed at the assault of Khonoma, in the Naga hills,
some twenty years ago — stated that he had seen
natives who had little fear of elephants or tigers,
show signs of funk when called upon to follow
bison. Possibly, just as the lion evinces a very
different disposition in Eastern Africa from that
characterising the same animal when encountered
in the south and in Somaliland — as is noticed in
one of the Badminton Library volumes on big-
game shooting, by Mr. F. J. Jackson — the bison
of Assam may be more prone to attack without

THE INDIAN BISON

provocation than are his congeners in the south of
India.

Special localities for bison are numberless, and
I can note only a few.

For fine heads, Mysore and Travancore, the
Anaimalai hills and the Western Ghants are to
be recommended, but, as elsewhere stated, I have
seen a number of very poor, though mature heads,
which have been shot in Canara just below the
Western Ghants — a district which yields very fine
heads also.

The best districts in the province of Mysore for
bison are those of Mysore, Kadur, and Shimoga.
The railway runs as far as the town of Mysore
(and further in one direction), and an easy journey
thence by bullock-coach will take the sportsman
to bison ground.

From Bangalore, the bison grounds of the Kadur
and Shimoga districts can be approached by rail
(the railway extension from Birur to Shimoga,
lately under construction, must be completed by
this time), a short journey across country from
the nearest railway station sufficing to place the
sportsman upon the ground which he may intend
to work. Travelling across country in Mysore is
easy, since there are travellers' bungalows at con-
venient intervals along all the main roads, and
also because a letter addressed to the Amildar of
any Taluq (division of a district) giving timely
notice, will ensure relays of bullocks being posted
at all stages along the road by which the sportsman
may elect to travel. Using posted bullocks, an

23

BULLET AND SHOT

average rate of speed of four miles an hour by day,
and three miles an hour by night (including halts
for changing bullocks, and the delays and ob-
structions so dear to the native of India), may
be counted upon.

Bullock-coach travelling is a lazy but comfort-
able means of progression, and, the conveyance
itself being commodious, a good many necessaries
can accompany the sportsman in his own carriage.
His carts, which will travel at a rate while marching
of only two miles per hour, will of course have
preceded him. Bullock-coaches can be hired from
Framjee, in Mysore, who also supplies soda-water
and general stores, though I should recommend a
visitor to purchase his tinned provisions and liquor
in Bangalore. It is probable that, with the com-
pletion of the railway extension from Birur to
Shimoga, coaches available for hire by the sports-
man will be located at the principal stations.

Other good localities in southern India are
parts of the Coimbatore district, the Wynaad,
and the Travancore hills.

The late Captain Forsyth in his charming book
The Highlands of Central India, General A. A. A.
Kinloch in his Large Game Shooting in Thibet
and Northern India, and Mr. Sterndale in
Seonee, have dealt with bison-shooting in the
Central Provinces, and on the Satpura range in
that part of India.

Bison are to be found in Assam and Burmah,
and in fact in all sub- Himalayan tracts of forest
of sufficient continuity.

THE INDIAN BISON

The vernacular names for the bison are —

Hindustani — Gaor or Gaori-gai, Bun-boda.

In Seonee and Mandla districts — Bunparra,
Boda.

By Southern Gouds — Pera-maoo.

Mahrathi — Gaoiya.

Canarese (the language chiefly spoken in Mysore)
— Kartee, Kard-yemmay, Kard-kworna, (bull =
kworna ; cow = yemmay.)

Tamil — Kaluzeni,

By Mussalmen in Southern India — Jungli-
Kulgha.

In Burmah — Pyoung.

25

CHAPTER III.
BISON SHOOTING

THERE are few forms of sport, with the grooved
or smooth barrel, more exciting, and from
every point of view more enjoyable, than the pur-
suit of this grand specimen of the genus Bos.
Whether the forests of the low country, or one
of the hill ranges be the scene of action, the sport
is one which pre-eminently demands all the pursuer's
powers of endurance, and all his knowledge of the
habits of the game ; and, large though the animal
be, and consequently easy to hit, hitting a bison
in the wrong place is only useless cruelty, since the
poor beast so often escapes — at the best to suffer
great pain for a considerable time, and too often to
die a lingering death in solitude.

In the low-country forests the modus operandi is
as follows. An early start is made, and the sports-
man, taking with him men enough to carry his
luncheon, drinkables for the day, and his battery,
usually proceeds towards any well-known salt-licks
(or places in which salt earth is exposed) in the
hope of finding fresh tracks made during the
previous night or at early dawn. Possibly he may
come upon such tracks, as he traverses alternately

26

BISON SHOOTING

bamboo jungle, open tree forest, and dense thickets,,
while on his way to the lick, or he may find none
until he has reached the latter — situated probably
either in an open glade on flat ground, or in the
bank of a deep nullah. The salt-lick will be found
ploughed up by the tracks of bison, elephant, sam-
bur, and spotted deer ; and possibly the huge pugs
of a tiger close by, made as he lay in ambush, will
show how well aware the tyrant of the forest is
of the habits of the animals upon which he preys.

These resorts are well known to the jungle men
who act as the sportsman's guides, and usually,
if bison are anywhere in the vicinity, they visit a
lick nightly during wet weather, in order to eat
some of the salt earth.

It sometimes happens that there are several such
licks only two or three miles apart, and it may be
necessary to visit more than one of them before fresh
tracks are found. It is generally worth while to
follow a track made any time during the previous
night, provided only that it be found fairly early in
the day — say before 1 1 a.m. — and the jungle men are
very expert in estimating the time which has elapsed
since a track was made. This is a very much more
difBcult matter than might be supposed, and even
the best trackers are occasionally at fault.

I remember a very striking instance of this. I
was in camp in a forest lodge called Rampore
(in the Ainurmarigudi forest in Mysore), situated
close to the bank of the Noogoo river. It was
in the south-west monsoon, and the weather was
very wet. We left camp early one morning, and

BULLET AND SHOT

within about a mile came upon quite fresh tracks.
After following these for some time, we came up
with the bison, which were lying down in long
grass, and disturbed them without getting a shot.
I followed up this herd for the best part of the day
(which was cold and dark, but without much rain)
without getting a chance at the bull, and then gave
up the pursuit and started back to camp. On the
way, when at no great distance from the lodge, we
came upon tracks which the men considered so
very fresh that, late as it was, we followed them,
thinking that we had found the tracks of another
herd which had passed only just before we had
come across their footprints. The tracks led to a
salt-lick, and thence on through the forest, till we
arrived at last at the spot at which we had found
them in the early morning ! We had, in the evening,
been following tracks of the same herd made before
the tracks which we had found in the early morning!
So cool and damp was it, that blades of grass, cut
by the hoofs of the bison, remained perfectly fresh
and unwithered during the whole day ! If there be
any sun, the blades of grass so cut wither very
quickly, and the tracks made by the same animal
vary in appearance very greatly according to whether
they are exposed to the sun or are in the shade.

Spiders often spin their webs in the deep tracks
made by bison in soft ground ; and in my experience
an otherwise fresh-looking track, in which a spider's
web is found, had better be abandoned rather than
followed.

The worst feature of tracking is that the sports-

28

BISON SHOOTING

man is entirely at the mercy of the wind. Where
the tracks go, he must follow, whether up or down
wind ; and sometimes for several days together he
will experience the disappointment of hearing the
bison dash off, having got his wind, without obtain-
ing a chance at them. This is a risk which must
be run, and against which no skill or knowledge
of woodcraft can protect anyone, and it is a very
severe handicap.

It is essential in bison shooting (and, in fact, in
all big-game shooting in the forest) that the sports-
man's movements should be as noiseless as possible,
and, of course, he should never utter anything louder
than a low whisper.

His boots should be made without heels ^ and when
he knows that the game is near, he should advance
pointing his toes downwards as much as possible.

In the flat forests of part of the Mysore district,
I often took a Pegu pony out shooting with me,
and unless we had to cross any obstacles over which
it would have been risky to take him, he frequently
followed me throughout the day. My plan was to
ride until we found tracks, when I dismounted.
Two Kurraba trackers, each carrying a rifle or gun,
and sometimes a third unencumbered by anything,
preceded me by two or three paces ; at some distance
behind me came two more with my luncheon bag
and drinkables ; and a long way behind the latter
again, came a third pair (or a single one), with the
syce (groom) leading the pony.

The best time for bison shooting in the forests
of Mysore is during the south-west monsoon, which.

29

BULLET AND SHOT

usually bursts in the first half of the month of June
and continues until the autumn, when the wind
veers round to the north-east, and the north-east
monsoon replaces the former.

For choice, I consider the beginning of the south-
west monsoon as the ideal time for bison shooting
in Mysore. The grass then is (provided fire pro-
tection has been unsuccessful) short and of a very
vivid emerald hue. The ground being soft, tracking
is easy, while frequent rains usually render it prac-
ticable to judge correctly the length of time which
has elapsed since any track which may be found
was made. A further advantage is that, although
there is at any time of the year no heat worthy
of the name to complain of in Mysore, at this
particular season cloudy skies and cold wet days
often lighten the labour of a long day's toil after
bison. At this time, which corresponds to the
early summer at home, forest nature looks her best,
and each well-grown tree is an object of beauty to
the lover of forest life and scenery.

The sportsman who is intent on bison shooting
should rise before dawn, and make as good a
meal as he can manage to cope with at so early
an hour before going out. He should take with
him food enough for the day, remembering that
it may be late ere he can return to camp. He
must also carry sufficient fluid to last him till his
return — cold tea or soda-water, as he may prefer,
since he must not drink a drop of jungle water
unless it has been boiled, and thus rendered in-
nocuous.

30

BISON SHOOTING

Native servants cannot be trusted to boil water
for drinking purposes, unless the sportsman should
personally see it done, and few will take this
trouble.

I have shot bison with a 4-bore, an 8-bore, a '577
express, and a '500 express. On the whole, for
work upon this game in fairly open forests and in
hilly country, I consider a powerful '577, with a
charge of 6^ drachms of powder, as ^/le best weapon
for the sport, the bullets used being either solid, or
with only a very small, short hollow filled by a
wooden plug.

Its accuracy and handiness are great advantages
in favour of the '577, and my experience of the
weapon is that a bull hit fairly accurately with it is
as good as bagged, though he may, and probably
will, unless shot through the heart, require some
more shooting before he is laid low.

In very dense cover however, in which following
up a wounded bison is dangerous work, I should
prefer the 4-bore, as it has great knocking-down
power, and a bison hit at all accurately with it either
drops at once, or stands helpless.

An 8-bore is also a capital weapon for bison
shooting, and I have shot many with this bore,
though I have also hit and lost a good number
with it.

The '500 is not to be recommended for use upon
bison, though they can be killed with it if solid
bullets be used, and it is certainly useful for braining
a bull at the end of a hunt.

The number of bullets occasionally found in an

31

BULLET AND SHOT

old bull bison bears startling testimony to the ability
of the animal to support badly-placed lead, and I
have seen the head of one, which was shot by the
late Sir James Gordon, k.c.s.i. (and which was
killed by him with a single i6 or i8-bore bullet), in
whose carcass, the Kurrabas, on cutting it up, found
no less than thirteen bullets ! I have seen bullets
lying under the skin of newly killed bison, the
presence of each being evidenced by a round pro-
tuberance, a cut through the skin from the hunting
knife at once exposing the bullet.

When a bison is shot in any forest in Mysore in
which there are Kurrabas, these little nomads re-
move the whole of the flesh, cutting it into strips,
which they then expose to the sun — on a rock if
there should be one handy for the purpose — and
so dry the meat for future consumption. The
sportsman can feel, therefore, that he is not killing
a large animal to waste. One caution, however, I
must give him, viz., not to put his foot upon a
slain bull, for, should he do so, owing to some
superstition of their own, the Kurrabas will not
eat its flesh.

Personally, I hate following herd bison if there
are any single bulls about, for, let the sportsman
be as careful and as experienced as possible, the
fact that there are cows with the herd makes it
incumbent upon him never to fire unless he is
sure that the animal is a big bull. Now it follows
that since in a herd of say ten, fifteen, or twenty
bison, there is usually but one bull fit to shoot, the
chances are nine, fourteen, or nineteen to one.

32

BISON SHOOTING

respectively against the animal first seen — if the
bison are come upon suddenly in cover — being the
only one which he desires to kill.

In spite of all precautions, some cows are so dark
in colour, and carry such big heads, that a mistake
may occur, and even the best sportsman may incur
the shame and self-reproach of having accidentally
shot a cow.

In order to be sure that a bison in a herd is a
bull, the sportsman must either see the animals'
heads from the front — as may occur if he comes
upon them in thick cover, hears a snort, and sees
big heads with outstretched noses pointed in his
direction — or he must see the herd in the open,
and be able to form some comparison. A full-
grown cow bison looks a very big beast, and if
an unusually dark specimen should be come upon
when her head is hidden (and no other bison
visible), when the sportsman is following the tracks
of a single bull, the latter would shoot her without
hesitation in the belief that she was the object of
his pursuit.

It is sickening to a sportsman to shoot a cow
by accident, and the danger of so doing inclined
me latterly to practically confine myself to single
bulls.

Very fine heads have occasionally been shot in
herds, but the herd bull is generally an animal
in the very prime of life, whose horns, however,
bear no comparison in size to those of a veritable
solitary bull.

In following a single bull, the sportsman has no
D 33

BULLET AND SHOT

chance of hitting a cow by mistake, unless he
should happen to see one member only of a herd
of the proximity of which he had no previous idea.
This occurs so very rarely that this single risk he
must run if shooting in a thick, low-country forest ;
for so acute are the senses of the animal, that he
cannot delay firing should he come upon and see
any vital portion or large limb of it — probably
through intervening jungle, and usually at pretty
close quarters. Should he delay till he could
make out the animal properly, it would most likely
detect him and vanish without giving him another
chance.

If the sportsman should obtain a shot at a bull
standing broadside on, a bullet placed just behind
the shoulder, and a little below the centre of the
side, will be fatal. If he should fire more in front,
and break the shoulder-blade, the animal will shortly
be at his mercy ; though he may travel a little way
if the bone has only been perforated, until it breaks
under the weight of the huge body. A shot fired
at right angles with the body far back through the
ribs is useless, and beyond inflicting a cruel wound,
which may cause the subsequent lingering death of
the animal, will have no effect in compassing the
object of the sportsman, viz., the bagging of his
trophy.

A shot high up through the loins, thus perforat-
ing the liver, is a certain one, but is not so rapid
in effect as a bullet well placed behind the shoulder.
The animal in the former case may travel, fight,
and take some more lead ere he dies, if followed up

34

BISON SHOOTING

at once. For this shot, the spot to be aimed at is
about nine inches below the termination of the
dorsal ridge.

If no better shot can be obtained — as for instance
when the animal is standing broadside-on, with all
its body, with the exception of one hind-quarter,
hidden by cover — the best plan is not to delay
in the hope that it will afford a better chance, but
to at once break the hip-joint, which done, the bull
cannot escape.

Should the animal be standing facing the sports-
man, a shot in the centre of the chest is fatal, and
is quite as rapid in effect as is one behind the
shoulder. If, on the contrary, the bull be stand-
ing or moving away, with only his hind-quarters
visible, the best shot is straight under the root of the
tail. A bullet fired thus from a powerful weapon
will rake the whole body and penetrate the vitals.
Even should the aim be hardly true, one or other
of the hip-joints or hind-legs will probably be
broken. A bison with a broken leg cannot travel
far, and will be soon recovered on following up.
A shot fired diagonally behind the ribs in a line
to the opposite shoulder is a deadly one.

If only the head of the animal be visible — poked
up and staring at the sportsman with the nose well
elevated— a shot in the cartilage of the nose, plumb
centre, and slightly above a line drawn between
the nostrils, will penetrate the brain and drop
the bull dead on the spot.

For finishing off a floored bull (which common
humanity requires should be done at the earliest

35

BULLET AND SHOT

possible moment) I use a "500 express, a solid
bullet from which, fired at the proper angle
through the forehead between the eyes, behind
the ear, or behind the horns, brains and kills him
instantaneously.

In following a wounded bull, the one thing to
avoid, if possible, is the coming upon him so
suddenly, that, should the animal charge, the
sportsman would have no time to use his rifle.

A bison charges at very high speed, and, unless
he can be seen at some little distance, has the
game all in his own hands so far as the sports-
man's ability to defend himself is concerned.

Considering that a wounded bison traverses the
densest cover which it can find, and that its pur-
suers cannot possibly tell whether it is not travel-
ling rapidly with the intention of holding on for
a long distance ; or whether, on the other hand,
it is not hidden in some thicket close by, ready
to rush down upon them with lowered horns the
moment they shall have approached within a few
yards, caution in following up a wounded beast
is highly advisable.

If the forest be fairly open, so that the sports-
man can see an animal at a distance of, say, twenty-
five yards, he can, and should, press on without
loss of time ; but when the tracks lead through
places — such as thickets of young bamboo or long
grass — in which even so large an animal as a bison
would be invisible at a few yards' distance, great
circumspection is necessary, and the best plan is
for the sportsman to keep causing his men to climb

36

BISON SHOOTING

any trees met with on the track as he advances — of
course in front of his men, for, as soon as there
is any chance of danger, the armed man's position
should be the van, and that of the unarmed men
the rear.

It may be that the portion of the forest in which
the bull was wounded is open in the main, but with
an occasional thicket interposing here and there.
In such a case the track should be followed at
a good pace in the open portions, two trackers
(not encumbered by guns) being in advance, and
as soon as the tracks enter a thicket, the sportsman
should take the lead, rifle on full cock in hand,
and further progress be noiseless and cautious.

If the thicket be one which is of small extent,
the shortest way is to "ring" it by going round
the outside and seeing whether the tracks lead out
of it again on the other side. If they do not, it
is obvious that the bull has pulled up in it, and
in such a case, if approached judiciously, he may
be slain ; but if blundered in upon, will very prob-
ably knock over or toss one of his pursuers, and
will once more retreat, when the following up
process will have to be repeated.

Considering that a wounded bull bison will
sometimes travel for miles, and often escape after
all, it is obvious that every minute spent in un-
necessary precautions is to be deplored.

There are very few rules without exceptions, and
I have come across one of the latter in the case
of a bullet through the lungs, which is ordinarily
fatal. I wounded a bull one day and it went off,

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BULLET AND SHOT

the light-coloured frothy blood on the track bearing
indisputable evidence that it had been hit through
the lungs. I followed it as long as there was light
to do so and yet to reach camp before nightfall,
and came up with it several times at long intervals,
but did not obtain another shot. Next morning
early, I took up the tracks at the spot at which
I had left them on the previous evening, quite
expecting to find the bull lying dead, but after
following them for a long way, I found that he
had grazed heavily during the night, or early that
morning, and when at last I came up to where
he had been reposing, his open hoof-marks, going
off with long strides from the form which he had
made in lying down, showed that he had got our
wind and had gone off quite fresh. All bleeding
had stopped, and I hope, and believe, that that bull
quite recovered from its wound.

Bison often take many bullets after having been
wounded for the first time. It seems as if, when
an animal has received a fairly severe, and yet not
rapidly mortal wound, he can, in certain cases,
support several other shocks, any one of which
would be sufficient to place hors de combat an
unwounded beast. I hope, and believe, that the
reason for this is that after one very severe
nervous shock, sensation is deadened, and so the
poor beasts suffer far less pain than they would
otherwise experience when subsequent wounds are
inflicted upon them. I cannot pathologically
explain this fact, but presume that the nervous
system is responsible for it.

38

BISON SHOOTING

As indicated above, body shots in the case of
bison must be well placed, otherwise the animals
are likely to escape ; but if a limb-bone be broken,
the animal cannot go very far, though he may travel
for some little distance before he pulls up.

Having bagged his bull, the sportsman's next
care should be to preserve its trophies. Of these
the head is, of course, the chief If this be a
fine specimen, it is well worth while to forward it
for preservation to a taxidermist, but, as the bull
may be shot at a distance of a week's or ten
days' journey from the nearest member of this
profession, much labour must be spent upon the
"mask," or it will go bad and become quite
useless.

In the monsoon in Mysore, it is an exceedingly
difficult matter to preserve a bison's mask. Per-
sonally, I succeeded in saving but one head-skin
of a bull shot at that time, and in this case it was
owing entirely to my having bagged it at a
distance of only some forty miles across country
from the large town of Mysore, that I was able
to save the head-skin. I effected this in the
following manner. I had taken out men enough
to carry in the head of a bull in case I should bag
one (four men are required solely for this purpose),
and the head was brought straight into camp
directly after the bull had been shot. I kept men
at work skinning it from about seven o'clock
(when it reached camp) till midnight, supervising
the operation myself to prevent any punctures
being made in the skin round the eyes, nose, crest,

39

BULLET AND SHOT

and mouth ; and I had two men kept ready to
carry the mask, wound round a bamboo, through
the night to Mysore, promising them a handsome
reward if they should reach that town by a certain
time. The head-skin thus reached the native
worker in leather (chuckler), to whom it was con-
signed, in good order, and he put it into pickle
at once ; and after it had been thoroughly cured,
I sent it, with the skull and horns, to a taxidermist
on the Nilgiri hills, and a magnificent trophy
(which is now at home) was the result.

In dry weather, when there is plenty of sun,
drying a bison's mask is an easy operation.
Plentiful applications of arsenical soap and turpen-
tine to the ears and mouth, and a good painting
with these preservatives all over the hairy side,
(the drugs being rubbed well into the skin),
together with quantities of wood ashes in the first
instance, and afterwards of arsenical soap followed
by more wood ashes to the raw side, will, with
full exposure to the Mysore sun, preserve the
mask so that the hair will not slip before the
very thick skin has had time to dry sufficiently
to arrest all decay. In hotter climates than
Mysore, exposure to the sun should be avoided.
No doubt if the sportsman went out in the
monsoon equipped with a barrel, the materials for
making brine, and the necessary tools for coopering
the former so as to exclude air, he might preserve
his masks in the monsoon in the manner recom-
mended by Mr. Rowland Ward, but it is seldom
that he goes out so prepared, and unless he were

40

BISON SHOOTING

invariably to do so, he might not get a head worth
mounting when he had his barrel with him, for
such heads are not to be picked up every day.

If it be the sportsman's intention to preserve
the head for mounting, the latter must be cut
off so as to leave a very long neck. The proper
way is for him, with his hunting knife, to personally
make incisions through the epidermis where he
wishes the skin to be cut, and then for his men
to sever the thick skin along the lines so marked
for them.

After this, the neck should be skinned right
up to the head, and the carcass heaved over (six
men can, after some labour, effect this), and the
other side similarly dealt with. Having skinned
the neck thus, the muscles should be cut through
down to the spine at the junction of the atlas
and the axis, after which the head can be severed
from the body by means of an axe or a heavy
chopper.

If, on the other hand, it is not required to
preserve the mask for subsequent mounting, the
head can be cut off short with only the skin
covering itself, and the best plan in such event
is to skin the head, and then to bury it up to
the base of the horns in the mud of a forest pond
or swamp, and so to allow the flesh to rot, after
which the latter can be removed without difficulty.
The brains should be scooped out with a rude
spoon made of bamboo, and a solution of carbolic
acid poured into the brain-pan will reduce the
unpleasant smell.

41

BULLET AND SHOT

Time, and constant exposure to the sun, will
effect all that is thereafter required, with the
exception of the measures necessary for the preser-
vation of the horns, the bony cores of which soon
become full of maggots. To prevent damage
to the horns, the latter should be worked about
by hand (after all the previous processes have been
completed) until they have become loose, and then
removed from the cores, and these, as well as the
inside of the horns, should be well washed with a
solution of carbolic acid.

In a country in which the processes of decay are
so rapid as they are in India, it behoves the sports-
man to neglect no precaution which may enable
him to successfully preserve a fine trophy.

The only other trophies yielded by the bison
are the hoofs. These are easily detached from
the feet, and require no special treatment. Out of
these pin-cushions, inkstands, etc., can be made.

42

CHAPTER IV.

REMINISCENCES OF BISON SHOOTING
MY FIRST BISON

IT seems a long time ago, that memorable day,
on which, for the first time in my life, I beheld
the mighty gaur in the flesh ; still, though it is now
many years since the occurrences which I am about
to relate happened, every incident and each scene
are as fresh and clear-cut in my mind's eye as if
but one month had elapsed since the eventful
episodes impressed themselves indelibly upon my
memory. I was a keen sportsman, but my
experiences had been confined chiefly to small
game, and, though I had made some attempts to
bag large game on foot in a country on the north-
east frontier of India, where high grass and loft)''
reeds, matted and almost impenetrable tree jungles
and deep swamps render shooting on foot well-nigh
impossible, I had as yet bagged no single head
thereof, with the exception of one spotted deer
which had but very recently fallen to my rifle in
Mysore.

In May, 1882, I was at the Travellers' Bungalow
of Goondulpet, in the Mysore district, detained by
a heavy cold from proceeding into the forests for

43

BULLET AND SHOT

which I was bound. The south-west monsoon
happened to be particularly early that year, since
it burst during the latter end of May, and I was
eagerly anticipating my first rencontre with a bison
— an animal which as yet I had never seen.

While thus detained at the Travellers' Bungalow,
a bullock- coach one day drew up at the door,
and from it emerged a tall man with a thick, but
evidently unaccustomed, growth of hair all round
his face, from which projected far upon either side
an enormous, and very handsome moustache. He
walked slowly and totteringly up the steps and
entered the bungalow, and it was not long ere we
became acquainted. My then new acquaintance,
but afterwards valued friend, proved to be Captain
(now Colonel) W., of the 43rd O.L.L, who was,
without exception, the best sportsman, and best
all-round shot, of the many good sportsmen and
pleasant shooting companions with whom it has
been my good fortune to meet and to shoot, while
his unselfishness and generosity in sport equalled
his proficiency therein. Captain W. had been
encamped during the preceding six weeks in a
very feverish locality, and was weak and much
reduced after a bad attack of ague, and he was
even then on his way up to the hill-station of
Ootacamund, with a view to appearing before a
medical board. He was out on six months' leave,
every day of which he had intended to spend in
the jungles, but after the first six weeks — of perhaps
the most unhealthy season of the year in those
parts — it appeared as if he would be compelled to

44

REMINISCENCES

leave the forests, and to recruit his health in a
favourable climate. After a few days with me,
however, W. picked up again, lost his fever, and
gave up all idea of the medical board, deciding
instead to accompany me in my forest wanderings,
and, as soon as I was well enough to do so, we
started for a forest-lodge twenty-two miles off.

As a convenient travellers' bungalow intervened
at Maddur, nine miles from Goondulpet, and
thirteen from the lodge of Molubollay for which
we were bound, we broke the journey there.
Leaving the Maddur bungalow after dinner one
night — W. in a country cart and myself in my
bullock-coach, our baggage carts, my pony dog-
cart, and our retainers in procession — we set out
to traverse the remaining thirteen miles during
the night, while sleeping comfortably on our
mattresses and pillows.

I am a sound sleeper — as my better half (who
often says that she does not know ivhat she should
do if anything were to occur which might require
my being suddenly aroused) can testify — but at
about 2 a.m. on this march I was aware of W.'s
exhorting me to get up, and to get out my big
rifle, as there was a brute of an elephant on the
road, which — though the cart-men had been shout-
ing at him — would not clear out. W. had his rifle
in hand, and was ready for the fray, and it did not
take me long to get my 8-bore rifle case from under
my bed in the coach, put the weapon together, and
load it.

The procession of vehicles had halted, and W.

45

BULLET AND SHOT

and I went on into the darkness ahead to look
for the elephantine highwayman who had so un-
ceremoniously disturbed our rest.

The high road lay through heavy forest on both
sides, and as it was quite dark, W. took the
precaution of grasping the shoulder of a trembling
old Mahomedan peon of mine, who carried a
lantern, and of somewhat forcibly inducing him
to light us, thus leaving himself but one hand
free for the use of his rifle. I confess that I did
not at all appreciate the situation. I knew full
well that had the elephant attacked us — as there
was every probability of his doing — W. would
have been obliged to release the ancient disciple
of the prophet in order to use his rifle, and that,
to a moral certainty, the peon would have dropped
the lantern, and have incontinently "hooked it,"
leaving us in the dark, with a charging and
infuriated pachyderm somewhere or other on the
top of us — a situation the danger of which could
not possibly be exaggerated. Fortunately no such
risk was in store for us ; we could see nothing of
any elephant on the road, but we heard one
breaking bamboos or branches in the jungle to
the right hand side of it. We went a little way
into the forest, where, in spite of the lantern, it
was impossible to see further than a few paces,
and though we could plainly hear the elephant
(apparently very close to us), we could see nothing.

We therefore returned to the road, and stood on
guard until all the vehicles had passed. We then
went on, having directed the men not to go so far

46

REMINISCENCES

as the forest lodge for which we were bound, but
to stop for the remainder of the night at the nearest
water, which was about two miles off.

Early next morning we got up, had some food
cooked by the roadside, took our rifles, and set
off to look for the elephant of the previous night,
which we naturally dubbed a "rogue." On reaching
the place however, instead of the expected tracks
of the rogue, we found those of a whole herd of
elephants, to interfere with which we had no per-
mission. There was then nothing to be done but
to retrace our steps, and to proceed towards the
said forest lodge, trying for bison on the way.

The forest consisted of a great diversity of
growth. In one part were flat or undulating
stretches of mature bamboo jungle — the bamboos
standing in large clumps, with plenty of room to
walk between, except where elephants had broken
them down and spread them about on the ground
in a fantastic network. In another, we might enter
an open glade, with a few large teak and other
timber trees scattered at considerable intervals,
which lay at the edge of an expanse of fairly open
mixed tree forest, where the large trunks stood
as near to one another as their ever-encroaching
roots would permit, and where, at this season of
the year, a lovely carpet of new, fresh, rapidly-
grown grass, of about half or three - quarters of
a foot in height, covered the ground. Here and
there a deep nullah interposed, containing in some
cases one or more "salt-licks," which were well
known to the jungle-men who guided us.

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BULLET AND SHOT

Until nearly midday we came upon no fresh
tracks of bison, nor did we see any game whatever,
except some sambur deer and muntjac — at none
of which did we get a shot.

About midday, however, we came upon tracks
made during the previous night by a herd of bison.
As the grass was then so short that the animals
were likely to travel far, and as it was moreover
so late in the day, W. did not consider that these
tracks were worth following, and we therefore left
them to look for fresher signs of the game.

We chanced to come across, and to capture,
a regular "wild man of the woods," whom we en-
countered most opportunely. We suddenly heard
a slight noise which the trackers declared was
made by a bison, and with the utmost care, and
after taking all possible precautions against alarm-
ing the expected game, we stealthily crept towards
the locality in which we had heard it ; and there we
found — not the longed-for bison — but a wild and
utterly uncultivated jungle inhabitant, who, with
a conical basket on his back, was searching for,
and digging up roots (the sustenance of his kind
and of the wild boar), whose first impulse on seeing
us was to bolt into the depths of the forest. A
little reassuring, however, upon the part of the
jungle-men who accompanied us, and who were
only his more cultivated brethren — though they
differed from him in appearance far less than does
a town "masher" from a country bumpkin — showed
him that we were neither elephants nor tigers, and
that we required not his blood, but that of a bison ;

48

REMINISCENCES

and we were eventually able to induce him to
accompany us, in order that he might show us
where the object of our search could be found.
He certainly was not a prepossessing animal, but
might, did not gratitude for his services prohibit
it, be termed a most filthy and highly repulsive
one. His large masses of grizzled hair were matted
together, a dirty rag round his loins constituted
his only apparel — if I except his native dirt, where-
with, as the olfactory nerves of even a native cook
might have testified, he was clad as with a garment,
— and the conical basket on his back represented
his stock in trade. Simple and happy jungle
wallah ! Never wilt thou know what it is to pos-
sess wants (and possibly duns) far beyond thy
means to satisfy ! Never will the gnawings of
unrequited love, or the cravings of unsatisfied
ambition rack thine innocent soul ! For thee,
the world outside the forest may wag as it may,
kingdoms may rise and fall, the world be electrified
by stirring events which cannot but exercise the
soul of every civilised human being who can read
a newspaper! India itself might pass into the
hands of Russia, nay — worse fate still — it might
even fall into the rapacious clutches of the Ben-
galee Baboo, but what wouldst thou know, or
care, about all such (to thee) trifles unworthy of
knowledge or consideration .'* Freedom to dig thy
roots, and to collect thy honey in the forest in
peace, and a few bamboos and a little thatch to rig
up thy simple abode, are all thy needs ; and thy
sole anxieties are the avoidance in thy wanderings
E 49

BULLET AND SHOT

of the dreaded rogue elephant, and the escaping
in thy humble hearth of the destructive small-
pox !

Taking our newly discovered wild man with us,
we constituted him our "guide, philosopher and
friend," and followed him through forest of varied
character, till we reached some high ground covered
with only a stunted growth of short stuff and tiny
trees, which latter are not termed "saplings" only
because they were too old to be so called.

While passing through this, I happened to notice
a dark object on the ground, but before I had at all
made it out, it sprang up and rushed off, displaying
the noble proportions of a fine bull bison.

W., who was carrying his '577 express, at once
fired both barrels as the bull rushed through the
little trees, while I grabbed wildly for my 8-bore
rifle which was being carried by a man behind me.
Cocking and pitching it, just as if I had been firing
a snapshot at a snipe, I fired ; the bull collapsed
at the shot, and fell to rise no more.

"VVe went up close, and found that, though there
was still a slight muscular movement, the animal
was dead to all intents and purposes, my bullet
having entered the spine through the neck. One
of W.'s bullets had hit him in the rump, but the
other had apparently been taken en route by one of
the before-mentioned trees, for it was nowhere in
the animal, and as I since had ample means of
knowing, it was seldom that W. missed a fair shot
in the open ; though in cover, in firing a running
shot, no one, however first-class a shot he may be,

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REMINISCENCES

can avoid sometimes having his bullet intercepted
by a tree ere it finds its intended mark.

My own delight at having thus (though by an
utter and most fortunate fluke) knocked over and
bagged — by a running snapshot, too — the first
bison which I had ever seen, may be better
imagined than described. I may add, however,
that I afterwards missed several fine standing shots
before I bagged another !

Although of course, by the strict law of sport,
the head of this bull belonged, not to me, but to
W. who had first hit him, that generous fellow
simply refused to take it, and it formed one of a
batch of trophies which, some two years and a
half later, I took home to the paternal roof.

Having cut off the bull's head, which we left to
be subsequently brought in, we set out for the
forest lodge to which we had sent on our camp
when we started early that morning to look for
the disturber of our previous night's rest.

We had proceeded for, I suppose, only about
half an hour, when, again without our finding any
fresh tracks, and without any warning, a solitary
bull jumped up and rushed off, followed by a
second bull who was in his company. W.,
who was carrying his express, fired both barrels,
and was in hot pursuit of one of the bulls before
I could get my rifle from its bearer, and he then,
after taking a fresh rifle, put in two more shots,
followed by a fifth from a single-barrelled weapon
of large bore. As soon as I could get my rifle,
I pursued, and arrived, very much out of breath,

SI

BULLET AND SHOT

at a spot where W. was standing with empty
rifles, and the bull also standing with a broken
shoulder. The bison faced round, looking a truly-
magnificent beast, and W., telling me to keep
an eye on him in case of his charging, proceeded
to reload his rifles. The bull standing thus in an
open glade, watching us face to face and appearing
as if very much inclined to charge, was one of the
grandest sights which I have ever witnessed in
bison shooting.

W., having reloaded his rifles, told me ta
take the bull in the neck. I did so, and he fell,
but jumped up again. W. now opened fire
and knocked him over, and, as he lay there alive,
W. told me to brain him by a shot between
the eyes. My bullet was, however, too high for
the brain, and then my companion killed him by
a shot behind the ear.

Though both were old, solitary bulls, the second
was a larger animal than the first, and also carried
a finer head, the horns being wider across the
sweep, and much worn down, and the head
altogether more massive and imposing.

Once more we proceeded towards camp, but
before we reached it, we came upon very fresh
tracks of a herd of bison, and, though we saw
them, they became alarmed, and went off before
we could make out the bull, and so they escaped
without being fired at.

This, my first day at the noble game, is the
best day's bison shooting which I have ever
enjoyed, though a good many fine heads have

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REMINISCENCES

since fallen to my rifle. It is not very often, in
the forests in which I have shot, that one chances
upon bison without having first found and followed
their tracks for some distance, and our doing so
twice upon this day was a somewhat curious
coincidence. I am quite unable to determine
whether it was sheer luck, or an intimate know-
ledge of the locality and of the habits of the game,
which enabled our shaggy and odoriferous guide
to lead us up to them so fortunately. He stayed
a few days in our camp, and then vanished, without
saying "good-bye," or even asking for remuneration,
— very unlike the conduct of the ordinary native !

The two bulls, whose deaths form the subject of
this narrative, carried heads measuring thirty-three
and thirty - seven inches respectively across the
sweep, the first being an ordinary solitary bull,
and the second a fine one ; in fact, its head was
the best of the six bull bison heads bagged by
W. in this trip, and the latter was far too good
a sportsman to intentionally fire at an animal
carrying a small head.

THE BULL WHO CAME TO LUNCH WITH ME

One monsoon day I rode with my wife, who
was out in camp with me, from the forest lodge
of Rampore, in the Ainurmarigudi forest, to the
recently mentioned Molubollay lodge in that of
Berrambadie.

After reaching the latter, I went out shooting
with my men, and before long we found the tracks

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BULLET AND SHOT

of a single bull. After following these for some
little distance, we found that a second bull had
joined the first, and it was evident that the pair
had gone on together in amity — or, at least, with-
out any serious disagreement — for some time.
Then we came to a place where they had had a
furious " set to," the ground in a circle being
deeply ploughed up, and saplings broken down
during the tremendous duel. A little further on
we found another such ring, where a second
" mill " had taken place, and a little further still a
third.

The tracks then led into those of a herd ; and
though we tried hard to find a bull's track going
off alone from the area over which the tracks of
the former were spread, we were quite unable to
do so, and were obliged at last to follow the herd,
believing that the two bulls had joined it.

On coming up with the bison, I saw two or three
animals, but could not make out a bull ; and the
herd, having possibly got a hint of our presence,
or else on account of being worried by flies, went
off up a hillside.

It was then nearly midday, and I reflected that
if we were to follow the bison forthwith, we should
be likely to come up with them when they were
lying down in long grass, and that it was therefore
advisable to give them time, and to follow the
animals later in the day, when they would be
grazing in the open. I accordingly sat down on
a fallen log, and ate the sandwiches which I had
taken out with me, my men sitting facing me

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REMINISCENCES

under a bamboo clump, a short distance off, with
my rifles.

I had just finished my lunch and had lighted
my pipe, when, most unexpectedly, I saw a single
bull coming from the direction in which the herd
had gone. He was trotting sulkily along, disgust
and disappointment being clearly visible in his
demeanour, if not written upon every feature of
his face.

My men, behind whom he passed, did not see
him, and their astonishment was great when I
cautiously, but rapidly, went over to them, took
a '577 express, motioned to them to remain where
they were, and pursued the bull. He turned end-
on, leaving me only his stern to fire at, and I
followed, waiting for him to turn once more and
so expose his side. He had not discovered us, and
was not alarmed. Presently he pulled up, and
altered his course by moving slowly to the left,
whereupon I fired. The bull, though hard hit,
went on ; I called up the men, and we followed his
tracks. Soon we came up with him again, but it
was not before I had hit him several times more
that I bagged him. Once we came upon him
standing with only part of his head visible, the
rest of it being hidden behind a trunk, his vitals
also being covered. I fired at his head and missed,
my bullet going into the tree. At this shot, the
bull came prancing out across me, with his head
down, in highly comical bounds. He looked as if
each horn were tied to the fetlock on the same
side, and, though he had not the slightest intention

55

BULLET AND SHOT

of charging, this demonstration was apparently
made with a view to leading us to suppose that
he was quite willing to do so — in fact, that he
quite intended business.

After killing this bull, I found a lump on the
withers which I knew must be caused by a bullet
under the skin, and on cutting through the latter,
I picked out an 8-bore rifle bullet. As the bull
was shot from the very camp at which Colonel
N. C. had his great adventure previously related
with a wounded bison, and as the animal was
standing facing him when he fired, it is quite
possible that this bison was the one which so
severely maltreated that highly distinguished officer
three years previously.

The bull was coal-black, with very little hair on
his body, and though a magnificent beast in size,
his horns were small, yet they were worn down at
the tips. Colonel N. C.'s antagonist had, he told
me, very short horns.

As I had shot the bull early in the day, our
camp being only a few miles off, I determined to
return at once and take my wife out on her pony
to see the slain monster. The ayah (ladies female
attendant) and another native servant both asked
to be allowed to go too, and received permission,
but though my wife and I got back to camp in
good time, the servants delayed so long at the
carcass that they were benighted, and did not
reach camp till next day ! Possibly their object
was a " square meal " of beef !

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REMINISCENCES

A WONDERFUL FLUKE

I once bagged a grand bull by an exceedingly
lucky fluke, and the story is so remarkable a one
that it is worth relating. I was out in camp in the
Metikuppe Forest with my wife. As there was
no forest lodge in the vicinity, we were dependent
upon tents for our lodging. Upon the day on
which we were moving camp, and had a ten-mile
march to perform before evening, " I decided to go
out early to try for bison before starting.

I went out with the Kurrabas, and we tried hard,
but could find no fresh tracks. Despairing of bison,
I fired a shot at a jungle-sheep (muntjac), which
obtruded itself upon us, but missed it.

After firing this shot, I had even less hope of
doing anything with bison than I had before, and
simply loitered on through the forest with my men
in a somewhat aimless fashion, when all of a sudden,
and only about 200 yards from where I had fired,
we heard a bison dash off from a dense thicket
close by. On finding the tracks, it was evident
that the latter were those of a big bull, and though
I entertained but a slight prospect of coming up
with him again within the short time at my dis-
posal, we started in pursuit.

It was a weary, stern chase, and the odds were
against our succeeding ; still, I began to be hopeful,
when at last, after galloping a long way, the bull
(as we could see from the tracks) subsided into a
walk. We had a long way to follow after that,

57

BULLET AND SHOT

before, very suddenly, as we came to a nullah
densely covered with bamboo, a Kurraba tracker
stood still, and excitedly pointed into it. I saw
something very dark, and fancied that I could
make out also the lighter-coloured hair under the
fore-arm. Delay was dangerous, and I fired at
what I saw with the '577 and 6 J drachms. After
the shot all was still. I heard no rush, no clatter-
ing hoofs, and, in fact, no sound at all, and I turned
round to the Kurraba and cursed him for inducing
me to fire at a stump. He replied that it was not
a stump, but a big bull bison at which I had fired.
I went on, and, sure enough, there were the huge
hoof-marks up the soft bank of the nullah, and
on through the forest, and there was blood on the
track. After following for a short distance, we
found the bull — a magnificent animal with a splen-
did head, measuring 35I- inches across the sweep
— lying stone-dead, the little bullet having hit him
accurately behind the shoulder !

THE DEATH OF THE 40-INCHER

I was in camp at Kalkerra, in the Ainurmarigudi
forest, about ten miles distant from the already
mentioned Rampore lodge in the same forest. The
weather was very wet, and therefore most propitious
for bison shooting, and being out on duty and yet
desirous of obtaining a little sport, I applied for
three days' casual leave, and availed myself thereof
in anticipation of sanction.

58

REMINISCENCES

On the first day I had no luck, and a long,
running shot at a herd bull resulted in a miss.

On the second day I went out with my men
fairly early, and after a good walk we found the
tracks of a solitary bull. We followed for some
distance, the tracks being evidently very fresh,
until at last one of the trackers called my attention
to a bamboo, which was shaking in a jungled nullah
ahead. Soon I was able to make out the bull, who
was standing broadside on, and I fired a bullet from
the '577 at him. At the shot the bison stood where
he was, and I then fired the second barrel with the
same aim. After the second shot, the animal went
up the further bank of the nullah, and stood and
snorted ; the men, anticipating a charge, handed me
an 8-bore rifle, and bolted. I fired at him either
once or twice, and he then went on, and we pro-
ceeded with due precautions to immediately follow
him up.

Twice or thrice we came up with him, and he
seemed very much inclined to fight, but, although
evidently debating the advisability of a charge,
he retreated upon receiving further punishment.
Finally, we got close up to the bull, who was now
standing completely hidden in young bamboo and
long grass. We could hear his objurgations, but
could not see him. There was a tree at the edge
of the thicket, and I thought that this might be
useful to dodge behind in the event of a charge.
I sent a man up this tree, and he saw the bull
standing only some twenty or thirty yards off.
The animal knew where we were, and became

59

BULLET AND SHOT

more and more excited, as we could divine from
his somewhat " cursory " remarks. At last he
charged, and I waited behind the trunk for him
to expose himself in his rush, but this he did not
do, for after he had shown me only the tips of his
horns and the top of his dorsal ridge, his heart
failed him, and he retired once more to the thick
cover. Eventually a Kurraba caught sight of a
small portion of his head and pointed it out to
me, and I fired, but missed, though the shot had
the effect of sending him out of the thicket, upon
which I was able to give him another body shot,
whereupon, after following for a short distance, we
found him lying dead in the long grass. I had,
in all, fired about a dozen shots at this bull, though
he was quite unable to travel far after the first two
or three.

He was very old, in wretched condition, with
protruding, hairless ribs, and teeth quite loose, and
yet, curiously enough, was not really black. He
had a deep wound (in which were maggots) in his
forehead, and had, I suppose, met with this injury
in some dispute with another bull.

A FORTUNATE SNAPSHOT

I went out with my men one morning in the
Karkenkotta forest in Mysore, intending to have a
day's bison shooting, it being a public holiday. We
found tracks of a single bull in a swamp, and had
to follow them for a long distance.

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REMINISCENCES

The bull had grazed a great deal, but had also
travelled, and we probably followed him over the
greater portion of his night's wanderings, as well
as over the ground traversed by him during the
early hours of the same day. The sun was high,
and' the day hot, when we arrived at a dense bamboo
cover through which the tracks led ; and my hopes
fell, for I well knew that under such conditions the
bull would certainly be lying down, and that my
chance of finding him grazing in the open was
gone.

After going through the thick cover for some
distance, I heard, what I had for some time been
expecting to hear, viz., the rush of the bull as he
dashed off alarmed. I could not tell how far the
thicket extended, but, just on the bare chance, I
rushed a few paces forward, and at once came upon
an open, and saw the bison dashing madly across it.
A huge blackwood log, about three feet or more in
diameter, which had been felled and squared by
the Forest Department, lay in his path, aind I
pitched and pulled a snapshot with the 8-bore just
as he took a flying leap over this obstacle. I did
not for a moment imagine that I had hit him, but,
just as a matter of form, went up to the place and a
little way along the track, when, to my great sur-
prise and delight, a Kurraba picked up a fallen
leaf with a single spot of blood upon it. We
followed the tracks, found more blood, and I at
last came up with the bull, and after some more
shooting and following, I bagged him. My first
bullet, which was fired from directly behind him,.

6i

BULLET AND SHOT

had simply " skiffed " along outside the ribs, not
cutting the skin all along the line, but missing the
portions of it overlying the intercostal spaces, and
had then entered the fore-leg and thus lamed him.

THE BULL AND THE WATERPROOF

The Bandipur jungle differs from most of the
forests of the Mysore district in being more hilly,
and in parts far more open than are the others.

One afternoon, after a long tramp during which
not a bison had been seen, I had reached a very open
portion where grassy hill-slopes are the rule, and
cover the exception. It had been a luckless, weary
day, and rain had rendered walking uncomfortable,
and as I wandered over this open expanse in the
hope of seeing a bear out feeding, and after slope
after slope, and • hillside after hillside, had been
searched in vain, I thought that I should have to
record a blank day.

It was still raining hard, and I had on a white
mackintosh coat, and was roaming dispiritedly over
some open grass with a patch of cover on our right,
when, instantaneously, one of my men stopped and
pointed in that direction.

Thinking that he had seen a sambur or a bear, I
took my "500 express, but he motioned me to
change it for the 8-bore. I had as yet seen nothing,
but at last I managed to make out, between two
trees, the head and chest of a bull bison standing
staring at ^me. He had evidently never seen a
white mackintosh before, and his curiosity so far

62

REMINISCENCES

overcame his fears that he stood gazing at it while
the man had time to point him out to me, while
I could take my express from one of the men, and
then change it for the 8-bore, and until I was able to
make him out and fire at him. One bullet in the
chest from the 8-bore laid him low, and another
from the '500 express brained him.

A FORTUNATE HEAD-SHOT

Although, as a rule, a head-shot at any animal,
except an elephant, is to be strictly avoided, it now
and then happens in bison shooting that the sports-
man must either take it, or lose his chance altogether.
In such a case, the head-shot should be tried, the
sportsman bearing in mind that what he has to aim
at is an imaginary line drawn between the eyes, —
unless, indeed, the bison be standing with his nose
elevated, in which case he must fire at the top of
the cartilage of the latter.

It was once my luck to bag a bull with a head
measuring T,y^ inches across the sweep, which, al-
though it was not dropped dead upon the spot,
would not have been bagged at all had the head-
shot not been attempted.

Two miles from Lakwallie (in the Kadur district
of Mysore) is a large area of teak plantations of
different ages, lying sometimes on one side, and
otherwise upon both sides, of the Government road,
for a distance of about two miles from its commence-
ment to its end.

The most distant portion is the youngest, and as

63

BULLET AND SHOT

teak seedlings make very little show till at least
the second year, that portion was very open, and
animals in it could sometimes be seen from the
high road.

One afternoon in the monsoon, I went out in
the Lakwallie forest behind the plantations, and
worked my way round to a point on the Govern-
ment road at which I had ordered that my riding
mare, sent on in advance, should be kept waiting
for me.

In my round through the forest, I came upon no
tracks of bison fresh enough to be worth following,
and, having reached the high road, I mounted my
mare, and rode towards the Lakwallie bungalow,
some six miles off, leaving the men with my
battery, etc., to follow. After riding about two
miles, I came to that end of the plantation which
is furthest away from Lakwallie, and there, in the
plantation, but not far from the jungle which borders
the latter, I saw a single bull bison out grazing. I
dismounted, got out of sight, and went back along
the road to meet my men. On returning with them
to the place from which I had seen the bull, the
latter was still plainly visible, but he then moved
off, though leisurely, into the jungle. The men
expected that he would emerge again from another
point and continue grazing in the plantation, while
I felt very much afraid that we should not see
him again.

We had to make a detour in order to prevent
the wind from betraying us, and then went up to
a corner of the plantation, the teak saplings on

64

REMINISCENCES

which had failed owing to unsuitability of soil, and
which had therefore been abandoned, a dense
growth of young bamboo having sprung up all
over it. This thicket adjoined the forest in which
the bull had disappeared. All of a sudden, a forest
peon who was with me pointed forwards, and there,
close in front, was the head of the bull standing
staring at us. I fired a solid bullet from the '500
express, hoping to brain him ; but off he dashed,
and I ran through the thick bamboo growth in the
direction in which he had gone, angry with myself
for firing a head-shot, and scarcely hoping to see
the animal again. Imagine my delight when I
saw the bull rolling over and over down the hill-
side above us ! He would soon have got up again'
however, had I not got in close to him as quickly
as possible, whereupon two body-shots from the
4-bore, and another from the '500 express, finished
him off

The bull must, after running for some distance,
have become giddy from the effects of the head-
shot, and as he fell on a steep slope, he rolled till
he came to fairly level ground. Altogether the
bagging of this bull was a piece of extraordinarily
good luck.

THE BULL WHO DIDN't CHARGE

Twice in one day I have had different animals,
viz., an elephant and a bison, run almost over me,
though neither of them had the slightest intention
of fighting. A novice would have considered that
he had been charged by both! The elephant
F 65

BULLET AND SHOT

incident will be related elsewhere, but I will
mention that of the bison before closing the subject
of bison shooting, as it is a somewhat remarkable
instance of the way in which wild animals are apt
to occasionally run into the very danger which they
are trying to avoid.

I had gone out early, and had encountered and
fired at the before-mentioned tusker elephant (who
escaped), when we came across the tracks of a
solitary bull bison. After following these for some
distance, we found a form in which he had been
lying, his open hoof- marks leading therefrom
indicating that he had galloped away in great
alarm, having evidently got our wind before we
had approached sufficiently near to hear his pre-
cipitate rush.

Now a stern chase of this description is likely
to be a protracted one, for an old solitary bull, who
has doubtless been frequently fired at during the
course of his long life, is usually very cunning ;
and although bison, if alarmed early in the day,
before they have had time to lie down and to chew
the cud, may, if pursued, be come up with again
and again, yet if the same animals be seriously
alarmed after they have had time to perform this
highly necessary function, they may frequently
be followed in vain till evening.

In this case, the bull kept to the thickest cover
which he could find, and the hunt was a long and
weary one. At last, however, we emerged upon
a large extent of very open forest, beyond which
lay the Mysore - Sultan's Battery Government

66

REMINISCENCES

road. Here, to my great surprise, I saw the bull
coming slowly back, half across and half towards
us, having evidently been turned by the road or
by people or carts passing along the latter, but
he was not seriously alarmed.

I dared not fire at him at so great a range —
I guessed him to be about 200 yards distant — with
one of the 8-bores, of which I had two (a gun and
a rifle) out with me, so I fired at his chest with
the '500 express, the bullet used being an extra
large solid one. At the shot the bull came so
straight for us that one of the Kurrabas handed
me an 8-bore, and then he and the other men at
once bolted, thinking that the animal was charging.
He rushed blindly past me within a few paces,
when (after a miss from the first barrel) a bullet
from the 8-bore in the body knocked him over
on the spot, and brought the long chase to a very
fortunate conclusion.

Whether the little bullet from the express, which
had hit the bull on one side of the chest, could
have affected him sufficiently to enable us to come
up with him again had he elected to bolt in another
direction, I am not prepared to say, but he would
undoubtedly have given us much labour and
trouble had he acted otherwise than exactly as
he elected to do.

This was a grand old bull with a splendid head,
and I was delighted with my trophy.

I think that I have now given sufficient incidents
in bison shooting out of a somewhat extensive ex-
perience of that sport, so I will close this chapter.

67

CHAPTER V.

HINTS TO BEGINNERS IN BISON SHOOTING

IT sometimes happens that a novice, who wishes
to go out bison shooting, is obHged to do so
without the advantage of the company of an old
hand to show him how to set about it.

Of course, if a beginner can arrange to be
accompanied for the first three or four days by
an experienced sportsman, he will learn much from
the latter, and will thereafter be able to go out
alone with a good chance of success ; but as it is
not infrequently the case that he must needs go
alone, or with another tyro as new to the work
as himself, and in the hope of such being useful
in these cases, I propose to give a few detailed
hints of the modus operandi.

Two men cannot shoot together without sacrifice
of sport when this particular game is the object
of pursuit, except when an experienced sportsman
takes the beginner under his wing, and is (as any
true sportsman will be) willing to forego his own
chance of shooting until he has taught his pupil
sufficient to enable the latter to go out alone
with some knowledge of his game. If, therefore,
two beginners should arrange to go on a bison

68

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

shooting expedition together — and I should recom-
mend this arrangement as far more pleasant, and
in every respect preferable to a solitary trip —
they should daily go out separately in different
directions. In the evening, when they meet in
camp, it will be delightful for them to talk over
the incidents of the day, and each will learn some-
thing from the experiences of the other.

We will suppose, therefore, that two novices
have arranged to go out on a trip to bison ground,
and that they want to know from the beginning
how to set about it.

The first point to decide is the country to be
worked, and their selection of this will, no doubt,
mainly depend upon the place at which they may
be stationed (supposing that they are military), and
whence they mean to proceed to their shooting
grounds.

Upon this decision will largely depend the
amount and description of the requirements to be
carried with them, since, should their choice be to
work hilly country, they must travel with the
lightest possible equipment and very small tents,
whereas if low-country forests, where carts can be
taken, be selected, comfort should not be sacrificed
to extreme lightness of kit.

The next point will be to ascertain whether any,
and if so what, leave or licence has to be obtained,
and from what Government (the Travancore hills
are under the Travancore Government), and then,
if possible, to obtain the assistance of the local
officials, more particularly of the forest officer and

69

BULLET AND SHOT v

the nearest revenue official of high rank. The
reasons for this are enlarged upon in the chapter
treating of tiger shooting.

In the higher portions of the hill ranges of
Southern India inhabited by bison — notably the
Western Ghants, the Trayancore hills, and the
Anaimalais, and in a minor degree the Pulneys,
the Nelliampatties, and the Brummagherries — large
expanses of open, grassy hillsides and downs, and
small swamps, alternate with dense covers (called
sholahs) in the dips and sheltered depressions.

In working country of this description, it is
essential that no more than absolute necessaries
should be carried, since the sportsmen will have
to depend entirely upon pack ponies or pack
bullocks (the former being preferable) and men
for porterage of all their requirements. Such
means of transport are expensive, and, even if
economy be no consideration, the necessity for
carrying food for the men, and the difficulty of
procuring coolies in many places, combine to
render it highly advisable to limit the loads as far
as may be practicable.

Before finally deciding upon any locality, it is of
vital importance that the sportsmen should ascertain
whether the ground they would like to try be above
fever range or no. The height at which malaria
prevails appears to vary considerably, but it may, I
think, be safely stated that, at an elevation of 5,00a
feet and above, there is no fear of malarial fever save
under very exceptional circumstances which need
not be looked for. I lay much more stress upon

70

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

this point in the case of hill shooting than in that
of the low-country forests, since, in the former,
carriage of soda-water is out of the question, while
in the latter plenty of this refreshing beverage
should always be carried, and no jungle water be
ever drunk unless it has been boiled in making tea
or coffee. Native servants are in the highest
degree careless and untrustworthy ; they cannot be
relied upon to boil water before filtering it, and they
are very apt to filter it only, both because this gives
them little trouble, and also on account of their
master being able to tell from its appearance
whether it has been filtered or no, whereas he
cannot possibly tell whether it has, or has not,
been boiled. The recent theory is that carbonic
acid gas in solution destroys all germs within
fourteen days.

The early showers in April and May cause the
rapid springing of new grass after the burning of
the old growth in the hot weather, and these
months are excellent for hill shooting, provided
only that the locality where the camp be pitched is
above fever level ; if below it, this period is very
dangerous, on account of malaria. Once the big
monsoon has burst — generally early in June —the
sportsman will be glad to hurry away, for the heavy
rain in a cold atmosphere renders camping out quite
impossible. After the cessation of the rains, the
cold weather appears to be a healthy time in the
Travancore hills, but the great disadvantage then
is the height of the grass in most parts of the bison
ground.

71

BULLET AND SHOT

I would recommend no one to go out shooting in
the hills unless he can camp at such an elevation
that he may safely drink the water unboiled. It
would profit him not at all were he to go to a fine
shooting country, make a big bag of good bulls,
and then die of malaria, as did the late Lieutenant
R., R.A., only a few years ago. This was an
extreme case, and the only one I have known of
a sportsman being killed by malaria while actually
out on his trip ; but many men have suffered severely
for years from malarial fever contracted while out
shooting, and I would recommend every visitor in
localities of doubtful salubriety to omit no pre-
cautions which may tend to preserve his health.
Mens Sana in corpore sano are the two main
conditions essential for the enjoyment of life, and
we cannot be too careful in the preservation of that
inestimable boon — good health.

For two sportsmen out together in the hills, I
recommend the following kit : —

Tents. — One eighty-pound field officer's Cabul
tent (double-fly, with bathroom) for each, for sleep-
ing, dressing, and bathing in ; one light single-fly
tent, nine feet square, as the common dining and
sitting room ; one light rowtie for the servants.

Cooking Utensils. — One kettle, one frying-pan,
two saucepans, one digester, two kitchen knives,
and one chopper.

Crockery and Cutlery. — Sufficient white enamelled
ware, tumblers, and cheap knives and forks, for the
use of two.

72

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

Camp Furniture. — Two light folding camp cots,
with mattresses and pillows to fit the same ; four
light folding camp chairs ; four pieces of light fold-
ing camp table (Messrs. Oakes and Co., Madras,
have supplied me with these) ; two folding camp
looking-glasses ; two small candlesticks ; two travel-
ling baths fitted with baskets for holding clothes ;
two D.P.W. lanterns, and two common hurricane
lanterns, with spare chimneys for all ; two wash-
basins with leather covers and handles ; and two
folding tripod washstands.

Liquor. — Sufficient for the trip, depending upon
individual requirements.

Tinned Provisions and Stores. — Soups, bacon,
jam, hams, lard, potted meat, flour, baking powder,
vegetables, Swiss milk, butter, cheese, fish, and
fruits, of each sufficient for the trip ; also ordinary-
stores, such as tea, coffee, sugar, candles, ghee,
salt, pepper, mustard, potatoes, onions, and rice ;
common rice and curry stuff for the men, wicks
and kerosene oil for the lanterns.

Miscellaneous. — Some medicines, arsenical soap
(and brushes for applying the same), turpentine,
common carbolic acid, bedding, linen, etc. ; two
very stout waterproof bags with locks and keys for
the bedding ; half a dozen empty and tkorottgkly
clean kerosene oil tins for holding water ; tin
openers and corkscrews, an axe, a chopper, a
spade and a crowbar, half a dozen skinning knives,
vaseline for cleaning the rifles, two luncheon baskets,
two waterproof sheets, and two hundred 2>\ i^ch
nails for pegging out skins to dry.

11

BULLET AND SHOT

Some fat sheep should be driven up from the
plains by short marches, and a number of fowls in
baskets should also be taken. The sportsmen should
insist upon baskets being used for this purpose,
since natives have no regard whatever for animal
suffering, and treat the miserable sentient creatures,
who are unfortunate enough to be in their power, as
if they had no more feeling than blocks of wood.
Consequently, if allowed to do so, they would tie
the wretched fowls' legs together, and, slinging a
number of them by passing a stick between their
legs, would carry them, with their heads hanging
down, for any distance under a broiling sun.

Rifles and ammunition have not been included in
the above list. If there be — as is probable at a
high elevation — ibex (the Nilgiri wild goat) within
reach of the camp, a '303, "450, or '500 express rifle
should be taken by each sportsman ; while for use
upon bison, a "577 express each will suffice, though
if either of them should happen to possess an
8-bore gun or rifle, he should take it as a second
gun when out in search of the larger game.

When shooting in the hills, a first-rate telescope
should be carried by one of his men, and in his
own pocket the sportsman should carry a pair of
"Lilliput" binoculars.

The tents forming the camp should be pitched in
a sheltered situation near to running water, and,
if possible, as previously recommended, at an eleva-
tion of not less than 5000 feet.

The sportsmen must insist upon trenches of suffi-
cient depth being dug all round the tents, if the latter

74

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

are on flat ground ; and along three sides, if the
ground be sloping, a shallow trench along the
lowest aspect being sufficient in such a case. Rain
may fall at any time, and if, through laziness, the
servants have omitted to see to this necessary pre-
caution, the tents may be swamped.

Having reached, as soon after dawn as may be
possible, a commanding situation from which the
sportsman hopes to view his game, he should, if
possible, get under cover ; or if none be available,
at least take care not to linger on the sky-line, but
sit down below the latter, take his telescope, and
thoroughly inspect any likely country within range
of his glass.

It is possible that he may chance to view a bull
from his first point of observation, and if so, he has
only to carefully plan his stalk, first, by noting the
exact direction of the wind, and also looking out for
any valley or gully in the vicinity of the game, up
which a gust might blow at any angle to its pre-
vailing course ; and then, by seeing of what cover
he can avail himself during his stalk— to be made
along such a line that during no portion of it will
the sportsman be between the game and the direction
of the main current, or of any minor or local
currents of wind — to decide upon, and mentally take
note of the points through which his approach to
the game must be made ; and finally to get in as
close as possible to the latter without being seen
or heard by it.

The rest is a mere piece of straight shooting
at a large bull's-eye, since, if he puts a '577 solid

75

BULLET AND SHOT

bullet driven by 6|^drs. of powder through, or just
behind, the shoulder of the bull, he will most
certainly bag the latter, though he may, or may
not, have to give him another shot (or shots),
according to the organs which the first bullet may
have penetrated. And here let me recommend all
beginners on no account to fire at an animal, but
to carefully aim at an imaginary bull's-eye on the
very portion of its body which he may desire to
hit.

A common impulse of most tyros is to fire at an
animal directly they see it, for fear that it should
bolt, and a miss, or a wound so badly placed that
the recipient escapes, is the usual result. In firing
with an express, I always, where it is practicable, sit
down before pressing the trigger. Great steadiness
can be obtained by sitting with the heels close
together, the knees well separated, and the elbows
resting one on each knee. But sometimes, in the
jungles, game visible on foot cannot be seen when
sitting, and in such an event the shot must be
taken standing. Coolness and absence of hurry
are the main essentials for steady shooting at big
game. It is preferable that no shot be fired than
that a wounded animal should escape.

Far more game is missed, or wounded and lost,
through the sportsman's having fired too hurriedly,
without accuracy of aim, than escapes through any
want of quickness in firing. Let the novice bear
this carefully in mind.

I cannot say that I should care to fire either
my 8-bore or 4-bore ball guns in the sitting position,

76

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

but prefer to stand when using them. One or two
more remarks I may make regarding bison shoot-
ing on the hills, viz., that in some parts leeches
swarm in the sholahs. One fairly effective means
of protecting oneself against the attacks of these
bloodthirsty pests is the use of putties, which
must be coiled pretty tightly in putting them on,
and tied securely, otherwise they are liable ta
become loose, or to come down altogether. Leech-
gaiters too may be worn under the ordinary
stockings.

I strongly counsel the European, camping on
hills where bison are to be found, to trust to
nothing less protective in the shape of head-gear
than one of the "shooting shape" "Sola topees"
made in the country.

The sun is to h^ feared, and if once a European
should unfortunately suffer from a touch of it, he
will be very apt to be similarly affected upon sub-
sequent exposure. Sunstroke is no trifling malady,
but one against which proper precautions in the
shape of a good topee are most advisable.

For hill shooting, boots, though they must be
of stout leather, should not be too heavy; otherwise
they become tiring during a long day's walking. A
few nails which will not penetrate the inside of the
sole (a common fault in the case of Indian-made
boots after a very little wear) are useful.

I recommend that the boots be made large enough
to admit of really thick stockings being worn, and
I advise sportsmen to eschew altogether the miser-
able, flimsy stockings so often sold in the country,

n

BULLET AND SHOT

and to wear nothing but thick English woollen
knickerbocker stockings.

For shooting in the hills knickerbockers are most
comfortable. It is unnecessary to obtain new ones
of any particular material, since any of the sports-
man's old trousers may be cut down and converted
into them, so long as the cloth is not of a staring or
conspicuous colour. For coats, the ordinary Basel
Mission Shikar cloth (manufactured at Cannanore,
in Southern India) is the best material, though in
the cold weather and in the rains, something warmer
— say an ordinary tweed coat of fairly neutral hue —
will be found comfortable.

In any case, the sportsman in the hills should,
if he be in the least degree liable to catch cold,
take out shooting with him (even in dry weather)
a warm overcoat. This should be of mackintosh
covered with tweed, for such is useful both in dry
weather and in rain. Of course it will be carried
by one of his men.

After fagging up a steep hillside, and having got
wet through from perspiration, a bitterly cold wind
is often encountered on the top of the ridge. The
sportsman may need to sit down for some time
while he examines with his glass all the country
within sight of him, and if he does this without
putting on an overcoat, he is very liable to catch
a chill.

I question whether it would be an exaggeration,
were I to say that half of the illnesses from which
Europeans out in India suffer are the result of
chills.

78

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

Should the locaHty selected lie within the forests
of the low country, the sportsmen will find the
south-west monsoon the best time to go out bison
shooting. In Mysore, as has been already stated,
malaria practically ceases in that monsoon, and as
the amount of rain which falls during this period
is not excessive (except in portions of the Kadur
district), this season is an extremely pleasant one
for a forest outing.

The 15th of June is a good day to fix for the
start, as the monsoon nearly always bursts before
that date, but I would not advise sportsmen to go
into the forests before the latter is fairly on, and
therefore before the heavy rain which ushers it in
has washed away the germs of malaria.

I recommend the sportsmen to take one hill tent,
fourteen feet square, for themselves, and a rowtie
for their servants ; but, if luxuriously inclined,
they might take a second hill tent for their own
accommodation.

In some places they will find forest lodges, and
they should ask the district forest officer to kindly
permit them to occupy these when he does not
personally require their use. An ample supply of
soda-water should be carried, and not a drop of
jungle water drunk unless it has, to the sportsman s
own knowledge^ been boiled.

Folding camp cots, standing as high from the
ground as can be procured, should be taken, as also
mosquito curtains of fine net, or, if the weather be
cool enough to admit of their use, then better still
of "Mul Mul." Without getting them specially

79

BULLET AND SHOT

made, it is not easy to procure camp cots of, say,
2 feet 9 inches in height, but it is better to have
such constructed than to run any risk of incurring
malarial fever. Although, as I have stated above,
malaria practically ceases in the monsoon, a dry
period may supervene in which it can be revived ;
and it may, and, I doubt not, does, linger at all
times in certain unfavoured spots. The higher
above the ground the sportsman may sleep, the
less risk there is of his suffering from malaria —
even during the unhealthy season in the forests —
and he must at all seasons sleep under mosquito
curtains. The mosquito curtain has long been
recognised as a safeguard against malaria, and a
medical savant has now propounded the somewhat
startling theory, that the poison of malaria (so-
called) is in reality originated by a diseased con-
dition in the mosquito itself, and is conveyed and
communicated to man by that insect, and many
elaborate experiments are being performed to test
the truth of this proposition.

The remarks, under hill shooting, on the necessity
of obtaining a shooting licence (where one is
required), and of asking for the assistance of the
revenue and forest authorities, apply with equal
force in the case of the low-country forests.

For bison shooting in the latter, I prefer boots
•of soft native leather, made, as I have previously
recommended, without heels, and furnished with
only a few small nails to prevent slipping. Heels
make such a noise as no one who has not tested
it would believe possible, and the " tump tump " of

80

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

heeled boots should be avoided where one very
frequently gets extremely close to game before
seeing it. I used to get my shooting boots made
by a native chuckler. They did not last long, but
then they cost only Rs. 4 (about five shillings) per
pair, and they were soft and did not gall the
feet.

After a day's shooting in wet weather, boots
should be filled with horse-gram, or with oats, to
dry the insides by absorption, and be, moreover,
well greased outside. If boots used in wet weather
should have been allowed to dry and get hard with-
out the use of any lubricant, the best emollient is
castor oil. The tongues of all shooting boots
should be stitched on to the uppers right up to
the top. Most sportsmen consider that a brown,
canvas-covered Elwood's topee is sufficient pro-
tection in forest shooting during the monsoon, but
personally I prefer the topee recommended above
for use in hill shooting. When wearing one of
these in the monsoon, a mackintosh cover to slip
over it in the event of rain coming on is very
necessary, otherwise the hat will absorb a great
amount of water, and will feel nearly as heavy as
lead. I have also taken out in my luncheon bag
a soft felt "terai" hat, which I have worn when
there was no sun (or during rain), exchanging it
for my sola topee whenever the sun reappeared,
and this is a plan which I can thoroughly recom-
mend. Of course, in very wet weather, with a
total absence of sun, or in very dense forests,
wherein one is always under partial shade, an
G 81

BULLET AND SHOT

El wood's brown topee is about the best head-gear ;
still, I should not care to do much work in the sun
in it, and it must be remembered that, though at
starting from camp in the morning it may be wet
and cold, a hot sun may come out at any time
during the day.

The sportsmen can suit themselves as to clothes,
but I recommend the same for bison shooting in
the forests on the plains, in the monsoon, as I did
when treating of hill shooting.

A mackintosh coat with sleeves, and cut short
to about the knees, is very useful to slip on in
heavy rain, and may save the sportsman who
carries one from many a chill — less by keeping
him dry, than by keeping him warm.

In the dry weather, however, I recommend, in
place of tweed knickerbockers, breeches of the
above-mentioned Basel Mission Shikar cloth, made
to button round the leg just above the boot, and
a pair of soft, flexible, light gaiters over these —
provided only that there are no leeches in the
forest, in which event leech-gaiters or putties may
be worn.

Upon carrying cartridges in the monsoon, some-
thing must be said. All cartridges taken out in
wet weather should be made waterproof by smear-
ing round the cap in the centre of the base of the
cartridge an atom of a mixture made by melting
together bees' wax and ghee (clarified butter used
in place of lard in cookery). If brass cases be
used, this, and the pouring of a little of the same
mixture when melted over the bullet, will render

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

the cartridge quite water-tight, but when paper
cases are taken out, further precautions against
damp are necessary. For some years I used an
8-bore rifle taking paper cases, and for its cartridges
I found the following devices very useful. Firstly,
I had a belt made with two leather cases (one to
come on each side of the body when the belt was
buckled on), each case consisting of four leather
stalls lined with tin cylinders, of exactly the size
into which an 8-bore cartridge will fit, a stout
leather flap covering the whole, and buttoning
below its top.

Secondly, for carrying spare ammunition, I had
a magazine made on the principle of one of the
above cases, with this difference, that tin boxes
exactly holding six cartridges each, and so admitting
of no rattling, took the place of the tin cylinders
holding one cartridge apiece, but in lieu of four
cylinders, the magazine had but three, and the tin
covers of the boxes were also put on, and the
leather flap buttoned over the latter.

I seldom put on the belt except when going up
to an elephant ; in which case, although I have
seen the men behave remarkably well when I
should not have expected it of them, I always
preferred to feel independent of extraneous assist-
ance, and to carry some cartridges on my person.
I had been so nearly killed by an elephant when
quite a beginner in big game shooting, owing to
my companion and all the men running away, and
taking with them my spare guns and ammunition,
that I preferred to have some cartridges at hand

83

BULLET AND SHOT

under my own control in subsequent encounters
with that ponderous animal. A leather case, made
to hold ten or a dozen express cartridges and
fitting on to a belt, is also useful ; and a tin cylinder
in each stall will render the extraction of the
cartridges all the easier, as well as serving as
protection against a knock which might dent their
contents if the stalls consisted of plain leather
only.

For carrying luncheon, a most useful carrier is
an invention of my own, viz., a stout leather bag
with five divisions, each of which will hold either
a quart bottle of cold tea, or two bottles of soda-
water (the upper bottle being inverted), or a
tumbler (two if required), and a packet of sand-
wiches. Thus, utilising one division for the
tumblers and sandwiches, my bag will carry in
addition either four quart bottles of cold tea, or
eight bottles of soda-water. I have found this
bag a most useful institution, whether out tiger,
elephant, or bison shooting in the jungles, antelope
shooting in the plains, or ibex shooting on the
hills ; while for snipe shooting in Mysore (but here
it requires to be supplemented by a further store
of fluid, for the thirst generated by snipe shooting
is something to be remembered) it is also excellent.
I preferred, however, when snipe shooting in the
Madura district, to carry a box of ice, and to ice
my soda-water bottles therein, as the sun in that
part of India is very powerful.

I do not recommend re-capping of any cartridge
cases used in big game shooting. One gets so

84

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

few shots (comparatively) that re-capping, with the
possibility of a miss-fire, or a badly fitting, some-
what expanded case as the result, is in my opinion
false economy.

In the low-country forests, the sportsmen may
go in for whatever luxuries they may choose to
carry, since carts are always obtainable through
the revenue subordinates (provided that orders for
their assistance have been sent by the head of the
district), and all resolves itself into a question as
to how much money the former may wish to expend
on personal comforts. In any case, however, my
counsel to all sportsmen going out into the jungles
is live as well as you can, for, upon doing this,
health in a great measure depends.

The liability of native servants to suffer from
sickness in camp is a fertile source of extreme
worry and inconvenience to their master. Of
course, a servant, who is accustomed to the nightly
attractions and dissipations of the bazaar, frequently
feigns illness in order to be allowed to return to
his low amusements — at any rate after the novelty
of camp-life has worn off, — but in too many cases
the illness is real, and it behoves the sportsman to
do all he can to prevent his following from getting
sick, as much for their sake as for his own. I used
to try to get my camp servants to sleep on a
mechan (or platform), erected specially for them
inside their own tent and covered with grass ; but,
after having, at the cost of much trouble to myself,
had the said mechan erected under my own personal
supervision, I have found them sleeping on the

85

BULLET AND SHOT

ground. Truly it is difficult to know how to save
such people from the consequences of their own
carelessness and apathy.

One great factor in the preservation of health
in India is attention to the internal economy, and
every servant should be warned, should the
slightest symptoms of his requiring one occur,
to at once come to his master and ask for a
purgative.

In India almost every ailment, from whatever
cause originating, appears to cause a rise in the
temperature of the body ; consequently, when a
native ''boy" comes up and says that he has
"plenty bad fever," his master's first inquiry
should be directed towards ascertaining whether
he stands in need of the above-mentioned cor-
rective, and if so, it should be administered in
potent form (for natives require something very
moving) at once.

Before starting on a jungle trip, every servant
should be supplied with a suit of warm clothes
and a blanket, and, in the rains, a waterproof cape
and a waterproof turban cover should be given
also.

I have tried — but I believe it to be useless to try
— to induce them to boil their drinking water when
in camp, and I don't suppose that other sportsmen
are likely to succeed better than I have done in
this particular. Of course they would say that
they do so, if they knew that it would please their
master to be told this.

If a servant should get seriously ill in camp,

86

HINTS TO BEGINNERS

his master must personally see that he is properly
attended to, and fed with nourishing and suitable
food. A very useful book on medical treatment
in India is Moore s Family Medicine, by Sir
William Moore, k.c. i.e.

87

CHAPTER VI.

THE WILD BUFFALO, THE YAK, AND THE TSINE
THE WILD BUFFALO {Bubalus ami)

THE wild buffalo stands about fifteen to sixteen
hands in height at the shoulder, and is a
massive, ponderous animal, with enormous horns,
which are often longer in the case of the female
than are the thicker trophies carried by the bull.
The habitats in India of this animal are the
Northern and Central Provinces, with part of
Bengal. Buffaloes are not found in the wild state
in Southern India, though, curiously enough, they
reappear in Ceylon. In the Terai, Assam, and
the Sunderbunds, wild buffalo are plentiful.

Except in size, dimensions of horns, activity and
general appearance (in all of which respects the
wild animal is much the superior), he resembles
closely his tame congener, which, as a milk and
butter producer, as well as for the purposes of
ploughing and of draught, is so generally kept
in a domesticated state all over India. Even the
latter animals vary much with locality, the tame
race in Assam, on the Neilgherry hills, and in
Dharwar, showing a very marked superiority over
the village buffalo of most parts of the country, the
latter being but a miserable animal by comparison.

THE WILD BUFFALO

According to Rowland Ward, the record horns
of the wild buffalo are a pair in the British
Museum, each measuring 77f inches In length, and
^7i i" S^^^^ ^t the base. The sex of the animal
which carried these magnificent trophies is not
stated. A single bull's horn, also in the same
museum and quoted by Ward, measures yy^ inches
in length, its girth measurement being exactly
the same as that of the former pair, General
Kinloch says that the horns of the bull, measured
from the tip of one across the forehead to the
tip of the other, usually attain a length of about
8 feet, with a girth measurement of about
1 6 inches, those of the cow being usually longer,
though slenderer. He states, however, that he
has heard, on the best authority, of a pair of bull's
horns measuring by the said method 12 feet

7 inches, and thick in proportion, and has also
heard of a cow's head measuring 13 feet. He
personally bagged a bull whose head measured

8 feet 3 inches. Lieutenant-Colonel R. Heber
Percy, in the Badminton volume, considers about
8 feet in length, and 16 inches in girth at the base,
the average measurements of a good bull's head.

The wild buffalo is certainly a cranky, bad-
tempered and " three-cornered " brute (his tame
congeners in Assam and on the Nilgiri hills are
just the same), and he is as obstinate as a mule.
He is liable to attack without provocation, though
instances of such action on his part are compara-
tively infrequent. When wounded, however, a
wild buffalo is a very savage and dangerous

BULLET AND SHOT

antagonist, as Captain Baldwin, the author of
The Large and Small Game of Bengal, found to
his cost, since he underwent a severe pommelling'
by a bull which he had hit.

Although I have never bagged a specimen, the
wild buffalo was one of the first beasts at which
I fired after my arrival in India in the days of
my youth.

Close to the tea estate in Assam on which I was
then residing, lay a large expanse of open swamp
and rice land, beyond which stretched a vast tract
of high reeds and grass, forming a very dense,
as well as high jungle. From the latter, a wild
bull buffalo used to visit and appropriate the herd
of tame females, which, in the season when there
was no rice cultivation, were accustomed to graze
in the swamp and in the area devoted to that
cereal. Upon many occasions I attempted to
shoot this bull, but as I had to plunge through
water up to my knees, and as, moreover, the
ground on which the herd was usually found was
quite open and destitute of all cover, the animal
would always move off before I could approach
near enough to put an 8-bore bullet into him, and
long shots at the bull, with this most unsuitable
weapon for long-range work, only resulted in
misses. One day, however, I came close upon
the herd, which was upon this occasion grazing
where there was some cover, and a bull, which
I took to be the wild one, dashed past me alarmed
at my presence, receiving as he passed a 2-ounce
bullet ; but this animal unfortunately proved to

90

THE WILD BUFFALO

be a tame one ! My bullet had (luckily for me)
drilled a hole right through him too high for the
vitals, and too low to injure the spine, so the injury
being but a temporary one, the compensation which
I had to pay was far more moderate than it would
have been had I killed the bull.

One evening, when out with a 12-bore rifle,
while on the same estate, I visited a narrow open
in dense reed and grass jungle, in the hope of
finding wild pigs feeding there (I had, when out
with a shot-gun, previously seen a sounder of pig
in that spot). In place of pigs, I found a herd
of buffalo. I could not be sure whether they
were wild or tame animals, so to settle the point
I showed myself, and they stampeded, one big
beast pulling up at the edge of the jungle and
turning round to look. My shot at it was, how-
ever, ineffectual, and it disappeared in the dense,
high reeds.

Another evening I visited the same spot, this
time taking my 8-bore rifle. It was devoid of
game, but further on in the jungle was a pond,
and on proceeding to look at this, I found a single
buffalo grazing at its edge. I made a careful stalk
in, and gave the bull both barrels. He rushed
into a dense patch of high reed and grass, and
I could hear him snorting and blowing inside —
evidently very sick — but as it was getting dusk,
I was obliged to leave him to his own devices.
Next morning I went to look for him, and found
him in the same place. He jumped up close to
me and went off, but in such jungle a man on

91

BULLET AND SHOT

foot was quite helpless. I foolishly followed him
up for some distance, but did not see him again
— probably luckily for myself, for the only sight
of him which I could well have obtained would
have been that of his head, at very close quarters,
had he charged me !

I then procured an elephant, and tried to obtain
a view of the bull from its back, but found it
hopeless. So high were the reeds, that the cover
was often above my head as I sat on my lofty
perch, and we failed to track him up. A few
days later I heard that the bull had been found
dead, and that he had a ring in his nose. It
appeared that he was once tame, but had become
quite wild (very possibly his father was a wild bull).

Some Assamese came up to my bungalow stating
that I had shot their bull, and demanding com-
pensation, adding by way of proof that they had
found the cartridge cases. My reply was, I fear,
not very polite, and they went off, but did not
attempt to enforce their claim in a court of law.
The fact was that the bull had reverted to a state
of nature, and was quite beyond human control.

It will be seen from the above that consistent
bad luck was my portion when attempting to shoot
wild buffaloes in Assam, but I had not even one of
the three requisites — viz., money, time, and ele-
phants— for sport in those jungles, a man on foot
having no chance there. It is often very difficult
to distinguish wild from tame animals in jungles
to which both have access, the latter being in
Assam fine large beasts, and very often, as above

92

\

THE WILD BUFFALO

indicated, themselves the offspring of wild bulls.
I heard of a heavy bill which the then Deputy-
Commissioner and the Superintendent of Police at
Dibrugarh once had to pay. They were shooting
from elephants near Sudiya on the frontier, and
getting amongst a herd of buffalo had capital
sport with them. The animals proved however
to be tame ones, and the sportsmen were obliged
to recompense the owners of the slain.

My advice to beginners under "the Great Indian
Rhinoceros," applies with equal force to buffalo
shooting in Assam.

Wild buffaloes possess very great vitality, and
will stand much lead if the latter be not very
accurately placed. The late Mr. Sanderson, a
long time subsequent to the publication of his
book, wrote to me just after he had returned from
an expedition undertaken mainly in search of this
game, telling me that he had lost half the "buffs"
which he had wounded, though some of them
were upon three legs, and in spite of the powerful
weapon (an 8-bore with a powder charge of twelve
drachms) which he used in that trip.

The vernacular names for the buffalo are —

Hindustani — Arna (male), Arni (female), JunglL
Bhains and Bhains.

In Bhagulpore — Mung.
Gondi — Gera-erumi.

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BULLET AND SHOT

THE YAK {Poephagus grunniens)

This animal, which is a native of Thibet, is but
rarely shot by English sportsmen. The reason for
this is the extreme jealousy of the Thibetan
Government, whose Tartars turn back any English-
men who may try to cross the frontier into those
inhospitable regions.

General Kinloch relates how he tried unsuccess-
fully upon several occasions to bag a bull yak, and
that it was not until his fifth visit to the ground that
he at last succeeded. Cows are not unfrequently
found in the Chung Chemno valley, and very occa-
sionally a sportsman (who is highly favoured by
fortune) has had the good luck to find and to bag
a bull there.

Many devices have been employed by ardent
sportsmen to get past the cordon of Tartars on
the Thibetan frontier, but it is very seldom that
any have succeeded.

Colonel W. (of the 43rd O.L.I.) succeeded in
bagging a bull in his first trip to yak ground, but
if my memory rightly serves me, he managed to
cross the frontier and to bag one bull before he
was discovered and turned back.

According to General Kinloch, anyone who might
succeed in eluding the Tartars, and in reaching the
mountains to the north of the Sutlej, would have a
good chance, but he also points out how very
difficult it would be to effect this.

He states that the height of a wild bull yak is

94

THE TSINE

fifteen hands" or more, the horns measuring up to
3 feet in length, with a base circumference of 14
inches. Rowland Ward, in his Horn Measure-
ments, gives the length of a pair of horns in the
British Museum as 38J inches and their girth as
19 inches.

Great care has to be exercised in stalking yak, as
their sense of smell is most acute, though Kinloch
does not consider them very sharp-sighted animals.
Colonel Ward, writing in 1883, suggests as localities
the Kobrang (or Kugrang), and the Keipsang,
which is about eight miles from Kyam.

Both he and Kinloch agree that there is good
ground beyond the Lingzinthung plains, which
themselves lie beyond Chung Chemno, but special
arrangements would be necessary in order to reach
the locality, on account of the entire absence of
both fuel and fodder for some six or seven
marches.

The vernacular names for the yak are —

Thibetan — Dong, Yak, Soora-goy, Bubul, Brong-
dong.

H industani — Bun-Chowr.

THE TSINE {Gavceus sondaicus)

The tsine, or Burmese wild ox, is found in
Burmah, and is therefore included amongst Indian
animals. He also inhabits the Malayan peninsula,
Sumatra, Borneo, and Java.

The tsine differs widely from the Indian bison in
many respects.

95

BULLET AND SHOT

In colour, the cows and immature bulls are bright
chestnut, and the old bulls black, with a white patch
on each buttock.

In size, the tsine is much inferior to the gaur,
and he lacks both the dorsal ridge and the frontal
crest of bone appertaining to the latter. His horns
are very small, the largest quoted in Rowland
Ward's Horn Measurements being only 24J inches
in length, and \2\ inches in girth. He, like the
gaur, is devoid of a dewlap.

In Burmah this animal is, I believe, shot either
from elephants, or by beating a large stretch of
jungle with a number of men, and he is said to be
more pugnaciously inclined when wounded than is
the gaur.

The vernacular name for this animal is —
Burmese — Tsoing.

Note. — For an article dealing at length with this animal, see
appendix.

96

CHAPTER VII.
THE TIGER {FELIS TIGRIS)

DESPITE the facts that so many English
people have relations and friends earning
their living in India, and that so many Englishmen
of means now visit that country, it is surprising to
find how great is the ignorance which prevails at
home regarding the big striped cat who is the
subject of this chapter.

English people are wont to believe that tigers
are common in India, and that a man has only to
be keen on shooting, and to desire interviews with
these interesting felines, in order to obtain plenty
of skins.

As a matter of fact, however, the truth is (alas !)
exactly the reverse, and every sportsman has
ascertained the falsity of the pleasing fiction so
soon after his arrival in India as his circumstances
may have rendered it possible for him to go out
tiger shooting. Many keen sportsmen have been
out in India for a number of years, have spent a
good deal of both time and money in trying to
bag tigers, but have not succeeded in slaying even
one.

The fact is that tigers are necessarily rare
H 97

BULLET AND SHOT

animals, for they prey ordinarily upon other ferce
natMrcBy and it follows from this that were they to
become plentiful in any one locality, the game
would be killed off and the tigers forced to migrate.
The ultimate result would undoubtedly be that the
tiger would become extinct. Nature, however,
maintains so even a balance that this danger has
been completely guarded against ; and, although
the eventual extinction of the tiger is probable,
there are so many vast solitudes but rarely in-
habited by man in the immense continent of India
that, although he is an uncommon beast, his
extermination is still very far off.

But for the havoc wrought by man amongst
the wild animals upon which the tiger preys, there
would no doubt be food for more of the latter ;
but the fact being that the country bristles with
guns in the hands of natives who shoot only for
the pot, and who spare neither females nor young,
and as moreover there are so many meat-eating
castes that shooting venison for sale is a profitable
business, deer, etc., will soon be exterminated in
forested areas near villages ; and the tiger, his
food supply being cut off, will be forced to seek
haunts more remote from the borders of civilisation,
where game may still exist.

Unfortunately, a reward, which is in Mysore as
high as fifty rupees, is paid for the destruction of
each tiger. Now when we reflect that a forest
guard in Mysore draws pay at the rate of only
six rupees per mensem in most localities, we can
well imagine how profitable a business it must be

98

THE TIGER

for a man of his class to shoot deer, etc., for the
purpose of sale, and to occasionally shoot a tiger
for the sake of the reward.

This, then, is another reason why tigers are
even rarer than Nature requires them to be, for,
owing to the scarcity of the tiger's natural food
which is fast being exterminated by native gunners,
the former are compelled to take toll of the
villagers' cattle, and then comes the chance of the
native, who, lying perdu in perfect safety in a
tree, watches for the return of the slayer to feed
upon his victim. Should the tiger so return, he
is either killed, wounded, or missed, and seriously
scared by the would-be bagger of so many rupees !
I have, however, heard of a case in which the
ambushed native was so struck by the imposing
appearance of the animal, to shoot which he was
watching, that he was too scared to fire at all,
and the tiger ate the carcass before the eyes of
the man, who remained all night in the tree, afraid
to descend !

If Government were to abolish the reward,
natives would no longer have any interest in
shooting tigers, except, of course, any such as
might become great oppressors of any one village,
in which latter event the beasts would get very
short shrift. In my opinion the time has come
when the reward ought to be abolished, for, while
tigers are so rare, guns are so very common, that
there is no fear of any community, which might
suffer heavily from the rapacity of a tiger, failing
to take steps to rid itself of him.

9^

BULLET AND SHOT

Tigers are great travellers, and each one wanders
over a very large tract of country, not killing cattle
often near to any one village, but taking one here
and one there, frequently in places at long distances
apart.

How many animals a tiger accounts for in the
course of a single year, I cannot say ; but I should
imagine that, including deer and pig (and an
occasional cow or goat, if he be partially a cattle-
killer), the number would not fall short of one
hundred.

In the big forest tracts and hill ranges, are
many tigers which confine themselves almost
entirely to killing game ; but, beyond the sight of
their big pugs made after rain in the soft ground,
the sportsman has no evidence of their existence,
and no chance of bagging them unless he should^
by good luck — which has happened to a few men
within my own knowledge — chance by accident
upon one of them when looking for meaner game,
and slay him on the spot.

On the hills, where open, grass expanses alter-
nate with cover, and where animals are far more
visible than they are in the jungles, a tiger can
occasionally be stalked and shot when he is him-
self hunting on his own account. When, however,
the jungles have dried up after the monsoon, the
ground has been thickly strewn with fallen leaves,
and walking noiselessly is a matter of great
difficulty, if not of impossibility, the tiger finds
game very hard to stalk ; and during this season
I believe that some tigers, which usually live almost

lOO

THE TIGER

exclusively upon game, take to cattle killing.
Others, again, seem to prey chiefly upon cattle,
but the careers of such are usually cut short ere
they have enjoyed an almost exclusive diet of
beef for any lengthened period.

Man-eating tigers are nowadays extremely rare.
During many years spent in Mysore, I can person-
ally vouch for only one isolated instance, and this a
curious one, for, though the tiger was not killed,
and though I remained in the district for some
months after the first — and, so far as I know for
certain, the only — murder of a human being com-
mitted by the beast, he appeared to be satisfied
with the one experiment.

As a rule, a tiger which has tasted human flesh,
and has found how very easy a victim the formerly
dreaded man is, continues man-killing — combined,
of course, with cattle, and possibly at a pinch even
game-eating — and becomes a terrible scourge to the
villagers whose daily work takes them into the
jungles frequented by him. In the case mentioned
above, the tiger killed a herd-boy, who, with another
youngster, was driving the cattle home in the even-
ing. The latter, frightened nearly out of his senses,
when upon hearing a shout of " Brother ! brother ! "
he turned, and saw the tiger holding his victim in
his mouth, fled incontinently to the village — as also
did the cattle. Next day the villagers went out in
force to the scene of the murder, and there they
found the boy's black blanket, his shank bones, one
arm bone, and the skull with the flesh of the face
eaten off it.

BULLET AND SHOT

I received the news upon the third day, and at
once went to the spot. The poHce inquiry had
been held, and the remains removed before I
arrived. On my way to the scene of the tragedy
I saw the deeply imprinted pugs of the tiger lead-
ing all down the path towards the village for a long
distance, there having been heavy rain during the
night succeeding the kill. At the spot itself, there
was little to be seen beyond the said pugs leading
down the road, and a few small pieces of bone ; but
upon further search, I found what the police and
villagers had failed to find, viz., the entrails of the
boy collected in a little heap, and footprints close
by showing where the tiger had lain down in the
jungle to eat his victim, within thirty yards or so
of the path. I tried some fruitless beats for this
tiger, but he had moved off, and I failed to en-
counter him.

Recently, while on the Travancore hills, I heard
of no less than two man-eaters in different, though
far distant parts of that large extent of country.
No doubt those tigers were driven to man-eating
owing to the terrible destruction of game in those
hills by natives, and the consequent scarcity of their
natural food.

I have, however, in the whole of Southern India,
never heard of a man-eater of such calibre as a
small tigress shot many years ago by my god-
father, the late Mr. JEnGas Mackintosh, who re-
sided at that time in Purneah. This beast had
been man-eating for about a year, and during this
period she had, it was computed, killed no less

I02

THE TIGER

than ninety human beings. She had lost all fear
of man, and used to break into natives' huts, and
seize and carry off her victims. Several villages
had been deserted owing to the terror inspired by
this feline fiend, and great were the rejoicings of
the villagers when Mr. Mackintosh — a man who
was at the death of between two and three hun-
dred tigers during his time in India — brought her
in dead, and safely padded on his elephant. Women
held up children to let them see the murderess, tell-
ing them to look at the brute who had killed their
father, brother, or other relative, as the case might
be, and it is easy to imagine what a revulsion
of feeling her death must have caused — security,
and freedom from fear, succeeding constant danger
and extreme terror.

There is no animal in India so dangerous and
awe-inspiring as is a man-eating tiger. From what
I have heard and read, the man-eater is even a
greater traveller than the cattle-killer, and his beat
is usually a very extensive one. Over the whole
of the area ranged by the tiger, no villager can
possibly feel safe at any time when he has occasion
to enter the jungles. The man-eater may be even
then watching him, or it may be twenty miles off
watching for a wood-cutter or cowherd there.
Once the victim has been selected, there is ordin-
arily no possible escape. A stealthy crawl to
within a few yards' distance, one rush and a spring,
one yell from the unfortunate who has been seized,
and all is over, and the murderer retreats with his
prey to some thicket, there to make his horrible
meal at his leisure.

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BULLET AND SHOT

Should an armed man meet a man-eating tiger
by chance in the jungle, and see the latter before
the beast could seize him unawares, the former
would incur no more danger in firing at the animal
than he would in the case of any other tiger.
Further, if an unarmed man were suddenly to
come face to face with a man-eater, and to present
a bold front to the latter — more particularly if he
were to pretend to act on the offensive — I believe
that the animal would retreat without daring to
molest him.

A tiger is nothing but a huge cat, and most of
his motions and habits are those of the latter.
Just as a cat lies in wait for prey, so does a tiger
— man-eater, cattle-lifter, or game-killer ; just as a
cat stealthily stalks his victim, taking advantage of
every little bit of cover and means of concealment,
so does its huge counterpart in the Indian jungles.
There is nothing open in the attack of either till
the victim is within one second's seizing distance,
and there is then no need for any further conceal-
ment. A man so stalked has no chance whatso-
ever, and a rifle, however powerful, in his hands
would avail him nothing.

Fortunately man-eaters are nowadays seldom
permitted to live long enough to be able to claim
a very long list of victims, and I should consider
no means unsportsmanlike in endeavouring to com-
pass the destruction of so terrible a scourge.

Amongst the causes which lead tigers to take
to man - eating I believe the following to be the
chief : —

104

THE TIGER

1. Old age and failing powers, rendering the
killing of cattle and buffaloes a matter of some
difficulty, or at least an operation necessitating
considerable exertion.

2. Hunger, the result of the foregoing, embolden^
ing the tiger to acts of daring which eventually lead
to a conflict with man, upon which the former,
finding how weak a creature the latter really is,
loses fear of him, and often kills human beings in
preference to attacking animals which are far more
dif^cult to overcome.

3. Hunger, in the case of a tigress with cubs
dependent upon her, when game is scarce or hard
to approach owing to the season, leading to the
same result as that supposed in 2.

4. A wound, or wounds, causing the same con-
ditions as those suggested in i and 2.

In theory it would appear to be a very easy and
natural transition from game to cattle, and from
cattle to man, and yet, as has already been stated,
man-eaters are very rare as a matter of fact, while
many tigers live exclusively upon game.

We can well imagine a young animal in the
prime of life, who is ordinarily able to make a
decent living by stalking, and by lying in wait for
game near water or near a salt-lick, being driven
by stress of circumstances to kill cattle ; and pro-
bably the reason why so few of such take later on
in life to man-eating, is due to the fact that so many
tigers are killed pretty soon after they have com-
menced business in the beef line that comparatively
few of them live to attain old age.

. 105

BULLET AND SHOT

When the late Mr. Sanderson wrote his admirable
book, many years ago, conditions were very different.
Game was more abundant, guns were comparatively
few in the villages, and what few there were in his
vicinity Mr. Sanderson succeeded in getting im-
pounded, by moving Government so to direct in the
interests of Kheddah operations. If he could now
revisit some of his old haunts, he might form an
opinion widely different to that which he held then
on the subject of the possibility of the ryots, without
aid from tigers, being able to keep down game
injurious to crops. With this one reservation, I
accept and endorse his views as to the utility of
tigers, and I sincerely hope that the great cat may
long survive in the land.

The activity of the tiger, combined with his
tremendous power, his acute senses, and his extreme
cunning, render him by far the most dangerous
animal which can be met with in hostile encounter
in the continent of India.

Nearly every year several sportsmen are killed
when tiger shooting, and it is almost surprising that
the list of victims is not even longer.

Periodically, the question as to the length of tigers
comes up for discussion ; a lot of more or less in-
accurate correspondence ensues, and the matter is
once more allowed to drop until some startling
measurement is reported, when it is again revived
with a similar result.

I was not long ago told by an acquaintance that
a certain good sportsman, who has shot many tigers
and who lived near my informant's house, had shot

io6

THE TIGER

a very large tiger ; a few questions, however, elicited
the fact that the measurement of length quoted had
been taken from the skin !

There is not even a universal method of measur-
ing tigers and panthers in vogue amongst all sports-
men, as is highly desirable.

Personally, I have always treated mine by the
method which is the only reliable one, and which
gives the smallest possible measurement. I lay the
animal on its side, and pull it out as straight as
possible. I then put a stick in the ground at the
tip of the nose, and another at the end of the tail,
and measure the distance between the sticks clear
of the body.

Thus dealt with, my largest tiger taped 9 feet
2 inches, and my largest tigress 8 feet 4 inches,
respectively in length.

The ordinary mode of measurement, viz. , running
the tape along the body following the curves —
however strictly carried out — gives a considerably
larger result in the case of the same animal than is
obtained by the method employed by me.

The length of the tail varies somewhat in different
animals of otherwise similar dimensions, and though
weighment would be the best means of comparison,
it is seldom practicable. It is quite possible that in
Bengal tigers may grow to a larger size than they
do in Southern India, but so unsatisfactory is the
evidence, and so diverse are the methods of
measurement, that although I can well believe
that a giant amongst them might occasionally
attain a measurement of ten feet by the method

107

BULLET AND SHOT

employed by me, I do not believe that any tiger
so measured would much exceed that length.

On a friend, who was out with me when I shot
the tigress of 8 feet 4 inches, telling me that he
had always measured his tigers in the ordinary way,
viz., by running the tape along the body, out of
curiosity I measured her in that way also, when her
measurement became 8 feet 7 inches. Probably
my 9 feet 2 inch tiger thus measured would have
taped at least 9 feet 6 inches.

Sanderson says, " My own experience can only
produce a tiger of 9 feet 6 inches and a tigress of
8 feet 4 inches as my largest," but most unfortu-
nately he omits to mention the method adopted in
measuring these, and as the ordinary sportsman's
measurement is that along the body following the
curves, I think it probable that Sanderson measured
his tigers in this way.

The principal vernacular names for the tiger are
the following : —

Hindustani — Bagh, Sher.

Canarese — H ooly .

Bengali — Sela-vagh, Go-vagh.

Mahratti — Wuhag.

In Bundelkund and Central India — Nahar.

In Bhogulpore (hill people of) — Tut.

In Gorukpore — Nongya-chor.

Tamil — Puli.

Telegu — Puli and Pedda-pulli.

In Malabar — Parain-pulli.

In Thibet — Tagh.

In Lepcha — Suhtong.

In Bhotia — Tukh.

108

CHAPTER VIII.

TIGER SHOOTING IN SOUTHERN INDIA AND
HINTS TO BEGINNERS

EVERYONE fond of big game shooting is very
keen to bag a tiger whenever the opportunity-
may offer, and the rarity of the animal only en-
hances the sportsman's anxiety to succeed in each
attempt.

As a matter of fact, however, considered as a
form of sport, tiger shooting cannot be compared
with bison and elephant shooting, or with sambur
and ibex stalking on the hills. The reason for this
is that the sportsman's own part in it is so very
small a one, by reason of the number of accessories
— it may be elephants as in Bengal, or beaters as in
Southern India — which are required, and without
which, unless he should happen — a very rare piece
of good fortune indeed — to meet with one acci-
dentally when stalking in the jungle or on the hills,
or to successfully sit over a kill, he has no chance
whatever of bagging a tiger.

Of howdah-shooting from elephants, as practised
in the expanses of reed and high grass in Bengal,
Nepaul, and Assam, I have had no personal ex-
perience, though my father (who was in the Bengal

109

BULLET AND SHOT

Civil Service, and had great opportunities for the
sport) did much tiger shooting by this method.

In Southern India, the sportsman is usually posted
on a rock, tree, or shooting ladder, and a crowd
of natives — some of them employing horns and
tom-toms (native drums) — endeavour to beat the
tiger up to him.

This method is often, somewhat erroneously,
termed "tiger shooting on foot," though, if the
tiger should go on wounded after the shot, he must
be followed up on foot ; and this operation is the
most dangerous one which the Indian sportsman is
ever called upon to perform.

Another method by which a tiger may be shot
is by watching for his return to feed upon the
carcass of a buffalo or a cow which he has killed ;
and, unless it be adopted under certain circum-
stances, e.g., when a tiger has killed in a large
tract of forest in which beating would be out of the
question, a chance (a poor one though it be) is
sacrificed.

TIGER SHOOTING WITH BEATERS

Wherever the jungles are not too large and
continuous, this method is the one which is most
frequently successful. A great deal depends upon
the cover in which the tiger is supposed to be lying
up after a heavy meal of beef. If this be of con-
siderable extent, and especially if intersected with
ravines, some of which diverge laterally from the
main longitudinal nullah, in the absence of men
well accustomed to the work, and of a large con-

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

tingent to act as stops, the odds against bagging
the beast are heavy.

If, on the other hand, there should be but one
ravine, or a stream of water flowing through the
cover, and the latter be of reasonable dimensions,
the chance is a good one.

The first thing that a tiger does after eating a
heavy meal is to make for the nearest water, to
walk right into it, and to drink deeply. He then,
unless he should feel inclined for a second feed,
betakes himself to the nearest suitable cover where
he can obtain cool shade, and from which water is
not far distant.

He has generally eaten both hind-quarters of his
victim during the first night, and he intends, after
sleeping off the effects of his heavy gorge, to return
to the kill, and to devour the remainder of the flesh
on the succeeding night.

Bearing the above points in view, and with the
remark that the hot weather, i.e., from February to
May, is the best time for the sport, we will now
discuss the modus operandi of, say, three or four
guns, who may have decided to form a party to
shoot tigers in any given district.

It is essential that three or four natives belonging
to the district, who are keen upon securing success
(or, at least, upon earning rupees as a reward in the
event of good sport) should be engaged as shi-
karries. These men must know the country and
the people thoroughly well, be active and willing,
and also ready to carry out all orders promptly, and
to the letter.

BULLET AND SHOT

It is further essential that unless one at least of
the party be a Government official belonging to the
district to be worked, the sportsmen should invoke
the assistance of the authorities by writing a polite
note to the Collector (or calling upon him, should
that be practicable), and asking him to kindly issue
orders to his subordinates for their assistance. (In
Mysore, and in non-regulation provinces in India,
the head of each district is called, not " Collector,"
but " Deputy-commissioner.")

Without the assistance of the authorities, it is in
many places well-nigh impossible to induce villagers
to turn out to beat, and in fact in too many localities,
owing, in the first place, to the extreme general
leniency of Government towards the natives, and
in the second, to a too often rabid and scurrilous
native press (recently however somewhat brought
under the curb), the natives appear to take the
keenest delight in thwarting and obstructing an
Englishman in every possible respect. The party
must, therefore, in the first instance, and in ample
time, invoke the assistance of the authorities, and
should their request for the same be met with even
a churlish and half-hearted acquiescence, they had
better decide to leave that locality alone and to try
another. In many districts it is necessary to obtain
a licence from the Collector to shoot in forest re-
serves, and, during the hot and dry weather, this is
often refused in the interests of forest fire-protection
— verb. sap. sat.

Supposing, however, that all has gone well, and
that the Collector, or Deputy-commissioner, as the

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

case may be, has issued the necessary orders to his
subordinates, the next matter to be settled is the
plan of campaign.

It is at this stage, and not until now, that the
local native shikarries before alluded to should be
engaged, and in consultation with them the sports-
men will decide upon the best locality for their first
camp.

It is presumed that each member of the party
has brought at least one horse or pony, and that
the one who is in charge of their commissariat has
provided all camp requisites, as well as a sufficient
supply of provisions, liquor, and soda-water, to last
them for the trip ; or that it has been arranged that
consignments of the three latter shall meet them
from time to time at pre-arranged places.

The spot to be selected for the first camp should,
if possible, be a central one, with jungles frequented
by tigers within easy reach on all sides, and it
must be close to good water, and sheltered from
high winds.

Till the early showers fall, generally in April,
there is littir fear of malaria, but, after any spring
rain has fallen, the sportsmen should be very careful
never to cam[) in a feverish locality. In all places
where carts can go, there is no need to sacrifice
comfort to lightness of equipment, and I shall»
therefore, reco iimend one 12 or 14 feet square hill
tent for each two members of the party to serve as
their bedroom, and a similar, or a still larger tent
(according to their number) as the common dining-
room and sitting-room, also camp furniture sufficient
I 113

BULLET AND SHOT

for comfort. Rowties too should be taken for the
use of the servants, but it is unnecessary in dry-
weather to take tents for the horses, since shelters,
efficient except in rain, can be made of bamboo,
with boughs or grass for roofing and sides, to
protect the animals from dew and wind.

It is essential to arrange for the purchase of some
cattle or buffaloes as baits for tigers, and this is no
longer so easy a matter in Mysore as it appears
to have been — at least, in the vicinity of Mr.
Sanderson's house at Morlay — when he wrote his
book, over twenty years ago. I could seldom
procure baits for less than some five or six rupees
each in Mysore, and often very much more was
demanded for them.

A good plan, if there be plenty of time, is to find
out when auction sales of stray, unclaimed cattle
are to be held in the different taluqs, and to instruct
someone to buy the required number, but this is
more practicable for a man resident in the district
than for a shooting party consisting of strangers.
Anyway, at least six or eight cattle or buffaloes
must be provided, and when any one of them is
killed, another should at once be purchased in its
place.

Tying up the baits must be done regularly and
systematically by the shikarries, assisted, of course,
by the requisite number of coolies engaged for the
purpose. This will necessarily vary with the
number of animals, and the distances apart at
which they are to be tied. Great judgment must
be exercised in tying up, for the objects in view

114

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

are, firstly, to tie the bait where a tiger is likely to
come across and to kill it ; and secondly, to tie it
where, in such event, he will probably lie up within
a reasonable distance, in a place moreover whence
he can be beaten up to the guns with a fair chance
of success.

Bearing in mind then that water and shade are
the tiger's main requirements when he lies up for
the day, and remembering also that a ravine, or the
bed of a stream is useful, since he is very fond of
following its course, usually upon one or other of
its banks, the baits should be tied every evening,
and in the morning should be let loose, fed, and
watered till the next evening. Generally a cow or
a bullock is tied by a rope round the base of the
horns, and a buffalo by one fore-leg. Of course
the greater the number of the animals which can
be tied as baits, the better the chance of one of
them being seen and killed by the tiger.

In the event of the baits being- tied near to the
camp, it is a good plan for one or more of the
guns to go round the tied cattle very early each
morning, but not more than one sportsman and
one attendant with a spare gun should go together,
as the advance must be stealthy and noiseless in
the extreme. It is just possible that the tiger
may have just killed one of the baits, and be found
even then in the act of feeding upon the carcass,
in which event he may be shot at once. When
it is necessary to tie up at any considerable distance
from camp, arrangements must be made so that,
in case of a kill, information of the same will reach

115

BULLET AND SHOT

the party as rapidly as possible ; while the shikarrie,
who has been stationed in some village near the
spot to look after the tying, should at once proceed
to turn out a sufficient number of beaters, and to
keep them collected ready for work. Once the
villagers have gone to their fields, any attempt to
collect men enough for a drive would be hopeless.
As soon as the sportsmen receive the information,
they should start to ride to the spot. This they
will probably have to do at a walking pace, as a
native guide must show them the way ; and they
should moreover cause all necessaries for the day
to be taken with them, and not permit the carriers
of the same to lag behind.

And here it is necessary for me to digress a little
in order to describe that most excellent adjunct
to tiger shooting, as prosecuted in the south of
India, viz., the " shooting -ladder." This is made
of bamboo, two stout canes, as straight as possible,
forming the sides, the rungs being made of split
pieces of the same, through each extremity of
which, outside the holes made in the big bamboos
to receive them, a peg is thrust to keep all firm.

About sixteen feet is a good length for a shoot-
ing-ladder ; and at a distance of, say, five feet from
its top, a wooden seat, in place of a rung, is let
in, and is fixed at such an angle that, when the
ladder is placed leaning against a tree, the seat
becomes parallel with the ground, and therefore
flat and comfortable to sit upon.

The top rung should be about one foot from the
end of the ladder, and should be made extra strong.

ii6

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

Comfort is everything when combined with
efficiency, and, considering that a tiger beat is
often of considerable duration, and that the sports-
man will find, if he places his ladder at too acute
an angle with the tree against which it rests, the
rung next above his seat will catch him in the
small of the back, thus rendering shooting very
difficult, and personal ease out of the question,
he will of course place it at a somewhat obtuse
angle, comfortable for himself If the seat be too
near to the top of the ladder, the sportsman's back
will similarly be brought against the tree, or at
an uncomfortable angle against a higher rung, and
he will be bent forward in a most miserable posi-
tion.

Having placed the ladder so that the sportsman
faces about half-left to the direction of the beat,
or at any rate to that of the tiger's probable point
of exit, its top should be firmly lashed to the tree
by a rope — more to prevent the possibility of a
wounded beast making a blind rush in the direction
of the danger, and so unintentionally upsetting both
the ladder and its occupant, than from any fear of
an attack by the animal after the shot.

Even in the former event, the tiger would prob-
ably be too startled to take advantage of his
opportunity, but the sportsman might be very
seriously injured by his fall.

I regard the ladder as an indispensable adjunct
to this mode of shooting tigers. It is light, being
easily carried by two men ; can be noiselessly put
up, and is equally effectual whether a tree, a

117

BULLET AND SHOT

bamboo clump, or a thick bush, be selected as its-
prop.

Directly one beat is over, the ladders can be
carried on to the next one, and be there quietly
placed in position.

Where rocks are available as posts of observa-
tion during a beat, ladders are unnecessary, and
the former are even preferable to the latter, since
upon them the sportsmen can turn in any direction
they please, whereas only about two-thirds of a
circle can, in the case of a ladder, be covered by
each rifle.

I have seen very few trees in which, without
the aid of a ladder, I could sit with any comfort,
and many tigers have escaped from other sports-
men entirely on account of the latter being in so
constrained a position that they either could not
fire at all, or, getting only very awkward shots,
missed.

I have never seen the cushions for slinging in
trees, described by Colonel R, Heber Percy, in
the Badminton Library, as in general use by that
most sporting regiment, the Central India Horse,
but I should imagine that their instability, their
liability to rock when wind is blowing, and their
comparatively limited sphere of utility (they could
not, I take it, be employed where a lofty per-
pendicular trunk, a bamboo clump, or a bush, would
afford support for a ladder) would render them
less serviceable. The portability of the cushion
would appear to be its only advantage, and I
question the danger of an extra native accom-

ii8

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

panying the sportsman to his post. Natives with
their bare feet walk very noiselessly, and the
ladders are never posted very near to where it
is probable that the tiger is lying.

After this digression I will now return to the
shooting party.

I will suppose that they have a ladder each
ready in camp to take with them as soon as news
of a kill is brought in, and also one or two spare
ones in case of accidents.

The local native shikarrie, if he be worthy of the
name, will, upon finding that a bait has been killed,
by seeing the direction in which the tiger has
moved off from the kill, and in consultation with
the villagers, often be able to form a fair idea as
to where the beast is probably lying up, and the
direction which he will, when alarmed, prefer to
take. Much depends upon the latter, for if an
attempt be made to drive him in a direction in
which he is unwilling to go, he will, almost to
a certainty, either break back through the beaters,
or outflank them altogether, and so escape at one
of the sides.

To prevent the latter, if men sufficient can be
raised (frequently they cannot), lateral lines of stops
may be posted up trees, but they are not unlikely
to do more harm than good, since it falls to the
lot of very few sportsmen to live long enough
in any one place to be able to train men sufficiently
to render them reliable assistants in tiger shooting.
Still in many cases it is absolutely necessary to
employ stops and to run this risk.

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The somewhat cumbrous method of placing Hnes
of string, with bunches of feathers or pieces of
cloth attached at intervals about three feet from the
ground, along the sides of the beat, is open to the
objection that the men putting them up are liable
to disturb the tiger, who, if he should suspect
danger, will probably break back through the
beaters as soon as the latter advance. Of course
the posting of stops is open to the same objection,
since the tiger may get their wind, and, considering
as he does, that noise under such circumstances
is less dangerous than a silent foe ahead, he may
similarly break back and be lost.

If, however, there are cross ravines running at
right angles to the direction of the beat, it will
be necessary to post stops to guard them. They
must be strictly warned not to speak, whether they
should see the tiger or no ; but each one, taking
with him some pieces of dry stick, must climb a
tree, and, should the tiger try to sneak out of the
beat near him, the breaking of one of these as
the animal approaches, will cause the latter to
turn.

The sportsmen with their ladders, etc., should
then go as quietly as possible to their posts, taking
care that the tiger does not get their wind, the
beaters having been halted meanwhile in a place
too far from the cover for any danger of their
disturbing the game by talking, but they must also
be kept as quiet as possible by the shikarries.
The best plan of allotting positions is to draw
straws for the posts before each beat. Of course

1 20

TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

the sportsmen must not be posted so that the wind
blows from them towards the beaters and the
anticipated line of advance of the tiger.

One caution I must give here regarding the
tricks often played by the beaters in tiger shooting.
Too many of them try to scamp their work, and
when his post happens to be one from which he
can see their advance from some distance off — e.g.,
on a rocky hill or some such post of vantage — the
sportsman will observe that in place of coming on
in line, they will shirk all the thick places, and
will follow one another in a string along any paths
or opens. This is very difficult to avoid, and
all that can be done to prevent it is to warn the
beaters that any such conduct may cause the tiger
to go back and so escape, to promise them a
reward in the event of success, and to distribute
amongst them, at intervals in the line, any trust-
worthy men who may be in the sportsman's employ,
to keep them as much as possible in their places.

Another favourite trick is for men to join the
beaters before pay -time in the evening, and,
though they have done no work (or next to none)
to claim pay for the whole day. To prevent this,
I used to muster the beaters in line before sending
them to begin the day's work, and I gave each
of them a small piece of paper with my own initials
in autograph written upon it. After the last beat,
I again caused them to form line, took back all
the vouchers (which I then destroyed), and paid,
according to the number collected, at the rate of
four annas (about fourpence) per man. Small

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change is often a difficulty when in camp, and
if a rupee be given to every fourth man in the
line, the necessity for carrying a quantity of small
silver is obviated. Gun wads are often employed
for this purpose, but the natives are becoming too
cunning for so simple a check.

After the sportsmen have been settled, the
ladder-carriers may be either sent back to join the
beaters, or be utilised as stops ; but in either case
they must be impressed with the necessity for
absolute silence, and a trustworthy man should,
moreover, accompany them, not only to prevent
their making any noise, but also their going where
they might give their wind to the tiger, should he
be lying in the expected position.

All being ready, the beat will begin, and now,
except to make a straight shot should the chance
offer, the sportsmen are helpless, and, apart from
luck, success depends entirely upon the beaters.
The beat should not be begun too near to the
expected position of the tiger, nor the guns be
posted where there is a large open ; otherwise the
animal, should he come to its edge, will probably
gallop across it, and so afford only a risky and
difficult shot. At the same time, it is essential that
the undergrowth round the posts must not be so
dense as to rob either of the guns of a chance of
making a good shot, should the tiger approach his
position. The "golden mean" is the safest guide.

When the tiger is viewed, the nearest gun should
let him come as close as possible, and then, when
he is nearly level with the line of posts, and if he

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

is broadside on, shoot him through the shoulder-
blade, or, if he be turned slightly away from the
sportsman, then just behind the shoulder, taking
care not to hit him too far back, and rapidly
following up his first shot with a second, whether
the tiger appears to require it or no. If, however,
he has no spare gun on the ladder, it is advisable
to reload the discharged barrel before firing a
second shot, so as not to be left with an empty
rifle in the event of the tiger discovering his
position, and attempting an escalade. Instances
of the latter are not common, still it is as well to
be prepared for all contingencies. Only within
the last few years, an officer in the Gunners, when
out shooting in the Deccan, broke the shoulder
of a tigress, who at once rushed at his tree with
the intention of trying to get up it (although her
broken shoulder would have made it impossible
for her to succeed), whereupon he killed her.

Years ago, in the days of muzzle-loaders, Colonel
G. — a fine Mysore sportsman — was on a shooting
ladder, with a double-barrelled rifle in hand, and
a second aun at the foot of the tree. A tig-er
which had been beaten up to him and severely
wounded with both barrels by the Colonel, catching
sight of his foe, and being too sick to do any more,
lolled up on the ladder, with all the will, but lacking
the physical ability to exact a deep revenge. So
badly injured was the animal in this case, that, after
reclining helplessly on the ladder, grinning savagely
meanwhile at the sportsman, he went a little distance
off and died. It would have been very awkward

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for the Colonel had his ladder been upset on that
occasion.

As a general rule, however, a tiger suddenly
startled by the report of a rifle, and severely
wounded by the bullet, if not bowled over on the
spot, seeks flight without any idea of retaliation ;
and if he should leave the place mortally wounded,
will probably go but a very short distance, and die ;
though usually, if he receives his death-wound from
a powerful express rifle, he is floored on the spot,
and easily put out of pain.

Head-shots at tigers should never be taken if
doing so can possibly be avoided. The brain of
a tiger is small, and it lies low and far back in
the head, the skull sloping backwards so much
that, unless at the side, and at very close quarters
— in which case a shot through, or just in front
of, the ear-hole will prove instantly fatal, — it is
dangerous to try to reach the brain with an express
(or indeed any) bullet. A good instance of this,
which came within my own personal experience
in the case of a large panther (a panther's skull
is very similar in shape to a tiger's), will be related
in its proper place.

If the tiger be facing the sportsman, and the
latter can see his chest, a bullet placed in its
centre will prove fatal. Sometimes only a risky
snapshot at a tiger can be obtained, and in such
event it is far better to refrain from firing, than to
risk missing, with the probability that the beast
will not come forward in any future beat ; or
wounding him, with the extremely dangerous

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

necessity of following him up on foot as the result.
It is highly advisable, whether the sportsman be
posted up a tree, on a rock, or on the ground, for
him to make sure that his first shot is a steady and
good one, for in such case, if an hour or more be
allowed to elapse before any attempt to follow up
be made, the tiger is generally found dead.

In following up a wounded animal on foot, or
even in looking for one which has gone on with
a wound which the sportsman who has fired the
shot believes to be a mortal one, the greatest possible
caution is necessary. The first thing is to give the
animal an hour or two in which to die. It may
be that- luncheon and a pipe (or a cheroot) can
conveniently fill up the time during this interval,
or possibly the tiger has been wounded too late
in the day to admit of giving him this time with
any chance of recovering him that evening. In
the latter case it is preferable to leave him for
the night, and to follow him up on the next day.
Even then he may be found full of ability both
to travel and to fight on the morrow, and the
wound, which the firer believed was a mortal one,
may prove after all to be very badly placed.

The next thing is, when the following-up process
is begun, for a number of men to advance in a
compact body (the guns of course being in front),
and at this stage of the hunt, a few dogs, not
plucky enough to seize, or to go in close, but
sufficiently so to go ahead and to bark when they
view the tiger, are invaluable.

Men may be sent up trees met with en route

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to look on ahead, but not a single one should
be otherwise allowed to leave the phalanx, and
they ought all to be warned that safety lies in
retaining its formation, and that probable death
to some of them will ensue should a deep growl,
a roar, or even a charge induce them to scatter.
In spite of all admonitions, however, scatter they
usually will on the first intimation of real and
tangible danger, and nearly every year several
Englishmen, as well as a good few natives, lose
their lives in this most dangerous, but most
necessary operation, viz., the following up of
wounded tigers on foot.

A comparatively recent English victim in the
Madras Presidency was the late Sir James Dormer,
its Commander-in-Chief, who met with his death
from injuries inflicted by a tiger whom he had
wounded on the Nilgiri hills and had followed up
on foot.

It is very seldom that a European who has been
wounded by a tiger recovers, even though his
injuries be not very severe. A fatal result from
blood-poisoning is the rule, recovery the rare
exception.

It therefore behoves all sportsmen, for the sake
of their comrades, as well as of the men with them
— quite as much as for their own — to abstain, when
shooting with a party, from firing risky and un-
certain shots at tigers ; for it is often,, not the man
responsible for the badly placed bullet which has
rendered following up necessary, who is killed, but
one of his friends, companions, or native beaters.

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In following up, should the tiger be found alive
and able and willing to show fight, nothing but
nerve and straight shooting can be looked to in
order to avoid a fatal result in the case of one or
more members of the party.

An extraordinary instance of indecision on the
part of a tigress occurred a few years ago on the
Nilgiri hills. Mr. H., of the police, in a beat,
wounded a tigress which escaped into thick cover.
He succeeded in getting her driven out once more
towards the place where he was standing on the
hillside above. He fired and struck her again,
whereupon she immediately charged him, his second
barrel missing fire. Mr. H. in desperation stood
and shouted at her, and the tigress, when quite
close to him, funked the last few yards, and retreated
to cover, into which he followed her up, and there
killed her.

I have never had the opportunity of shooting in
the Deccan, but I have heard much about the
modus operandi in that magnificent tiger country
from various acquaintances (military officers) who
have shot there.

Permission has to be obtained in the first place
from the Government of the Nizam of Hyderabad.
After this, shikarries are sent out in the cold weather
with a number of cards bearing the name of the
sportsman who is organising the shoot. It is their
business to locate the tigers (tying up if necessary
in certain cases), and to leave in each village, the
vicinity of which they may desire to work during
the succeeding hot weather, one of the said cards.

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While that card remains there, no other shooting-
party will interfere with the tigers in the neighbour-
hood.

From all accounts, the jungles in the tiger country
of the Deccan are comparatively open, and it often
happens that the beat is across an expanse of rocky
and rather hilly ground, with low scrub jungle here
and there.

Extraordinary bags of tigers have been made
in that province, and I have met a young officer
of the 7th Hussars, who, during the first two hot
weathers which he spent in India, was at the death
of forty-two (including cubs) in that splendid tract
of country for the sport.

The shikarries of the Deccan know their work
well, and frequently, year after year, tigers are
killed from the same rock or the same tree. Water
is scarce, and so it is easy to show the baits to
any tigers which may frequent a given locality, by
tying out near each pool in the neighbouring
jungles.

The heat in the Deccan during the hot weather
is intense, and the days on which there is no
khubber (information) drag along very wearily,
there being little small game in the country.

A member of a party of three guns, who col-
lectively bagged thirteen tigers in one hot weather,
told me that each of his tigers (I think that he
personally shot five) cost him about ^50. That
party, no doubt, disregarded expense and lived
very luxuriously, for the officer in the 7th Hussars
who is referred to above, told me that his expenses,

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

while out shooting, amounted to less than they did
while living with his regiment at Secunderabad.

In Mysore, tiger shooting is very difficult and
often extremely disappointing owing to the quantity
of water in the country, and to the size, density and
continuity of the jungles.

It is always advisable, when out tiger shooting,
to carry some fireworks, in case of an animal which
has gone on wounded lying up in a dense thicket
whence he refuses to budge.

It is seldom in Southern India that a steady
elephant which will face a tiger can be obtained,
but if the sportsmen should be in a position to
procure one, much risk, in the event of following
up becoming necessary, might be avoided. An
elephant which has not been well proved in this
respect would, however, be most dangerous to try,
since there could be little chance of escape for her
rider should she turn tail and bolt in tree jungle, as
he would probably be brained by a branch, or
terribly lacerated by thorns, before his runaway
mount had gone far. I would prefer to be charged
when on foot by any animal yet created, than to
be run away with by an elephant in thick tree or
bamboo jungle^. !

For tiger shooting, it would be hard to beat the
express rifle — of course, presuming that a suitable
bullet be used. Tigers may be killed with expresses
of '450, '500, and '577 calibres. Those which I
have personally shot were bagged with a '500
express, with the exception of one which fell to
a i2-bore rifle. At first I used Eley's small copper-

K 129

BULLET AND SHOT

tube papered bullets, and these are very deadly,
provided that they are properly placed and do not
encounter large bones. A much safer bullet, how-
ever, is the one which I have for some time past
always used for tigers in my '500, viz., the large
canelured bullet weighing 440 grains. This has
sufficient hollow lead for conveying the express
shock, and also possesses a good solid base for
penetration. Messrs. Holland and Holland re-
commended this bullet for use upon tigers in the
very powerful and accurate '500 express rifle which
they built for me, and I found it most effective.
I have not tried the Paradox gun on game, but
believe it to be a splendid weapon for use upon
tigers.

WATCHING FOR TIGERS

The only method, beside beating as above de-
scribed, whereby tigers can be bagged in Southern
India — except, of course, the very rare chance of
coming across one accidentally when out shooting,
(it has never happened to me when I had a rifle
with me) — is by watching for the tiger's return to
feed upon his kill.

Watching is most unsatisfactory work, and
although an unsuspicious tiger occasionally puts
in an appearance while a sportsman is awaiting
his return to a kill, the vigil is, as a rule, a fruit-
less one.

The usual plan is to have a mechan or platform
put up in a tree overlooking the carcass, and for the

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sportsman to take up his post in it and watch for
the marauder's return. If the kill be in an extensive
tract of forest, too large to beat, the chance should
a.lways be tried, though the sportsman must be quite
prepared for numerous disappointments.

There can be no doubt, in my opinion, that the
tiger usually winds the sportsman, and so fears to
approach his kill.

Exercise all the care and judgment possible, and,
even if you can tell to a certainty from which
direction the tiger will approach, make the mechan
so that if he thus advances he cannot possibly get
your wind, yet you will be "done " time after time.

The fact is that guns are so numerous in native
villages, and the reward for killing a tiger so tempt-
ing to a native, that most of the animals have
already learnt the danger of returning to their
kills without the exercise of great cunning and
circumspection.

My own impression is that a tiger who has pre-
viously been frightened when approaching his kill —
either by detecting the scent of man or by being
fired at and missed by a native shikarrie — exercises
exceeding caution in all future returns to feed upon
cattle which he may have slaughtered, and I am
forced to believe that, before venturing upon a near
approach, he makes a complete circuit at some
distance, when, should the peculiar effluvium of a
human being reach his nostrils, he goes right away,
and leaves that kill alone altogether — usually never
again returning to it.

Personally, I have never sat up all night for

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tigers, nor would I do so. I have always gone
home as soon as it became too dark to see the
sights of my rifle, unless, indeed, there happened
to be a brilliant and early moon, in which case I
have occasionally waited for an hour or two after
dark.

It has very occasionally happened that a tiger has
returned to feed upon his beef after I have gone
back to camp, but much more frequently the carcass
has been found in the morning untouched by the
slayer.

In a fairly quiet place, although it was close to
cultivation, I have seen a tigress (which I shot)
return as early as 4.30 p.m. on a bright day ; but in
very sequestered localities the sportsman should
take up his post much earlier than this — say at
2 p.m. The ordinary time for the tiger's return is,
however, just about or just after sunset, provided,
of course, that the jungles are quiet by that time,
otherwise he need not be expected during daylight.

I remember upon one occasion watching a kill,
which was in a very difficult position, near one bank
of a large nullah. The only tree in which the
mechan could be made stood between the nullah
and the kill, and the wind's direction was from the
latter towards the mechan, and the nullah behind it.
The tiger had moved off up wind, and therefore if
he were to return from the same direction, all would
be well, but the tempting nullah behind was a
pregnant source of danger.

While watching, I distinctly heard the tiger
"swear" at me from the nullah at my rear, and

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

this noise was evidently emitted when he got my
wind, and discovered that there was danger between
himself and his prey. Of course I never saw him.

Another time, when watching, I heard a tiger
roar more than once and not far off, but he did not
appear within sight of my mechan. My impression
when I heard him roaring was that he was calling
up a friend to the feast, but, as no tiger appeared, it
may have been another mode of relieving his feel-
ings on winding danger in place of the " Harrrh ! "
which I heard so distinctly from the nullah behind
me, as just related.

I always made myself comfortable when watching,
and, being a heavy smoker, I always smoke. As
recommended by the late Mr. Sanderson, a mattress
and pillows and a book should be taken up on
to the mechan, and as I invariably drank soda-
water, and not plain water, when in the jungles,
I always took the precaution of opening a couple
of bottles before beginning my vigil.

The mechan must be built long enough for a man
to lie comfortably at full length upon it, and no
plaited bamboo should be placed over the poles
composing it, owing to the liability of the latter to
creak upon the smallest motion being made.

Once the men who have accompanied the sports-
man to his post have been sent away (they ought to
retire talking loudly as they go) there must be no
audible sound. I have always, in mechan shooting,
sat alone, for fear of a native attendant moving,
coughing, or otherwise emitting noises calculated to
spoil sport if intruded at the critical moment (and

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BULLET AND SHOT

no one can tell when that instant will be), when
death-like silence must reign. I have even been
afraid of the beating of my own heart being heard
once a tiger came in view, but this, of course, was
unnecessary anxiety.

I conceived, and began to put into execution just
before I left Mysore, an idea of my own (which
possibly some of my readers may be able to carry
out with success) for bagging tigers by watching
in large tracts of heavy forest, wherein beating
would be hopeless. My plan was to have several
mechans erected on paths likely to be included in
the nightly wanderings of any tigers in the vicinity,
(they have a penchant for paths), and to tie cattle
out, one under each mechan, every beast being
bound by a strong rope, or should a tiger once cut
that, then fastened by a chain. I believe that this
plan would be very often successful, since the tiger
may be in the vicinity, and may even dog and watch
any men who approach his kill during the daytime,.
— more particularly in the large forests — and it
would at least obviate the noise made in erecting
a mechan after the bait had been killed.

If the wind be at all changeable at the time, a
second platform on the opposite side of the bait
might be simultaneously erected before commenc-
ing to tie the cattle, so that the sportsman could,,
after a kill, take his post in the one which appeared
to offer the best chance of success.

It is not probable that a pu'rely forest tiger^
seduced from the paths of virtue — viz., game- kill-
ing— by the obtrusion upon his path of a fine, fat,.

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

young buffalo tied by a rope, would be forced by
previous experience to employ the elaborate pre-
cautions which his confrere on the borders of
civilisation has found necessary for self-preserva-
tion, and I opine that considerable success in
watching, might, in suitable forests, be attained by
this method. I present the idea to my readers. I
had only just inaugurated it, and but one of my cattle
had been killed, when I went on long leave without
pay, in order to practise at the bar. In the case of
that kill, the tiger did not appear between about
2.30 p.m. and dusk, and though I subsequently
heard that he returned during the night, I had
arranged for a big beat on the following day, and
therefore could not attend to him. He must, I
imagine, either have winded me, or, having enjoyed
a big feed elsewhere, was in no hurry for another
meal.

I have a decided preference in watching for a
second day's kill, i.e.^ a kill off which the tiger has
already supped on the previous night, and of which
he has usually eaten the two hind-quarters, but I
have always watched whenever I have had the
chance — first day or second day — and on a few
occasions (out of many) the tiger has come.

Mosquitoes are often very troublesome to the
sportsman on the watch, but tobacco smoke will
keep them away from his face ; and he should wear
boots, not shoes, otherwise he will be horribly bitten
through his socks. His legs, too, ought to be well
protected against these troublesome pests.

A light cap, to exchange for the sola topee after

13s

BULLET AND SHOT

5 p.m., is a great comfort. I agree with Mr.
Sanderson, that watching is very far from un-
interesting work, but after many fruitless vigils,
Hope, the golden-winged angel, is apt to take flight
— till next time.

In the Ganjam district, my grandfather, the late
Mr. G. E. Russell (afterwards senior member of
the Madras Council, but then the Collector there),
used to shoot tigers from sloping pits, dug near
water, and so arranged that the sportsman reclined
at ease, while his eyes scanned the surface of the
pool. This is a mode of watching of which I have
had no experience, and in a country in which
artificial irrigation works are so wide-spread as
they are in Mysore, its trial would not be worth
one's while.

Sportsmen intending to shoot tigers should en-
deavour to enlist the sympathies of the district
forest officer, who can, if he should choose to do so,
render them very valuable assistance.

The best localities for tiger shooting are the
Deccan, Canara, and the Godavery district in the
South; Central India; Maldah and Purneah, in
Bengal ; the Nepaul Terai, and the Brahmaputra
Churs, in the North of India.

In the Sunderbunds, which are easily reached
from Calcutta, tigers are numerous, including some
man-eaters which take toll of the woodcutters
working therein, but the country is very feverish,
and the jungles exceedingly dense.

A fair number of tigers exist upon the Nilgiri,
and other hill ranges in Southern India, but such,

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TIGER SHOOTING IN S. INDIA

though occasionally bagged by beating, are perhaps
even more frequently encountered accidentally.

Captain Forsyth, in The Highlands of Central
India, describes a method of tracking-up and shoot-
ing a gorged tiger from the back of an elephant, no
beaters or pad elephants being employed, but this
plan is not practised in Southern India.

^n

CHAPTER IX.

INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

THE first tiger which I ever saw (outside of
a cage) was in Assam, over twenty years
ago. I was then quite a novice, had not bagged
even a single head of big game, and upon that
occasion I missed a very easy shot.

The cooHe women, on returning from work,
had seen a tiger carrying a dead bullock (or cow)
through the tea, and had raised a shout, where-
upon the robber had dropped his prey, and had
bounded through the tea bushes, across the estate
road, and into a huge sea of high grass and reeds
beyond.

I went out at once on hearing the news, and
had a charpoy (or native bedstead), formed of a
coir rope network fixed in a wooden frame, put
up in a tree not far from the carcass, and then I
got up, lay on it, and watched.

While it was still quite light, I suddenly became
aware that there was something under me, and,
looking through the coir network, I saw a little
cub sniffing about the place where the men had
erected two upright posts to support the front of
the charpoy.

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

The next moment I saw, what appeared to me
an enormous tiger, walk slowly across my front.
The animal seemed to me to be as big as a bullock,
but it was probably only a tigress, the mamma of
the cub which I had just seen. In my excitement
I missed clean, and the beast bounded back into
the huge expanse of grass whence she had come.
The cub must have taken a line of its own, for
I did not see it after I had viewed the big one.

My feelings may be better 'imagined than
described !

The opportunity was certainly a splendid one,^
and I had miserably failed to avail myself of it.
It would indeed have been satisfactory had my
first head of big game been a tiger ; but, alas I
my own unsteadiness, from intense excitement due
to extreme keenness, had alone prevented this
desirable result.

This was the only tiger which I saw during
five years' residence in Assam and Sylhet, though
I availed myself of every opportunity of watching
for them, whenever I received news of a kill.

In the autumn of 1881 I left Assam and went
to Mysore, where I had been offered, and had
accepted, an appointment in the Forest Depart-
ment.

I had previously met the author of Thirteen
Years amongst the Wild Beasts of India quite
accidentally in Calcutta, and first heard of his book
(which, of course, I at once purchased) from him-
self, and I was charmed at the prospect of going
to a country where sport is obtainable on foot ;

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BULLET AND SHOT

whereas in Assam, without employing tame
elephants, and consequently incurring much ex-
pense, a sportsman can do nothing.

In 1882 I had many opportunities of big game
shooting, and I bagged my first elephant and
some bison, deer, and pig, but did not even see
a tiger.

On the 14th December, 1883, on my return
from inspection duty to my camp at Naganipur,
news was brought me that a tiger had killed a
bullock at no great distance. I hurried off to
the spot, and sat on the ground on one bank of a
shallow nullah in which the carcass lay, but up
till dusk, when I returned to camp, the tiger did
not appear.

The next day I went to see if he had visited
his kill during the night, and found that he had
done so, and had moreover dragged the bullock
to some distance, leaving it in a very dense,
thorny thicket.

I had a mechan put up in a tree near, and
caused the carcass to be dragged from under the
dense canopy of thorn, and left in the open in
front of my tree.

During my vigil, a jackal came and loafed round
the kill in an aimless sort of way, and at some
distance from it, as if he had not seen it at all,
and then disappeared in the jungle.

Presently, having obviously made a complete,
or almost complete circuit, he reappeared from
the direction in which he had first shown himself,
walked up to within a few paces of the defunct

140

INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

bullock, and then jumped backwards, as if alarmed.
He repeated this performance several times, going
a little nearer to the coveted beef each time, and
then craned out his neck as far as he could, and
gradually and cautiously touched it. Directly he
touched the kill, all his fears appeared to evaporate,
as he evidently made up his mind that had the
tiger been anywhere near, his preliminary acrobatic
performances would have elicited at least a warning
growl. He thereupon set to work in a very
business-like way, and tore the stomach open,
when a most fearful stench rose in the air and
seriously incommoded me. I squirmed slightly
on my mechan, the jackal gave one upward glance,
bolted, and I saw him no more.

At a little before six o'clock, while it was still
quite light, I saw the tiger advancing slowly
through the thicket in which the kill had been
placed, and from which it had been dragged a
few paces by my orders, so as to render the way
clear for a shot should he come. He looked
backwards oilly once, and then came right up to
the kill. I was afraid of his seeing me and dashing
off alarmed if I raised myself before his head was
hidden by my mechan, but as soon as it was out
of sight, I elevated myself and my rifle and fired
down upon him. As the smoke cleared away, I
saw him slowly disappearing, as if he were
dragging himself along with difficulty, and I fired
a snapshot, which apparently missed. I got down
as soon as my men, hearing my shots, came with
a ladder, and then I found that my first bullet

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BULLET AND SHOT

•had grazed a green stem on its way to the tiger,
who, however, had evidently gone off severely
wounded.

I returned to camp, and wrote at once to Govern-
ment requesting three days' casual leave, during
which I hoped to bring the wounded beast to bag.

I had two dogs in camp with me, one of which,
"Carlo" by name, was a nondescript animal, re-
garding whose origin, and the number of breeds
contributing to whose composition, it would have
puzzled the doggiest man alive to form even the
faintest opinion. He was formerly the property
of an Ootacamund native shikarrie, and had been
much used in sport on the Nilgiri hills. He was
kindly procured for, and presented to me by Mr.
(now Colonel) N. C, the hero of the boxing
match with the wounded bull bison which is else-
where related. " Carlo " was a capital dog out
shooting, in spite of his having lost an eye before
he came into my possession — whether by the horn
of a sambur stag, or by the quill of a porcupine,
I never learnt. My other dog, or rather bitch,
was a novice who rejoiced in the name of " Puppy,"
and she too was a mongrel, with a predominating
touch of fox terrier in her.

Next morning, accompanied by a good many
men and by my two dogs, I set out to follow up
the wounded tiger. We proceeded to the spot
where he had been wounded, and followed up the
blood trail, which led through terribly thick stuff,
in which the danger was extreme, the advance
being of course proportionately slow and cautious.

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

We had in some places to even cut our way.
Presently, we heard the tiger groaning in front, but
could not see him. The tracks entered a lightly
jungled ravine which debouched into a stream, the
latter in its sinuous course permeating many por-
tions of the Naganipur jungles. Telling the men
to wait till I had got on ahead, and then to throw
in stones and to loose the dogs, I went down to
the spot where the ravine met the stream, and
then I saw by the tracks that the tiger had already
crossed, so we had to follow up again. After some
distance they led into a very densely jungled, but
narrow nullah, and I directed the men to let me
get well ahead, and then to come along it on both
banks, throwing in stones, and keeping the dogs
at work, but on no account to themselves enter the
ravine.

I accordingly went ahead with a man carrying
an 8 - bore ball gun, while I took my '500
express, and making a detour, we struck the nullah
bank some distance down, when, taking the pre-
caution to relieve my attendant of the spare gun,
I placed the latter resting against a tree. I stood
on the bank and waited the issue of events.

The beat began, and by -and -by I heard old
Carlo barking, and very shortly afterwards, out
came the big, round head of the tiger, on my side of
the nullah, and only some twenty or thirty yards
off. His head alone was visible, but he apparently
wished to break out at the side, in which case he
would have given me a broadside shot ; when,
as bad luck would have it, my attendant, overcome

143

BULLET AND SHOT

with fear, fell, and the tiger, his attention thus
drawn to my direction, instantly spotted me, and
with a " Woof ! " he started forward at me. I fired
immediately, and he disappeared in the nullah. I
at once shouted to the men to retreat, and then
proceeded cautiously to the spot at which he had
vanished.

There I saw, in the erebean darkness caused
by the dense shade, two fiery balls at the bottom
of the deep ravine. I made sure these were the
eyes of the tiger, and, aiming carefully between
them, I fired, and then found that what I had thus
mistaken for eyes, were but two gleams of sunlight
which had penetrated the blackness of the gloom
below, and that the tiger had gone back down the
nullah. We followed, and found that he was in
anything but an amiable temper, as he had en route
picked up a thick piece of creeper stem and had
bitten it, leaving blood upon it. We carried the
tracks back across the stream until they entered
a very dense thicket, and there I pegged a piece
of paper to the ground to enable us to find the
exact spot on the morrow, and then returned to
camp. Heavy rain came on, and I almost
despaired of our ability to distinguish the tracks
next day as the rain would certainly wash away
all bloodstains from the trail.

Next morning we went to the spot at which we
had left the tracks, and the men began cutting the
jungle to enable us to get through, when, from
close in front of us, we heard a heavy animal
moving off. Taking the men with me, I made a

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

detour, and we found, in front of the thicket whence
the sound had proceeded, a small piece of perfectly
open ground, in advance of which lay a dense patch
of sigee thorn which came nearly down to the
ground, and so allowed of no view. As we
approached this second thicket, a deep growl
sounded from under it ; I told the men to stand
firm, and they behaved well.

In front of the impenetrable cover flowed the
stream, and I put the men up trees in a semi-
circle, the extremities of which touched its banks,
and directed them to give me time to cross its
bed and to ascend the further bank, after which
they were to shout, and fire shots from a shot-
gun which I had placed in the hands of one of
their number.

I crossed and took up a position on the further
bank, and the shouts and shots rang out without
any effect ; and we then found, on examining the
thicket, that the tiger, after growling at us, had
crossed the stream and gone on, and that he was
therefore not in the beat at all when our arrange-
ments were completed. Under the thorny canopy,
we found several blood-stained forms where he
had lain during the previous night ; and he must
have moved from this thicket to the one from
which we heard him moving off (and at which
we had left his tracks on the previous afternoon),
after lying for a long time — probably all night —
in the former. Evidently he was desperately
wounded. We followed his trail for some distance
after this, and found that he had crossed a small

L 145

BULLET AND SHOT

hill, during his progress over which he had been
obliged to lie down several times.

That the tiger could not have got away, had
I a steady elephant, was certain, but that we had
no chance of bagging him, in the dense thickets in
which he always took shelter after crossing a bit
of fairly open jungle, was equally sure ; and that
to press him at such a disadvantage would lead to
a fatal accident, was most probable ; so that at last
we decided to return to camp, and to send out
thence to the neighbouring villages to procure all
the nets which we might be able to obtain, with the
aid of which we hoped to bring him to bag on the
following day. I therefore went back to my tent,
and that evening I sat on the ground in the jungle,
with a kid picketed in front of me, and bagged a
panther.

Next morning, having succeeded in obtaining
only a few nets, we went out and again took up
the tracks, which soon led into a large and very
dense thicket. Six or eight times the number of
nets at my disposal would have been necessary to
enclose the same, which was situated on the bank
of the stream, where the latter made a bend at
nearly a right angle. I therefore put up the nets
across part of the base of the enclosed triangle as
far as they would go, and from their termination
stationed men up trees to the stream on the other
extremity of the base, and also along the portion
of the bank which was out of my sight, while I
crossed the sandy bed and sat on the further bank
at the apex of the triangle. Presently, shouting

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

and firing of shots began, and continued with
vigour for some time, but nothing appeared.
Carlo, however, had gone off to perform a little
personal investigation, and I soon heard him bark-
ing vigorously under a tall banyan tree which I
could see from my post.

Upon this, as shouts and gun-shots were in-
effectual to move the tiger, and thinking also that
he might be lying dead under the banyan tree, I
decided to go and look him up inside the thicket ;
and so, taking my own position in the centre of a
line of men armed with spears, I followed the still
distinct blood-trail, the men with their spears beat-
ing down the jungle as we advanced. After a
time, from almost under the spears, up jumped the
tiger, who went off with a loud " Woof! " Not one
of us saw him in the dense cover, but the spear-
men retired as if but one man ! After ineffectual
attempts till evening to obtain a sight of the tiger,
I had to give him up and to return to camp.

On the following day — the last of my leave —
I went again to the thicket, but the animal had
left it, and we were unable to trace him, so I was
obliged to abandon the wounded beast — very much
to my chagrin.

This was the 1 9th December ; the Christmas
holidays began on the 24th idem, and I had
determined to spend them at this camp in trying
for tigers and panthers.

I had occasion, in the interim, to go on duty
to a place called Maddur, where there is a travel-
lers' bungalow, which is some thirty miles from

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BULLET AND SHOT

Naganipur by road, but only about ten miles dis-
tant across country. I therefore decided to march
through the jungle, with my requirements for three
days carried by coolies, and as I should have no
time for shooting, took only my '500 express rifle
with but six cartridges.

On my way to Maddur, I rode through two or
three villages, which, from their position, must, I
imagined, suffer occasionally from the big striped
cat's partiality to beef; but in answer to my
inquiries in each, I received the same reply,
viz., that there had not been a " kill " for months.
I did not believe the villagers, but promised them
a present if, in consequence of information received
from any of them, I should bag a tiger, and pro-
ceeded to Maddur which I reached in the evening.

The next day I had a long day's work in the
timber depot, and I also arranged to inspect
another wood-yard seven miles off on the fol-
lowing day. That evening, just after I had
sat down to dinner, information was brought me
that a tiger had killed a buffalo at a village about
three miles off.

As I had to go to a place seven miles distant
on the next day, and also to inspect there, I was
obliged to entrust a Mahomedan peon with the
arrangements. I directed him to go to the spot
and to put up a mechan, taking care, however,
that the wind should not blow from it towards the
direction in which the tiger's advance might be
expected.

Next morning early I rode out, did my work,

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

and returned to Maddur, whereupon, after hastily
swallowing some food, I rode to the scene of the
kill. The dead buffalo was lying in jungle com-
posed of large clumps of bamboo, and close to
the edge of the cultivation. Both hind-quarters
had been eaten. As there was no suitable tree
handy, the mechan had been made by erecting
four upright posts and then building thereon. I
began my vigil at about 4 p.m. Half an hour
after I commenced my watch, I saw the tigress
{for so it proved to be) advancing to the kill across
my 'left front. I seemed, in some subtle way
which I cannot define, to have become aware of
her presence even before I saw her. My first
shot through the shoulder knocked her over, and
she then got up and danced on her hind legs,
whereupon I put in two more bullets, which
finished her. Three out of the six cartridges
which I had taken with me had thus been well
expended !

Having bagged a tigress and a panther, and
wounded and lost a tiger, all within a few days, I
was very sanguine of further success at Naganipur
during the Christmas holidays. This, however,
was not to be, for though I sat over three tigers'
and one panther's kills, and also watched with a
kid picketed as a bait for panthers on each of seven
evenings, I did not even see either tiger or panther,
though one of the latter took poor old Carlo from
close beside my tent which was pitched in open
ground, one evening, while I was sitting over a
tiger's kill, carried him off, and devoured him ; and

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BULLET AND SHOT

that same night, either this, or another panther killed
a pony close to the village stack-yard ! I believe,
from the servants' account of the canine tragedy,,
that the panther came into a road near the tents,
and that Carlo, seeing him, ran towards him and
barked, whereupon the brute seized and made off
with the poor old dog. I also tried a beat for a
tiger during the holidays, but that too failed, as the
animal had left the thicket in which we hoped that
he might still be lying.

Captain (now Colonel) W. (late of the 43rd
Regiment) bagged a tiger in a very lucky way
when he was in camp with me at Bandipur in
the Mysore district. He was out after elephants,
and, while following the tracks of two, came upon
the remains of a bison calf which had been killed
and eaten by a tiger, and, moreover, caught sight
of the slayer moving off from the place. He
followed the elephants, and came up with them
when they were bathing in a mud hole, and found
that only one of them had any tusks at all, and
those were but poor specimens.

He therefore returned to the remains of the
bison calf, and making a screen of boughs on the
ground, sat with his men and awaited the return
of the tiger, who came at about 4 p.m. W. at
once fired, the animal fell to the shot, but got up
again and bolted. W. ran after him, loading and
firing as quickly as possible, and soon reduced him
to a sitting position. An old spaniel bitch of W.'s,.
which was out with him, then ran round and
headed the tiger, who put back his ears, snarled,

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

and spat at her. W. now went in close, and the
brute grinned at him, whereupon W. terminated
his career by a bullet through the brain, and
brought his head and skin into camp with him that
evening.

A '* globe-trotter " once had the extraordinary
good fortune to bag a tigress out with me upon the
very first day on which he ever attempted tiger
shooting.

At that time I was in camp at Hunsur in the
Mysore district, where I had a quantity of work
(subsequent to the sandalwood sales) which kept
me there for some time. I had been tying out
for tigers, one of my baits had been killed, and
I had beaten for the tiger without seeing him.

One day I received a letter from Colonel J. — the
then forest officer on the Nilgiris, and the late
popular master of the Ooty hounds, — asking me if
I would help two young friends of his, who had
but lately come out from home, to get some sport,
requesting me moreover to telegraph my reply.
I wired that it was the worst possible season for
shooting in my district, and that there was nothing
to be done then but snipe shooting, with just the
off chance of a tiger, — however, they elected to
come.

I had returned to Mysore for a couple of days,
having given orders before leaving Hunsur that
tying up should be continued during my absence.
The two "globe-trotters," S. and B., joined me at
my headquarters, and I drove them to Hunsur,
which is twenty-eight miles off. On our arrival

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BULLET AND SHOT

there, I was informed that one of my tied buffaloes
had been killed on the preceding night, so I made
all arrangements for a beat next day.

There was a commissariat conductor stationed
at Hunsur, and the best beaters were men under
his control, who had been trained by Colonel M.,
a commissariat officer who formerly presided over
the depot there ; so I asked the former to bring
his men, and to come himself on the chance of his
getting a shot at the tiger.

We went to the place and viewed the kill, and
I drew lots for posts amongst the guns. S. and B.
drew the places on the extreme left and right
respectively facing the beat. My post was next
to S., while the conductor's was on my other side.
We three were placed at only short distances apart,
but B.'s post was far away on the right, in an arm
of jungle along which the tiger might, it was
thought, try to steal away.

The beat began a long way off, and, for some
time, the only sounds audible were the shouts of
the beaters, and the tom-tomming and braying of
their noisy musical instruments. Then a sambur
belled loudly, but did not come on. While the
beaters were still at a distance, a single shot rang
out from S.'s post, instantly followed by strong
tigrine language, I heard a rush — in the direction
of my ladder as I thought — and expected every
instant to see the wounded tiger break out in
front of me. Nothing showed itself however,
and I remained silent, for, from the tracks
around the carcass of the buffalo, I was under

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

the impression that two tigers had been feeding
upon it.

After a time S. called out to me, " I say, Russell,
I have fired at the biggest tiger I have ever seen
in my life ! " (He had never seen any before which
were not behind iron bars.) It appeared at last
as if nothing more were forthcoming, so I got
down and walked over to his post. His ladder
was placed against a date-palm tree facing an open
sward, beyond which was dense jungle.

The tigress (for such it proved) had walked
along the open at the edge of the cover, whereupon
S. fired at her and she fell to the shot, but recover-
ing herself she had disappeared in the thicket. He
told me exactly where he had hit her, viz., low
down behind the shoulder.

I went to the place where she had disappeared,
and crawled under the thorny jungle on my hands
and knees for a short distance, and then, having
found blood, I went back, resolving to have lunch
in order to give her time to die (should she be
inclined in that direction) before following her up.

While we were at lunch, we heard an extra-
ordinary cry from the jungle, and the coolies,
believing that the tigress was coming out upon
them, fled helter-skelter in our direction, tumbling
over one another in some cases in their hurry and
fright.
E After luncheon and a smoke, we proceeded to

follow up ; I led the way and did the tracking,
with S. and B. close on my heels. None of the
natives would come in, nor would the conductor

153

BULLET AND SHOT

do so. For a short distance I was able to follow
the tracks by the blood, though the jungle in many
places was very thick ; but at last I was unable
to carry the trail any further, the blood having
apparently stopped. I then went back to the men,
and insisted upon two or three of them coming
in to track, telling them that they might keep
behind me. They came, and again hit off the
trail, which led through rather less dangerous
jungle, and being enabled once more to make it
out and to follow it, I led the way, of course with
both barrels of my rifle upon full cock. All of a
sudden I was startled by B.'s calling out, " Come
back, Russell ! Come back ! " This would have
been a supremely risky move in the presence of
danger, so, in place of retreating, I looked every-
where in front in readiness to fire, expecting to see
the wounded beast, either crouching preparatory
to an attack, or in the act of advancing towards
us ; but in the next breath I heard him say, " Oh,
it's all right, he's dead"; and sure enough, in a
small nullah close by on my left, lay the dead
tigress, S. had hit her exactly where he told
me, viz., low down behind the shoulder, and had
thus upon the first occasion of his going out tiger
shooting bagged a tigress with a single bullet — in
a country too in which the successful prosecution
of this sport is a matter of very great difficulty.
He had certainly shot most creditably, but was
very fortunate in obtaining so good a chance.

I once had the luck to bag a tiger within — as the
crow flies — about twenty-five miles from the large

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

military station of Bangalore. I was in camp in a
forest in which I had heard of several kills by
tigers, and as three or four public holidays hap-
pened to come together, I wrote and asked Major
(now Colonel) C.-W. and Mr. (now Sir E.) K.
(then both of the 21st Lancers) to join me for
three days' chance beating. They accepted my
invitation, but, as if by magic, all news of killings
by tigers ceased, and if I could have prevented
their coming, I would have done so, as I feared
that they might make an unprofitable journey.
However, there was no time to communicate with
them, and they duly arrived at my camp. We
beat on two days — just on the chance, without
any kills — seeing nothing but a pig and a fine
spotted stag, at which latter K. fired without
effect.

I decided to move camp to Magadi, and, whether
one of my ties there were killed or no, to beat at
a place about nine miles from the new camp on the
day after our arrival at the latter.

I had for some time been tying out about three
miles from Magadi, but in the opposite direction to
the blocks of jungle, to beat which arrangements
had been made ; and after moving camp, the men
brought In the two baits from the former locality,
saying that it was of no use to tie them there, as
no tiger was in the vicinity.

C.-W. and K. then went out with their shot-guns,
while I remained in camp to look after arrange-
ments for our comfort. They had been gone
perhaps half an hour, when a man came up in

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BULLET AND SHOT

great excitement, with the news that a village cow
had been killed in the very same place whence my
tied cattle had been brought back to camp pre-
viously that afternoon. He was very anxious for
me to go off with him at once to sit over the kill,
but of course I refused, and told him that I would
beat for the tiger or panther (I did not then know
which it really was) early the next morning. I
made arrangements for all the men available in
the small village near to be collected and kept
ready in the morning.

I had already made somewhat elaborate plans
for beating at the other place, nine miles from
camp, in the opposite direction on the same day,
and had ordered sixty beaters to be in readiness ;
so, as it was too late to cancel those arrangements,
I decided to beat first over the kill, and then to
ride across country to the other tract of jungle and
to try some chance beats there.

Early next morning we started, being forced to
begin the drive at a time which should not be
chosen for the purpose, as it is better to beat in
the heat of the day, rather than at any other part
of it. Only some twenty or twenty-five men were
available as beaters. The jungle to be worked was
a piece of dense cover at the base of, and extending
partially along the side of, a high, rocky hill, rising
abruptly from the plain. We drew lots for the
posts which the local authorities in jungle matters
decided were the most likely. K. drew the one on
the extreme right facing the beat, while I drew the
centre, and W. the left. K. was posted on a rock

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

at the base of the hill, while W. and I sat upon the
rocky saddle. Above us was a cave situated higher
up the hill whose crest towered above our post, and
while I had to watch the right side, W.'s care was
the left, and below his post the jungle extended up
the valley to a point somewhat beyond him.

On my side was dense jungle to within about
forty yards of my post, and beyond it a piece of
open ground. The portion of the saddle on which
I sat rose perpendicularly from this open.

Towards the direction of the beat there were
rocks far more elevated than the saddle on which
W. and I sat, and two or three men ascended the
highest points and watched. Presently the latter
signalled that a tiger or panther (we did not yet
know for certain which animal had killed the cow)
was coming on towards us, but the beat came nearer
and nearer, and nothing appeared. At last W.
moved over to my post, saying that the men had
come right up the valley on his side, and that there
was evidently nothing in that part of the jungle,
so he would stay with me and help me in case of
need.

The beaters on the other side had got ahead of
those on mine, and as they continued yelling, I
feared that, if there were a tiger still in the beat
on my side, their shouts might deter him from
coming to my post, and I therefore asked W. to
stop the noise. He moved across the saddle for
this purpose, when I spotted a tiger inside, but close
to the edge of the dense jungle just below my post.
The animal gave vent to a loud " Woof! " and raced

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BULLET AND SHOT

across the open in front of me, like a greyhound, in
the direction of the path leading to the cave.

I fired twice, and as he stumbled under a banyan
tree on the saddle, and about on a level with our
posts, W. ran up and gave him a useful shot in the
back, and I fired my spare rifle at him. This con-
fused him, and, forgetting all about his cave, he
turned round and went back, down the side of the
hill which W. had been watching, into the valley
below — all arms, legs, and bad language — right on
the top of the beaters. It was indeed providential
that no accident happened, for I saw him plunge
into a bush close to a coolie, and W. fired two
or three shots at him whenever he saw him, and at
moving bushes when he did not^ and then the tiger's
objurgations ceased, and all was still.

A sandalwood tree growing in the dense cover
below was a conspicuous object, and it was in its
vicinity that I had heard the last " cursory
language," so, as I had some fireworks with me,
I caused some of these to be lighted and thrown
into the cover. Not even a growl came in response,
and I concluded that the tiger had either gone on,
or was dead. We then went down, and I found
him lying stretched out lifeless on a rock near the
before-mentioned sandalwood tree. On examining
the body, we came to the conclusion that I had hit
him twice, viz., once between the shoulder and chest,
— probably the first shot as he raced past me — and
again in the foot, and that W. had given him a very
serviceable shot in the back.

K.'s post was a long way from ours, and he had

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

a stiff climb to reach us ; but when at last he
arrived, we learned that a second tiger had passed
near him, but that he had not been able to get
a shot at it. It would have been luck indeed had
we succeeded in bagging the pair!

We then rode about nine miles across country to
the other place, but the beat was fruitless, and a pig
which K. hit, though we followed it for some
distance, till waning day compelled our return to
camp, escaped.

It is very seldom that chance beats, i.e., those
undertaken without any certain knowledge of a
tiger's whereabouts, are successful ; still, they are
so occasionally, and upon the first two occasions
(in 1895) ^'^ which I beat the Lakwallie teak
plantations of the Kadur district of Mysore for
spotted deer, I bagged a tiger and a tigress re-
spectively. I beat them frequently afterwards,
with much more elaborate arrangements and or-
ganisation, without even seeing another of these
felines.

Upon the first occasion I was alone, and the
initial beat was through a large extent of plantation
between the Toonga Budra river and the Govern-
ment road. My ladder was posted against a tree
near the bank of the river, where the plantation
ran out into a somewhat narrow tongue. Even
from my ladder, the deep bank was out of my sight,
and I had posted a stop down below it to prevent
animals from passing along that way.

The beat was a very tedious business, for not
only was the piece of plantation to be driven a very

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BULLET AND SHOT

large one, but the men, before commencing upon it,^
worked a stretch of forest into the plantations, in
order to drive into the latter any deer which might
be in the former. After my ladder had been fixed,
the men who brought it went off to take up their
positions as stops ; but, on mounting it, I found
that at the acute angle at which it had been placed,
I could hardly have fired had a stag appeared (un-
less he was directly under me), owing to my being
bent forward in a most uncomfortable attitude. I
was therefore compelled to call up the stop who
was posted on the river bank, and to cause him to
readjust the ladder, and place it at such an angle as
would admit of my firing therefrom with comfort.

This done, I sat and waited. After some time
I heard the shouts of the beaters afar off, but their
progress was very slow ; no deer appeared, and I
was beginning to get very drowsy — even if I did
not actually close my eyes — when, to my great
surprise, I saw a large tiger walking along on my
side of the river bank, about opposite to the
position of the stop posted below the latter, and
actually coming towards the direction of the beat.
Raising my rifle and carefully aiming at him, I
fired. The tiger fell at the shot, and I at once
fired the second barrel at the little of him which I
then saw, but, as I afterwards found, this shot
missed. I then waited for some time, the tiger
lying where he fell, making only a smothered groan-
ing noise for some minutes, until at last this ceased.
Presently, one of the stops came up to my post, and
handing down my rifle to him, I descended, and

1 60

INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

advanced towards the tiger. While I was walking
up to him, he struggled, raised his head, and tried to
get up, so I fired at the back of his neck, and again
he fell and lay motionless, and, as I thought, dead.
I -went in close and pulled his tail, and he then
began gasping and opening his mouth. I thought
that he was just dying, so stood close to him, but
did not think that another bullet was necessary —
even for humanity's sake — but still the breathing
and gasping went on after quite a number of the
beaters had come up, so at last I fired another shot
which finished him.

This case affords a remarkably good illustration
of the care which ought to be exercised in approach-
ing a tiger which the sportsman believes to be dead.
Many men have lost their lives owing to want of
due caution in this respect.

After the death of the tiger, I had luncheon, and
then proceeded to beat (on the chance of deer) two
other portions of the plantations, without, however,
seeing anything worth shooting.

About ten weeks later I was again at Lakwallie,
this time accompanied by a friend — Captain (now
Major) G. (of the Gunners) — and one day, while
we were there together, I arranged to beat the
plantations for deer, or anything worth bagging
which might turn up. The first beat was the one
in which I had shot the big tiger who would not
die for so long a time, and that proved blank so
far as anything fit to shoot was concerned, nothing
but hinds and does appearing ; so we went on to
the next beat — my first after lunch on the previous

M l6i

BULLET AND SHOT

occasion. The men told me that one of us ought
to be posted at the extreme end of the long, irregu-
lar tongue of plantation, bounded by the river on
one side, and a deep nullah on the other, which was
to be driven, and the second gun at one side, only
about half-way between the road and the junction of
the nullah wfth the river. I had but a single shoot-
ing ladder out with me, and this had been posted
at the end of the plantation. I gave G. his choice
between these two posts, and he chose the ladder at
the end, while I took up a position on the ground
amongst the young teak trees. There was a stump
about two feet high at the place, and I stood on this,
as it enabled me to see a little further.

The beat began, and after a short time I caught
a glimpse of the head of some animal moving
steadily towards my position through the grass on
my front. I at first guessed "wolf," but the next
instant I saw that it was the head of a tiger. On
my right there was no grass or undergrowth among
the teak poles, which grew in even, parallel lines,
and I decided to let the animal reach this space
before firing. The tigress came steadily and slowly
on, and was passing on my right front only twenty-
nine yards off, when I fired and dropped her dead
by a bullet through the neck. I fired the second
barrel, but it was not required, and the bullet only
grazed her as she lay.

I had ordered a small boy, who had charge of
my spare rifle, to crouch behind the stump on which
I stood, and on no account to show himself, and he
obeyed his instructions so literally that it was not

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

until after she was dead that he looked up and saw
the tigress. So very corpulent was she, that I
thought she must be very heavily in cub, though
I subsequently found that one small foetus — only
some nine inches in length — was all that she
contained.

At Bandipur, on the 22nd July 1885, a tiger
came rather nearer to me than was pleasant.
Colonel (now Brigadiot-General) P. C. (of the
Coldstream Guards) and Major M. (of the Rifle
Brigade) were in camp with me. One afternoon,
after 4 o'clock, when C. and M. were both out
after bison (they had gone out early in the day),
I had just started to go for a stroll with my rifle,
when I met a man who told me that a cow of his
had been killed in the forest on the previous day
by a tiger. I at once called for my pony, and rode
off to the place guided by the owner of the defunct
cow. He was not very clear as to locality ; it re-
quired a good deal of searching to discover the
carcass, and when at last we succeeded in our
quest, there were a number of vultures busily
devouring it. Both hind-quarters and part of the
meat on the ribs had already been eaten. I ex-
pected that, should the tiger come at all, he would
advance from the front, so I had some stems of a
purple- flowered plant, which grew on the spot,
hastily stuck in the ground on my front and right
side, leaving my rear and left, in which directions
the Government road ran, uncovered. I lay on
the ground, with a forest peon who had charge of
a spare gun. Our arrangements had to be very

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BULLET AND SHOT

expeditious, as the tiger might be expected at any
moment. I sent away the other men and the pony
at 5 p.m., telling the former to talk loudly as they
went along. In about a quarter of an hour after
their departure, out of the corner of my eye I saw
the tiger advancing from my right rear. He came
on and lay down under a tree on my right, and
therefore as much out of my reach as if he had
been invisible. The stems which had been put in
to hide me were very short, and I could not possibly
have turned without putting the animal to flight
before obtaining any possible chance of a shot at
him. He lay there for some time — a very long
time it seemed to me — "so near, and yet so far,"
and I crouched as low as I could, merely watching
him.

He surveyed the whole surroundings, looking
alternately towards the kill, my shelter, and every
point within his sight, as he lay flat on the ground.
At last, satisfied with his survey, he got up and
walked, not towards the kill, which was some
twenty-five yards off in front of me, but between
me and it, and only eight or ten paces from me ! I
could stand it no longer. He towered above the
stems in front of me, and I began to raise myself
from my prone position into a sitting one, in order
to take my shot. He caught the motion on the
instant, spun round, and swore just like a cat.
I detected a glimpse through the screen of a bit
of white (which I took to be the white hair on his
chest), and hastily pitching and pulling, fired a snap-
shot at him. Jumping to my feet, I saw the tiger

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INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

bolting off uninjured through the forest. My second
bullet, sent after him as he galloped off, also missed.
I returned to camp terribly downcast, and very
angry with myself. It was the height of folly to
move while he was so close. I ought, like " Brer
Rabbit," to have lain very low, and waited for him
to turn his back to me and proceed towards the kill,
when I could have shot him at my leisure. My
only excuse was the intense pitch of excitement
to which I had been worked up while the brute lay
for so long on my right, in which direction I could
not turn to shoot him.

Whether it was this same, or another tiger which
attacked my pony whilst I was riding him a few
months later, viz., on the 26th November in the
same year, I cannot say, but the latter event hap-
pened in the self-same forest, and at a distance
of only some three miles from the place where the
incident above related occurred.

I had driven the thirteen miles between Goon-
dulpet and Bandipur early in the morning, and had
on the way shot an undoubtedly rabid dog, which
came slouching along the road with the aimless gait
peculiar to mad dogs, and with a big bubble of foam
hanging from his lips. I had also fired at, and had
missed, a muntjac from the road.

Men were ready, as ordered, to go out with me
after bison, and we had a long hunt, with the result
that I at last bagged a solitary bull. The bison
had fallen on a slope, and lay against a young tree,
so we could not turn him over. As, in addition
to this disadvantage, I had forgotten on that

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BULLET AND SHOT

occasion to take out either a chopper or a small
axe, the labour of cutting off his head was a very
heavy one. However, by dint of hard work it was
done at last ; and as my Pegu pony " Box " had
been brought up after the death of the bull, I
mounted him and started back with my men, four
of whom carried the head slung on bamboos, and
the others my rifles, luncheon bag, etc.

The sun, though low, was still shining brightly,
and before long we struck a cart-track made by
rough country vehicles when hauling timber out
of the forest ; and asking my men whether it went
straight out to the high road, and receiving an
answer in the affirmative, I cantered off along it
at a good pace. The forest was intensely still, and
the setting sun shone brightly through the deciduous
trees now touched by the blight of autumn. It
struck me, as I rode along, how often I had hoped
that I might, when out with my rifle looking for
deer, chance upon a tiger similarly engaged ; and
how very awkward it would be, in my now unarmed
condition, were one of these animals to mistake my
pony's clattering hoofs for those of a sambur, and
tr}*- to seize my mount. To prevent such a con-
tingency I made a noise as I rode along. After
riding some three or four miles at a good pace,
I pulled " Box " up and permitted him to walk,
while I took out my pipe and tobacco pouch,
intending to smoke. I had my pipe in one hand,
and my pouch in the other, " Box " meanwhile
walking quietly along, and I was about to fill the
former, when suddenly a slight rustle in the jungle

i66

INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

on my right front attracted my attention, and there
I saw a tiger rushing towards me, crouched low
along the ground as he advanced — after the manner
of a cat when stalking a bird upon the lawn. I
instantly pulled up, and at once turned " Box's "
head towards the tiger, and shouted. The brute
stopped, but did not offer to retreat, so I then
moved towards him, still shouting. He turned
round and retreated, but very slowly, looking back
over his shoulder every pace or two ; and having
retired to about thirty or forty yards, sat bolt up-
right on his haunches like a dog. Fearing to turn
my back upon him, I now charged straight at the
tiger, shouting and ordering him off; whereupon
he bolted, while I made the best time I could along
the narrow cart-track till I reached the high road,
though branches and thorns overhead rendered
riding at any pace a far from easy or comfortable
form of exercise.

Of course, it was only "Box" whom the tiger
wanted — not myself; but it would have been
equally awkward for me had he sprung upon the
pony, for the tiger's own fears at finding a man
under him would probably have induced him to kill
me too.

A good instance of how undisciplined beaters
may spoil a drive for a tiger was afforded in a
beat which I had in 1895. One of my ties had
been killed, but as I could not go to try for the
slayer until the next dies non, I had a second cow
tied, and it also was killed. My shikarrie reported
that the villagers said that a tigress with two cubs

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BULLET AND SHOT

inhabited the vicinity. On the first non-working
day I went over to the place to beat. The first
drive proved blank, and we then proceeded to the
second.

My ladder was placed against a large, shady tree,
on the bank of a wide, sandy nullah. The beat
began a long way off; and at last, after the men
had been at work for some time, but were still at
a distance, I saw a small tiger cross the nullah
some way off, with the evident intention of ascend-
ing my bank. The animal went out of sight while
covering a portion of the space to be traversed, but
afterwards reappeared, and I fired at it with a
i2-bore rifle. At the shot, the tiger rushed past
my front, roaring, and very lame ; and I killed it
within sight of my post.

On hearing the shots, the beaters at once ceased
to advance, and after a little while I heard them
making a noise in such a direction as to cause me
to understand very clearly that any other animals,
which might be in the beat, would indubitably be
driven back, in place of being brought on towards
my post.

I got down and examined the slain beast, which
proved to be a handsome female, about two-thirds
grown.

Had the beaters only kept their formation, and
come on in line after the shots, I might have
secured both the tigress and the other cub.

I am always most careful about the beaters, and
I told the men before beginning the drive on this
occasion, that should a wounded tiger break back,

i68

INCIDENTS IN TIGER SHOOTING

I would at once shout to them to leave the cover ;
but that if I did not do this after firing a shot — or
shots — they were to continue beating without any
fear.

I was very angry with them for thus needlessly
ruining so good a chance after my special instruc-
tions on the subject given to them that same
morning, but they were quite strangers to me,
and in fact did not even belong to my own district.

169

CHAPTER X.

THE PANTHER {Felts Pardus), THE LEOPARD, OR
HUNTING CHEETAH {Felis Jubatus), THE SNOW-
LEOPARD {Felis Uncia), THE CLOUDED LEOPARD
{Felis Diardii vel Macrocelis), AND THE INDIAN LION
{Felis Leo).

THE PANTHER {Felis Pardus) AND
PANTHER SHOOTING

THIS beautiful, yet cruel and treacherous wild
cat, occurs all over India, — alike on high hill
ranges, as in the low -lying and torrid plains —
wherever in fact there are sufficiently extensive
covers to afford him safe retreats. He is by no
means exacting in his requirements as to residence.
Large timber forests, light scrub jungles, rocky hills
clad with very little vegetation, and the dense reed
and grass expanses of Assam, Bengal, and the
Terai, all seem to suit him equally well.

It is not surprising that so accommodating an
animal should be liable to considerable variation —
particularly in size ; and, until quite recently, many
authorities held that there were two species,
respectively termed by Sterndale in his edition
of the Natural History of Mammalia published
in 1 884, Felis pardus, and Felis panthera. There
is, in spite of laborious efforts on the part of some

170

PANTHER SHOOTING

writers to draw the above distinction, not so much
difference in size and shape between a large and a
small panther as there is between a Leicester sheep
and a black -faced highlander, and infinitely less
than exists between different breeds of dogs. All
the diversity in the case of the "pard" is in size,
and in size only ; but of course this very point of
difference limits the prey of the smaller specimens
to dogs, sheep, goats, donkeys, calves, and ponies,
while the larger ones can kill in addition full-grown
cattle, and even buffaloes.

I have shot a panther which measured in length
between uprights (by the method described in a
previous chapter on tiger shooting as giving the
least possible measurement) no less than 7 feet 8^
inches, and I have also bagged a full-grown female
of only 6 feet, while many mature animals of the
same species are very much less than the latter.

To call the one a panther, and the other a
leopard, would be most misleading ; for not only
are the two animals identical, but the true leopard
is the hunting cheetah [Felis jubata) — an entirely
distinct species, I must therefore take leave to
dissent from Sterndale's division into Felis pardus
and Felis panther a of an undoubtedly single species.

The panther varies in the shade of the ground-
colour of his skin, as also in the density and depth
of colour of his rosette -like black markings ; but
analogous variation is also very evident in the
case of the tiger.

In both panther and tiger the ground-colour of
the skin is generally paler in large animals than

171

BULLET AND SHOT

it is in small ones ; while the spots or stripes, as
the case may be, are nearer together in the case
of the latter than in that of the former.

The claws of a panther are those of a true cat,
being retractile, and the skull is long and low.

The most extraordinary boldness — amounting
to sublime impertinence — and the most subtle
cunning are found combined in the case of this
animal. He will dash into a house or a tent to
carry off a dog, but he is very clever in detecting
danger when means are being taken to effect his
destruction.

Panthers, like tigers, can be bagged by beating,
but the natural acuteness of the animal often saves
one of the former, when a tiger would, in the
majority of cases, go forward to the guns.

One day I was posted on a shooting ladder on
the bank of a small nullah in which a pony had
been killed by panthers. There was only a narrow
strip of jungle, but this was bushy and thick. The
beat had hardly begun, when the head of a large
panther appeared for a moment from a thicket in
front, staring up directly towards me, and was
instantly and silently withdrawn. As the men
came on, I confidently expected a shot, but the
animal did not reappear. He must have seen
me, and immediately decided that danger lay with
mCy and not with the yelling mob of beaters.

On another occasion in a beat, I saw a few
square inches of a panther's skin through a bush
— too far off for a shot upon so limited a view —
but the beast slipped away, though how he

172

PANTHER SHOOTING

managed to escape without my seeing him again
I know not.

In a beat at Hunsur, when several guns were
posted, a panther entered a bush in front of one
of them, but did not come out of it. The beaters
came on, but the animal failed to show.

At last, after all the sportsmen had descended
from their posts and had handed their rifles to
their peons and horse -keepers, the young officer
who had seen the panther, not being satisfied on
the point, crawled into the thicket on his hands
and knees, whereupon the panther bolted right
through the crowd, and made good his escape.

At Hunsur, when I knew it, there was but one
resident European, Mr. H. (a Scotchman), whose
health obliged him to live on the Mysore plateau,
since he suffered from consumption. He made
bone manure for supply to the planters of Coorg,
and carried on a general commission agency, also
at times performing contract work for my depart-
ment in a most satisfactory and reliable manner.
He lived with his wife and children in a fine
house standing in a large compound. One dark
night, just after dinner, while the servants were
still going backwards and forwards between the
cook-room and the house, Mr. H.'s attention
having been attracted by a suspicious noise, he
went out to see what had become of a pet sheep
which was tied just outside the house, a servant
following him with a lantern. He stooped down
to feel for the rope by which the sheep was tied,
when suddenly a panther, which had killed the

173

BULLET AND SHOT

former, stood up (his face quite close to Mr. H.'s),
and then silently retired.

Mr. H. took a position inside the house, and
having fastened up a lantern to see to shoot by,
he watched through a small window ; the panther
soon returned, and was at once shot dead.

On another occasion at Hunsur, two panthers
got in amongst a large flock of sheep, shut up in
a yard of the old Government tannery, and killed
all but one of them.

Panthers are very fond of sheep, goats, and
dogs, and a deadly method of shooting them is
to picket a kid in front, and to conceal oneself in
a thicket in the evening, and wait. If a panther
should hear the bleating of the kid, it will most
likely come to investigate, though, of course, if
it should chance to approach from the wrong
direction, and thus get the wind of the sportsman,
it will not put in an appearance.

I shot a very large one in this way only some
four miles from my house in the large town of
Mysore. Overlooking that town is a high, rocky
hill, several miles in length, known as " Chamundi "
from the goddess of that name. One day, a member
of the Mysore royal family told me that there was
a large panther inhabiting the rocks of a certain
part of the hill, and he offered to show me the
place, adding that he had already tried for him
without success. This panther used to kill cattle
freely, and was evidently a fine specimen. The
native gentleman drove me out along the road till
we were under the pile of rocks referred to, where

174

PANTHER SHOOTING

I actually saw the panther on the boulders far
above us.

On a certain morning, I sent a peon to collect
all the goats which he could find in the villages
near the place, and told him to have them herded
all day in the scrub jungle at the foot of the hill
below the spot where I had seen the panther. In
the afternoon I drove as near as possible to the
place, selected an ambush, sent away all the goats
with the exception of one kid which I had picketed
in front of me, and watched. At about a quarter
to six in the evening, when it was still broad day-
light, the panther dashed across an open space in
front, and seizing the kid, lay down with it beneath
his paws. I was sitting on the ground, and there
was sufficient intervening grass to prevent my
seeing more than part of the panther's head, but
he was very close, so I fired at what I saw, and
knocked him over. The kid, which was quite
unhurt but very much astonished, jumped up and
retired to the end of its tether. As I approached
the panther, he began to show signs of coming to
life again, and a Mahomedan peon who was with
me advised me to give the beast another shot, so
I finished him by a bullet in the vitals.

When I had got the skull of the panther cleaned,
I found that there was not even a scratch of lead
upon it, the bullet — a hollow one from a '500
express rifle — having merely made an outside flesh
wound, unduly tearing the skin, and only stunning
the beast. This shot is a good illustration of the
danger of firing head shots at the felicUe. I do

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BULLET AND SHOT

not say that such should never be taken, but they
should, whenever practicable, be avoided.

It is very common for panthers to kill cattle,
and even buffaloes tied out as baits for tigers ;
and occasionally a beat for the slayers proves
successful, though far more often it results in
failure.

In some places, where there are rocky hills full
of caves, panthers may be shot by stalking them
from above when they are out sunning themselves,
and they may also occasionally be smoked out
of their caves, and then shot. The " French
Rocks " in Mysore is a place where these animals
have been bagged by both methods.

I once had a favourite dog carried off by a
panther before my eyes. I was returning to camp
after beating unsuccessfully for a tiger, and was
at the time riding a very excellent little Pegu
pony, two natives on horseback accompanying
me, while the coolies with my rifles were following
on foot at some distance.

We were riding along a cart-track through scrub
jungle, my dog running in front, when, all of a
sudden, in a sandy nullah which was densely
wooded, and which was itself in the midst of a
large tract of jungle, a dark form appeared and
seized the dog, and I saw a long tail on end in
the air. I at once shouted, and charged down upon
the panther which however carried the dog away
into the jungle. As soon as I could stop and turn
my pony, I rode back to the men, hurried them up,
took my express rifle, and, making a d6tour, stood

176

PANTHER SHOOTING

on the nullah bank, and waited, having previously
instructed the men to beat the nullah and the
adjacent jungle up to my post. Nothing appeared,
but as one of the men declared that he had seen the
panther in the drive — in which event it must have
gone back — I told them to beat back again, while I
hurried off and stood on the cart-track where it
passed through the ravine at the place where the
dog had been seized. Again no panther appeared,
but my dog was found. Poor thing ! She was in a
terrible state, with very deep fang-wounds in her
throat, and I made a man carry her to camp. I
had her wounds syringed frequently with a weak
solution of carbolic acid, and, in spite of her very
severe injuries and the resultant swelling, she even-
tually quite recovered.

I once shot a panther when it was so dark that
I could not see the sights of my rifle. I had been
sitting on the ground watching a kid which was
picketed in front of me in a likely place, but it had
grown dusk, and I was about to give it up and
return to camp, when, from the jungle on my left
front, out bounded a panther which seized the kid,
the long tail of the robber standing straight up
in the air. Being unable to see my sights, I aimed
low and fired, and very fortunately broke the spine
of the marauder, whereupon I finished her off. She
proved to be a very handsome, though small female.

As an illustration of the importance of using a
rifle which fits one really well, I will relate an
unsuccessful shot which I once made when it was
pitch dark.

N 177

BULLET AND SHOT

Information was brought me in camp that a
village buffalo had been killed by a tiger. I ordered
amechan to be put up, and later in the day went
to the place. As soon as I saw the spot, I made
sure that the slayer was not a tiger, but a panther.
The jungle was very poor, the place close to a
village, and an examination of the kill confirmed
my belief

Thinking that as the village was so near, and
the jungle so low and thin, the panther might
not come to the carcass till after dark, I had a
live kid brought and picketed, in the hope that
its bleating might hasten the robber's return. I
told my men to go away, and to return with a
ladder so soon as it should become too dark for
me to see the sights of my rifle — a very powerful
and accurate "500 express by Messrs. Holland
and Holland, and one which fitted me perfectly.

When it had got dusk, the men returned for
me, but I decided to watch a little longer, so
sent them away again. It soon got pitch-dark,
and then I suddenly saw what looked like an
upright column of smoke — far too high to be a
panther — pass slowly and shadow -like across the
place where the dead buffalo lay. The kid, which
was picketed just in front of my mechan, had ceased
bleating, and all was still. Suddenly the kid gave
vent to another "baa," there was a rush directly
under me, and I heard the tiny bait being seized
by the panther, though I could see nothing. At
last I managed to make out what looked in the
darkness like an indistinct grey mass lying where

178

PANTHER SHOOTING

the kid had been, and I inferred that this must
be a mixture of panther and kid, so putting up
my rifle whose sights were quite invisible, I fired.
At the shot, the panther rushed off in a great
fright, and after the men had come up with torches
and a ladder, and I had descended from my post,
I found that the kid had been nearly cut in half
by the hollow express bullet, which had struck
it only a few inches from the fang marks in its
throat.

Some time afterwards, when I was in the same
neighbourhood, the villagers told me that they had
found blood-stained places where the panther had
lain down, so that the latter appears after all to
have got some of the splash of the bullet after
it had broken up in the kid. It was certainly a
narrow shave for the robber, but had not my rifle
fitted me perfectly, I could not, in the pitchy
darkness, have placed the bullet anywhere near him.

As an instance of the almost sublime imperti-
nence often displayed by panthers, I will relate
the doings of a pair which committed much havoc
in and around the large town of Mysore.

During my absence from the station, a donkey
was killed within a few yards of a sentry-box just
outside the wall of the gaol. One of the residents,
accompanied by a sporting parson who had come
out to India to see the country, and for a change,
and who was staying with his brother-in-law (the
then civil surgeon of Mysore) sat on the gaol
wall in the evening and watched. The panther
-came to the kill and was fired at, but missed.

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BULLET AND SHOT

After this, anxious if possible to show the parson
some sport, I purchased four donkeys with the
intention of tying thein up in likely places as baits
for the panthers. They were tied out on one or
two nights with no further result than that one
of them was lost, or stolen, when duty rendered
it necessary for me to go out into the district and
to remain there for some time. When I returned^
it was only for a few hours, since I drove in twenty-
eight miles in the morning and wished to reach a
travellers' bungalow twenty -seven miles off in
another direction that same evening.

My house was a corner one, situated at the
junction of four roads, and on one side was a
street — often far too noisy to be pleasant — beyond
which, in that direction, lay the thickly populated
native town.

The compound was a diminutive one, surrounded
by a high wall, and to small silver oak trees therein
the donkeys were nightly tied.

The panthers had been killing domestic animals
about the outskirts of the town, and one evening
an old English gentleman, walking along the road,
saw one of them leave the latter, and walk across
the little park in which the tennis-courts were
situated.

On the night following the day on which I had,
as above described, returned to Mysore for a few
hours only, and had again left for camp, my wife
heard her mare neighing in the stable, and won-
dered why the animal did so. In the morning,
when the ayah (female servant) came with my

I So

PANTHER SHOOTING

wife's early tea, that menial exclaimed, " O, missis,
one cheetah done kill three donkeys ! " My wife
said, " Don't talk nonsense, ayah," whereupon the
woman asked her to look, and she got out of bed,
looked out of the window, and there, true enough,
were the carcasses of the three donkeys lying at
their pickets !

That evening his Highness the late Maharajah
of Mysore, accompanied by the then civil surgeon
of the station (Surgeon- Colonel B.), sat up in the
verandah between the bungalow and the compound,
and watched ; but they commenced their vigil far
too early, and went away long before any chance
of success could be looked for. During that night,
two panthers came and fed upon the donkeys, and
on the following morning yet another carcass lay
beside the three first slain, viz., that of a pariah
dog, which the panthers must have caught in the
act of regaling himself upon their prey, and so had
killed him too !

Had I been in the station, I should not have
expected the panthers to return in such a situation
until the dead of night, when all would be still.
After this, during my absence in camp, great efforts
were made to destroy these panthers, and they were
eventually disposed of by natives.

In my early days in India, while in Assam, I
once rode close to one of these animals, which took
no notice of me as I passed by. It was evening,
but still fairly light, when I saw some animal
running along the rough path in front of me.
I guessed that it was a jackal, until, as it jumped

BULLET AND SHOT

off to one side, I saw a very long tail ; and as
I passed the spot, there was a beautiful panther
sitting in one of the depressions caused by the
removal of soil to form the rough road, looking
perfectly unconcerned, and sitting bolt upright on
his haunches like a dog. Luckily for me, my pony
did not see the brute, or I should probably have
come to grief, for he was both hard-mouthed and
a stumbler, and would certainly have fallen upon
such a road, had he bolted with me.

In Assam, too, I heard one night the death-yell
of a favourite dog which had rushed out barking,
after a " pheeaow " had been uttering his unearthly
cry, and also after a " shikar cry " from the coolie
lines had proclaimed the presence of a wild beast.
I tried in vain in this instance to avenge the poor
dog.

Owing to their extraordinary cunning and mar-
vellous agility and dexterity, man-eating panthers,
are even more to be dreaded than are man-eating
tigers.

Sterndale mentions one, in the Seonee district,
which established a perfect reign of terror over a
tract eighteen miles in diameter, and which in three
years' time killed over 200 people.

The only one of which I have heard in Mysore
was killed, or had died, long before my time there.
He flourished in the Shimoga district, where he
killed a number of people, including a personal
servant of the then Deputy-Commissioner (Colonel
W. H.), who was marching ahead of his master
with the advance guard of his camp. The colonel,,

182

PANTHER SHOOTING

though not a shooting-man, on arrival at the spot
and after hearing- of the occurrence, very pluckily
went down into the ravine, to which the victim had
been dragged, and recovered his remains.

I have upon two occasions obtained panther cubs.
In the first, the animal was captured when he had
gone with his mother to feed upon a beast which
she had killed. This cub was large and savage,
and I was obliged to cage him. In the second
instance, the cubs, three in number, were very
young kittens, and I handed them over to a
Sholaga woman to feed from a bottle. One
survived, and I took him after some time to my
house when he was about the size of a half-grown
domestic cat. I let him loose in the dining-room,
and after he had investigated all the corners, he
went to a big spotted deer's skin on the floor,
seized it by one of the hoofs, and tried to drag
it away ! I afterwards handed him over to the
doctor of the station, who eventually had to de-
stroy him.

Panther cubs are useless as pets. Their instincts
are so strong, that no humanising influence has any
permanent effect upon them. If caught very young,
they can be kept tame and safe for a considerable
time, but with growing adolescence, nature asserts
her sway, and they become unsafe in the extreme.

Colonel W. (of the 43rd O.L.I.) once killed a
panther, not full grown, in an extraordinary way in
Cashmere. He had taken with him a powerful
bulldog, and one day, with the aid of the latter
and of an alpenstock, he bagged a panther which

BULLET AND SHOT

had ensconced itself under a rock. The dog seized
the animal by the nose and palate, and held on,
in spite of severe punishment, until W. wels able
to kill him by thrusting the alpenstock down his
throat and into his brain. Ye gods, what language
that panther must have used !

I would recommend all beginners, who may wish
to shoot panthers, to try the plan of picketing a
kid and of concealing themselves either in a thicket
on the ground, or about twenty-five yards off on a
mechan.

If, however, as often happens, news should be
brought of a kill of a loose pony or cow in an open
field, the best plan is to have a pit dug, and for the
sportsman to conceal himself therein with his eyes
scanning the surface of the ground. Personally, I
have found watching panthers* kills very unsatis-
factory work ; still I have often done it, and it must
be sometimes attempted, otherwise a chance may be
lost.

In the case of watching a kill, I strongly recom-
mend a mechan in preference to a seat on the
ground, since there is so much less probability in
the former case of the sportsman being detected by
the animal's sense of smell.

When a panther advances to seize a live kid
whose bleating he has heard, he is so excited, and
so intent upon catching it, that he is far less likely
to spend time in precautions than when he is return-
ing to the carcass of an animal which he knows to
be dead, and therefore unable to escape.

Should a panther be wounded, great caution must

184

PANTHER SHOOTING

be exercised in following him up. Do not despise
him because he is smaller than a tiger. He is
smaller, it is true, but he is even more likely to
fight than is a tiger ; his teeth and claws are very-
formidable weapons ; and his agility is marvellous,
and surpasses that of the larger feline.

Natives — sometimes several at a time — are
frequently mauled, and even killed by panthers
when the villagers have found one of the brutes
in a garden, or in a sugar-cane field, and have
set to work to mob him.

Mr. B. (of the Mysore Revenue Survey) had
often heard that panthers do not fear a lantern, put
up on the mechan and throwing a light upon the
kill, on a dark night when shooting would otherwise
be impossible. He tried it one night, and had
shots at two panthers before eight o'clock, bagging
one and missing the other.

This method is practised with great success in
the Himalayas, as it is related by " Mountaineer."

My own impression is that a panther is so cunning
an animal that he reasons a little beyond himself
sometimes (animals do reason), and so occasionally
comes to grief.

How otherwise can we reconcile "Mountaineer's"
bagging of panthers by tying up a bait and setting
a light close by .-* It may be argued that the
panther is accustomed to prowl round villages and
to see lights ; but it may also be as reasonably sug-
gested that he reasons within himself that where
there is a light, no preparations have been made to
do him any harm. It may also be the result of

185

BULLET AND SHOT

experience to this effect, for it is wonderful how
soon wild animals (and even fish) profit by the
latter, and I cannot doubt that they have means
of communication with one another, for which men,
as a rule, do not give them credit. It is possible
that the light trick, though very paying where it is
quite novel, might soon cease to be effective in any
one locality after a few animals had been missed, or
slightly wounded, in attempting it. On the whole,
however, I would recommend the beginner to give
the panther credit for reasoning powers, and to
neglect no chance of trying to make him reason
wrongly.

A tiny pet terrier bitch of my wife's very recently
afforded a remarkable instance of reason as opposed
to instinct in animals. While I was practising at
the Bar, and during our absence for the two months,
annual recess (the courts close for that period),
"Midge" was left in charge of a lady — Mrs. M.,
who lived at a distance of twenty-seven miles from
our then residence in Madura.

This lady had been staying in Madura some time
before, in a house about three-quarters of a mile
from our own, the former being usually unoccupied,
and " Midge " had often accompanied my wife when
she went to see Mrs. M. while the latter was there.

Some time after our return and "Midge's" res-
toration to us, Mrs. M., accompanied by her husband
and children, came to Madura for a few days, and
" Midge " and the children (who were close friends}
met, with great mutual delight, at the club one
evening. Next morning, after she was let out of

i86

PANTHER SHOOTING

our bedroom, " Midge " was missing, and upon our
sending out to search for her she was found at
Mrs. M.'s. The last time "Midge" had seen the
children, they were living at a distance of twenty-
seven miles from the town.

As an illustration of the caution which should be
exercised in following up a wounded panther, I will
relate an episode which occurred in the Hunsur
jungles of the Mysore district. I had gone out
with another gun to beat, purely on the chance, as
we had no definite information of tigers or panthers
at the time. Two or three beats had proved fruit-
less, nothing fit to shoot having been seen, and we
had arrived at the last beat for the day. I was on
the right, and my companion about fifty yards off
to my left. The beat came on, and at last I heard
a shot from the left, instantly followed by strong
language from a panther who was quite invisible,
but was evidently rushing across between us. Then
all was still. I got down and went over to my com-
panion's post. He was a man whose nerves did not
admit of his being on the ground when there was
any fear of a wounded feline being yet alive. He
stuck to his elevated post, but told me what had
occurred. I went a little way into horribly thick
stuff to investigate, and found blood. I then
decided to try a cast round in more open jungle,
in order to ascertain whether the wounded beast
had left the place or no. I made a tour of explora-
tion by myself, but kept to open ground, and,
finding no track leading out, I went back and
called up the men — my companion then came — and

187

BULLET AND SHOT

we proceeded to make a methodical search ; where-
upon we found the panther lying dead only just
beyond the spot, at the edge of the open and com-
mencement of the thicket, at which 1 had terminated
my solitary reconnaissance. Now, had the panther
been alive and physically capable of so doing, he
would almost certainly have charged me, from
within a few paces, and at terrific speed, and I
should most probably have been at the least
severely clawed. So difficult is it to see the skin
of a panther in jungle — brilliant and conspicuous
though it be in the open or in a room — that too
great caution cannot be exercised in following up
a wounded animal.

, The vernacular names for the panther are —

Hindustani — Tendwa, Chita, Chita- bagh, Chota-
bagh.

Canarese — Kirba, Ibba, (large specimen Dod-
Ibba), Mutt-naie, (naie literally means dog, but
owing to superstitious fears of naming dangerous
animals, the tiger is often alluded to in Canarese as
" dod-naie," or big dog, and the panther as " mutt-
naie," or spotted dog).

Mahrathi — Chinna-puli.

Telegu — Burkal.

Gondi — Bay-heera.

In the Himalayas — Tahr-hay.

Thibetan — Sik.

THE BLACK PANTHER

THE BLACK PANTHER

After weighing the evidence pro and con the
theory of the black panther being a distinct
species, I am of opinion that there is no reason-
able doubt that it is but an accidental variety of
the common panther. Just as albino and melanoid
freaks of nature are by no means uncommon
amongst birds of many different species, so I have
every reason to believe that the black panther
is only an occasional melanoid variety. Apart
from the fact that there is no structural difference
between the two, we know that in the same litters
both varieties have been represented ; and just
as the common blackbird, for example, has an
occasional inclination to albinism, so has the
common panther a still more frequent tendency
to melanism.

Black panthers are more common in Java than
they are in any other country ; but there, on the
other hand, panther skins are very frequently of
such various intermediate hues as to strengthen
my contention.

I have but once seen a wild black panther, and
that was on the Travancore hills in 1896. I was
staying with a cousin resident there on an estate
situated in a deep valley, upon the high hills above
which we could — sometimes with the naked eye
and at others not without a telescope — see the
fine wild goat, misnamed the Neilgherry (or
Nilgiri) ibex, nearly every day.

189

BULLET AND SHOT

One evening my cousin and I had, from the
bungalow, been watching ibex upon the opposite
ridge, when just above the place where they had
been feeding, he spotted a black object upon the
sky-line to which he called my attention, and
the telescope showed that it was a black panther.
The freebooter, disappointed in his quest, wandered
about for a short time, looking unsuccessfully for
the ibex, and then disappeared in the dense jungle
lower down the hill. There was no chance of
obtaining a shot at the brute — it would have taken
half an hour at least to reach the place where we
saw him — and we had to be content with watching
him through the glass until he had reacjied the
cover and was perfectly safe.

THE CLOUDED PANTHER {Felis diardii vel macrocelis)

Of this rare and beautiful animal, Sterndale says
that it is found in Nepaul, Sikkim, Assam, Burmah,
and down the Malayan peninsula to Sumatra,
Java, and Borneo. I have never seen it, and for
the following description of its points of difference
from the ordinary panther I am indebted to Doctor
Jerdon's work, The Mammals of India : — "Ground-
colour variable, usually pale greenish - brown or
dull clay-brown, changing to pale tawny on the
lower parts and limbs internally, almost white how-
ever in some ; in many specimens the fulvous or
tawny hue is the prevalent one ; a double line of
small chain-like stripes from the ears diverging
on the nape to give room to an inner and smaller

190

THE HUNTING CHEETAH

series ; large irregular clouded spots or patches on
the back and sides, edged very dark and crowded
together ; loins, sides of belly and belly marked
with irregular small patches and spots ; some black
lines on the cheeks and sides of neck, and a
black band across the throat ; tail with dark rings,
thickly furred, long ; limbs bulky and body heavy
and stout ; claws very powerful."

Jerdon gives the length of one as 6 feet 6 inches,
but he states that it grows to a larger size. In
build it is shorter in the leg than the common
panther, and less graceful in motion than the latter,
owing to the shortness of its legs as compared with
its heavy body. The upper canines are said to be
the longest by comparison of all the felidse.

It appears to be extremely rare, and probably
but very few sportsmen have ever seen a specimen.

Doctor Jerdon states that he obtained a young
one in the neighbourhood of Darj heeling, and
Sterndale mentions two cubs which were owned
by Sir Stamford Raffles, and he also refers to a
very fine specimen which was once in the Zoo-
logical Gardens in London.

THE HUNTING CHEETAH {Felis jubata)

The hunting cheetah is the true leopard. As the
word leopard implies, it was regarded by the
ancients as a leonine edition of the panther (or
pard), and having once seen some cheetahs in the
wild state, I can quite appreciate the applicability
of the name.

191

BULLET AND SHOT

This animal is found in Central, and part of
Southern India, and in the north - west from
Kandeish, through Sindh and Rajpootana, to the
Punjab. In Jeypur and in Hyderabad, it is said
by Sterndale to be most common, but it does not
seem to be numerous anywhere.

It stands high on the leg, is tucked up at the
flanks, and has dog-like, and only semi-retractile
claws, which are moreover very small ; its spots
are round, black, and unbroken by colour, and
it has a slight mane on the back of the neck. The
general ground-colour is bright rufous-fawn. The
skull resembles that of a dog, being short and
rounded.

Jerdon, and Sterndale apparently following him,
gives the length of the cheetah as 7 feet, but as there
is a beautiful (or the reverse) uncertainty about the
measurements of even so comparatively common
and well-known an animal as the tiger, it would
be satisfactory to know what method of measure-
ment is employed in each case.

The cheetah is, for a short distance, the swiftest
of the larger animals in the world. Its wonderful
speed is taken advantage of by native nobles, who
keep tame ones for the purpose of catching antelope.
It is only animals which have been caught after
they have attained their full growth that are of any
use for this work ; and Sterndale, quoting from The
Asian, gives in extenso an interesting account of the
capture of two cheetahs by means of snares set close
to, and all round, a certain tree upon which they
were in the habit of whetting their claws. The

192

THE HUNTING CHEETAH

animal is extremely rare in Mysore. Sanderson
never saw one there, and I encountered it upon
only one occasion, viz., in August, 1882, when out
shooting in the Berrambadie forest of the Mysore
district ; and this was a wonderful piece of luck
to fall to the lot of a beginner. Unfortunately my
capacity for shooting straight was less in those
days than it afterwards became, and I failed to
take full advantage of my opportunity.

I had gone out bison shooting after a very wet
night, and was walking with my men through the
jungle, when, in an open glade of high forest, I
suddenly saw five cat-like creatures sitting up
together and looking at us. I at first guessed
them to be panthers, and lost no time in firing at,
and then running after, them. Although I fired
several shots at them, I bagged only one, and I
never had another chance at a hunting cheetah.
I noticed particularly the peculiar way in which
they carried their long tails, the tips of which
curved upwards. The slight mane, too, was con-
spicuous, and the animals looked more like small
lionesses than panthers when in full view. The
cheetah bagged was a young male measuring be-
tween uprights 5 feet 6 inches in length.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Hindustani — Chita.
Bengali — Kendua-bagh.
Telegu — Chita-puli.
Canarese — Chircha, Sivungi.

o

193

BULLET AND SHOT

THE SNOW PANTHER OR OUNCE {Felts undo)

This beautiful animal has its home in the Hima-
layas, to which, and to the highlands of Central
Asia, its range is confined.

The following is Sterndale's description of it : —
" Pale yellow or whitish isabelline, with small spots
on the head and neck, but large blotchy rings and
crescents, irregularly dispersed on the shoulders,
sides, and haunches ; from middle of back to root
of tail a medium irregular dark band closely
bordered by a chain of oblong rings ; lower parts
dingy white, with some few dark spots about middle
of abdomen ; limbs with small spots ; ears externally
black ; tail bushy, with broad black rings."

It is said to reach about 6|- feet in length, but no
measurements of really undoubted accuracy are
forthcoming. Colonel Ward believes that Jerdon's
statement of its length, viz., 7 feet 4 inches, is
excessive.

The ounce is very rarely met with. Even General
Kinloch, who continually spent very frequent leave
in Cashmere, never met with it ; and Colonel Ward,
the author of The Sportsman s Guide to Cashmere
and Ladak, only saw it twice. He describes it as
less rare than hard to encounter, on account of its
nocturnal habits. From his account, it is an animal
which, if bagged by a fortunate European sports-
man, is usually met with quite by chance, and one
which cannot with any certainty be specially sought

194

THE INDIAN LION

for. It is found more frequently than elsewhere
upon the Thibetan side of the Himalayan range.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Thibetan — Stian, Iker.

Bhotia — Sah.

Lepcha — PhaM.

In Simla hills — Burrel-hay.

In Kunawur — Thurwag.

No doubt, by every Hindustani-speaking native
outside of the localities above mentioned, it would
be called by the vernacular, generic name of "bagh,"
or " chota-bagh," just as is the panther.

THE INDIAN LION {Felis leo)

This animal, which used to frequent the North-
West Provinces, Central India, and the Bombay
Presidency, is now, alas! almost extinct, being found
at the present day, so far as I am aware, only
very rarely in Guzerat, and possibly in Cutch.
Doubtless the reasons which have led to its almost
total extinction, are the ease with which it can be
shot, on account of its preferring comparatively
open ground to thick forest ; and its want of that
cunning which renders the tiger, and still more the
panther, so difficult to bring to bag. When the
late Duke of Clarence was out in India, he had
a beat for lions, and two or three were seen, but
not one was secured.

The Indian lion appears to differ from the African
only in the mane of the former being less developed

195

BULLET AND SHOT

than that of the latter, and in the fact of the black
mane, sometimes seen in African lions, never appear-
ing in the case of their Indian cousins.

There seems to be no reason for believing that
the lions of India and of Africa belong to different
species, the slight diversity between them being
easily and satisfactorily accouhted for by the
difference in the nature of their haunts in the two
countries.

Sterndale gives the length of the lion as SJ to
9|- feet ; and Mr. Selous records the length of two
lions shot by him in Africa, and measured between
uprights, as 9 feet 11 inches and 9 feet i inch
respectively.

It is sad to reflect that in a few years the lion
will be as extinct in India as is the wolf in England,,
but it is indisputable.

The vernacular names for the lion are —

Hindustani — Sher, Singh, Sher-babbar.
In Guzerat and Cutch — Oontia-bagh.

196

CHAPTER XI.

THE CHIEF BEARS OF INDIA

THE INDIAN BLACK SLOTH BEAR {Ursus Labiatus)

THIS bear derives its specific name from its
long snout, and the general "lippy" appear-
ance of its muzzle. It is common in suitable
localities all over India proper ; though, according
to Blyth, it is not found in Burmah.

The sloth bear is often seen when beating for
tigers in the Deccan, but is generally allowed under
such circumstances to pass unscathed, for fear of
a shot alarming the more coveted animal, should
he be in the beat, and so of causing him to break
back through the beaters in place of coming on
to the guns. In length this bear measures from
5 to 6 feet, and stands about 3 feet in height.

Bears possess certain idiosyncrasies which are
very characteristic. For instance, they are very
liable to attack when unwounded if suddenly
encountered at close quarters. Again, on a female
bear accompanied by her young being disturbed
when out feeding, the cubs jump on to their
mother's back, and hold on by her thick, shaggy
hair while she beats a hasty retreat.

If two or more bears together be encountered,

197

BULLET AND SHOT

the wounding of one of them is usually the signal
for a free fight between the animals, owing to the
wounded one " going for " the unwounded.

Bears are very fond of sweet things, and they
ascend the toddy trees in Mysore to drink the juice
of the date palm, which is collected in earthen pots
suspended below incisions made in the crowns of
the trees. They are devoted to honey, and in
Central India to the sweet flowers of the mohwa
tree (Bassia latifolia), and they are also very partial
to sugar-cane, and to both wild and cultivated fruits.

The sloth bear is moreover insectivorous in his
habits, and in jungles frequented by him stones
will be found upturned, and white ants' nests dug
up, in his search for larvae and grubs of sorts. He
is said to occasionally eat carrion, but this is foreign
to his usual habits.

In parts of Assam, where bears are numerous,
natives are often attacked by them without any
provocation ; and, as the bear always strikes at
the face, they are frequently horribly disfigured
by these animals.

Sterndale says : — "There is frequently an element
of comicality in most bear hunts, as well as a
considerable spice of danger ; for, though some
people may pooh-pooh this, I know that a she-bear
with cubs is no despicable antagonist. Otherwise
the male is more anxious to get away, than ta
provoke an attack."

I can only say that the first bear which I ever
saw in the jungle — an old male — allowed his angry
passions to get the better of his prudence. We

198

THE BLACK SLOTH BEAR

had followed his tracks for a considerable distance,
at first in the low country, and then up a rocky hill.
The men, having lost the tracks, were searching for
them, when, from under a boulder which we had
already passed, proceeded some very strong ursine
language. In two or three seconds more the bear
appeared on the top of the boulder, advancing
towards us in a very bad temper indeed, when a
bullet from my '500 express in the neck killed him.
Had this bear only run away down the hill, I could
not even have seen him on account of rocks ; but
being a "three-cornered" brute, he preferred to
show fight on no more provocation than that of
being disturbed while enjoying his siesta. I have
reason therefore to question Mr. Sterndale's dictum
on this point, and I believe that the natives who
have been mauled by bears which they have
suddenly encountered have been injured alike by
males, as by females, with or without cubs.

The Indian sloth bear measures from 5 to 6 feet
in length. The male possesses a unique bone, out
of which a paper-cutter may be made.

There are several methods whereby bears may
be brought to bag.

In some localities, they may be driven out of
jungle by beaters, precisely as are tigers. In such
cases it is merely a question of a steady shot just
behind the shoulder, should the bear be passing the
sportsman's post ; or through the yellowish or white
horse-shoe mark in the centre of the chest, should
he be coming towards the rifle. Bears often show
remarkable vitality so far as body- shots are con-

199

BULLET AND SHOT

cerned, but if wounded and followed up, though
very liable to charge, they can be easily brained by
a bullet when within a few paces from the rifle.

In jungles little disturbed by man, bears may
be found in wet weather, when their tracks are
rendered visible, by following them up to their
lairs — often mere depressions or forms in the shade
of bamboo clumps, or hollows under overhanging
rocks ; and in the mornings, and in the afternoons
also on cool, cloudy days in the monsoon, they are
often come upon by chance when they are out
feeding, and while the sportsman is in quest of
other game.

Sometimes bears are to be found in high, rocky
hills with no other superficial cover than huge
boulders and a little scrub jungle, but in such
cases there are usually deep caves which form
the lying -up places of the animals during the
day. In the latter case, they may he shot in
one of two ways. Either the sportsman must
ascend the hill frequented by them so early as to
reach a position above a favourite cave before
earliest dawn, and shoot them on their return
from their nocturnal wanderings ; or, should the
caves be shallow enough to admit of it, he may
shoot them in the day-time by rousing them out,
by means of stones or fireworks thrown into the
mouth of each much -frequented hiding-place. Of
course, in so doing, he should, if it be practicable,
take up his position above the cave.

The traffic and signs at the mouths of the caves
will indicate which of them are most commonly used

200

THE BLACK SLOTH BEAR

by the animals. Bears wander a great deal, and,
unless in the case of a female with very young cubs,
they do not seem to confine themselves to any one
home in particular.

They make a hideous noise when wounded, and
I have heard one, which the late Brigadier-General
A. and I encountered accidentally when we were
following the tracks of bison, and which when
disturbed rushed through long grass closely pur-
sued by us (we could not see it on account of the
cover) grunt just like a pig. It was not until the
bear, embracing a tree with one paw, stood upon
its hind legs, that the General or I obtained even a
glimpse of it, whereupon a bullet from his rifle
knocked it over, though such was its vitality (al-
beit but a small female and rendered absolutely
hors de combat by the first shot) that it required
two or three more bullets to put the beast out of
pain. Bears sometimes, when playing or quarrel-
ling, make a noise which can be heard a long
distance off.

In the Mysore country, in the district bearing
that name, the best spots which I know for bears
are the tract at the foot of the Billiga Rungun
hills, near Punjur, in the Chamraj-Nagar taluq ; and
the hills called Gopalsawmy, Kurdeebetta, and
Sigeebetta, near Maddur, in that of Goondulpet ;
but they are also found occasionally in most of the
large forests. In the Kadur district of the same
province, the vicinity of Sacrapatam is a good
locality for them, and there are some also near
Tarikere, and in many other places. A tent may

20I

BULLET AND SHOT

be taken and pitched near the lyenkerray tank^
which is also a good locality for spotted deer.

In the Bangalore district, bears are to be found
sparingly near Bidadi, and also near Closepet, both
on the railway line between Bangalore and the town
of Mysore, and also in other localities.

Bears are very fond of hilly ground — particularly
where there is a good deal of rock — and though
seldom found in any number in any one tract,
places in which two or three are known to frequent
a certain area occur in all large stretches of suitable
jungle.

Two or three specimens of this bear will prob-
ably satisfy any sportsman who has come out from
England to bag Indian game with but limited time
at his disposal.

The vernacular names for the Indian black sloth
bear are —

Hindustani — Bhalu, Reech, Reench, Adamzad.

Canarese — Kurradee.

Telegu — E lugu.

By the Gouds — Yerid or Asol.

By the Coles — Banna.

THE HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR
( Ursus Torquatus vel Tibetanus)

This bear is black all over, with the exception of
a white chin, and a white V-shaped mark on the
chest. Its head is rounder and handsomer than
is that of the Indian black bear, and it lacks the

202

THE HIMALAYAN BLACK BEAR

ugly snout-and-lip-development of the latter. It
is also larger and heavier than the preceding, being
found up to seven feet in length, though, generally
speaking, even the males measure less than six
feet.

It is found all over the Himalayas in British
India as well as in Cashmere, but it apparently
does not occur in Thibet, so that one of its
specific names is a misnomer, and ought therefore
to be abandoned. General Kinloch and Colonel
Ward differ somewhat in their respective opinions
as to the favourite habitats of this animal, the
former stating that it is perhaps more numerous
in parts of Cashmere than elsewhere, while the
latter is of opinion that more are to be found in
parts of British India — such as Ghurwal and
Chumba, etc. In summer it is often found at high
elevations close to the snow.

Unless shot between the middle of March and
the middle of May, or in November, the skin is
worthless.

The menu of this bear is a comprehensive one,
and very little edible matter appears to be omitted
from it. Wild and cultivated fruits, berries, crops
(especially maize, buckwheat, and barley), acorns,
roots, insects, honey, cucumbers, pumpkins, and
carrion are all included. Occasionally it kills
domestic animals, not sparing even cattle. It
sometimes shows fight when wounded, but more
often tries to escape. Frequently, when suddenly
disturbed at close quarters, it will attack men
without further provocation. Its sense of smell is

303

BULLET AND SHOT

acute, and care must be taken to approach it up
wind.

This bear is fond of forest, and when the culti-
vated fruits and crops are ripe, jungled ravines in
the vicinity of cultivation are his favourite haunts,
where during the day-time he lies up in a thick
clump, a hollow trunk, or amongst rocks.

He is often shot by moonlight in, or on his
departure, at earliest dawn, from orchards when the
fruit on the trees is ripe, but he may also be beaten
out of cover, and is sometimes encountered, stalked,
and shot when feeding in the open, just like any
other hill game. He hibernates, but occasionally
during the winter goes out on a foraging expedition,
and is not blessed with good eyesight.

The vernacular names for this bear are —

Hindustani — Bhalu, Reech.

Lepcha — Sona.

In Cashmere — Harpat.

THE BROWN, RED, OR SNOV^ BEAR {Ursus Isabellinus)

This bear is the largest and finest of the Indian
Ursidse, and his skin, when the fur is in condition,
either in November or in the spring — say till about
May 15th — is well worth obtaining and preserving.
He is found only upon the Himalayas, where in
summer he often ascends to great elevations, and
may be found close to the snows. Both this bear
and the preceding have become much scarcer than
they once were, and the large bags of these animals,
formerly made by men who devoted their time

204

THE BROWN, RED, OR SNOW BEAR

to this particular game, are now things of the
past.

He appears to attain seven feet or more in
length, but individuals vary much in size as well
as in colour, the fur of some being of a very much
lighter shade than that of others.

The brown bear strictly hibernates, his lair being
often covered several feet deep in snow, and he
emerges from his winter retreat about April.
Roots, insects, fruit, acorns, grass and grain form
the food of this bear, who is, however, when usually
encountered, viz., in the spring, practically restricted
to a diet of roots, grass, and insects.

Like his black cousin, his sight is poor, but his
sense of smell acute. The brown bear is usually
stalked and shot when out feeding in the open,
endeavouring to compensate for his fast of several
months' duration. Occasionally, but rarely, he has
been known to charge after being wounded.

In parts of Cashmere, in Gurwahl, in Chumba,
and elsewhere in the Himalayas, there are still a
fair number of bears. Colonel Ward mentions
that, as a rule, they are not found at a lower
elevation than 8000 feet.

The vernacular names for this bear are —

Hindustani — Lai Bhalu, Reech.
In Cashmere — Harput.
In Ladak — Drin-Mor.

205

CHAPTER XII.

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT {Ekphas Indicus) AND

ELEPHANT SHOOTING,

WITH NOTES FOR BEGINNERS

THE Indian elephant is too familiar an animal
to require any detailed description. It may
however be remarked that it is very seldom that
a wild elephant appears of any other colour than
a rusty-brown — a very different hue from that of
the deep-black bun-eater of the Zoological Gardens,
the menagerie, and the circus. The reason for
this is that the wild animal loves to cover himself
with mud, as a protection against the attacks of
insects from which he suffers much irritation ; for,
although his skin is thick, the black epidermis
thereof is very thin, and immediately beneath the
latter lies a vascular net- work ; consequently, flies
of about the size of, and very like, the common
English horse-fly, can draw blood freely from the
animal, and they worry him exceedingly.

Tame elephants are washed frequently, and hence
the remarkable difference in appearance between
the former and their wild congeners.

Owing to his being protected by the Govern-
ment, which permits the destruction of only such

206

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

individuals as from their habits have become
dangerous to human life, or habitually destructive
to property, the Indian elephant is still numerous
in most of the large hill and forest tracts of suitable
character, from as far north as the foot of the
Himalayas, to the extreme south of the peninsula.

Elephants are gregarious, and are found in
assemblies of exceedingly variable proportions ;
the herds themselves often subdividing — as the
exigencies of fodder may render necessary — into
small groups, each consisting of only a few in-
dividuals. A large herd consists of from fifty to
one hundred, and a small one of some fifteen or
twenty animals. It is, however, very common to
find a single male elephant, or even a pair of
males, wandering alone at some distance from
the nearest herd. When these solitary animals
are mucknahs (or males without tusks) it is probable
that they may have been compelled to lead single
lives on account of the bullying of the tuskers, of
whom they stand in great awe ; but frequently, even
the lord of the herd — a magnificent creature of
great stature, and possessed of very formidable
tusks — is found leading temporarily, and entirely
from choice, a life apart from his harem. He no
doubt knows where the ladies are to be found,
and visits them at intervals ; but he appears to
prefer alternate solitude and company, to the un-
interrupted society of the herd. It may well be
that he dislikes continual noise, and is worried
by the constant trumpeting and squeaking of the
females and young ones. Often too a young male

207

BULLET AND SHOT

elephant is seen alone, and this is probably due
to certain ivorine hints given him by the master,
when the youngster has shown himself somewhat
inclined for flirtation with some member of the
sultan's harem. Solitary elephants, or male ele-
phants when temporarily leading a single life,
often become much bolder and more aggressive
than are others. They are very apt to trespass
into crops at night, in which case the damage
done by them is enormous ; while they find the
living so much to their taste, that, if driven off,
they speedily return for another succulent feed.

The ryots, watching their crops from platforms
erected in trees, or upon uprights in the fields,
are apt to fire at them with whatever fancy may
suggest as a telling pattern of projectile {e.^., I
have read of a screw-nut in one case, and a por-
tion of a military ramrod in another, having been
found in the heads of rogue elephants subsequently
slain with suitable weapons by the European
sportsman). The wounds thus inflicted by the
native seldom do much real, permanent bodily
harm to the animal, but they are calculated to
seriously affect his temper ; and to them is probably
due the fact that a solitary elephant, who formerly
did no more harm than destroying and devouring
crops, sometimes develops into that most dan-
gerous brute, a " rogue," who, regarding man as his
implacable enemy, attacks him on sight, and, if
he can do so, ruthlessly kills him.

Only in the case of a " rogue " can the sportsman
ordinarily hope for permission to shoot an elephant

208

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

in British India. In some of the native states,
however, as also in zemindaries, leave to shoot
a tusker may occasionally be obtained, but such
opportunities are very exceptional.

Wild elephants shirk the sun as soon as it has
got high — say at about lo a.m. — from which time
till 2 p.m. or so (unless, indeed, the day should
be cloudy, or wet and cool) they retire to rest in
dense shade.

Grass, leaves, wild fruits, and bamboo shoots
form the staple diet of this animal, and the amount
of fodder which he gets through in twenty -four
hours is prodigious. He is very particular as to
what he eats ; and when grazing upon grass which
comes up by the roots as he gathers it with his
trunk, he carefully bites off and throws away the
lower portions of the stems with their attached
rootlets.

Wild elephants feed and He down alternately
during the night, and they also graze in the
early morning, and again in the afternoon and
evening.

It may, I think, be taken as proved that the
height of ten feet at the shoulder is never attained
by the Indian male elephant (which is, of course,
much larger than the female), though large animals
grow to very little short of that height. Out of
many hundreds measured by the late Mr. Sander-
son— who probably knew more about elephants,
their capture and their training, than any European
who has ever had to deal with them — the three
largest males were 9 feet 10 inches (one) and
p 209

BULLET AND SHOT

9 feet 8 inches (two) respectively, while the two
tallest females were 8 feet 5 inches, and 8 feet
3 inches in vertical height at the shoulder.

Not only did Mr. Sanderson capture an immense
number of wild elephants during many years at
the work, but he also travelled long distances to
personally measure any tame ones whose height
was reported to him as being out of the common.

Needless to say, elephants look vtxy much taller
than they really are ; and the first wild rogue which
the sportsman, who has never before killed one,
may encounter in the jungle, will appear to him
as an animal of enormous proportions.

The extraordinarily accurate idea which may
be formed of an elephant's height by the measure-
ment of the track of his forefoot, is very useful
to the sportsman. Roughly speaking, the animal
will be found to measure in height six times the
diameter thereof. If therefore a footprint will
admit the forearm of a man of a little above
average size from elbow to tip of the extended
middle finger, the elephant which made it stands
about nine feet at the withers.

The brain of this animal is very small as com-
pared with his size, and it lies low and far back
in the head. The beginner should, if possible,
examine a skull in a museum or elsewhere (in
the Colombo museum there is one sawn in halves,
showing the brain cavity), and he will at a glance
see how small a space the brain-pan occupies in
the huge head. After this, he should carefully
study the head of a live, tame elephant, and take

210

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

imaginary angles to the brain from different points
of view.

In order to kill an elephant by the head -shot,
it is necessary that the brain should be penetrated
by the bullet ; if that be missed, very little harm
will be done to him, unless if by a very bad shot
his jaw should be broken, in which deplorable
event the poor creature might die a lingering
death from starvation ; or except in the case of
an animal standing on lower ground than the
sportsman and facing him, in which case the bullet
might go through the head and into the neck,
and so eventually cause death.

It will be seen that what has to be done is first
to calculate the spot upon the huge head which
the bullet must strike in order to cut its way into
the brain, and then to hit that spot. The sports-
man must, in fact — often with very little time for
calculation — ^judge the angle to the brain, which
varies according to the position of the head, with
every motion of the latter, and also with the
relative height of the ground upon which the
elephant and he are respectively standing, and
then shoot with extreme accuracy.

The simplest rule is, I think, to imagine a line
drawn through the head from one ear-hole to the
other, and then to try to place the bullet so that
it will pass just in front of the centre of that
imaginary line if the side shot be taken, or through
its centre if the elephant be facing directly towards
the sportsman.

If the ground upon which both hunter and

BULLET AND SHOT

quarry are standing be level, and the latter be
facinor the former with his head held in the normal

o

position, a bullet striking the bump, six inches
above a line drawn between the eyes, will penetrate
the brain and cause instant death. If, however,
the elephant should be standing in the same
position, but on a steep slope below the sportsman,
the aim must be very high, and of course the
converse is equally true. If the elephant's position
be exactly at right angles to the sportsman, a shot
through the side of the head, in or just in front
of the ear-hole, in a line to pass through the
opposite ear-hole, or a little in front of the latter^
will pierce the brain.

The third typical shot is that behind the ear,
which is taken at an angle of about forty -five
degrees from behind. The aim should be just
above the large bump behind the ear when the
elephant swings the latter forwards, and so renders
the mark visible.

It is obvious that if the animal's position be
three-quarters, half, or one-quarter face on to the
sportsman, in place of full face on from the front,
or if he be standing not at right angles, but at a
greater angle from the side, the lines to the brain
are altered, and the necessary calculation and
allowance must be made.

The sportsman must always be on his guard
against firing too high, and in taking the shot
behind the ear, he must be careful to take it at
no less an angle than forty-five degrees ; otherwise
the bullet, if the aim be accurate, will pass in front

212

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

of the brain. Similarly, should the angle be
greater than forty-five degrees, the aim must be
proportionately in front of, in place of at, the
bump behind the ear. In the case of an elephant
charging with his trunk coiled up in front of him
and his head held high, the proper aim is at the
curled trunk in a line with the brain.

The question, then, which the beginner in
elephant shooting must ask himself before firing
is, " What spot upon the outside of the head
must I hit in order that my bullet may reach the
vital spot.'*" The answer is not nearly so simple
as it may appear, since very few men nowadays
can get practice enough at elephants to enable
them to kill these animals with anything approach-
ing to the certainty which was exhibited by the
practised hands of the old days, who received
rewards from Government for their destruction.

I have not gone in for shooting elephants be-
hind the shoulder, and the late Mr. Sanderson,
after giving this method a fair trial, denounced it
as needlessly cruel. I shall therefore confine
myself to the usual Indian method of firing only
at the brain. Personally, I do not believe that a
shot damaging the top of the latter is necessarily
fatal — in fact, judging by analogy, I am almost
certain that such is by no means sure to cause
death, but if shot through the middle or lower
portions of that organ, the animal dies instan-
taneously.

Very frequently a bullet passing through the head
very close to the brain, or possibly through the top

213

BULLET AND SHOT

of it, floors the creature, who may lie stunned for a
short while, or may at once get up again.

The sportsman must be on the look-out for this,
and never trust to an elephant being defunct until
the fact is beyond all question. Generally speaking,
an animal which has been only stunned and floored
(not brained) falls quickly and with a loud crash,
while one which has been shot dead sinks down
slowly and quietly, making very little noise, unless
the carcass should crush dry branches or bamboos
in its fall.

As soon as an elephant has fallen to the shot, the
sportsman should run in close ; and if he has any
doubts regarding the animal's extinction, should
continue firing into his head at an angle calculated
to reach the desired spot. The surest sign within
my knowledge that a male elephant has been
brained, is that, in a very short time after the fatal
bullet has been fired, an organ which is usually
hidden is extruded, and a general evacuation
ensues. Previous to this, I counsel no faith in
the creature's demise.

If the elephant be not brained, he will soon
begin to struggle, and attempt to rise. Happy,
then, is the sportsman who is accompanied by a
gun-bearer upon whom he can rely to stand by
him with his second rifle or gun ; for it is often
exceedingly difficult to finish off an elephant which
is floundering about and trying to get up! In the
last trip which I made after these animals in a
zemindary in the Madura district (Southern India)
it took a learned (and sporting) judge and myself

214

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

all we could do to bag an elephant which had been
floored, though I was armed with a double 4-bore
and a double 8-bore, and my friend with a double
eight, and though moreover the men stood firm.
The animal very nearly escaped us, and once, when
I was unloaded, he got well on to his legs, and I
thought that he was off, but fortunately a useful
shot from the judge dropped him again, though he
instantly began trying once more to rise. Even-
tually a bullet from the 4-bore reached his brain,
and he was ours.

Elephants are usually found by following their
tracks, which is often not so easy an operation as
might be imagined. Frequently, if the ground be
hard and dry, only really good trackers can follow
the trail of a single animal. Generally speaking,
unless the object of pursuit should be found be-
tween 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on a hot day — in which
case he will be standing nearly motionless in thick
cover — the sportsman will hear him breaking
branches or bamboos, or flapping his ears, while
still some little way off; and directly he does so, he
must take every precaution to prevent the animal
getting his wind ; since, should the taint in the air
proclaim, to the brute's sensitive nasal organ, the
presence of man, he will either dash off alarmed,
or advance to attack. If the hunter should keep
the wind in his favour, an approach to within
twelve or fifteen paces can usually be made, and
this is the ideal range for elephant shooting. He
should keep on testing the wind when approach-
ing the game, as any inequalities in the ground

215

BULLET AND SHOT

may set up a current contrary to its prevailing
direction.

Usually there is absolutely no good in attempting
to follow an elephant which has got right away
from the place with only head-shots. However
slowly he may have gone off, his pace will improve
as he proceeds, bleeding will soon cease, and he
will cover a very long distance before halting. I
have only once come up again with a wounded
elephant which had got away, and that was an
exceptional case, the animal being apparently ren-
dered unusually stupid by my first shot. He was
going off slowly, and we could hear him blowing.
Presently, I got up to him standing in open bamboo
cover, and gave him both barrels of my 8-bore rifle,
the second of which nearly caused him to subside ;
but, discovering us, he cocked his ears and faced
us, and would probably have charged, had I not
at once given him another shot from a spare gun
(8-bore), which sent him off. Though we followed
till we were obliged to return to camp which
we did not reach till 8.30 p.m., we saw him no
more, nor when we went out again to look for him
on the next day did we succeed in encountering
him.

The best weapon for elephant shooting is, in my
opinion, a light 4-bore. Until my last trip in
pursuit of this game, I had never used one of the
latter upon these animals, but I now think that
there is nothing to compare with it for the purpose.
I formerly used, first a double 8-bore rifle, and then
that rifle in conjunction with a double 8-bore gun,

216

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

with my '500 express, loaded with extra long, solid
bullets, in reserve. I wounded and lost a number
with my 8-bore, and probably had I used a much
smaller weapon should have bagged more than I did.

An 8-bore lacks the handiness of a lighter gun,
and does not possess the tremendous power of a
4-bore.

If elephants never charged, probably a 12 or
16-bore rifle would be the best weapon for use
upon them ; but it would not be anything like as
effectual in stopping a charge as is a heavy bullet
fronv a larger bore. My 4-bore is a double-barrelled
gun, weighing a little over 18 lbs., i.e., only about
3 lbs. more than my old 8-bore rifle. It is accurate
at elephant-shooting range, and is a splendid
knocker-down ; in fact, a 4-bore bullet seldom fails
to floor a tusker, whether the latter be brained or
no ; and this is a great advantage, more particularly
in case of a charge. I use only ten drachms of
powder in It, but I believe this allowance to be
ample. The gun is hammerless, is fitted with
an anti-recoil heel pad, was built by Dixon, of
Edinburgh, and cost ;!^42.

I could not desire a better weapon for elephant
shooting than the above. Of course I took it in
hand only when close to the game.

One caution I must give beginners regarding
8-bores and 4-bores, and that is to get into the
habit of invariably firing the left barrel first. All
the heavy guns which I have had would, if the
right trigger (2>., the trigger of the right barrel)
were first pulled, frequently let off both barrels

217

BULLET AND SHOT

together; but this has never happened in my
experience in the case of the left.

In my last trip after elephants, in the Vursinaad
valley of the Madura district before referred to,
a female (unwounded) charged my friend and
myself, her head coming through the cover
only ten paces off, as she rushed at us with ears
cocked, after making the short, sharp trumpet
" prut ! prut ! " which elephants generally utter
before charging. I had had no big game shooting
for a long time, and quite forgot in my hurry to
pull the left trigger of my 4-bore. The result
was that I pulled the right, both barrels went off,
and I was thrown on my back several paces off,
but luckily quite unhurt except by thorns. The
elephant fortunately was also floored, and was very
glad to take herself off after recovering her legs.

The 4-bore is also a capital weapon for use upon
bison where the cover is dense, and I would re-
commend the beginner in elephant shooting, to, if
possible, procure a double 4-bore gun similar to my
own, and a double 8-bore rifle or gun as a spare
weapon, that is, if he is likely to have a good many
opportunities of enjoying the sport. If however, as
is probable, his opportunities for elephant shooting
are likely to be few, an 8-bore Paradox, which would
be useful in rhinoceros and bison shooting, would
be preferable as an all-round large game weapon.

Theoretically, the number of any given bore
means the number of spherical bullets fitting that
calibre which weigh one pound avoirdupois. Prac-
tically, however, the heaviest spherical bullet which

218

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

my 4-bore will carry is only 3^^ in place of 4 ounces
in weight. This is on account of the thickness of
the cartridge case, whose internal diameter is less
than that of the bore.

A European would have but a small chance of
escape by flight if attacked by an elephant on the
ground usually frequented by the latter. He would
indubitably be caught by thorns or bamboos, or
tripped up by branches or fallen canes hidden in
the grass ; and it is therefore advisable to have
a second big gun in reserve, and, if practicable,
to engage a man who will stand by his master with
it (but who will never dream of firing himself),,
relying, if attacked, solely upon powder and heavy
lead. If unloaded when charged, the sportsman
should, if possible, get out of sight behind cover,
or into a nullah (if one should be handy), and
rapidly reload, and he may then obtain a good
chance while the elephant is searching for him,
though it is wiser never to be quite defenceless,
but to always keep one barrel in reserve in case
of accidents, which, with two big guns, can
generally be managed.

Elephants often charge upon very slight provo-
cation— sometimes no more than that caused by
the smell of man — and females with young calves
are particularly liable to do so. I have been
charged by quite a small male upon no graver
cause than my accidentally trespassing "between
the wind and his nobility." I was on the track
of bison at the time, and, seeing the elephant at
some distance off, went up near enough to him

219

BULLET AND SHOT

to estimate his quality, and then finding that he
was a Httle beast with very small tusks, I left him
alone, and again took up the tracks of the bison.
After we had gone on a short distance, we got to
windward of the elephant, when, suddenly, one of
the men said in his own language, " The elephant
is coming " ; and, sure enough, there was the brute
coming down on us in full charge ; but an 8-bore
bullet in the head staggered though it did not
floor him, and the precocious and combative
youngster executed a rapid strategic movement
to the rear, looking very foolish.

All wild animals, but more particularly elephants,
should they be suddenly startled, and so led to lose
their heads and make a blind rush, are liable to
run into, instead of away from, the very danger
which they are seeking to evade. I have had a
tusker, who had not the slightest intention of
charging, rush so straight in my direction, after
I had given him both barrels of my 8-bore and
was defenceless (the men with my spare guns
having bolted), that I had to get out of his way
to avoid being accidentally run over.

This happened in the open, and the tusker was
a solitary animal, but I have twice in one trip seen
herd elephants, alarmed at getting our wind, bolt
straight in our direction. I was then accompanied
by a good sportsman and pleasant companion (now,
alas ! no more), the late Brigadier-General A., who
had received permission from the Mysore Govern-
ment to shoot two tuskers. Upon one of these
occasions we had gone out after bison, and were

220

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

on our way through the forest, when we came
across a herd of elephants feeding in a valley. We
did not interfere with them, not wishing to shoot
animals in herds. The General, moreover, had
shot his two tuskers (one with a single bullet and
the other with my aid), so we continued our course
down the valley. When we had put, perhaps, two-
thirds of a mile between ourselves and the herd,
we got into the wind of the latter, and saw them
stampeding in the opposite direction. We walked
on, until, all of a sudden, a crashing down the hill-
side above revealed the fact that the animals were
rushing straight upon us. On our right, in the
direction from which the elephants were coming,
stood a thick bamboo clump, and to this I took
the General and the men, and we stood behind
it to let the elephantine avalanche sweep by.

The herd was steering to pass the clump on our
left, but one cow came round on the right and
pulled up and faced me. She was so close that her
head was within three or four feet of the muzzle
of my rifle when I levelled it. There was no time
to ask her further intentions, and, moreover, we
were between her and her companions, so I shot
her dead.

I was very sorry to have been obliged to shoot
a cow, but under the circumstances it was in-
evitable.

Upon the other, and previous occasion in the
same trip, a friendly tree was our shelter, and the
herd, which had got our wind, filed past on our
right within a few paces, and without seeing us.

BULLET AND SHOT

Had there been a shootable tusker in it, this would
have been a grand chance for the General, who
had not, when this incident occurred, bagged the
two elephants, to shoot which he had permission ;
but the herd was a small one, and the only male
in it was not fit to shoot and was therefore allowed
to pass unscathed.

It is a curious and unaccountable fact, that, while
mucknahs are the exception in India, a tusker
is an exceedingly rare animal amongst male
elephants in Ceylon.

Female elephants have no tusks, only short
tushes which are generally broken off before the
animal arrives at middle age. I cannot understand
how Doctor Jerdon's book. The Mammals of India,
can contain this astounding statement in his de-
scription of the Indian elephant, "tusks large in the
male, small in the female."

The fact is that while the tushes of the female
elephant are mere superficial prongs, only a few
inches long, and placed nearly vertically, the tusks
of the male are deeply embedded — usually for about
half of their total length — in sockets of bone which
terminate only just below the eyes.

Tusks vary greatly in length and thickness ; some-
times one is altogether wanting, and usually where
both are present, one is shorter and more worn by
use than is the other.

An elephant with an enormous tusk was bagged
in 1863 by Sir Victor Brooke and Colonel Douglas
Hamilton in the Billiga Rungun hills in Mysore.
This animal had but one perfect tusk, the other

222

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

being broken off short and much diseased. The
sound one measured 8 feet in length, of which
2 feet 3 inches was embedded in the socket,
while the portion showing outside taped 5 feet
9 inches ; its greatest circumference was nearly
17 inches, and its weight 90 lbs. The other
(broken) tusk showed but 15 inches outside the
socket, and 2 feet i inch of it in length were
embedded, yet it weighed 49 lbs. — even this
latter being a great weight for a single tusk of
an Indian elephant. Rowland Ward quotes 102
and 97^ lbs. respectively as the weights of the
tusks of King Thebaw's sacred white elephant.

I have never personally bagged an elephant with
tusks exceeding 63 lbs. the pair, and this was the
first which I ever shot ; but two very large tuskers
were killed in Mysore by friends out in camp with
me. One of these was bagged by Captain (now
Colonel) W. (late of the 43rd Regiment), and I
append the measurements and weights of the tusks.

Length. Greatest girth. Weight.

Inches. Inches. lbs.

Right tusk . . 6gl ... i6| ... 63

Left „ . . 6y ... i6f ... 60

Weight of the pair, 123 lbs.

The other was shot while we were out together,
and with my rifle, by Captain (now Colonel) B. of
the Gunners, and was the first elephant at which
that good sportsman had ever fired. His tusks
measured and weighed as follows : —

Length.

Greatest girth.

Weight of the pair.

Inches.

Inches.

lbs.

Right tusk

. 86

... i6f

Left „

. 88

17 (over)

127

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BULLET AND SHOT

A very large pair of tusks was bagged many-
years ago in the Vursinaad Valley, Madura District,
by Mr. Fischer of Madura, which measure —

Length.
Inches.

Greatest girth.
Inches.

72

66

... i8i
... i8i

Longer tusk
Shorter tusk

and weigh 72^ and yo lbs. respectively, or 142^^ lbs.
the pair. I personally measured and weighed all
these three last-mentioned pairs, and can vouch for
the accuracy of the measurements and weights.

Elephants, in common with bison and deer,
appreciate salt in wet weather, and they therefore
frequently visit salt - licks in the monsoon ; and
sometimes, when one of the latter is situated in a
nullah, a good idea of the size of the tusks of an
elephant which has visited it may be obtained from
their impressions in the soft earth of the bank.

A similar approximation may also be sometimes
made if a place in which the elephant has lain down
to sleep should be found, provided only that the soil
be sodden — as is usually the case during the mon-
soon, which is by far the best time for elephant
shooting in Mysore.

It is, owing to the restriction before mentioned,
by no means easy to advise a sportsman who may
wish to shoot an elephant how to obtain the
required permission.

Before the Mysore Government reintroduced the
capture of elephants in kheddahs, leave to shoot a
tusker was often granted upon application ; but now
that the same are working, it would, in the absence

224

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

of powerful interest in high places, probably be
refused, unless a really troublesome ** rogue " should
prove dangerous to human life, or habitually de-
structive to property.

After an elephant has been bagged, the tusks
must be taken out as soon as possible, unless,
indeed, time be no object, and where there is no
danger of their being stolen if left, in which latter
event they may be left in the carcass and drawn out
after decomposition has loosened them, some ten or
twelve days later. In extracting the tusks, the
skin and muscles covering the tusk-cases must be
removed, and the latter split up with a small axe,
great care being taken not to break the thin upper-
most portions of the trophies. The latter must then
be emptied of the red pulp which fills their hollow
portions, and be thoroughly washed. In packing
for travelling, to prevent breakage, the thin upper
portions may be filled each with a large plug of
wood which just fills the cavity. Each tusk may
then be completely enveloped in straw ropes tightly
and closely wound round it and secured with string.

If it be desired to preserve the feet, which make
very nice trophies, they should, as soon as possible
after the animal has been bagged, be cut off at the
required height — say i8 or 20 inches — and men at
once set to work upon them. Two men should be
told off to each foot, and they must, with sharp
knives, remove all the flesh and bones right down
to the gristly sole, and then pare the latter down
as thin as possible. This done, and the skin
thoroughly cleansed of all adherent muscle and

Q 325

BULLET AND SHOT

other matter, the inside of the skin, and the sole,
right into the interior of the toe-nails, must be well
coated with arsenical soap (which should be obtained
in India, not in England), after which the foot may
be filled with dry sand well rammed in ; and after
the whole of the outside of the skin has been
painted over with arsenical soap, it may be daily
put in the sun to dry, the sand being often rammed
in to keep the skin extended. When partly dry, the
sand may be removed, another inside coating of
arsenical soap given, and the skin folded down as
much as possible to reduce bulk, and again put in
the sun till quite dry and hard.

Great care must be taken in using arsenical soap.
The sportsman should on no account allow a
servant either to apply it, or to handle anything
which has been coated with it. He must person-
ally apply this poison, and personally handle the
trophies to which he may apply it, carefully
cleansing his hands after he has touched any
such. He must, moreover, be very careful, should
he have a cut on one of his fingers, that not a
particle of the preservative touches that spot.
Arsenical soap should be kept locked up in a box
of which the sportsman himself keeps the key.
Elephants' fore-feet make handsome footstools,
and they can also be fitted with internal divisions
and lids, and made into liqueur cases, etc.

The hill ranges of the native state of Travancore
abound in elephants which are very destructive,
and formerly, if leave to shoot one or two tuskers
was applied for, it was granted. Recently, however,

226

THE INDIAN ELEPHANT

the Travancore Government has not been so liberal
in this respect, though it seems probable that as the
planting industry upon those hills is advancing by-
enormous strides, the complaints of the planters
regarding the damage done by elephants may
induce the Government to grant occasional per-
mission to shoot a few tuskers.

In jungles owned by private individuals, leave
from the proprietor is all that is required, but
there are not many such in which elephants exist,
the zemindary of Guntamanaikanur, in the Madura
district of the Madras Presidency, being a notable
exception.

The vernacular names for the elephant are —

Hindustani — Hati.

Bengali — Gaj.

Tamil, Telegu, Canarese, and Malabari — Anay.

Burmese — Shanh.

227

CHAPTER XIII.

EPISODES IN ELEPHANT SHOOTING
A MAN-KILLING MUCKNAH

I CERTAINLY began big game shooting at
the wrong end, i.e., before becoming a steady-
shot by practice at black buck and spotted deer,,
etc. ; I had virtually to commence with elephants
and bison. The result was that I failed to bag
many animals which wt>uld certainly have been
mine had I sown my wild oats of over-anxiety to
bag, and keenness, upon more commonplace and
less exciting game.

The first occasion upon which I ever saw wild
elephants was in Assam, and by moonlight. One
night, after dinner, I was told that they had invaded
the tea estate on which I was then working as
assistant -manager, and that they were near the
tea-house. Taking an 8-bore rifle, I went out to
look for them. Just behind the tea-house, when
I got near to the latter, I saw some shadowy sterns
disappearing in the gloom, and hastily pitching and
pulling, I fired at one of them, and accelerated the
retreat of the trespassers.

I then went to bed, and had fallen asleep when
I was awakened by a man who told me that the

228

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

elephants had returned. Fringing the tea, was a
narrow belt of jungle and bamboo, and beyond it
lay low ground covered by a great sea of high reed
and grass — at that season standing in water. I
went out again, and could hear the elephants in
the narrow belt, and, approaching the sound, sat
down behind a tea bush to await the appearance
of one of the animals. Before long the head of a
tusker emerged from the bamboo, and I fired at his
temple. A great crushing in the jungle ensued,
followed by a tremendous splashing, squelching,
and popping, as the elephants floundered through
the wet, muddy swamp full of high reeds and grass,
accompanied by the tusker, who was little, if any,
the worse for the scare which he had experienced.

The next occasion upon which I fired at an
elephant was shortly after I had joined the Mysore
Forest Department. I had at the time never
bagged a single head of running game bigger than
a jackal.

In January, 1882, I left Mysore with H., of the
Forest Department ; and upon the fifth day of our
trip I met with an adventure which nearly brought
my big game shooting days to an abrupt conclusion
ere they had well begun.

H. and I had been encamped in tents in the
Metikuppa forest. The water supplies in the interior
of that forest had nearly all dried up, and our camp
was pitched beside a filthy pool, from the mud
beneath which, if a stick were thrust down into
it, bubbles of gas arose to the surface. Fortunately
H. had brought a cask of good water mounted

229

BULLET AND SHOT

on a cart, and we had plenty of soda-water with us.
Frequenting this, and the adjoining forest of Kar-
kenkotta which is bounded on the south by the
Cubbany river, was a large and dangerous rogue
elephant, a mucknah, who had killed several people,
and whom, in the interests of forestry, it was
advisable, if possible, to destroy. *

He was not then in the Metikuppa forest, as we
soon ascertained, so on the 27th January we moved
camp to Karkenkotta, marching through the jungle
in the hope of finding tracks of the rogue en route.

In this we were successful, for we came upon the
fresh tracks of a large single elephant. H. and
I dismounted from our ponies, and sending the men
who were loaded with camp requirements on to
Karkenkotta, and accompanied by Kurrabas to track
and to carry our spare guns, ammunition, etc., we
set off to try to find the rogue. The forest consisted
of high timber, now bare and leafless, alternating
with bamboo of different ages, the youngest forming
dense thickets, and the mature an open jungle
of large clumps, with clear spaces between. So
hard and dry was the ground, that tracking was
very difficult, and after a good deal of very arduous
and hot work, we lost the tracks. The men were
quite at fault, but making a detour, they struck a
nullah, in the now almost dry bed of which a little
water still lingered in the deepest pools. Their
judgment proved correct, for here again we found
the tracks, and ere long we came upon hot dung, so
that we knew that the object of our pursuit was
now very near to us, and a little further on we

230

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

heard a crashing of bamboos. Thinking that the
elephant had discovered us and was running away,
I took the 8-bore and ran up, in order to, if possible,
intercept him, when, to my surprise, I saw the rogue
standing beside a bamboo clump, in high open
jungle, on a gentle slope above me. The dry,
crackling leaves which strewed the ground made
noiseless progression impossible, even to a Kurraba,
and there was no cover beyond sparsely scattered
bamboo clumps. Half running and half walking, I
closed in quickly and alone, the elephant meanwhile
standing facing me, and apparently staring at me.
About twenty-five or thirty yards from him, a thin,
dead trunk leant at an angle of about forty-five
degrees. It occurred to me that this might be
useful as a breastwork in case of a charge, so I
pulled up behind it, and aiming at the elephant's
forehead, I fired. Both barrels went off simul-
taneously, owing to my having pulled the right
trigger, and the elephant, after tottering for a few
seconds, fell over with a crash like that of a falling
tree. He lay prone, only slightly and convulsively
moving his legs. H. then joined me with the men,
and I reloaded and went in nearer to the elephant,
who began to struggle and try to rise. H. there-
upon fired both barrels of his "577 express, and ran
away, the men with my spare guns and cartridges
following suit. I got back to the leaning trunk
and waited until the elephant had finished flounder-
ing about and had regained his legs, when I again
fired at his head ; and once more both barrels went
off, whilst the animal stood, swinging slightly from

231

BULLET AND SHOT

side to side, and looking very shaky. I had but
two more cartridges left in my pocket, and I now
put these into the rifle, and fired again. For the
third time both barrels went off, and immediately
after the report the elephant came down upon me.
I was now quite defenceless, and had to run for
it, which I did obliquely, turning a bamboo clump,
round which, to my horror, the rogue followed me.
I then set off at my best pace down the most open
glade which I could see, the elephant gaining on
me at every stride, when I suddenly saw H. stand-
ing behind a bamboo clump, whose shelter he had
gained after he ran away upon the elephant's
attempting to rise. I thought, of course, that he
must have reloaded, and making a final effort, I
reached the clump, with the elephant almost on my
heels, and turning it sharp, pulled up beside him.
The elephant stopped for a moment, H. said, and
twisted his trunk about to smell, but fortunately he
had received sufficient punishment ; for, having lost
sight of me, he went on at a great pace, and crossed
the frontier into Coorg. H., I found, was still
unloaded, and he told me that his cases had stuck,
so it was lucky that the rogue did not prosecute
a search for me. I was somewhat amused at H.
asking me (rather indignantly) what I had come to
his clump for !

Now here was a case in which, in my ignorance
and inexperience, I had made a great mess of it ; but
then it should be remembered that had I killed that
rogue, he would have been my first head of big game,
as I had not then bagged even a deer or an antelope.

232

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

In the first place, I was in error in supposing
that the animal was staring at me before I fired at
him, and in firing hastily in consequence of that
supposition. Then, directly the elephant fell, the
crash with which he came down should have led
me to suspect, had I had experience, that he was
not brained, while the moving of his legs as he lay
would also have afforded conclusive proof of this
fact. I ought, of course, to have gone up to within
twelve or fifteen paces before firing, and, having
floored the elephant, to have run in close to his
head, and endeavoured to brain him before he could
regain his legs.

After this I wounded and lost several elephants,
and it was not until the 24th August in the same
year (1882) that I succeeded in bagging my first.

MY FIRST ELEPHANT

In the Berrambadie forest in Mysore, I was
following up a herd of bison, out of which I had
already bagged one, when I saw an elephant walk-
ing rapidly along in front. The wind was right,
and I followed him, waiting for a chance. Pre-
sently I heard the Noogoo river in front, and felt
sure that the elephant would halt there, nor was I
disappointed, for, on topping the bank, I saw him
standing in the stream, and throwing water over
himself. I took the shot behind the ear, and the
elephant fell, but was not shot dead, for he tried to
recover his footing, and as his head bobbed past me

233

BULLET AND SHOT

(the rest of his body being under water) I fired
both barrels of my 8-bore down into it. A jet of
blood spouted forth at each shot,, and I hastily re-
loaded, whereupon, as the elephant tried to get up
the bank, just in front of me, I brained him. He
sank back, some bubbles rose from the tip of his
trunk, and I had bagged my first elephant. I had
shot a bison and an elephant before 1 2 o'clock !

I was terribly afraid that the river might rise
during the night and the carcass be carried away,
so I sent for stout ropes, and had it securely
fastened to trees. Cutting out the tusks was, under
the circumstances, a work of great difficulty, and
it took a large number of men procured the next
morning, and working hard from then until late
afternoon, to extract them. I was obliged to
abandon all idea of preserving the feet. The
tusks of this elephant showed about 2^ feet outside
of the gum, and when extracted proved to be re-
spectively 4 feet 10 inches, and 4 feet ii|- inches in
length, and 15 inches in greatest girth. They
weighed 63 lbs. the pair.

In 1883 I bagged three elephants. The shooting
of the first two was unaccompanied by any incident
worthy of relation, but that of the third was some-
what extraordinary.

234

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

THE VANISHED ELEPHANT

A friend, W e, who is short-sighted and uses

an eyeglass, was in camp with me in the Mysore
district, intent on shooting.

We had just marched from Rampore to Kalkerra
in the Ainurmarigudi forest, when the news was
brought that a tusker had been found for us only
three miles off. We proceeded to the place, and
saw the elephant in the distance.

W e now asked me to halt for a few minutes

while he mopped his face, and wiped his eyeglass,
which had become misty from perspiration. Then
we advanced, but the elephant was no longer visible,
and we went cautiously, closer and closer, until I
wondered what could have become of him — still not
a sign of him did we see. When we had viewed
him, he was moving about in a nullah in which
there was much high reed, but now he was quite
invisible, and appeared to have vanished into thin
air. At last, just in front of us, we saw the ele-
phant lying on his side in a swampy place, his
head pillowed on dry ground on our side. We
got up to within less than five paces, and then

W e fired. At the shot the elephant got up,

and as he was crossing our left front in a great
hurry, I dropped him dead by the temple shot.

235

BULLET AND SHOT

THE INSANE TUSKER

An extraordinary adventure occurred in the case
of Colonel and Mrs. G., who were in camp with me
in the Berrambadie forest in 1884. In that year
I had made all arrangements for catching elephants
in a kheddah in a pass under the Billiga Rungun
hills. Most unluckily the rains failed, there was
no fodder, and I had great difficulty in providing
food for the few tame elephants which had been
placed at my disposal for the work. It was most
annoying. I had taken a great deal of trouble, and
had constructed a large enclosure, with a small one
for roping opening off it, and all was ready, even to
the gate of the latter (well studded with sharp nails
on the inside), which was lashed up ready for use.
It was so arranged that, after the entrance of the
elephants, one stroke from an axe or chopper,
severing a rope, would cause the gate to fall into
position, and effectually cut off all retreat. I
had imported jute, from which large numbers of
elephant ropes had been made, and nothing was
required but the advent of elephants into , the
vicinity of the kheddah. As I have said, however,
when the time for the latter to appear had arrived,
the rain had not, consequently there was nothing to
induce them to come into the low-country jungles.

Sick and tired of continued disappointments and
enforced inaction, I decided to move the tame

236

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

elephants into the Berrambadie forest, where there
was, I heard, more grass, rig up an impromptu
kheddah there, and try to capture at least a few
animals.

I was in camp at Moluhollay, where, as I have
mentioned, Colonel and Mrs. G. came for a few
days, in order that the former might try for bison.

Even here the grass which had sprung up had
withered, and the ground was hard on account of
the drought.

I set to work in real earnest, selected a suitable
spot, and got a stockade ready. One day, when
I was going out on this work, I suggested to
Colonel G. to take his wife on one of the tame
elephants and show her the forest, and he did so,
the lady riding a very large tame tusker. On my
return to camp from work in the evening, some
Kurrabas, who had been out with Colonel G., came
from him to tell me that a wild tusker had been for
a long time, and was still, following the tusker
on which Mrs. G. was mounted. The situation
appeared to me to be a very perilous one for the
lady. The Kurrabas said that the wild elephant
wanted to fight with the tame one, and indeed,
apart from that hypothesis, it was not easy to
understand the wild animal's object in following
a tusker. The men told me that the Colonel
wanted me to bring tame elephants and ropes, and
to try to secure the intruder. Taking my 8-bore
rifle, and passing through the space in which the
tame elephants were picketed, I gave the necessary
orders, and then went on to join the Colonel, whom

237

BULLET AND SHOT

I met quite close to the camp. The sight was a
very strange one. First came the tame tusker
carrying the lady ; next the Colonel, rifle in hand,
on foot with the men ; and last of all, walking
sedately and quietly behind, followed the wild
tusker at a distance of only some thirty yards
from the tame elephant.

Directly afterwards, the tame females met us,
and the wild tusker became uneasy, and went off
a little way. I then sent two females to attempt
to lead him away, while Mrs. G. on her tusker went
to her tent. The wild animal, after some hesitation,
followed the females, and I kept close behind him,
determined, if he should attempt to escape, to shoot
him, since there was very great danger lest he
should return at night and attack the tame elephants
at their pickets. There was also no certainty as to
what so strangely behaved an animal might, in a
nocturnal visit, do to the tents, so I had fully made
up my mind to catch him if possible, and, failing
that, to shoot him.

There had been no time for any preconcerted
plan. The only thing to be done was for the tame
females, avoiding the camp, to lead the tusker into
the kheddah, where he could be at once secured.

The idiots of mahouts who were riding the tame
females led, however, straight towards the camp,
with tents, horses, servants, etc., around, and the
tusker began to make off I ran up to try to turn
him, but he held on, increasing his pace, and just as
I had reached the high road which the elephant
crossed, and as the latter, going at speed, was

238

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

about to enter the jungle on the other side, I
dropped him by a lucky shot behind the ear, and
with two more bullets killed him. This elephant
appeared to be mildly insane. He had followed
the same tusker for hours, taking no notice of the
Colonel and the men on foot, though he must often
have got their wind. The men on cutting out his
tusks found seven or eight huge maggots in his
brain, and it is possible that the presence of these
irritating pests might account for this animal's
extraordinary behaviour.

A FIGHTING TUSKER

In 1882 Captain (now Colonel) W. (late of the
43rd Regiment) was in camp with me at Bandipur,
and one day a brother officer of his, who had done
very little shooting, and who had never seen a wild
elephant, joined us. Next morning W. and his
friend went out together and came upon the tracks
of a large, solitary male elephant. They followed
them up to the Mysore boundary, and then, finding
that the elephant had crossed into her Majesty's
territory, where W. had no permission to shoot him,
the latter sent one or two jungle men round to give
their wind to the animal in the hope of driving him
back into Mysore. This stratagem was successful,
and the elephant returned. W.'s battery consisted
of a double '577 express rifle, taking a charge of
6^ drachms of powder, a double '450 express, and
an old, though accurate, single 6-bore muzzle-

239

BULLET AND SHOT

loading rifle carrying a belted ball, while his friend
was armed with a double 1 2-bore rifle.

The elephant became very uneasy before W. had
got in as close as he wished to do, and he had to
fire hurriedly with the "577 ; the single 6-bore being
behind, and not within reach at the time. Away
went the elephant, with W., who had given him
both barrels, in hot pursuit, reloading as he ran.
As soon as he got fresh cartridges in, he fired one
barrel behind the ear, but without effect ; and then,
as a last chance, he directed the other bullet at
the elephant's leg. He was just putting in fresh
cartridges after this shot, when he heard the short,
sharp war-trumpet of the tusker, and saw the
latter, with trunk coiled up and ears cocked,
charging straight back at the cloud of smoke.
There was no big tree behind which to step, so W.
took a couple of strides to one side behind a sapling,
and gave the elephant the contents of one barrel
in the face, and a bullet from the other in the ear,
as the tusker brushed past him so close that W.
said he could have struck him. Most fortunately,
the enraged brute, failing to see W., went on,
"going for," and severely punishing, a bamboo
clump, behind which his friend and the men, who
had, however, escaped from it long before the tusker
got there, had been hiding.

W. then followed the elephant up, and he found
that the leg shot had deprived him of all travelling
power, for after punishing the bamboo clump, he
struck off at an angle, and came to a halt in a
thicket. W. then discovered that the caps for his

240

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

big gun haid, by an oversight, been left at home,
and that there was only the one cap on the nipple
of the loaded piece. He obtained some small caps,
however, from his friend's 12-bore cartridges, and
by cutting these open, he got them to fit the nipple
of the 6-bore.

A great fight then ensued. W. used his own
weapons and also his friend's rifle, and he gave the
elephant, who charged twice more — but not home —
many shots, until at last a ball from the big gun,
the third which he had fired from it, laid the tusker
low. The elephant was of the largest size and
very old, and his tusks (the measurements of which
are given in the preceding chapter) weighed no less
than 123 lbs. the pair.

GRAND TROPHIES

In July, 1886, I was in camp at Karkenkotta,
on the road from Mysore to the western coast, with
Captain (now Colonel) B. of the Gunners. B. had
never fired at an elephant, nor had he a weapon fit
for the purpose, though he had obtained permission
to shoot one. I had leave to shoot "rogues" only,
and one of these was reported as frequenting the
Karkenkotta forest at the time. It was therefore
arranged that we should go out together, and that
I should endeavour to bag the rogue, while B.
should try for any other tusker.

On the morning of July 7th I sent out men in
pairs in different directions to try to find the rogue,
and news that he had been discovered having
R 241

BULLET AND SHOT

reached camp, B. and I went out. The elephant
was, however, very badly placed, and he discovered
us before I had got well up to him, and a hastily
fired shot failed to stop him.

We then went on the tracks of another single
elephant, which we followed for a long distance.
At last we knew from the signs that the quarry
could not now be very far ahead, and we soon
saw him moving slowly across our left front. I
saw no tusks, and whispered to B, — to whom I
had allotted my 8-bore rifle, while I retained my
gun of similar bore in case of emergencies — to
take care that he was not a mucknah, and B.
replied, " No, I can see his tusk." The next
moment, I saw a foot or so of thick tusk, the
rest being hidden in the grass. B. put up the
rifle, took a steady aim, and fired, and down went
the tusker. We ran in to his head at once, and,
by my advice, B. gave him two or three more
shots to make sure, but I believe that he was a
dead elephant when he fell.

His tusks were a truly magnificent pair, weighing
127 lbs., and their measurements are given in the
previous chapter. So long and incurved were they,
that one overlapped the other at the tips.

A STUNNED TUSKER

As an instance of the advisability of making
quite sure that an elephant is really dead, I may
quote an experience of Colonel — now Brigadier

242

ELEPHANT SHOOTING

General — P. C. (of the Coldstream Guards) who
was shooting in Mysore. He had floored a fine
tusker which he believed had fallen dead, and
was admiring his prize, and patting his shikarrie
on the back in his delight at his triumph, when
the latter suggested that his master had possibly
better reload. Before he could do so however,
the elephant recovered his legs, and, despite the
Colonel's efforts to detain him, made good his
escape.

A LUCKY CHANCE

Although elephant shooting frequently entails
much hard work before the game is encountered,
it sometimes happens that the sportsman chances
upon a tusker very unexpectedly. I well remember,
many years ago, bagging a tusker when out for
an evening stroll in search of spotted deer behind
the travellers' bungalow of Karkenkotta in Mysore,
but, as is so often the case in elephant shooting,
there was nothing remarkable attending the cir-
cumstances of his death beyond the luck of the
rencontre.

I have personally shot, and have assisted friends
in shooting other elephants at various times, and
have had considerable experience of the sport,
though I have (alas ! ) drilled holes through the
heads of a good many of these animals which
have escaped, and I regard elephant shooting as
a very difficult branch of sport, and also as a
highly exciting amusement.

^3

CHAPTER XIV.

THE DEER OF INDIA AND THE HIMALAYAS

T

HE deer of India and of the Himalayas
consist of the following species : —

1. The sambur (Rusa Aristotelis).

2. The spotted deer {Axis maculatus).

3. The hog deer {Axis porcinus).

4. The swamp deer {Rucervus Duvaucellt).

5. The Cashmere stag {Cervus Wallichii vel

Caskmirianus).

6. The Sikkim stag {Cervus affinis vel Wal-

lichii).

7. The brow-antlered, or Eld's deer {Rucei'vus

vel Panolia Eldii).

8. The muntjac {Cervulus cuireus).

9. The musk deer {Moschus Mosckiferus).
10. The mouse deer {Meminna indica).

THE SAMBUR {Rusa Aristotelis)

This fine deer is, on account of his very wide
distribution, entitled to the premier position
amongst the many members of his tribe in India.
Standing, as he does, some thirteen to fourteen
hands in height at the shoulder, with a fine, full,

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THE DEER OF INDIA

shaggy mane enveloping his neck and throat, he
looks truly a noble animal as with long, widely spread-
ing horns, he stalks proudly in the midst of his
seraglio ; or at times when, a bachelor's life possess-
ing greater charms for him, he emerges alone at
eventide into a forest glade, or on to some grassy
slope, from the dense cover in which he loves to
dream through the hot hours of an Indian day.

In colour he is dark brown, with yellow on the
chin, on the inner surface of the limbs, under the
tail, and on the buttocks, the hinds and young
stags being of a lighter hue.

The sambur is found in all large forest tracts and
upon all considerable hill ranges, from well within
the Himalayas, to the extreme South of India. He
affects impartially both hill and plain, and is equally
at home in both.

The normal horns of this species have each but
two points on the top and one brow-antler, but
occasionally additional points occur. The stag
does not grow his full number of points until he
is four years old, and his horns require to increase
for at least three or four years after that age before
they will be worth bagging. Once the latter have
attained their full development, they are, with but
rare exceptions, shed annually in the spring with
remarkable simultaneity. By about October or
November in most localities, the new horns have
been rubbed free of velvet, and then the rutting
season begins.

Upon one occasion in Mysore I killed, by a
running shot, a large sambur stag who was so near

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BULLET AND SHOT

shedding, that, as he rolled over once or twice on
the hillside on which he fell, one of his horns came
off from the pedestal of bone. At another time
I stalked a fine stag upon the Nilgiri hills, until>
upon arriving within very close shot of the animal,
I found that he had but one horn having shed the
other, whereupon I contented myself with throwing
a stone at him.

Sambur may be bagged by stalking in the hills,
and by still hunting in the plains, as well as by
beating covers in case of both.

I have enjoyed capital sport when stalking
sambur upon the Koondahs (the higher ranges of
the Nilgiri hills in Southern India) ; the only draw-
back to it being the fact that the big stags, where
they are much hunted, become almost nocturnal in
their habits, and so can be found in a position for
a stalk only very early in the mornings and late in
the evenings.

The best plan is to start before daylight, the
shikarrie carrying a lantern (which may also be
useful for the return to camp at night should the
sportsman be kept out late). When no longer
required, the lantern can be deposited at any point
which it is certain will be traversed on the way
home. Then, as dawn is breaking, the point of
vantage whence the sportsman hopes to view a
stag should be reached, and as the light increases
the telescope must be brought into play, and all
the grassy slopes and valleys outside any covers
within sight examined, in the hope of finding a
stag out feeding. Should one with a head worth

246

THE DEER OF INDIA

bagging be viewed, the next thing is to try to
stalk within shot before the animal retires to cover
for the day, and in this, particularly if the stag"
should have been discovered a long way off, or the
wind necessitate a long detour, frequent failure
may be expected. The morning stalk over, deer
will not again become visible till the afternoon, but
upon the Koondahs and other hill ranges in the
south, the intervening time may be pleasantly spent
in looking for, and in stalking if found, that fine
wild goat known to sportsmen as the " Neilgherry
ibex."

In all hill stalking, the wind is the factor which
requires the most careful study. The multiplicity
of gullies, and the general configuration of the
ground often set up very eccentric currents, which,
though running in a totally different direction to
that of the general course of the wind at that time,
will, should the sportsman get into one of them,
infallibly betray his presence to the game, and not
only render his stalk futile, but seriously frighten,
and render even more cautious for the future, an
already sufficiently wary and cunning animal.

In stalking a stag, it is a great advantage, in all
cases in which it may be practicable to do so, to
keep him in view as much as possible during the
approach, so that, should he change his position,
the sportsman as he draws near may be aware of
the animal's whereabouts.

As far as possible, the stalker should keep well
above his quarry, avoid the sky-line, remain motion-
less should an animal raise its head until it resumes

247

BULLET AND SHOT

grazing, and take advantage of all cover which may
be available. By keeping well above a stag, and
by advancing only when the latter has his head
down in the act of feeding, it is wonderful what
bare ground the sportsman may often traverse with-
out detection if only he keeps the wind in his
favour.

In the low-country forests of Mysore, it is but
seldom that a sambur stag in hard horn offers the
chance of a shot. The reason for this is that it is
only during the monsoon (or rainy season) that
noiseless progression is possible in those forests,
the dry leaves strewing the ground (which crackle
" like tin boxes " when trodden upon), rendering it
impossible at other times to get near game without
being heard by the latter long before there is any
chance of seeing it, or of obtaining a shot. Now
it is precisely during the time when game can be
approached with facility in the Mysore forests that
the stags are out of horn (and therefore not worth
shooting), so, except in hilly country, or by beating,
a sambur's head worth shooting is seldom bagged,
or even seen in those forests, though fine heads
exist there. Of course, in flat forests, the only
chance of obtaining a shot at sambur is for the
sportsman to move about as quietly as possible,
endeavouring to catch sight of the deer before they
have detected his presence.

Sambur are supposed to drink only every third
day, though in so well-watered a country as Mysore
I have had no means of personally testing the
accuracy of this dictum.

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THE DEER OF INDIA

In length of horn, the heads from the North-West
and Central India show a marked superiority over
those from the South. Horns up to 46J inches in
length (Rowland Ward's Horn Measurements) have
been bagged, but upon the Nilgiri hills a 36-inch
head is nowadays very rare.

Sambur venison is, in my opinion, quite worthless,
but the tongue is good, and I have even tasted good
soup made of the meat.

These deer form a favourite item in the tiger's
menu, and many a fine stag falls a victim to the
jungle tyrant. A planter, on the Billiga Rungun
hills in Mysore, once had the luck to be in just
after the death in this way of a stag with a fine
head, and to bag the tiger on the spot.

Sambur-leather is soft and pliable, and is very
useful in making leggings, cartridge-belts, cartridge
bags, etc.

Noted localities for this deer are the Sewalik hills
and the Terai in the North, the forests of Central
India, the Nilgiri hills, and the Eastern and Western
Ghauts.

Sambur are tough animals, and I prefer the large
canelured '500 express bullet for use upon them.

The vernacular names for this deer are —

Hindustani — Sambur.

In the Himalayas — Jerai and Jerao.

In the Terai — Maha.

Mahrathi — Meru.

Gondi — Ma-00.

Canarese — Kadavi.

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BULLET AND SHOT

Telegu — Kannadi.
Burmese — Schap.

In Eastern Bengal — Ghous or Gaoj, female
Bholongi.

THE SPOTTED DEER {Axis maculatus)

This, one of the most beautiful animals in exist-
ence, is also one of the commonest of the larger
Indian fercB naturce. There is no more pleasing
sight, which the heart of a sportsman can desire,
than a herd of spotted deer grazing and browsing,
ignorant of danger, in some lovely forest glade in
the early part of the monsoon, when forest nature
has donned her brightest attire, and when the fresh,
new grass rivals the emerald in hue. Should there
be in the herd a stag with horns of more than
average size, the sportsman must be blasd indeed
whose heart does not beat the faster when he
beholds him, and if a novice, he is very apt to
miss altogether from sheer excitement ; for he
covets those splendid horns, as well as that
dappled hide, shining like burnished gold flecked
with snowflakes, in the rays of the morning sun,
which has, for the nonce, dispelled the monsoon
clouds, and is shining forth in glory to add the
one finishing touch required to complete a picture
of loveliness almost too consummate for earth.
At the shot, the scene is changed ; a few glimpses
of dappled forms fast disappearing in the forest, and
the deer have gone ; — all, that is, except the big
stag, who, if the aim was true, will probably be
found lying dead either upon the spot, or witliin

250

THE DEER OF INDIA

about one hundred yards, though for the moment,,
he too has vanished. Nature's setting still remains,
radiant as before, but the gems have disappeared
from it, and with them much of the beauty of the
panorama.

The height of the spotted stag at the shoulder is
from 36 to 38 inches. Although the bright chestnut
ground-colour, thickly studded with spots of snowy
white, would seem to be sufficient adornment, nature
has added other diversities of colouring to complete
the elaborate attire of this singularly ornate animal.
A very dark streak runs from neck to tail, the
muzzle is dark, the throat white, the ears brown,,
the tail long for a deer, and white underneath, the
under parts also being whitish.

The horns, like those of the sambur, have each
(normally) but two points on the top and a brow
antler, but small abnormal points are not unfre-
quently thrown out from the base of the last. A
stag with 30-inch horns is worth shooting, but fine
heads are to be had up to 36 or 37 inches in length.

The horns are shed, probably annually, but
without any regularity whatever, stags in hard
horn, in velvet, and without horns being found
simultaneously.

The spotted deer is widely distributed throughout
India, but is not found to the east of the Bay
of Bengal, nor in the Punjab. It is somewhat local,
but occurs in suitable localities from the foot of the
Himalayas to the extreme south of the continent,
and is very partial to well- watered forests. Its
proper habitat in Mysore and Malabar is the lighter

251

BULLET AND SHOT

belt of jungle between the large timber forests and
the cultivation, but I have often, when in pursuit
of elephants and bison in the heavy forests, met
with and shot this deer in the latter.

In the south, spotted deer are bagged by noise-
lessly searching for them in open glades and likely
feeding-grounds in the mornings and evenings —
" still-hunting," in fact — but in the north, where the
height of the grass and reeds renders shooting on
foot impracticable, the animals are usually shot
from elephants.

When spotted deer are somewhat alarmed, yet
not sufficiently so to cause them to seek safety in
precipitate flight, they often keep up a loud, shrill
bark which can be heard at a considerable distance.
This call frequently denotes the presence in the
vicinity of a beast of prey, and it is well worth
the sportsman's while to approach a barking animal
in the hope of catching sight of the striped or
spotted (as the case may be) disturber of the
sylvan peace.

The vernacular names for this deer are —

Hindustani — Cheetul, Chitra.
Bengali at Rungpore — Boro-khotiya.
In Gorukpore — Buriya.
Canarese — Sarraga, Jate.
Telegu — Dupi.
Gondi — Lupi.

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THE DEER OF INDIA

THE HOG DEER {Axis porcinus)

The only place in which I have seen this deer
is Assam, where, as in Burmah and in parts of
Bengal and the Terai, it is abundant.

Jerdon's description of it runs thus : — " General
colour a light chestnut or olive-brown with an eye-
spot, the margin of the lips, the tail beneath, limbs
within, and abdomen white. In summer many
assume a paler and more yellow tint, and get a
few white spots ; and the old buck assumes a dark
slaty colour. The horns resemble those of a young
spotted deer, with both the basal and upper tines
very small, the former pointing directly upwards
at a very acute angle, and the latter directed back-
wards and inwards nearly at a right angle, occasion-
ally pointing downwards."

"Average length of a full-grown buck, 42 to
44 inches from muzzle to root of tail ; tail, 8 ;
height at shoulder, 27 to 28 inches ; average length
of horns, 15 to 16 inches."

The hog deer is not found in Southern India,
but is abundant in the north, and in Bengal. Its
habitat is high grass, and it is usually shot from
elephants. Unlike most of the deer tribe, this
species is not gregarious.

The horns are shed in spring, and the new ones
attain their full growth by the autumn.

The vernacular names for this deer are —

H industani — Para.

In Nepaul terai — Khar-laguna and Sugoria.
In parts of Bengal — Nuthurini-haran.

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BULLET AND SHOT

THE SWAMP DEER {Rucervus Duvaucellt)

This fine deer stands about eleven or eleven and
a half hands in height. It is, in winter, of a dull
yellowish -brown colour, changing to chestnut in
summer, with the under parts at all seasons white.
The does are lighter in colour, and the fawns
spotted.

Swamp deer are found in forest tracts at the foot
of the Himalayas and in Nepaul, are very abundant
on the Brahmaputra churs (islands in the river) in
Assam, are found in large herds in open, park-like
country, and in the saul forests in various portions
of Central India, and occur also in the eastern
Sunderbunds of Bengal,

In the Dehra Doon, the Nepaul Terai and
Assam, this deer is usually shot from elephants,
but in Central India, where it inhabits more open
country, it can be stalked and shot on foot.

The swamp deer is frequently called the bara-
singha (literally twelve horns) on account of each
perfect mature horn usually carrying six points,
but Jerdon mentions having seen as many as
seventeen points upon some old heads, and states
that fourteen and fifteen are not uncommon.

Rowland Ward gives 41 inches as the length
of the longest horn within his knowledge, and
twenty-three as the largest number of points upon
a head. Such a length is, however, very unusual,
anything over 30 inches being good. The head

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THE DEER OF INDIA

bearing twenty-three points is of course very unique.
The horns are shed in the spring.

The vernacular names of this deer are —
Hindustani — Barasingha. ^
In the Nepaul Terai — Baraya.
In parts at the foot of the Himalayas — Maha.
In Central India — Male, Goen or Goenjak,
Female, Gaoni.

THE CASHMERE STAG

{Cervus Wallicliii vel Cashinirianus)

This stag resembles the Scotch red deer, but is
superior in size to the latter, and also carries larger
horns. It stands from twelve to thirteen hands in
height. Its habitat is the pine forests of Cashmere,
at an elevation of 9,000 to 12,000 feet in summer,
but in winter it descends to low levels.

With regard to colour, this stag is thus described
by Jerdon : — "In summer the pelage is bright
rufous passing into liver -brown, or bright pale
rufous chestnut. The belly of the male is dark
brown, contrasting with the pale ashy hue of the
lower part of the flanks. The legs have a pale
dusky medium line. In females the whole lower
parts are albescent."

The long shaggy hair on the lower part of the
neck of an old stag adds to the rugged nobility
of his appearance.

This stag, like the swamp deer, and for the same
reason, is generally known as the barasingha, though

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BULLET AND SHOT

the majority of the heads which are bagged, and
which are well worth securing, carry but ten points.

In Rowland Ward's Horn Measurements, the
five finest heads quoted are one of 48, and four
of 47 inches each in length on the outside curve,
one of the latter bearing no less than sixteen points.
Colonel Heber Percy considers that an average
good head should measure 2^"] inches in length,
6 inches in girth above the brow antler, and should
carry the full complement of twelve points.

Colonel Ward gives the following measurements
in detail of the two finest heads which he has seen,
both of them from the Sindh valley.

Length of
Horns.

Girth above
brow antler.

Divergency at tips.
Greatest. Least.

Number of
points.

47 ins. .

.. 7f ins. .,

.. 56 ins. 29 ins.

... 13

49 » •

.. 8 „ ..

.. 50 „ 32 „

... 12

The Cashmere stag sheds his horns late in March
or early in April, and then retires to remote soli-
tudes, where he roams apart from the hinds which
he has left behind him, the ladies for the most
part remaining in Cashmere. After the new antlers
have attained their full growth, and the season of
courtship and of war approaches, the stags return
to Cashmere, and once more seek the society of
the hinds.

It is then that the sportsman has the best chance
of securing a few trophies, as the stags at this time
betray their whereabouts by " calling." Colonel
Ward states that the calling season extends from
about September 20th (the date of commence-
ment being dependent upon the weather, and

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THE DEER OF INDIA

being earlier the warmer it may be) till October
15th or 20th. He also mentions that the finer
the weather, the more frequent will be the calling,
and that during the commencement of the rutting
season, the bellowing is heard only at night. Stags
are nowadays very scarce and hard to obtain,
and Mr. Stone, in his book In and Beyond the
Himalayas, considers his bag of two stags with
very ordinary heads, and two brown bears, "a
good reward for three weeks of very severe and
continuous work."

Not only are the animals themselves few and
far between, but in the pine forests which form the
autumn quarters of a large proportion of the deer,
they are not easy to find, or if found, to shoot.

No one should attempt to seek the Cashmere
stag without first procuring and attentively studying
Colonel Ward's Sportsman s Guide to Kashmir and
Ladak, etc.

With the best of information at his disposal, a
sportsman will be fortunate indeed if he should
procure two or three sizeable heads during the
calling season.

An officer whom I knew (Colonel A. of the 52nd
Regiment O.L.I.) who had gone to Cashmere on six
months' leave the previous year — when he bagged
both ibex and markhor (including a 46-inch head
of the former) — returned there on four months'
leave in the following autumn, with the special
object of trying for stags, but came back to
Bangalore without having even seen one.

Heavy snow drives the stags down to low
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BULLET AND SHOT

elevations, and granted a severe winter, sport may
at that season be obtained with them.

Colonel (then Captain) W. spent a winter in
Cashmere some sixteen years ago. He saw stags
but once, and then encountered six or seven of
them all together in a glen during a blinding snow-
storm. Being a magnificent shot, than whom few
men could do more with the rifle, he made the
most of his opportunity, and bagged no less than
four of them, the last being, he told me, shot at
a range of at least 400 yards.

Colonel Ward and General Kinloch agree in
stating that the incursions of tame buffaloes have
been steadily ousting the deer from their former
haunts, and forcing them eastwards in the direction
of Kishtwar, Badrawar and Chumba.

So fine a trophy, as a large and well set up head
of this stag, must tempt every sportsman who may
have the opportunity of seeking him with any
prospect of attaining his object, to exercise con-
siderable patience, and to spend upon his quest
as much time as he can spare till success has
rewarded his efforts. Colonel R. Heber Percy,
in the Badminton volume dealing with the large
game of India, states that he prefers the higher
and more open ground, to the gloom of the pine
forests at lower elevations, as the field of sport
during the first part of the calling season, but
adds that about October ist, if snow has been falling
on the higher hills, and frost at night has set in,
the deer should be followed down into the pine
forests. The admirable directions of this author

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THE DEER OF INDIA

should be carefully studied by anyone who may
intend to go in search of this stag.

From the accounts given by all the authors who
have had much practical experience of the sport,
it is obvious that, reprehensible though it be to
bag small and therefore useless heads of any large
game, it behoves every sportsman to exercise the
greatest possible forbearance in the case of this
stag, which owing to ruthless slaughter by natives
in the winter, has become so scarce.

The vernacular names for this deer are —

In Cashmere — Hangul or Honglu.
Hindustani — Barasingha.

THE S'IKKIM STAG {Cervus affinis vel WalKchit)

Jerdon states that this large stag stands from
4^ to nearly 5 feet at the shoulder, and that his
coat, which is pale rufous in summer, becomes of a
fine, clear grey colour in winter, the white disc
being "moderately large."

Hodgson's description of the horns of this stag
is quoted by both Jerdon and Sterndale. It runs
thus : — " Pedicles elevate ; burrs rather small ; two
basal antlers, nearly straight, go forward in direction
as to overshadow the face to the end of the nasal ;
larger than the royal antlers ; median or royal
antlers, directed forward and upwards ; beam with
a terminal fork, the prongs radiating laterally and
equally, the inner one longest and thinnest."

The bifurcation of the top of the beam, in lieu

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BULLET AND SHOT

of the usual trifurcation in the case of the Cash-
mere stag, is a marked point of difference between
the horns of the two species, and in the horns of
the Sikkim stag, the beam is more bent at the origin
of the median tine.

The habitat of this stag is the eastern Himalayas,
and according to Jerdon, who quotes Dr. Campbell,
the Choombi valley on the Sikkim side of Thibet.

The horns of this stag are magnificent, and those
of the three best heads mentioned in Rowland
Ward's Horn Measurements measure in length
55i. 54f. 55f ; and in girth 6|, 6f, 6|^ inches
respectively. The first of these heads carries
thirteen, and the second and third ten points,
each.

The vernacular name for this stag is —
In Thibet — Shou.

THE BROW-ANTLERED OR ELD'S DEER
{Rucervus vel Panolia Eldii)

Of this deer, the "thamine" of Burmah, Stern-
dale says that it stands from twelve to thirteen
hands, that in colour it is in summer "a light
rufous brown, with a few faint indications of white
spots ; the under parts and insides of ears nearly
white ; the tail short and black above." He adds
that it is said to turn darker in winter.

Eld's deer was discovered only some seventy
years ago. Its great peculiarity lies in the extra-
ordinary shape of the horns in which the burr is.

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THE DEER OF INDIA

almost wanting, the largely developed brow antlers
extending down the face, and appearing as if they
were prolongations of the beams, the latter being,
seemingly, almost sessile upon the skull. From
below the top of each beam arises a royal tine,
and from the somewhat flattened top of the former
spring a number of small points.

Eld's deer is found in Burmah (it is rarer in the
upper portions of the province than in the lower),
in Manipur, the eastern Himalayas, Terai, Siam,
and the Malay Peninsula. It does not affect dense
jungles, and even when disturbed it seeks safety
by flight, not into thick forest, but into the open.

Major L., late of the 21st Hussars (now Lancers)
bagged a specimen of this curious deer in Borneo.
Thamine are shot either by the use of beaters, or
from the backs of tame elephants.

Natives, as related by Colonel Heber Percy,
approach these animals at night by the use of a
light, accompanied by the jingling of bells — a com-
bination which appears to daze them.

In Horn Measurements, the three largest heads
measure in length 42, 41, and 39!, and in girth
from 5 to 5|- inches ; the number of points being
five, ten, and twenty respectively. Another head
has a girth measurement of 6J^ inches, and carries
no less than thirty-five small points. A head of
32 inches and over is a good one.

The vernacular names for this deer are —

In Burmah — Thamin.

Elsewhere where it is found — Sungrai or
Sungnaie.

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BULLET AND SHOT

An interesting article, which appeared in The
Field of December 31st, 1898, by G. R. Radmore,
upon this comparatively little-known animal has,
by the kind permission of the editor and of the
author, been reproduced in extenso in the Appendix
to this volume.

THE MUNTJAC {Cervulus aureus)

The muntjac, rib-faced, kakur or barking deer,,
which is widely distributed throughout India, is
a small animal measuring only some 26 or 28
inches in height. The two curious folds of skin
down the face, to which the second appellation
is due, are bright red in colour, the creases
between being dark brown ; the general colour of
the head and the upper part of the body and sides
is bright red, with the chest, under parts, and
under the tail white.

The horns are small, and are elevated on bony
pedicles which are covered with hair. Each horn
consists of but a beam, and one tine which springs
from just above the pedicle. In place of horns,
the female has two small knobs. Two formidable
canine teeth, or tushes, in the upper jaw of the male
project outside the lips, and on the Neilgherry
hills, and elsewhere where dogs are employed to
drive muntjac out of the sholahs, the former are
often very badly cut by the latter's sharp little
weapons, and a terrier of Colonel Ward's was, he
mentions, killed by a wounded buck.

Whenever the muntjac suspects danger, he keeps

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THE DEER OF INDIA

up an incessant hoarse bark, until he has either
been able to determine its nature and locaHty
whereupon he seeks safety in flight, or has decided
that no further reason for fear exists, in which case
he relapses into silence. Generally speaking, the
barking is due to the animals having obtained a
hint of the presence of man, but occasionally it
is caused by the proximity of a beast of prey.
Colonel Ward mentions the good service done
him by one of these animals, to whom he was
indebted for the location of a man-eating tiger
which the Colonel duly bagged.

This deer is found at very low elevations, and
also up to (according to the same author) a height
of about 7000 feet in the Himalayas. In Southern
India it is found in the low-country jungles and
also on the hills, and although the lighter belt of
forest outside the state reserves is its proper home,
it is also common in the latter. I have frequently
shot the muntjac when walking through the forests
quietly in search of other game (still-hunting), and
have also been out beating for it upon the Neil-
gherry hills.

Colonel Ward, out of sixty specimens shot by
him, obtained two, whose horns, clear of the
pedicles, measured 7^ inches in each case. These
are very exceptional heads, and were bagged — one
in the Kotli Dun, and the other near Mussoorie.
A head of 5 inches is a good one. I have always
shot muntjac with a '500 express rifle (the smallest
weapon which I ever took out in the forest), but
a smaller bore would be preferable for use upon

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BULLET AND SHOT

them, as the '500 bullet makes a terrible hole of
exit in the case of a small animal shot at close
quarters.

The muntjac is fond of water, and need not
be looked for at any great distance from the latter.
It is usually solitary, but occasionally two adult
animals are found together.

The vernacular names for this deer are — -

Hindustani — Kakur, Jungli-buckra.
Bengali — Maya.
In Nepaul — Ratwa.
Canarese — Kard-Coorie.
Gondi — Gutra, Gutri.
Mahrathi — Baikur or Bekra.
Telegu — Kuka-gori.
Burmese — Gee.

THE MUSK DEER {Moschus Moschijerus)

This tiny deer, which measures in height, accord-
ing to Kinloch, not more than 20 inches, though
Colonel Ward allows him 22 inches, is found in
suitable localities at an elevation of over 8000 feet
throughout the Himalayas. Owing to the posses-
sion by the male of an abdominal or praeputial
gland secreting musk, which is worth in the case
of a good " pod " (according to Kinloch) at least
ten rupees, this animal is constantly snared, netted,
and shot by natives ; and Colonel Ward says of
him that "he is more hunted than any other animal
that inhabits the Himalayas." This gland is fullest

264

THE DEER OF INDIA

in the rutting season, and then contains about one
ounce.

In colour, the musk deer appears to be some-
what variable, but Kinloch describes him as
'* brownish grey varying in shades on the back,
where it is darkest, so as to give the animal a
mottled or brindled appearance." In shape, it is
peculiar, the hind-quarters being elevated. Musk
deer are hornless in both sexes, but the male is
armed in the upper jaw with a pair of tushes which
attain a length of some three inches.

Musk deer may be shot either by still-hunting
or by driving. Although they occur in different
sorts of ground, Kinloch found more of them in
the birch forests than elsewhere. He considers
the flesh excellent, though it bears a faint odour
of musk.

The principal vernacular names for the musk
deer are —

Hindustani — Kastura.

In Cashmere — Rous, Roos, and Kasture.

Thibetan — La-lawa.

Ladakhi — Rib-jo.

THE MOUSE DEER {Meminna indica)

This diminutive, hornless animal, which weighs
only five or six pounds, and measures in height
only lo or 12 inches, is found in large forests all
over India. Although it is very common in the
forests of Mysore, as was testified by the presence

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BULLET AND SHOT

of its tiny footprints no larger than a man's finger-
nail, I seldom saw it, and then only when beating
for large game, when, of course, I could not run
the risk of alarming the latter by firing. It is
somewhat variable in colour, being either yellowish
or brownish-grey above, with yellowish-white spots
in lines along the sides, the under parts being white.

An experienced forest officer and sportsman
(since deceased) told me of a deadly method where-
by this little creature may be brought to bag.

His procedure was to go out with a shot-gun,
after a forest had been burnt, and the mouse-deer
therefore driven to take shelter in any patches of
grass which might have escaped the fire, and to
stand at the end of one of the latter, causing his
men to set fire to it from the further side, whereupon
the animals, being driven out by the flames, were
forced to leave their shelter.

The vernacular names for this creature are —
Hindustani and Mahrathi — Pisuri, Pisora, and
Pisai.

In Central India — Mugi.
Gondi — Turi-maoo.
Bengali — J itri-haran.
Ooria — Gandwa.

266

CHAPTER XV.

THE NEILGHERRY (OR NILGIRI) IBEX
{Hemitragus Hylocrius)

THE wild goat, which is, by a misnomer, termed
the " Neilgherry Ibex," is an animal allied to
the tahr of the Himalayas, but, as by the name of
" ibex " he is known all over Southern India, it is
inadvisable in his case to attempt more rigid
nomenclature.

The Neilgherry ibex is found only upon the hill
ranges of Southern India, and is a very local
animal, possessing but a limited range of distri-
bution.

The Neilgherries, Anaimalais, Western Ghauts,
Pulney Hills, and a few smaller ranges which are
spurs of the above, form the habitat of this splendid
wild goat, which rejoices in precipices, and can
move at speed over ground which, even with the
greatest care and circumspection, no man could
traverse.

Although the Neilgherry ibex prefers the open
grassy slopes for grazing purposes, he will, when
alarmed, betake himself to forest without hesitation ;
and cunning old bucks — particularly in localities in
which they have been much disturbed — are very

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BULLET AND SHOT

partial to precipitous hillsides, well clad with vege-
tation, upon which they are very hard to detect,
and where, though the grass be of inferior quality,
they can still find plenty to eat in almost perfect
security so far as any danger at the hands of man
is concerned, though, of course, the animals run
greater risks from their most destructive foe, the
panther, in such situations than when out on the
open hills.

Ibex usually retire to a precipice when they wish
to lie down, and are fond of shade for the enjoy-
ment of their midday siesta ; but in remote localities
they may be found taking their rest upon the open
hillsides.

In colour the adult male is very dark brown,
inclining to black, with a lighter patch, or "saddle-
mark," on the back. The hair on this saddle-mark
grows lighter with age, until, in the case of a
very old buck, it becomes nearly grey. The females
and young are much lighter in colour. In size, an
adult male far surpasses the members of his harem,
and he is really a large animal, standing from 41 to
42 inches in height at the shoulder, and being,
moreover, stoutly and heavily built. He differs
from the true ibex, in that he lacks the beard, and
long, knotted horns which are characteristic of the
latter.

The record head of a Neilgherry ibex is 17^
inches, but anything over 14 inches is good, 15-inch
horns being but very rarely bagged in these days.

It was during my earliest shooting trip upon the
Neilgherry Hills that I saw an ibex for the first

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THE NILGIRI IBEX

time, but hot until I revisited them upon a sub-
sequent occasion did I succeed in bagging one.

In 1886 I went out for a few days' shooting
to Neilgherry Peak, a fine sambur-ground and a
locality in which ibex were sometimes to be found.
I had taken out a small tent which was pitched in a
sholah (or dense cover) near a clear stream of good
water. I hoped to obtain a little sambur shooting,
and I knew also that there was a chance, but only
a chance, of my seeing ibex, since they merely
occasionally visited the locality which I was about
to work. This ground I had been over only a few
days previously from the bungalow of a relative
(who lived a lonely life upon an estate a few miles
off), but upon that occasion I failed to obtain either
a shot at sambur or even a glimpse of an ibex.

One misty afternoon, I went out from camp and
proceeded towards a tract where the open grass
hills, with sholahs in the dips between, sloped down
to the large forest, which, interspersed with rocky
precipices, and everywhere exceedingly steep,
stretched sheer down into the low country of the
Wynaad (or Malabar). Here, in the evening, I
hoped to see sambur emerge from the dense
sholahs, or from the edge of the large forest, to
graze in the open.

I was making my way to a commanding knoll,
when I suddenly discovered that I had forgotten
to bring my pipe, or my tobacco, I forget which,
and I therefore sent one of the two men out with
me back to camp to fetch the missing article, but
as he was a long time in returning, and since I

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BULLET AND SHOT

feared that he might lose me in the heavy mist, I
shortly afterwards sent the other one also to hurry
him up. Meanwhile I seated myself on the high
top, and when the mists temporarily lifted, carefully
examined through my telescope all the ground
below and before me. No sambur were visible —
in fact, it was yet too early in the afternoon to
expect to see them out at graze. But what was
that animal standing motionless, with all four feet
close together, apparently upon the sky-line of a
low ridge running at a right angle with the hill
upon which I was seated, and extending down
towards the precipitous and forest-clad descent to
the Ouchterlony valley? I knew that it must be
an ibex, though I had never before seen one in the
flesh.

The mists soon rolled over all the hillsides in
front of and below me, and obscured the view, and
I sat, and {I am afraid very impatiently) awaited the
time when they might again remove their unwel-
come mantle from the coveted game which had
just been viewed. Upon the clouds once more
lifting, there stood the ibex, quite motionless, and
in the same attitude as before, apparently gazing
intently down into the valley where the coffee
plantations and the planters' bungalows were
clearly visible, and whence I could hear the
sound of the factory gongs.

This alternation of all-obscuring mist and its
temporary removal was again repeated at least
once, when, after what seemed to me an inter-
minable and unreasonable delay, to my great

270

THE NILGIRI IBEX

delight my men returned. We then set off at
once to try to stalk the ibex. To reach the place,
we had to pass over ridges of grass hills lying
at the foot of a high mountain which terminated
on our side in a precipice ; and it was on a sloping
spur at right angles to this, and far below it, that
I had seen the game. At last we reached the
ridge on which, as I thought, I had carefully
marked the ibex, but on looking cautiously over
it I could see nothing of him. One or more
similar spurs running parallel to this one then
came into view, and I wondered whether I had
made a mistake and had seen him on a further
one.

We crossed the intervening valley, and I looked
over the next ridge in vain, and then proceeded
towards a steep precipice on the edge of the sheer
height above the deep gorge. It was very strange,
and I could not imagine where on earth the ibex
had got to, when all of a sudden, as if he had
dropped from the clouds, there stood the noble
buck, on the very edge of the precipice, and only,
as I estimated, about 250 or 300 yards off. I
instantly lay flat, and made my shikarrie do the
same (I had left the other man behind in a valley
to wait for us), and, not daring to move hand or
foot, intently watched the game. His curved horns
looked splendid through my glasses, and he ap-
peared to be just the colour of an ordinary Mysore
black buck (in Mysore black buck do not usually
attain the jet-black hue of the same animal in the
north-west) with the exception of wanting the very

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BULLET AND SHOT

white belly which pertains to the latter. I dared
not move, nor attempt to approach him, until the
now-desired mist should again curl up «and render
an advance possible.

The ibex, after gazing at the edge of the pre-
cipice for a time, came forward a few yards and lay
down under a rock. Between my position and his
own was a drop down about ten feet of rock, with
a narrow strip of stunted trees on my left front, and
a few scattered rhododendrons directly opposite me.
If once I could attain the shelter of that narrow
strip, I believed that the ibex lying on the grassy
stretch beyond would be mine, but I dared not
attempt to negotiate the drop down the rock in
front until the mists should obscure me from the
game.

At last the wished - for moment arrived, and
leaving the shikarrie to lie flat where he was, I
descended the rock, and successfully gained the
shelter of the trunk of a rhododendron tree before
the mists again cleared off and revealed the ibex,
who was then standing up and grazing. Thinking
that he was still too far for certainty, I determined
to wait till he should go over the edge of the pre-
cipice, when, by running up, I hoped to get a shot
at close quarters below me. The animal made this
move sooner than I expected, but as he went
slowly, I did not think that he was alarmed, and
waiting only until he disappeared over the edge, I
ran up, meeting two monkeys on the top, but the
ibex was nowhere to be seen, though I saw below
me various forms in which he had been lyings

272

THE NILGIRI IBEX

whence I inferred that he had for some time been
inhabiting the locality.

Cruelly and grievously disappointed, I retraced
my steps to where I had left my shikarrie, but to
my amazement he was nowhere to be found. Dusk
was approaching, and not knowing the ground, and
seeing nothing of the man, I was obliged to shout
for him, although extremely unwilling to disturb the
place by so doing. My calls, however, elicited no
response from the fiend in human shape, who, as
now seemed probable, must have designedly dis-
turbed the ibex, and prevented my bagging him ;
though they did from the coolie who had been left
in a hollow, as before related, to wait for us. I had
fortunately made the latter bring a lantern with him,
and we eventually reached camp. If I remember
rightly, the scoundrel who had deserted me arrived
there after I myself did, and without being able to
give any satisfactory explanation of his conduct.
It seems probable, however, that as a "saddle-
back," or old buck ibex, is a great and a rare
prize upon the Neilgherry hills, the villain, who had
accompanied me as shikarrie, wanted to save this
animal for some local and constant patron, rather
than permit me, a casual visitor, to bag it. He
must have got up and walked up the hill in full
view of the ibex, while I was making my stalk,
and then, fearing the consequence of his villainy,
have considered it advisable to keep out of my way
as long as possible. In many years' experience of
big game shooting, this is the only instance of such
conduct on the part of a shikarrie with which I
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BULLET AND SHOT

have ever met. Once, and only once, I have
reason to believe that some trackers, who were
then quite new to me, deceived me by apparently
intentionally failing to properly make out the tracks
of some bison ; but if so, fear of the animal, should
one be wounded, was the sole possible motive in
their case.

Upon returning to camp, I learned that, during
my absence, a whole herd of ibex had passed along
the face of a hill just above my tent and in full
view of the men. I spent all next day out after
ibex, but saw none ; and I had to return to the
plains without viewing another of these splendid
wild goats, though I enjoyed some small success
with sambur.

Upon hearing my account of the animal which
I had seen, my relative (who as I before mentioned
was then living near the place where I saw the
buck) had no doubt from my description that I had
seen, and been very near bagging too, that greatest
prize of the Neilgherry sportsman, a "saddle-back";
and I could not help regretting that, since my
virtuous conduct in refraining from firing a long
shot at him had gone unrewarded, I had not risked
it, and made at least a bid for so coveted a trophy.

It happened that in the Christmas holidays of
the same year, when I was accompanied by a friend
(D.), I was able to spend ten days upon ibex
ground.

We had sent on our kit (including a hill tent), and
also our servants, days beforehand ; and leaving the
plains upon the first day of the holidays, arrived at

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THE NILGIRI IBEX

Ootacamund. Here we found that our belongings
had, by the good offices of a relative, been des-
patched upon sixteen pack ponies to a camping
ground called " Banghy Tappal " on the bridle-path
to Sispara. One more pony was needed for the
few requirements which we had brought with us ;
and these seventeen ponies, two local shikarries,
six coolies, and our servants, constituted our follow-
ing. We reached the tent next evening after a
long ride from Ooty, and found all ready for us,
and dinner in course of preparation.

My right foot was sore, owing to an internal
bruise incurred (apparently) while traversing stony
ground in pursuit of antelope on the plains ; and
I doubted my capacity for the steep hill -walking
which I should have to undertake in order to
achieve success ; and as moreover I have a very
bad head for precipitous ground, my chances of
bagging an ibex — the game on which my heart
was chiefly set — seemed poor indeed. I hoped,
however, to at least shoot some sambur stags.

For nine days D. worked very hard, and I myself
as persistently as the tender condition of my foot
would permit, but upon the ninth evening D.'s total
bag was one stag with horns of about 3i|- inches
in length, and mine two young buck ibex shot out
of a herd met with on the first day on the open
grass hills.

Bad luck had dogged us throughout, though I
had seen ibex upon three occasions, and upon each
had fired at them. D. had but once seen these
animals, and then came upon them — far away

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BULLET AND SHOT

from their usual haunts — near the top of a high
grass hill in sambur ground, to which I was, one
afternoon, wending my way in hopes of seeing a
stag, and of enjoying an evening stalk, in the
innocent belief that D. was working the ibex-cliffs
a good distance off. He had been so doing, but
having left them, went across to the same sambur
ground, and there saw the ibex as above stated.
When I reached the ridge overlooking the valley,
in which, later in the evening, I hoped to see
sambur emerge from the forest, I spied D. and
his men proceeding towards a commanding hill
across the valley in front of me. What they were
doing, and where they were going to, I had no
means of knowing, and it was not until we met
in camp in the evening that the horrible truth in
all its nakedness was exposed. D., having in vain
tried the ibex ground, had proceeded to the valley
wherein I saw him, to look for sambur ; and while
on this quest he spied a herd of ibex on the high
grass hill across the valley, and amongst them was
a patriarchal " saddle -back." D., who had never
seen ibex before, described the saddle -mark, as
viewed through his glasses, as a yellow patch upon
the black ground of the rest of the animal. It then
happened that while D. was laboriously stalking
down the hill -face opposite to the ibex, they
suddenly dashed off and disappeared from view
over the brow. He was at first at a loss to
understand the reason for this move upon their
part, but soon discovered it in the shape of myself
and my men on the sky-line of the opposite hill

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THE NILGIRI IBEX

down which he had been cautiously creeping, and,
up till this unlooked-for disaster occurred, with
perfect success so far as being undetected by the
game was concerned. We, not having seen the
ibex, and ignorant of the cruel disappointment
which we had caused, took up a position to watch
for sambur, but saw none, and returned to camp.
I was greatly disgusted and vexed with myself
when I learnt the mischief of which I had been
the unwitting cause, and D.'s good temper, in
giving vent to not even so much as one "cursory"
remark over so grievous a contretemps, struck me
as beyond all praise.

If our luck with ibex had been bad, it had in
the case of sambur been but little better. We had
seen plenty of hinds and fawns, and some brockets,
but the big stags were almost invisible, apparently
coming out to feed too late at night, and retiring
to cover too early in the morning, to give us any
opportunity of stalking them. I had, however,
seen two really good stags, at one of which I had
fired two long shots without effect. We had tried
everything — had shifted our camp from Banghy
Tappal to a place further on, and again moved back
to the former ; we had even so far condescended,
and lowered ourselves, as to attempt two days'
beating, but, on the evening of our last day but
one, our total bag consisted of one stag and two
ibex.

The next day — our last chance of shooting — we
decided to send our camp to Avalanche on the
return journey to Ootacamund, and, going together,

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to try the Iguindy precipices en route to the
former.

We started in the morning and had a long walk
before we reached the crags for which we were
bound. When at last we arrived at the place, we
found a deep valley with precipitous sides running
up at right angles into the hilly ground on which
we stood, and there terminating in a wide bluff of
rock. In front, down the main valley, all was open
grassy down, but on the left, in a small intersecting
nullah, the precipitous hillsides on either hand ran
— here and there as bare rock, and here and there
as abrupt slopes covered with grass and scrub — far
down below into the forest-clad country at the foot.
First, from the left hand side, we carefully examined
the opposite slopes and precipices with our glasses,
but could make out nothing ; then, from the rocky
bluff at the head of the nullah, we examined both
sides with no better success, and afterwards pro-
ceeded to ascend a high grass hill, which rose on
our right hand from the nullah's precipitous edge.
We had accomplished perhaps three-quarters of
the ascent of this hill, when, under some short
rhododendron trees with low-hanging branches on
our front, D. and one of the shikarries saw a
branch, which had evidently been moved by some
animal, sway back towards us. We supposed that
a sambur had gone off, but we saw nothing, and
proceeded to complete the ascent of the hill. This
being accomplished, we were descending the other
side (and so going parallel to the course of the
before-mentioned nullah), when we came to a

278

THE NILGIRI IBEX

branch ravine, jutting out from it at right angles,
whose sides were precipitous, and beyond and to
the right hand lay open downs. Suddenly, on the
expanse of short grass before us, and perhaps 300
or 350 yards off, I saw a single buck ibex running
towards the precipices which lay to our front
beyond the intersecting ravine. He was evidently
alarmed, but how, or why, or whether he had seen
us, or had winded us, I did not know.

He stopped and stood, and I whispered to
D. to put up the highest • sight on his rifle and
try him, which he did, but missed. As the buck
dashed off, I fired both barrels without effect, the
animal, having crossed the grassy downs, being
lost to sight over the edge of the precipice. I felt
that we had, alas ! seen the last of him ; but I was
mistaken, for in a few seconds, and to our great
surprise, we saw him returning along the edge of
the nullah, having evidently failed to find a way
down the steep bluff, and he then entered and
rushed down the opposite face of the intersecting
ravine near which we stood. I fired two long
shots, and D., who had a smgle-barrelled rifle,
one, as the ibex dashed down the abrupt slope,
but all three shots missed. Hastily reloading, as
he ran almost directly below me, and about 400
yards off, I fired once more, heard the welcome
"thud," and saw the ibex rolling over and over,
out of sight, far down below. I felt quite sure that
he was dead, but I entertained great anxiety as
to whether the men would be able to negotiate the
steep descent. To my unpractised eye, the place

279

BULLET AND SHOT

looked almost, if not quite, inaccessible, and besides,
I did not know how much further he might have
rolled after we had lost sight of him. The men
went off, and we watched them descend without
difficulty to the spot where we had last seen
the ibex, and a thrill of exultation stirred me as
I saw the shikarrie hold up his hat, and heard him
give a shrill whistle as a signal that they had found
him. My self-congratulation and joy were, how-
ever, but short-lived, for, to my unspeakable horror
and dismay, I next instant saw the ibex running off
in front of the men till he again disappeared from
view, as did his pursuers, once more to reappear
with the same result.

I felt very anxious, but there was nothing to be
done but to await the issue of events, so we sat
down and discussed our tiffin in anything but an
exultant frame of mind. I was in terrible dread
lest we should lose the animal after all, and I ate
my luncheon with a heavy heart indeed !

By-and-by a coolie came up from below, and
told me that they wanted a rifle, that the ibex was
a very big "saddle-back," and that he had only a
hind leg broken. This was too much for me, for,
in spite of my natural dislike to steep ground, I did
not want to entrust them with my rifle, and still less
did I wish that the ibex should be bagged only
partly by me ; and so, assisted by the coolie, I
succeeded at last in accomplishing the descent,
while D. remained on the top to await my return.
I found the shikarrie (Chinniah) crouched close
into the hillside, watching the ibex which was

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THE NILGIRI IBEX

lying down on the other side of a small nullah,
only some thirty or thirty-five yards off. Sitting
down, to enable me to take a steady shot after the
great exertion which I had undergone, I fired, and
the buck rolled over and over down below. To so
nasty a place had he now fallen, that neither of our
two shikarries could manage the descent, but, as
good luck would have it, one of our coolies, who
was an expert cragsman, succeeded in getting down,
and in bringing up to us in turn, first the head,
and then the skin of my coveted prize which was
just beginning to be entitled to the honorific title
of "saddle-back," since light hairs were com-
mencing to show over the dark ground-colour of
his loins. All this had occupied a considerable
time, and the skinning of the slain appeared to
me — sitting, very ill at ease, on very little of the
steep hillside — to be an interminable operation, but
at last I started to make the ascent. It would, I
suppose, have been easy enough work to anyone
possessed of a good head for, and accustomed to
climbing ; but to me, with my slippery, smooth-
soled boots, it was difficult and "jumpy" enough
work in places, and I needed constant aid from
Chinniah. What toil it was ! Every few feet I
had to sit down, and the perspiration simply poured
from my face, though the temperature was suffi-
ciently cool, more especially since a thick mist
had come on enveloping everything in its cold,
wet blanket.

At last, quite done up, I reached the top, and
flung myself down on the grass, while I sent

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BULLET AND SHOT

Chinniah to where I had left D. and the tiffin
bag, to bring me some whiskey and water ; and
then, much refreshed, I rejoined D., who had
been marvelling at my long absence, and won-
dering what he had better do, should it prove
that I had come to grief and been smashed by
a fall down a precipice.

The horns of my buck measured 14J inches,
and though one of them had been somewhat
broken in the course of his various involuntary
somersaults, it was satisfactorily mended by the
taxidermist who set up the head. The ibex
had received the first successful bullet in his hind
leg, which it had broken at the hock-joint ; and
so great was the distance, that the ordinary hollow
Eley's express bullet extracted therefrom had not
broken up at all, and was only slightly flattened
at the head where the copper tube had been driven
into the body of the bullet. The charge of powder
used was 4f drachms.

We had a long tramp to the Avalanche bun-
galow, and it was not until some time after
darkness had set in that we arrived there. On
the next day we returned to Ooctacamund, and
thence to our duty in the plains below, looking
forward to the time when we might once again
hope to enjoy the fine sport of ibex shooting on
the lovely, cool heights to which, for the present,
we were compelled to bid adieu and au revoir.

The hot weather of 1888 found me once more
upon the Neilgherry hills, bent upon a shooting

282

THE NILGIRI IBEX

trip of a month's duration, and accompanied by
my wife and by my cousin R.

Fond as I am of room and comfort in camp,
my trip with D. in the Christmas hoHdays of 1886
showed me that a hill tent was far too cumbersome
a piece of equipage for porterage in a country
where carts cannot be taken, and where pack ponies
and coolies must be solely relied upon for transport.

We had therefore determined to do with as light
tents as possible, and so took only a field officer's
Cabul tent for my wife and myself, a ridge-pole tent
of slightly larger dimensions for my cousin, and
a rowtie for the servants.

We left Ooty on the 3rd April, and intended
to spend the first night out at the Avalanche bun-
galow— a traveller's bungalow in a picturesque spot
on the way to our first shooting ground which we
hoped to reach the next day. This bungalow
consisted of one centre dining-room, and two large
bedrooms with bathrooms attached. Off the front
verandah were two small pantry -rooms without
bathrooms.

A month's trip away from civilisation necessarily
entails a good many preparations, and as we did
not wish to waste time in Ooty, ours were rather
hurried, and we did not leave that station until
somewhat late in the day. It was not until after
dark that we reached the Avalanche bungalow, but
as our servants and kit had long preceded us, we
hoped to find all ready, and to be able to have
dinner and go to bed in good time with a view to
an early start for our shooting grounds next morning.

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BULLET AND SHOT

Little did we anticipate the indescribably un-
pleasant, and to us quite unique, experience of
the next few hours.

On arrival at the bungalow, while R. went off
to the stable to look after the accommodation of
our steeds, my wife and I found that all the
habitable portion thereof was occupied by a general
officer and his wife and by a sporting parson.

To our utter disgust and horror, we found our
baggage all lying strewn upon the gravel in front
of the door, while we were met by a servant in
the front verandah, who, putting his back against
the door of the dining-room in which the trio were
then seated at dinner, informed us that we could
not go in there, but that one of the small pantry-
rooms off the front verandah was available for
us. (The other was being used as a pantry by
the other travellers' servants, but we soon made
them vacate it, on finding that no other second
room was available.) The situation was certainly
a difficult one.

To make a long story short, however, we had
to put up with great inconveniences that night,
and at earliest dawn repacked our kit, and pro-
ceeded on our way to the shooting grounds.

That day we pitched our camp at Banghy
Tappal, and thence, three days later, when out
upon a high hill at some distance from camp, we
viewed a large number of ibex upon an opposite
precipitous bluff, a wide, deep valley, quite in-
accessible in view of the necessity for reaching
camp before nightfall, dividing us from them.

284

THE NILGIRI IBEX

On the next day, we moved our camp to
Bhowany, from which, both the hill on which we
had seen the ibex, and the one from which we
had viewed them, were easily accessible.

It was not until the ninth day after we began
shooting that I fired my first shot at ibex, though
I had, in the meantime, bagged three stags.

On that morning (April 13th) I went to the hill
on which we had seen the ibex on the seventh
idem, and I disturbed first a herd, and then four
fine bucks which were together on our side of the
hill, without getting a shot, and all the animals had
gone towards the precipice, which lay on the
further face where we had previously seen them
from across the Bhowany valley, as above related.
I found them in the rocks just below the brow,
and fired a hasty shot at one as it bolted. The
shikarrie went down to see the result of this shot,
which he reported a miss ; while I went a little
further along the hillside, and there, far down
below — almost at the bottom, as it seemed when
viewed from above, and on a little plateau — stood
an ibex, broadside on.

I examined it through the telescope, and its
horns swept back so far that I decided that it was
a buck, but at first I would not fire at it, since the
distance appeared an impossible one. Two or
three times I aimed at it, and still the animal stood.
At last I determined to attempt the shot, and did
so, allowing a little for a high wind which was
blowing across the precipitous hill face. At the
report, the ibex fell, rolling over and over, but

285

BULLET AND SHOT

trying to recover itself, so I fired another shot
(which I think missed), and it then disappeared
amonofst bushes in a ravine.

The shikarrie and one of the coolies went down
and brought up the head and skin, and they, and
the other coolies, then went off to eat their mid-
day meal (which they had brought with them), and
as no water was to be had near our position at
a great elevation, they were away for a considerable
time. This was a source of great annoyance to
me, since I was relying upon their bringing me
water, that which I had taken with me having been
almost boiled in the sun, and tiffin under the
circumstances being a difficulty. While they were
away, I saw three or four more ibex below the hill
in the act of coming up it, and I fired at the
largest. The muzzle of my rifle was, however,
not clear of a rock in front of me, and the bullet
knocked a piece off it and went — I know not
whither — and my second, I think, missed also.
Running to a grassy spur which commanded a
view of the precipice to my right, I saw some ibex
crossing a sheer sheet of rock, so nearly perpen-
dicular that nothing but a wild goat could have
crossed it, and I fired at what I thought was the
largest, and sent it sliding down the rock far below,
till it disappeared from view. I went myself, as
I had already done before, to search for water,
but found only a spring full of black, peaty mud,
which was cut up by tracks of the wild goats ; and
it was only with great difficulty, and by the use
of the cup of my flask, that I managed to skim

286

THE NILGIRI IBEX

off a few drops at a time pure enough to drink
at a moment of distress.

During one of these expeditions, I had seen
two little kid ibex, which had come over the top
of the hill, and which ran only a short distance,
and then lay down on the rocks, making a soft
bleating which sounded like the mewing of
a cat.

The shikarrie and coolies returned at last,
bringing water for me, and while they busied
themselves in recovering the head and skin of the
second animal, I went on a prospecting expedition
to the right-hand side of the hill, and there, on
a little piece of flat near its bottom, I saw six
or seven ibex. One was conspicuous amongst
them in size, and I knew that it was a buck.
Sitting down, and taking a steady aim, I fired, and
the animal fell and lay kicking where he had been
struck. I watched him for a minute or two to see
if he required another bullet, but as he soon lay
quite still, I started to again go back over the brow
of the hill in order to try to find the shikarrie and
coolies. After ascending a few yards, I saw the
ibex give another kick, and I again watched him,
but he showed no further signs of life. Suddenly,
from the jungle below, appeared a fine dark-
coloured buck, who looked larger and duskier than
the one just shot. He stared at his slain friend,
and started, shying off like a pony, and then stood
looking sideways with a startled air at the dead
buck. Sitting down, I took a steady shot at
his back, and fired, and to my satisfaction I saw

287

BULLET AND SHOT

him tumble over and disappear in a nullah
below.

The shikarrie was soon found after he had
brought up the spoils of ibex No. 2, and I des-
patched him on his third downward journey to
bring up those of the two big bucks just slain ;
and well content, I ere long set off for camp with
the trophies of the four animals. The heads of
the first two bagged were small, and in the case
of one of them the horns at their bases were
so thin that it was undoubtedly a doe, in spite
of the shikarrie's asseverations that all the animals
were bucks. The length of its horns, as viewed
from the side, had deceived me in this one case.
The heads of the two last slain formed handsome
trophies which I was very pleased to obtain.

I remained in camp a month in all, but got only
two more ibex— one a big dark buck with a slight
commencement of the saddle-mark, and the other
a brown buck. I missed some chances, however,
and during the whole time I did not once see a
real "saddle-back." The heads of the two best
were, however, little inferior in length to that
of the "saddle-back" previously mentioned, while
one of them considerably surpassed it in thickness,
and I was fortunate in obtaining such good heads
on the very much over-shot Neilgherries.

On another occasion, upon the selfsame hill, I
was greatly entertained by three pretty little ibex
kids. I had disturbed a herd, which had bolted
and disappeared from sight down below, when I
heard, on some rocks in front, the mewing noise

288

THE NILGIRI IBEX

which the two kids had made on the previous
occasion. I soon discovered the engaging Httle
animals, and they came towards us out of curiosity.
They came near, and, hiding behind a rock, I tried
to bleat like a goat and to call them up, while I
sent my men to make circuits from both right and
left simultaneously, and to close in and attempt
to catch one of them. Tame as they appeared
to be, however, they were far too wide-awake for
this, and dashing off, they crossed steep, rocky
ground at speed, and disappeared down below.

By-and-by I again came upon two little kids on
the top of the hill, and though I called one of them
up to within about fifteen or twenty yards of me,
all attempts at effecting a capture resulted in failure.

They were very entertaining little beasts, with
soft, fluffy hair, and I hope that their mammas soon
returned and took charge of them, and kept them
out of the way of the prowling hill panther, whose
penchant for ibex is as pronounced as is that of his
low-country congener for the domestic goat and its
young.

Ibex were rare upon the Neilgherry hills at
that time, and it was very seldom that a buck
with a fair head was seen upon them. This was
a very great pity, for the sport of pursuing them
is a most fascinating one, entailing as it does hard
exercise in a lovely climate amongst beautiful
scenery, while the game itself is so vigilant and
hard to approach, that it is well worthy of pursuit
by the most experienced and skilful sportsman.

For some years, however, ibex have been strictly
u 289

BULLET AND SHOT

preserved upon the Neilgherries, and the higher
ranges of those hills now contain a goodly number.
I have comparatively recently stalked these animals
in the Travancore hills, but the "saddle-backs" were
not with the herds at the time, or apparently much
at all upon the ground which I was working, and
I met with no success.

The beginner who is in search of ibex must
remember that the animal is possessed of extra-
ordinary powers of vision, that he is also endowed
with extremely keen olfactory nerves, and that the
necessity which exists for him to be ever on the
watch against surprise on the part of his deadly
and watchful foe, the panther, renders him extremely
wary.

Ibex, like all other animals, seldom look up hill
unless their attention be attracted by some sound,
as, for instance, that made by a loose stone rolling
down the hillside ; consequently the sportsman's
aim must be to, if possible, get above the game.
Patience is highly necessary in ibex shooting ; the
binoculars or the telescope must be kept in constant
use as long as any likely ground is in sight, for,
though none may be visible, it is quite possible that
they are not very far off, concealed by bushes and
grass on the ledges of any of the neighbouring
precipices. As in deer stalking, the main object
is to see the game before it has discovered the
sportsman, and having seen it, to plan the stalk
with due attention to the configuration of the
ground, the direction of the wind, and the cover
available for concealment during the approach.

290

THE NILGIRI IBEX

It is far better not to attempt to stalk in too
close to the game. One hundred yards is quite
near enough, and if it be necessary to approach
within half of that distance before it becomes visible,
the very greatest caution must be exercised, and
the sportsman must pay all possible heed to his
feet, avoiding the loosening or crushing of a single
stone or the breaking of a twig as he walks. Once
within range, a bullet well placed, on or behind the
shoulder, will bring the animal fired at to bag ; but
for humanity's sake long shots should be avoided,
as an ibex shot too far back, or with a broken limb,
often escapes to perish miserably.

There is much ibex ground upon the Koondahs,
as the higher ranges of the Neilgherries are called,
upon the Anaimalais, the Travancore hills, and the
Western Ghauts, as well as upon other hill ranges
of minor importance in the South of India.

The Government has, however, commenced
granting land for coffee cultivation upon the Anai-
malais, so that in course of time the ibex upon
these fine hills, plentiful though they now are, will
■doubtless soon become comparatively scarce.

This has been their fate upon the Travancore
hills, which have of late been much opened up for
cultivation.

The Tamil names for the Neilgherry ibex are
Warra-adu and Warri-atu, and sometimes plain
Adu (goat).

291

CHAPTER XVI.

BRIEF NOTES ON THE WILD GOATS OF
CASHMERE AND LADAK

THE HIMALAYAN IBEX {Capra Sibirica)

THIS splendid wild goat is found throughout
the higher ranges of the Himalayas, except
upon the extreme southern slopes, and portions
south and east of the Sutlej river, where it does
not occur at all ; and numbers of sportsmen ga
annually to Cashmere with the object of securing
specimens of this and of other Himalayan game.
General Kinloch gives his height as about ten
hands, and describes his colour as a dark chocolate,
varied by patches of dirty white. He has a long,
flowing, shaggy black beard. Both sexes have
horns, those of the female being very small — only
about a foot in length — while the male's are long,
thick, scimitar-shaped, and heavily knotted, forming
most imposing and ornamental trophies. Though
horns up to some 56 inches have been bagged
(Rowland Ward quoting thirteen heads of 50 inches
and more), the sportsman who nowadays is lucky
enough to secure a head of 46 or 47 inches may

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THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

consider himself indeed a favourite of Fortune.
Two acquaintances of my own have in compa-
ratively recent years bagged heads of this calibre,
but any horns of over 40 inches are well worthy
the expenditure of much time and labour to
secure.

Colonel Ward writes that April and May are
the best months for ibex shooting, though June
also, he says, is a good month for it. Colonel
Ward's The Sportsman s Guide to Cashmere and
Ladak gives details as to localities, and this, as
well as General Kinloch's grand work, should be
purchased by any sportsman who may intend to
shoot ibex and other game in Cashmere. But the
new hand at this shooting must bear in mind that
many of the localities mentioned in Colonel Ward's
book have long since been played out so far as
heads worth shooting are concerned, and that, as
time goes on, sportsmen must make up their minds
to penetrate further and further into the interior,
and to seek nullahs which have been but little
shot over, if they be determined to bag fine
trophies. The same remark applies to all Hima-
layan game. Unless a sportsman who intends
coming out from home on a shooting trip to
Cashmere, or one in India who has never been
in Cashmere before, can obtain from friends really
reliable recent information as to localities, his best
course, having first studied Ward's and Kinloch's
books, is to reach Srinagar very early in April,
and ascertain upon the spot what had been done
in the previous season, and where the best bags

293

BULLET AND SHOT

had been obtained, and then, if possible, to go
still further afield/

A friend of mine — Major G., R.A. — only a few-
years ago, made a splendid bag of ibex upon the
occasion of his very first expedition to the '* happy
valley." He, however, ran considerable risk in
crossing a very high pass before it was safe, and
carried his life in his hand during the perilous
journey. He brought back eleven heads, of which
the largest measured 47, and the smallest 36 inches.
This sportsman adopted a plan of which I have
never read in any book on Himalayan sport. In
place of going out day after day and looking for
the ibex himself, he used to send out his Kashmiri
shikarrie to inspect the ground, and, when he
ascertained from the latter that a herd with one
or more good heads in it was frequenting a certain
locality, he made his plans for endeavouring to
obtain an interview at close quarters with the game.

Another friend — Major D., of the 52nd O.L.L —
some years ago, had a very disastrous start, though
in the end he did well.

In crossing a high pass, some eight marches
beyond Srinagar, a heavy snowstorm came on.
His shikarrie did not think that it would long
continue, so recommended the Major to descend
to a lower elevation, leaving his camp standing,
and taking with him only his rifles and ammunition.

' In the latest edition of his book, Colonel Ward takes a very
despondent tone with regard to Cashmere sport, and has even altered
its title, considering the Cashmere of the present day less a paradise
for the sportsman, than a fine field for the tourist.

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THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

He acted on this advice, but the snowstorm lasted
for three days and three nights, the whole camp
being buried beyond hope of recovery until the
snows should melt. Major D. had therefore to
return to Srinagar to obtain new tents and a fresh
outfit. Cholera was raging at that place at the
time, and his shikarrie (one of the best in Cash-
mere) contracted the disease and died, his coolies
moreover running away ; while another sportsman
pressed on, and occupied the splendid nullah for
which he was bound.

Such a combination of misfortunes was sufficient
to dishearten the keenest votary of Diana, but
Major D. pluckily persevered, and, crossing the
Indus and working in the direction of Skardo,
he made a good bag.

The etiquette in Cashmere is that a nullah
belongs to the first occupant so long as he may
choose to remain in it, and great is the racing to
secure the more coveted localities should two or
three men have made up their minds to try to
secure the same hunting-ground.

Camp life in Cashmere is cheap, but the sports-
man must make up his mind to rough it, and to
eschew most luxuries, on account of the difficulty
of transport, coolies only being available for the
purpose there.

Splendid ibex and markhor heads have lately
been bagged on the Gilgit side. This part has
long been closed against casual sportsmen, on
account of the turbulence of the tribes inhabiting
it, but military officers on duty there have recently

295

BULLET AND SHOT

had magnificent opportunities of bagging aged ibex
and markhor in a practically virgin locality. By
the time that it will have become settled, and safe
for ordinary sportsmen, the vicinity of Gilgit will
probably be played out so far as large heads of
both of these wild goats are concerned ; and anyone
who may desire large heads will have to go beyond
the area hitherto shot over to find such.

The country inhabited by ibex consists of rocky,
precipitous hills at high elevations, and, in the most
favourable season for shooting the game, just above
the snow-line is the point at which to look for it.
The animals, lying up in the rocks and snows
above, descend in the evenings to crop the new
growth of herbage springing immediately after the
melting of the snow below.

In shooting all hill game, it is desirable to at
least spot it from above. The situation may be
such that a shot from the same level, necessitating
the sportsman's descent before he can take it, may
afford more chances of keeping the game, once it
be disturbed, in view, in order to obtain several
consecutive shots ; but the tendency of all wild
animals is to look down-hill, and it is advisable
to sight the game from a point of high vantage,
to avoid the fatal alternative of being first observed
by the keen-sighted wild goats.

Needless to say, the wind plays a most important
part in this, as in all other kinds of hill stalking,
and in all hill ranges the wind is often very tricky.
Any of my readers, who are fond of target shooting
at long ranges, will clearly gather my meaning, even

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THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

if they have not been out shooting in the hills,
and have not seen the eccentric currents caused by
the configuration of a mountainous country. One
golden rule, which a sportsman who had shot in
Cashmere and Thibet laid down to me, is this, viz.,
that "Wind will always blow up-hill if it can,"
which fact affords a further reason for keeping well
above the game.

Ibex have of late years generally been shot with
expresses of '500 or "450 calibre, but the ibex
weapons of the present and the future are undoubt-
edly the '303 sporting rifle and the '256 Mannlicher,
the flat trajectory of both giving them an enormous
pull over all other sporting rifles yet invented.
This advantage — a great one anywhere — is enor-
mously accentuated in the case of shooting in the
hills, where accurate judgment of distance is often
extremely difficult.

The vernacular names for the ibex are —

In the Himalayas — Sakin, I skin, Skeen.

On the Upper Sutlej — Buz.

Kashmiri — Kale.

In Kulu — Tangrol.

In Ladakh — (male) Skin, (female) L'Damuo.

THE IBEX OR WILD GOAT OF ASIA MINOR
{Cafira ^gagrus)

This wild goat extends from Asia Minor into
Sindh and Baluchistan, and is also found in
Afghanistan. In colour, its short coat is brown,

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BULLET AND SHOT

becoming, however, lighter in summer, with an
almost black line along the back. The male has
a black beard. The females and young are lighter
in hue. The animal is smaller than the Himalayan
ibex, and is found at very much lower elevations.
The difference between the horns of this species
and those of any other of its tribe is well described
by Lieutenant-Colonel R. Heber Percy in " Indian
Shooting," in one of the two volumes on Big Game
Shooting in the Badminton Library, in the following
words : — " Instead of having a flat front and being
thinner behind than in front, as most other ibex
horns are, these horns have the edge in front, a
scimitar-like ridge running up the front of the horn,
wavy but unbroken for about one-third above the
head, and then represented by knobs which spring
up at some distance apart for about another third,
when the ridge appears again, but rapidly dies
away towards the point. The sides of the horn,
too, are smooth, the outer side rounded and the
inner flat, the knobs not running down the sides
as in other ibex."

This animal has been shot with horns of over
50 inches in length, but anything approaching 40
inches is well worth shooting.

The sportsman who may wish to shoot this
animal should read the account given of it in the
above-mentioned volume of the Badminton Library,
and 'also Sterndale's notice of it in his Natural
History of Indian Mammalia.

298

THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF MARKHOR
{Capra Falconeri^ vel Megaceros, vel Jerdoni)

Of all the wild goats in the world, the markhor
carries by far the finest trophies. This splendid
animal varies, not only in appearance and size, but
also in habits, in the different localities wherein he
is found ; so much so that General Kinloch con-
siders that the two most divergent types, viz., the
spiral-horned and the straight-horned, even if they
possess a common origin, are now entitled to be
considered different species.

In his winter coat, the general colour of the
markhor is dirty bluish grey or bluish white. He
carries a long, black beard, and his shaggy, white
mane, extending down to his knees, enhances his
imposing appearance. In summer his coat has a
reddish tinge. He is a powerfully built animal,
standing about ii hands at the shoulder.

General Kinloch, besides the two widely diver-
gent types mentioned above, describes also two
intermediate forms.

His classification is as follows : —

I. Spiral-Jiorned. — Extreme type the Kashmir
Markhor {Capra megaceros) : horns " flat and
massive, and rising in a fine open corkscrew form
with widely diverging tips to a length of upwards
of five feet measured along the spiral, and with
three or four twists." (This variety he considers

299

BULLET AND SHOT

the finest of all.) It is found on the Pir Panjal
and Kaj-i-nag ranges. Rowland Ward quotes one
head of this type measuring 63, and many between
50 and 60 inches respectively in length.

2. Straight- horned. — Extreme type the Sheik
Budin Markhor (Capra Jerdoni) : found on the hill
of that name, and upon other hills in its neighbour-
hood, viz., on the right bank of the Indus.

Horns perfectly straight, round at base, with a
spiral groove running round them from base to
tip. This animal is considerably smaller than the
preceding, and his beard and mane are less de-
veloped.

General Kinloch believed, when he wrote his
book, that the largest head ever obtained on the
Sheik Budin hill measured only 32 inches. He
considers a head of 24 inches a fair specimen.

3. Spiral- horned. — The Markhor of Astor, Gilgit,
Chilas, etc. Spiral much more open than No. i, and
with seldom more than one complete turn. The
animal is somewhat larger than No. i. Horns of
both No. I and No. 3 measure much the same,
viz., from 40 inches (good head) up to upwards of
5 feet in length, though it is but very rarely in these
days that horns above 50 inches in length are
bagged.

4. Straight-horned. — The Markhor of Northern
Afghanistan. Horns heavier and longer than those
of Sheik Budin, and the twist more accentuated.
This animal is larger than his congener of Sheik
Budin, and is more like Nos. i and 3 in general
appearance.

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THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

Horns iip to 39^ inches are recorded b>"
Rowland Ward, as also a single horn of 48^^
inches, but heads of 30 inches and over are worth
bagging.

Rare as are large heads of markhor in the
localities inhabited by them which are open to
European sportsmen, the difficulties of the chase
of this fine animal are greatly enhanced by the
fact that not only does he inhabit the most
dangerous ground, but he delights, in Cashmere
at least, in precipices amidst rocky forests in which
it is extremely difficult to see him.

Writing so long ago as 1883, with reference to
markhor shooting, Colonel Ward states that he
should consider himself "well repaid by obtaining
one fair shot for each fortnight on the shooting
ground."

The Sheik Budin markhor, however, is far less,
difficult to find, since the hills which he inhabits are
practically destitute of forest ; but there, too, exists,
plenty of ground so dangerous that, should the
markhor take to it, the sportsman cannot follow
them.

The Astor markhor frequents open ground for
the most part, but very little of the country in-
habited by him is free to European sportsmen, and,
of course, Afghanistan also is impenetrable by any-
one who values his life.

The sportsman who may desire to bag markhor
should read General Kinloch's and Colonel Ward's
books mentioned in dealing with ibex, and should
also bear in mind that only by the exercise of

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BULLET AND SHOT

infinite patience and perseverance, can he venture
to hope for success.

The vernacular names for this animal are —
In Afghanistan, Cashmere, etc. — Mar-khor.
Ladakhi — Ra-che or Ra-pho-che.

THE TAHR {Capra vel Hemitragus Jemlaicus)

The tahr is a fine wild goat which stands from
9 to lo hands in height at the shoulder. In colour,
the male varies from light yellowish brown to dark
brown ; he has no beard, but he carries a splendid
mane which springs from the fore-quarters and
neck, and hangs down to (occasionally) as far as
the knees.

The smell of the male is extremely potent and
most disagreeable.

The female is much smaller than is her consort,
and in colour she is reddish brown above, and
whitish below. Her horns are but small.

The horns of the male are triangular in shape,
with the sharp edges to the front. They seldom
exceed 14 inches in length, even in the largest
specimens, and a head of 12 inches is worth
preserving.

Like the markhor, the tahr is fond of forest-clad
precipices, and so he is not easy to find ; and as,
moreover, he inhabits very difficult and dangerous
ground, while his trophies bear no comparison with
the magnificent spoils of the markhor and the ibex,
he is not nearly so much sought after as are the
two latter.

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THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

The tahr is found throughout the Himalayas, at
high elevations, from Cashmere to Bhootan. It is
plentiful in Chamba and Gurwahl. Judging from
General Kinloch's experience, it is a tough beast,
and well-placed lead is necessary in order to bring
it to bag.

The same author names as . the best times for
bunting tahr, the early spring when fodder is scarce,
and the rutting season, at both of which periods the
old males come out upon the open slopes.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Near Simla — Tehr and Jehr.

In Nepaul — Jharal.

In Cashmere — Kras and Jagla.

In Kulu — Kart.

In Kunawar — (male) J hula, (female) Tharni or
Thar.

On the Sutlej, above Chini — (male) Esbu,
(female) Esbi.

THE GOORAL {Nemorhcedus Goral)

The gooral, or Himalayan chamois, is found
throughout the Himalayas, at low elevations not as
a rule exceeding 8000 feet. It is fond of heat, and
inhabiting, as it does, the lower portions of the
valleys, is found in very steep and difficult ground,
the cover clothing the slopes at low elevations
imposing an additional difficulty upon its pursuit.
Gooral are not gregarious, but two or three are
often found together.

303

BULLET AND SHOT

This animal is only some 26 inches in height,
and as its horns do not often exceed 8 inches
in length, it is not much sought for, being
consequently found at no great distance from
various hill stations and in the close vicinity of
villages. In colour, it is brownish grey with a
dark line down the spine. Both sexes having
small horns, the white spot on the throat, which
is more marked in the male than in the female,
is said to be the most distinguishable mark for
determining the sex of these animals when seen
at even a short distance off.

The pursuit of the gooral is recommended as
training both in cragsmanship and in shooting,
for, as well as inhabiting very difficult ground, it
affords but a very small mark for the rifle.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Pahari — Goral.

Kashmiri — Pijur, Rein or Rom.

In the Sutlej valley — Sah or Sarr.

Lepcha — Suh-ging.

Bhootia — Ra-giyu.

THE SEROW {Nemorhoedus Bubalinus)

Of this rare animal — no doubt more seldom seen
because he leads a solitary life, and is partial to
steep rocky forests — General Kinloch says : — " The
Serow is an ungainly -looking animal, combining
the characteristics of the cow, the donkey, the pig,
and the goat. It is a large and powerful beast,.

304

THE WILD GOATS OF CASHMERE

considerably larger than a tahr, and longer in the
leg. The body is covered with very coarse hair,
which assumes the appearance of a bristly mane
on the neck and shoulders, and gives the beast
a ferocious appearance, which does not belie its
disposition."

" The colour is a dull black on the back, bright
red on the sides, and white underneath, the legs
also being dirty white. The ears are very large,
the muzzle is coarse, and the two singular circular
orifices are situated two or three inches below the
eyes."

In height this animal measures about, or a little
more than three feet at the shoulder. It has short,
annulated horns, of about the same length in both
sexes ; and the longest horn of which I can find
any authentic measurement is Mr, A. O. Hume's
head of I2|- inches, quoted as the record by
Rowland Ward in his latest edition.

The serow is seldom found when looked for,
and perhaps is but seldom specially sought, being
generally met with, and occasionally bagged, when
the sportsman is in pursuit of other game.

General Kinloch made one short trip into Cash-
mere with the special object of shooting serow,
and bagged but one. An injury to his foot,
however, laid him up for a fortnight of the best
time which he spent upon the ground. He, Colonel
Ward, and other writers all agree that the serow,
when wounded, will fight, and so due caution
should be exercised when dealing with a wounded
animal.

X 305

BULLET AND SHOT

A serow, when disturbed, invariably gallops down-
hilFand travels for a long distance before stopping.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Pahari — Serow or Serowa.

On the Sutlej — Eimu.

Kashmiri — Ramu, Halj, and Salabhir.

Leesaws of the Sanda Valley — Nga.

The Shans — Paypa.

Chinese of Burmo — Chinese frontier — Shanli.

v^

CHAPTER XVII.

SOME BRIEF NOTES ON THE WILD SHEEP OF
INDIA AND THE HIMALAYAS

1. The Ovis Ammon or Nyan {Ovis Hodgsoni)

2. The Burhel {Ovis Nahura vel Burhel)

3. The Shapoo {Ovis Vignei)

4. The Oorial {Ovis Cydoceros)

THE OVIS AMMON OR NYAN {Ovis Hodgsojii)

THIS Splendid wild sheep, which is so closely-
allied to other similar forms inhabiting North-
ern and Central Asia, as to suggest that the differ-
ences between them and it are no greater than can
be accounted for by diversities in habitat and in
food, is found in austere Thibet. The flesh of this
sheep is tender, and excellent for the table.

General Kinloch thus graphically describes the
country inhabited by this animal : —

" On the wild, bleak uplands of Thibet, where for
hundreds of miles not a tree is to be met with ;
where in every direction, as far as the eye can
reach, there is nothing but a vast expanse of barren
soil, rock, and snow ; where there is no shelter from
the glare of a cloudless noon, nor from the freezing
winds that sweep the naked hills with relentless

307

BULLET AND SHOT

force towards the close of day ; here in the midst
of solitude and desolation, where animal life has
apparently to struggle for existence under every
disadvantage, is the home of this great wild
sheep."

The same author states that "a full-grown male
stands upwards of 12 hands at the shoulder," and
is superior in size to the Ovis Poll of Central
Asia, the horns of the latter being longer and
thinner than those of the nyan.

He further states that "the colour of the upper
part of the body is a dark earthy brown, becoming
lighter towards the lower parts. The rump is light-
coloured, and the tail is only about an inch in length.
The throat and chest are adorned by a white ruff,
the hairs of which are considerably lengthened ;
those on the body being short, brittle, and very
close set."

The record head of an Ovis Ammon is, according
to Rowland Ward, a magnificent trophy whose
horns along the curve measure no less than 57,
their girth being 1 8f , and the distance between the
tips 29 inches respectively. This head came from
Ladak.

The next largest quoted by him, which was
obtained near the Pangong lake, measures only 50J
inches along the curve. He produces, however, a
long list of heads of 40 inches and over. General
Kinloch states that "the average size of a full-
grown ram's horns may be stated at about 40
inches by 17," — viz., the size of the largest head
bagged by him. The female carries small horns.

308

THE WILD SHEEP OF INDIA

The white ruff of the male is a striking feature
which can be seen at a great distance. Ovis
Ainmon are extremely wary animals, and so in-
tensely acute is their sense of smell, that they are
most difficult to stalk on account of the treacherous
nature of the wind in Thibet.

Colonel Ward recommends patience in working
ground, to reach which the sportsman has marched
some hundreds of miles, and which ought not,
therefore, to be disturbed on cloudy or gusty
days.

General Kinloch, with his vast experience in
stalking Himalayan game, considers a male nyan
as by far the most difficult animal amongst them
all to circumvent. In addition to the difficulty of
approaching within shot of nyan which have been
viewed, it is further very hard to find the old rams
in the summer as they exhibit a strongly-marked
penchant for certain pet spots, so that the sports-
man may pass near their haunts without seeing the
game of which he is in search, though females and
young may be daily met with. At this season the
old rams, leaving the ewes to their own devices,
live apart from the latter in their favourite, often
circumscribed, localities.

Any sportsman who may contemplate an ex-
pedition in search of nyan, should obtain and
carefully study General A. A. A. Kinloch's Large
Game Shooting, Thibet and Northern India ; as
well as Colonel Ward's, The Sportsman s Guide to
Kashmir and Ladak, etc., under the chastening,
and I trust pessimistic, light of the latter's The

309

BULLET AND SHOT

Tourist's and Sportsman's Guide to Kashmir and
Ladak.

The Thibetan names for this sheep are —
Hyan, Nuan, Nyan, Niar, Niaud, or Gnow.

THE BURHEL {Ovis Nahura vel Burhel)

The native name applied in the Himalayas to
this wild sheep is thus variously anglicised by
different authors — by General Kinloch as "Burrell";
by Jerdon, Colonel A. E. Ward, and Sterndale as
" Burhel " ; by Colonel Heber Percy as ** Burrel,"
and by Rowland Ward as " Bharal."

The habitat of the burhel in the Himalayas is
from Ladakh to Bhootan, and Kinloch states that
it is probably not found below 10,000 feet elevation;
he personally knows that it inhabits Ladak, Spiti,
Gurwahl, Kumaon, the vicinities of the Niti and
Chor Hoti passes, and the valleys towards the
upper waters of the Indus and Sutlej. Burhel
are found at as high an elevation as 17,000 feet,
and Colonel Heber Percy has seen this sheep
and the Himalayan ibex in the same place, and
he states that they are generally found upon broken
ground at no great distance from rocky cliffs, and
are moreover adepts at climbing.

Kinloch says, " In a word, what they delight in
is good grazing ground in the immediate vicinity
of rocky fastnesses, to which they can imme-
diately betake themselves when disturbed."

Burhel are found in herds, though in summer the

310

THE WILD SHEEP OF INDIA

majority of the males separate from the females.
Sterndale's description of this animal is as follows : —
** General colour a dull slaty blue, slightly tinged
with fawn ; the belly, edge of buttocks, and tail,
white ; throat, chest, front of forearm and cannon
bone, a line along the flank dividing the darker
tint from the belly, the edge of the hind limbs and
the tip of the tail, deep black ; horns moderately
smooth, with a few wrinkles, rounded, nearly touch-
ing at the base, directed upwards, backwards and
outwards, the points being turned forwards and
inwards. The female is smaller, the black marks
smaller and of less extent ; small, straight, slightly
recurved horns ; nose straighten The young are
darker and browner."

General Kinloch's description, which differs con-
siderably from Sterndale's, is: — "The colour is a
light bluish grey above, and white beneath. The
chest and throat, the legs, and a line along the
side separating the grey from the white, are jet
black."

The burhel stands from 30 to 36 inches
in height, the females being disproportionately
smaller than the rams. Although burhel frequent
bare ground carrying no cover with the exception
of rocks, their colour assimilates so well with that
of their surroundings, that they are very hard to
detect when they are lying motionless.

Colonel Ward points out the great utility of a
pair of good Baltistan dogs in recovering wounded
burhel ; and the Sportsman s Guide gives many
localities for this sheep. The meat of the burhel

3"

BULLET AND SHOT

is excellent, both Kinloch and Ward speaking of
it in highly laudatory terms.

In Horn Measurements, the best head of
which detailed information is forthcoming is one
from Ladakh, measuring 3i|- inches in length of
horns, the girth of the latter being 13^ inches, but
a head of 23 inches and above is a fine one.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

In the Himalayas — Burhel, Buroot.

In Thibet and Ladakh — Napu, Na or Sna.

In Nepaul — Nervati.

On the Sutlej — Wa or War.

THE SHAPOO {Ovis Vignei)

This animal, which is called the "Oorin" in
Boonjie and Astor, inhabits Ladakh and Little
Thibet at elevations varying between 12,000 and
14,000 feet.

It stands from about three feet to a little more
in height.

In colour the shapoo is brownish grey, growing
paler below, till it meets the belly, which is white.
It is sometimes termed by sportsmen the "red
sheep," in contradistinction to the burhel or "blue
sheep."

Colonel Heber Percy in the Badminton volume
gives a good description of the extreme restless-
ness which pervades the nervous economy of this
creature, regarding which he says, "there is not
an animal in the whole of the Himalayas so vexa-

312

THE WILD SHEEP OF INDIA

tious to hunt." Shapoo can travel over rocky,
rough ground with ease.

Colonel Ward's Sportsmans Guide should be
consulted for localities. The migration of these
animals in the winter from Astor to the Boonjie
plain, renders the latter a sure find in April.

The best head quoted in Horn Measurements
measures in length of horn 39, in girth of same i if,
and in distance between tips 15^ inches respectively.
Colonel Ward considers an average horn about
26, and a good one anything above 29 inches in
length. The female has small horns.

The vernacular names for this sheep are Sha and
Shapoo.

THE OORIAL {Ovis Cycloceros)

This animal, sometimes known as " the Punjab
wild sheep," is found upon the Salt range, the
Suleiman range, the Hazarah hills, etc., in that
part of India. In the ravines of the low rocky
hills frequented by this creature, Kinloch describes
the heat in summer at midday as probably as
great as could be found anywhere in the whole
world, " the temperature frequently attaining some-
thing very like furnace heat." The cold weather
from November to end of January should therefore
be chosen for the pursuit of oorial.

The male stands about three feet at the shoulder,
the female being very much smaller.

The following is Sterndale's description of this
animal: — "General colour, rufous brown; face

313

BULLET AND SHOT

livid, side of mouth and chin white ; a long, thick
black beard mixed with white hairs from throat
to breast, reaching to the knees ; legs below knees
and feet white ; belly white, a blotch on the flanks ;
outside of legs and a lateral line blackish. The
horns of the male are sub-triangular, much com-
pressed laterally and posteriorly ; in fact, one may
say concave at the sides, that is, from the base
of the horn to about one half; transversely
sulcated ; curving outwards, and returning inward
towards the face ; points convergent. The female
is more uniform, pale brown with whitish belly ;
no beard and short, straight horns."

The ground frequented by this sheep is usually
bare and stony, occasionally supporting scrub
and bushes, and sometimes precipitous. The
country inhabited by oorial is also used by the
native shepherd for grazing his sheep, so that
the wild animals are kept pretty much on the
move.

As in the case of the other wild sheep, the males
to a great extent separate from the females in
summer. Colonel Heber Percy says that "a
30-inch ram on the Salt range is now a rarity,"
and the largest head mentioned by Rowland Ward
is one which measures in length 39, in girth
lof, and between the tips iS^ inches respectively.
This head came from the Punjab, but the precise
localitv is not stated.

Several fine heads, running from one inch less
than the above down to 30 inches are quoted ; but
the largest from the Salt range measures but 33^

314

THE WILD SHEEP OF INDIA

inches. Any head of 24 inches and over is worth
bagging.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

In the Punjab — Oorial or Ooria.

In the Suleiman range — Roch or Ruch.

31S

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE INDIAN AND THIBETAN ANTELOPES
AND GAZELLES

THE INDIAN ANTELOPE {Antilope BezoarHcd)

THE mature male of the Indian antelope, or
Sasin antelope {^Antilope Bezoartica), which is
called the "black buck," is one of the most beautiful
and most graceful animals in India — in fact, in the
world. He is found under suitable conditions in the
plains in many portions of each of the presidencies
of our vast dependency. His spouse — the homely,
hornless, fawn - coloured doe — is not nearly so
conspicuous an animal as is her black-robed lord,
the snowy whiteness of whose under parts stands
out in glaring contrast to the ebon hue of the
remainder of his body, and whose artistically-
twisted and closely-ringed horns — which are of
great length in comparison with the size of the
animal, whose height is only about 32 inches — are
a fitting finish to the handsome attire of this most
elegant and very striking creature.

Whether we see him lying down taking his ease
in the midst of his harem, or walking proudly,
with head erect, occasionally pursuing and driving
off a younger buck who has exhibited an in-

316

•

INDIAN ANTELOPES

cHnation for flirtation, chasing a member of his
own seraglio, or bounding along in the rear of the
alarmed herd (for his superior weight enables his
wives to outstrip him in speed), he is ever
graceful, ever conspicuous, and a perfect Adonis
amongst animals.

Personally I have shot black buck in only two
parts of India, viz., a large number in Mysore ;
and eight in a single trip of only one whole, and
two half-days' shooting, at Point Calimere on the
south coast.

In both of these localities, the horns run very
small as compared with the magnificent trophies
obtainable in the North- West Provinces, and far
better heads are to be found even in the district
of Bellary which adjoins Mysore, than in any
portion of the latter.

The biggest horn ever shot by me in Mysore
measures only igf inches, and I got that, and others
very nearly as long, in the Chitaldroog district of
that province.

In the district of Mysore (so called from the
capital town of that name), where I was stationed
for seven years, and in which I shot many buck, I
never succeeded in bagging a longer horn than
17 inches, and I got only two animals with heads
attaining that length. The average in that district
was about 14 inches.

Heads measuring even a shade over 28 inches,
are reported as having been shot in Northern
India, but nothing approaching this extraordinary
size has ever been bagged in any part of the South.

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BULLET AND SHOT

The best Southern India head which I have per-
sonally measured is one shot by Mr. M. (then
of the 19th P.W.O. Hussars), who had previously
killed only some three or four antelope, and was
moreover quite a novice at game shooting with
the rifle. This head was bagged at Guntakul, on
the Southern Mahratta Railway, and it measured
22^- inches.

Black buck horns are measured straight from
base to tip, without following the curves, conse-
quently a much curved horn, though often actually
longer in the spiral than a very straight one, will
show a smaller measurement than the latter.

Usually one horn is slightly longer than the other,
and the measurement of the longer one is that
accorded to the head.

In Mysore, an average herd of antelope consists
of from ten to fifteen animals, including, as a rule,
only one black buck and one or two young males
as liofht in colour as the does.

The herds have their own beats, and, unless
disturbed, are usually to be found upon the places
generally frequented by them ; but it is only very
early in the morning that the sportsman can count
upon their being in their usual haunts. He may,
when later in the day he comes upon a favourite
resort of the game, find a herd of cattle or sheep,
with attendant noisy children (who yell vociferously
as soon as they see antelope), upon the ground
which he expected to find occupied by the objects
of his pursuit. Needless to say, in such an event
he may have to traverse a considerable area in his

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

search for the errant herd, and may after all fail to
discover it.

In many localities which I know in the Mysore
district, the herds are few and far between. The
areas of uncultivated land frequented by them are
moreover large. Sometimes a single herd frequents
the waste land around the base of one of the low
rocky hills which form so striking a feature of the
Mysore country, or it may be that there are two
or three such pieces of waste, a mile or more apart,
with but one herd of antelope between them.

The wonder is, not that the antelope are com-
paratively scarce in Mysore, but that any of them
exist at all, considering the number of natives
belonging to meat-eating castes, and the constant
war of extermination waged by them upon the
unfortunate animals.

Just as in the District forests and parts of the
State forests in Mysore, deer are being continually
butchered by natives for the sake of their meat
and skins, so in the open plains, by shooting and
by snaring, the slaughter of antelope, without any
regard to age or sex, goes on, unremittingly,
merrily, and profitably so far as the poachers are
concerned.

Of course the State is mainly to blame for this
condition of affairs, since a wholesome check ought
long ago to have been imposed upon indiscriminate
slaughter by a little very necessary legislation.

When, in addition, one takes into account the
number of wolves which, in the Mysore district at
least, frequent the same ground as the antelope, it

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BULLET AND SHOT

is obvious that they, too, must take pretty heavy
toll of the latter. Then again, the new-born kids
are in danger of being killed by jackals and pariah
dogs. Altogether, considering all his enemies, and
the fact that he is continually being disturbed and
moved about by cattle-herds and goat-herds as
well as by villagers crossing the plains, or working
in their fields at the edge of the latter, the life
of a black buck must be rather too exciting to
rouse the envy of anyone but a veritable fire-
eater !

Although they inhabit tracts wherein they daily
— sometimes hourly — see human beings, antelope
are very wary animals, and as a rule require careful
stalking. Still, it is occasionally possible to get a
shot without making any attempt at concealment,
where the ground is of such a nature as to render
it impracticable for the sportsman to get out of
sight. In such a case, he should walk boldly on,
as if he were going to pass the herd at a distance,
and gradually edge nearer and nearer, never stop-
ping, and never looking at them (except out of the
corner of his eye) until he is within range, when,
having previously calculated the distance, he must
take his shot without delay. Personally, I never
fire a shot at such small game at a considerable
range without sitting down. By sitting clown,
pressing the heels together, keeping the knees
apart, and resting one elbow upon each knee, great
steadiness can be obtained, and in firing running
shots at antelope I prefer to assume this position,
even after the game has commenced to bolt. When

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

shooting at the running deer at the Southern India
Rifle Meeting, in Bangalore, I always shot in the
sitting position, and I won a good many prizes at
that target (unlimited entries), including at one
meeting a highest possible in the single-barrel
contest (seven single shots at lOO yards), upon
which occasion I used a Government Martini-
Henry rifle ; and also, in the same meeting, a
highest possible in the double-barrelled event (three
pairs of double shots), in which I used a '500
express rifle. The bull's-eye was six inches, but
the deer was certainly running very slowly, whereas
at the Bisley Meeting it travels at a high rate of
speed.

Some few men are very steady shots in the
standing position, as, for instance. Colonel W.,
so often mentioned in this book, who won the
then Daily Graphic Seventy Guinea Cup at one
Bisley Meeting with a score of thirty-four points
out of a possible thirty-five, the distance being 200
yards, and the position standing. To beginners in
game shooting, but experts at target shooting in
the standing position, I would say by all means
take the shot standing, for the act of sitting down
may, though more often it does not^ become the
signal for the flight of the antelope ; but all
ordinary shots will do well to run the risk, and
to take their shot at the game in a sitting position.

There is not much to fire at, the animal being
very lightly made ; and the sportsman should re-
member that a black buck is exceedingly tough,
and if hit too far back, or if only a leg be broken,

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BULLET AND SHOT

the wretched beast often escapes to die a lingering
death.

Very early in my antelope shooting days I had
an extraordinary experience of their vitality, for
which, to this day, I find it difficult to account.
I was out shooting near Kadakal, which is only
nine miles from the town of Mysore, and had
ascended a hill rising abruptly from the plain, from
which, with a telescope or binoculars, antelope can
often be seen a long way off. With the naked eye
we could see, far away in the plain, little clouds of dust
rising first in one place and then in another, and
the men said that these were due to bucks fighting,
while the glass showed that such was the case.
Descending the hill, I made a good stalk in, but
arrived, rather too much pumped for steady shoot-
ing, within easy shot of the pair of bucks who were
fighting most viciously and persistently. I fired at
one and missed ; they then bolted, and I fired again
as they ran and hit one of them. Greatly to my
surprise, the antelope ran only a short distance and
then pulled up, and once more set to fighting
furiously. So engrossed were they in their deadly
duel that they allowed me to walk in quite close,
and I then fired at and dropped one of them (I
subsequently found that this was the one first
wounded) ; and the other one, taking no notice
of the shot, delivered another thrust with his horns
at the fallen foe, whereupon I fired again and killed
him also. Imagine my surprise when I found that
both my bullets were most accurately placed upon
the shoulder of the first buck slain, and either

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

of them would have sufficed to at once kill an
antelope under ordinary circumstances. How that
animal, thus wounded by a hollow express "500
bore copper-tube bullet, could run a short way, pull
up again, and continue fighting like a demon, I
cannot understand. I can only surmise that the
fact of his extreme rage enabled him to support
a wound which would have floored him at once
under ordinary conditions. But this has been a
long digression, and I will now return to the
subject of how to bag antelope.

It often happens, particularly in Mysore, that
these animals are found on ground broken by
ravines and nullahs, in some places clothed with
bushes, and under such circumstances very pretty
stalking can be enjoyed. A good pair of binoculars
(or a telescope) to be carried by one of the men,
and a pair of " Lilliput " binoculars, which can be
taken in the sportsman's own pocket, are very
necessary for use in antelope shooting.

The sportsman may need an aid to vision after
he has left the men under cover (or in a nullah)
while he proceeds by himself to stalk the game,
and he will then find the " Lilliput " binoculars
extremely useful.

In some places, the ground is so flat and bare,
and the antelope so wary, that in order to circum-
vent them it is necessary to use a covered bullock
cart. Antelope are quite accustomed to seeing
cattle and carts, so that, unless they have learnt
the trick, they will generally allow a cart to go
•quite close to them. I have only in two trips

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BULLET AND SHOT

adopted this somewhat poaching device, and that
was on ground over which a friend in the Gunners
had previously shot, and upon which he told me
that I should have to employ it in order to obtain
sport.

It was certainly very deadly in my first trip, one
October, when in seventeen days' shooting I bagged
twenty-four black bucks, one buck chinkara, and
two bustard (the bustard being shot with the rifle).
When, however, I went over the ground again,
some two months later, the antelope would not let
a cart approach anywhere near them ; and I had
hardly any sport, and what little I obtained was on
foot. I believe, however, that this wildness of the
game upon the occasion of my second trip, was due,
not to their remembrance of my previous use of a
cart, but to the alleged fact that a large gang
of antelope netters and snarers had, just before my
second visit, been harrying the ground and driving
the animals about until they were ready to run from
anything ; and of course they could see a cart
much farther off than they could detect a man.

The modus operandi in using a cart is, first, to
put in some brushwood or straw, then a thick
mattress and some pillows, and to cut two holes,
one on each side, in the bamboo matting which
forms the roof and sides of the covering, to serve
as windows. The cart then goes lumbering along
across country in places where antelope are likely
to be found ; and it is extraordinary what rough
ground and what ticklish nullahs, a bullock-cart,
if well driven, can cross without upsetting.

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

When a herd of antelope has been sighted, the
cart should be headed as if to pass them on one
side, and should they show any uneasiness and an
inclination to move off, it should pursue a course
as if to pass ahead of them, making the necessary
detour for the purpose. Sometimes, animals, which
have shown some alarm at the first approach of a
cart, subsequently lose fear and afford an easy shot.

When the antelope have gained confidence, or
should they have shown no alarm at the cart pass-
ing them in the first instance, the sportsman must,
when approaching within range, drop out of the
back of it when the bullocks' heads are turned
towards the game ; the cart should then turn off at
an angle, while he advances under cover of its side.
When near enough for a good shot, he should sit
down while the cart goes on, and as soon as he has
taken aim at the buck, fire at the shoulder of the
latter.

Some beginners are very apt to " pull off" in the
act of firing. If such will make a practice of using
the middle finger put well round the trigger, in place
of the forefinger, they will probably find a great
improvement in their shooting. A bullet placed
anywhere on or just behind the shoulder, though
not too far back, will drop the buck either in his
tracks, or after he has run but a short distance.

If, owing to a badly-placed bullet, the animal
goes off wounded, it is far better, should the
country admit of it, for the sportsman to watch
him through his glasses, rather than at once pursue
him. Then, if he should see the wounded animal

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BULLET AND SHOT

lie down, or enter a field of standing crop, the wiser
course is to sit quiet for a time and watch, rather
than risk losing the buck, as may easily happen
should he press on and disturb the latter before
his wound has had time to stiffen.

Sometimes, a small band, consisting entirely of
young bucks, is met with, and occasionally also
a fine old black male, who, from choice or from
necessity, leads a single life, and such a one is
usually exceedingly wary.

At times, too, a herd (or a single buck) may be
found in such a position, that, while stalking is out
of the question, there is a possibility of the game
being driven to the sportsman. Perhaps the latter
may have found the herd in the same place before,
and have noticed the line which the animals took
when disturbed. In such an event it is worth
while to try a drive, the sportsman concealing
himself behind any cover which may lie in their
former line of retreat. Driving, however, except
in preserves, is seldom successful, but the main
point to impress, upon the two or three men wha
may be sent to perform the manoeuvre, is that they
should make a vejy wide circuit, and get far behind
the game before attempting to advance towards it
with the object of driving it forward.

Directly a buck has fallen to the shot, the sports-
man should run up, and seizing him by one horn,
turn his horns down backwards, and cut his throat.
If he desires to preserve the head for subsequent
mounting, he should take care to cut low down,
so as to leave a long neck. He must, while

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

administering the coup de grace, avoid standing
in such a position that the animal, if it be still
alive, would be able to kick him.

Length of horn appears to be no criterion of
age in the case of antelope. Frequently young
brown bucks have fine horns — better sometimes
than those carried by the majority of their black-
coated brethren in the same locality.

A horse or pony is a very useful aid to the
sportsman when out antelope shooting. Walking
long distances over the hot plains is very trying,
and frequently many miles must be covered in a
day. Some men have ridden down a wounded
buck till the latter has dropped from exhaustion,
or have speared him from horseback, but I have
personally never attempted either of these courses.

I have shot black buck chiefly with a double
•500 express rifle, using generally Eley's hollow
copper-tube small bullet, weighing 340 grains ; but
I have also shot about twenty with a friend's double
•360 express rifle, and I found that the latter killed
them well and cleanly. Upon this point, however,
the experience of a Major in the -19th P.W.O.
Hussars (who has shot a great number with his
•360) is somewhat at variance with my limited
experience of antelope shooting with that bore, his
opinion being that the "360 is scarcely powerful
enough to kill them satisfactorily. Sir Samuel
Baker recommends a '400 bore rifle for this
game.

Though I have not yet used the weapon, except
in a few entries one meeting at the running deer

327

BULLET AND SHOT

target at Bisley, I have no doubt that a sporting
double '303 is the antelope gun of the future.

I once, with my Holland double "500 express,
made an extraordinary shot at antelope. Upon
that occasion, a herd which I was attempting to
stalk took alarm and fled, but as they took off down
a nullah on my right, I saw a chance, by running,
of cutting them off and obtaining a shot. I failed
to do the former, for the herd had passed before
I reached the nullah, but they pulled up to gaze.
I was terribly breathless after my run, but knelt
down and fired at the shoulder of the buck of the
herd. At the shot he fell, as did also another buck
standing behind him ! I saw no other male with
this herd. Upon that occasion I was using the
large canelured copper-tube express bullet with a
solid base, which weighs 440 grains, and is far
superior in penetration to the ordinary hollow
copper-tube bullet weighing 340 grains, for, while
its front portion breaks up, its solid base carries on.
In this particular instance, the bullet had smashed
up upon the further shoulder, while the solid base,
after going clean through the animal, broke the
spine of buck number two who was standing behind
the former.

I have killed a number of bucks by running shots,
but have of course missed very many more. The
great thing to remember in firing running shots
at antelope is that you are hardly likely to miss
in front, and that you can scarcely fire too far
ahead of a buck going at full speed — say 200 or
250 yards off — across you. At a range of only 100

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

yards, the allowance necessary is less, and the
chance a much better one. Success in running
shots can only be attained by a combination of
practice, observation, judgment and luck. Such
attempts in the case of antelope are very instructive,
since the sportsman can frequently see a cloud of
dust knocked up by each bullet, and thus ascertain
in which direction his error lay.

I once killed a single buck with my seventh shot,
at very long range, as he was going off at full
speed. He had started in another direction, but
turning back on meeting a villager, came past me
again, and the fatal bullet caught him just as he
was disappearing from view.

If it be intended to preserve the head of a black
buck for mounting, the removal of the mask should
be effected with as little delay as possible. The
only incisions required after the head has been
severed from the body — of course leaving a long
neck — are one up the back of the neck to the
centre of the top of the head, and, from its termina-
tion, two very short ones, viz., one to the base of
each horn. The skin can then be removed without
difficulty, care being taken, however, not to allow
the knife to slip through the skin near the eyes,
nostrils and lips. All adherent muscles must then
be removed from the skin, and either arsenical soap
or carbolic acid applied to all these parts both inside
and outside. The mask can then be dried in the
sun, being occasionally turned so as to dry both
surfaces, a wisp of straw or hay being meanwhile
placed inside to keep it open.

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BULLET AND SHOT

Whether it be intended to preserve the head for
stuffing, or only to keep the skull and horns, the
latter must be removed from their bony cores, and
this cannot be done till a few days after the animal's
death. The best plan, as soon as the horns can be
removed, is to rinse them out with common, cheap
carbolic acid, and also to paint the cores with the
same. Care must be taken, in boiling the head in
order to remove the flesh, that the water is not
deep enough to cause immersion of portions of the
horns, and the boiling should be carried no further
than is necessary for effecting the object in view.
Of course, should it be intended to preserve the
head for mounting, the lower jaw-bone must be
carefully kept. The body -skin of an antelope, if
pegged out in the sun, will dry in a few hours.
Nothing need be applied to it, except a coating of
wood ashes, while it is lying exposed with its raw
side uppermost. This could not safely be done
under a hotter sun than that of Mysore, as in
the plains at lower elevations all drying of skins
must be done in the shade.

The best locality for black buck in the Mysore
province is the Chitaldroog district. This can be
easily reached from the various railway stations on
the Southern Mahratta Railway between Adjampur
and Devangere. Other good localities in Southern
India are parts of the Bellary district where the
horns run larger than they do in Mysore. It would
not, however, be worth the while of anyone who may
intend later on to go to the north, to waste time in
shooting antelope anywhere in the South of India.

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

The North- West Provinces generally, and par-
ticularly the Bikanir desert between Rajputana
and the Punjab, are the home of the finest black
buck to be found in India, and in the Hissar dis-
trict, according to Jerdon on information received
by him, vast herds, calculated at from 8,000 to
10,000, have long ago occasionally been seen in
the Government cattle farm. Jerdon says that he
has seen herds of some thousands together in the
vicinity of Jalna in the Deccan.

Guzerat, in the Bombay presidency, is, I gather
from private information received from a brother
sportsman, a great place for antelope as well as for
chinkara.

In the postscript to his splendid work. General
Kinloch mentions having actually bagged a head
on the borders of the Bikanir desert some ninety
miles from Ferozepur, the horns of which measured
26f inches ; and adds that amongst a herd con-
taining some 1,500 animals, he saw a buck with
horns far surpassing any which he has bagged or
seen elsewhere, and states that he believes that he
is quite within the mark in estimating them at not
less than 29 inches. R. Ward quotes one head of
28f, another of 28:^, and two of 28 inches respec-
tively.

The venison of a Mysore black buck is excellent,
in fact, far superior to the mutton of that country.

The principal vernacular names for this animal
are —

Hindustani — (male) Harna, Harin ; (female)
Hirni.

33*

BULLET AND SHOT

In Tirhoot — (male) Kala ; (female) Gorla.

In Behar — (male) Kalsar ; (female) Baoti.

In Bhagulpur — Bureta.

In Nepaul — Barout and Sasin.

Canarese — Hoolay-Kerra, Jinki.

Mahrathi — Hiru.

Telegu — Jinka, and (male) Irri ; (female) Sedi.

THE INDIAN GAZELLE
CHIKARA, OR RAVINE DEER {Gazella Bennetti)

This pretty little animal appears to be more local
than is the Indian antelope, but in many places is
found upon precisely the same ground, though the
chikara usually confines itself to such portions
thereof as may be covered by bushes, or in
which ravines occur. Its height at the shoulder
is only about 2 feet 2 inches in the case of a buck,
and the latter's horns vary from 12 to 14 inches in
length. They are annulated, but are not spiral as
in the case of the black buck, and, unlike those of
the latter, they curve forward at the tips. In
colour the chikara is deep red-fawn, with the lower
parts and buttocks white.

Personally, I have never seen more than three
or four together, but my experience of chikara is
limited to two trips in a part of Mysore in which
these animals and antelope occupy the same
ground.

At first sight, a buck chikara might be mistaken
for a young buck antelope, but he is in reality

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

easily distinguishable by the redder colour of his
skin, and by the perpetual motion of his tail which
he is continually wagging.

Chikara appear to be far more fidgety and restless
than are antelope, and it is often difficult to get a
shot at them when found in high bushes. They
should, however, always be followed up, as they
may give a chance even after having been more
than once alarmed. Unlike the doe antelope, which
is hornless, the female gazelle has tiny, thin horns —
as a rule only 4 or 5 inches in length — which are
not ringed like those of the buck.

When a chikara has gone off wounded (and the
vitality of this animal is wonderful), I have found
it a very difficult matter to get another shot at him,
in spite of profuse bleeding, and although he has
been obliged to lie down at frequent intervals, on
account of the jungled character of the ground
which he inhabits.

The vernacular names for the Indian gazelle
are —

Hindustani — Chikara, Kal-punch.

Canarese — Chit-hoolay, Sunk-hoolay, Tiska,.
Budari.

In Punjab — Hirni.

Mahrathi — Kal-sipi.

Telegu — Barudu-Jinka.

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BULLET AND SHOT

THE NILGHAIE {Portax pictus)

The male of this antelope stands from 13 to
14^ hands at the shoulder. He carries but an
insignificant trophy, his horns being but from 8 to
10 inches in length. The male is of a blue-grey
colour, and hence its name of nilghaie (e.g., blue
cow), while the female is of a sandy or tawny
hue.

The nilghaie is generally distributed over India,
but is not found in Mysore and other parts of the
extreme south. His habitat is open country, with
scrub or sparse tree jungle, and he is not worth
shooting.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

Hindustani — Nilghao, Nilghaie, Lilghao, Lil-
^haie.

Canarese — M arav i.
Goudi — Guraya.
Telegu — Manupotu.

THE THIBETAN ANTELOPE {Pantholops Hodgsonii)

This antelope is found on the desolate, dreary
plains and valleys of Thibet, at very high eleva-
tions. The buck is a larger and heavier animal
than is the black buck, and varies in colour from
whitish or light fawn to pale red, while the puffy,
swollen muzzle gives him a very peculiar appear-
ance.

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

The Chung Chenmo valley in Thibet and its
neighbourhood, is the locality wherein this antelope
is generally shot by English sportsmen.

Colonel Ward has never seen it at a less eleva-
tion than 14,800, or at a higher one than between
18,000 and 19,000 feet.

The does are hornless, and are much smaller
than the bucks. The horns of the buck are jet
black, close grained, and deeply notched on their
anterior surfaces.

Colonel Ward's best head carried horns measur-
ing 26^ inches in length, and General Kinloch's
best, out of twenty-five heads bagged, measured
two inches less. The latter heard of a pair of horns
measuring 28^ inches, but, as he did not see them
himself, this is hearsay evidence. Rowland Ward
quotes horns up to 2']\ inches; while Colonel
Ward, who also writes with great authority, does
not think that the average length of the horns of
a mature buck can be considered as exceeding
22 inches. The skin is useless.

The vernacular names for this animal are —

In Nepaul — Chiru.

In Thibet — Isos, Isors, and Choos.

THE THIBETAN GAZELLE {Gazella picticaudcita)

This beautiful little gazelle, which stands only
about two feet in height, is in winter, when the
hair is long, grizzled-fawn in colour, with dirty-
white under parts ; while in summer, when the coat
is short, it is much darker in hue.

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BULLET AND SHOT

The goa, as this animal is called in Thibet,
inhabits barren, bleak uplands at very high eleva-
tions, the vicinity of the Tsomoriri lake along the
Chinese frontier in Ladak, and Hanle, being named
as localities for it by Kinloch and Ward.

From 13 to 13^ inches is the measurement of a
good pair of horns of this species.

THE FOUR-HORNED ANTELOPE
(Teiraceros quadricornis)

This antelope has a wide distribution throughout
India from the foot of the Himalayas to the
extreme south. In Mysore, the two -horned
variety, known as Elliott's antelope, is more
common than is a perfect head with the four horns
developed, though both forms occur there.

In a fine specimen of the perfect type, the
posterior horns measure 4 or 5 inches in length ;
while the anterior do not exceed i^ inches, and
are usually much less.

This antelope measures only 2 feet, or 2 feet
2 inches in height at the shoulder. It is, in
Mysore, met with alike in the dense tree and
bamboo forests of the low country, as in the
lighter jungles clothing the slopes of hills. It is
very frequently allowed to pass unscathed, owing
to its being accidentally encountered when the
sportsman is in pursuit of larger game. It is
always well worth shooting when there is no
objection to firing a shot for fear of disturbing more

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INDIAN ANTELOPES

worthy game, owing to the excellent quality of
its venison. It is, when at some little distance,
easily mistaken for the muntjac (or barking deer),
but it is yellower and less ruddy in hue than is the
latter, and is also somewhat smaller.

I have found four-horned antelope both singly
and in pairs, and it is obvious from the collections
of dung found in any particular place which one
of these animals may have chosen as his home,
that he returns to the same place for the purpose
of defecating — a peculiarity which, so far as I am
aware, is shared by no other wild animal except
the rhinoceros.

A '500 express hollow bullet makes a terrible
mess of one of these little antelopes, but the
sportsman has seldom anything very much lighter
with him when shooting in the jungles which they
inhabit.

The vernacular names for the four - horned
antelope are —

Hindustani — Char-singha, Chou-singha, Jungli-
buckra.

Canarese — Kard-coorie.

Telegu — Konda-gori.

Gondi — Bhir-kura (male), Bhir (female).

Note. — The names Jungli-buckra and Kard-coorie are
in Mysore applied indiscriminately to this animal and
to the muntjac {Cervulus aureus).

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BULLET AND SHOT

THE TAKIN {Budorcas taxicolor)

This curious animal, though at present but little
known to European sportsmen, inhabits, amongst
other places, the Mishini hills on the northern side
of the valley of Assam. It is also found in Chinese
Thibet, and in the Akha hills north of Assam.
Specimens have been procured from the Mishinis
near Sudiya on the Assam frontier. It inhabits
precipitous ground, is heavily built, and stands
about 3^ feet in height at the shoulder. It is, at
least in one stage, of a tawny ground colour, with
legs, tail, muzzle, and dorsal stripe black.

The horns are very peculiar in shape, twisted
into a somewhat bovine form, with a strong super-
ficial suggestion of a resemblance to those of the
gnu of Africa. They are very thick, and measure
up to about 24 inches in length.

Mention is made here of this animal only because
some portions of the area inhabited by it may at
any time become accessible to sportsmen, though at
present it would be suicidal for an Englishman to
attempt to penetrate it.

The vernacular names for the Takin are Takin,
or Takhon, pronounced nasally.

338

CHAPTER XIX.

THE RlilNOCEROTID^ AND SUID^ OF INDIA

THE GREAT INDIAN RHINOCEROS
{Rhinoceros Indicus)

THIS huge animal measures, in the case of a
large male, from 5 to 6 feet in height, and
the single horn, which is common to both sexes,
though rarely as much as 2 feet in length, seldom
attains more than one half that size.

It inhabits the Terai, at the foot of the Hima-
layas, from Bhootan to Nepaul, and is very abundant
in Assam and the Bhootan Dooars, frequenting
swampy ground and dense jungles. It has a habit
of depositing its dung in the same spot, of which
fact the native shikarrie takes a somewhat mean
advantage.

The peculiar tuberculated hide, with its huge
folds and plates, irresistibly calls to mind the plated
armour of bygone ages.

In the valley of Assam, where the soil is all
alluvial, and stones conspicuous by their total
absence, the mighty Brahmaputra river is at the
present day, as in the ages that have passed, con-
tinually shifting its bed. What is this year a high
sandbank clothed with dense jungle, may not im-

339

BULLET AND SHOT

probably, in the floods of next rainy season, be
washed away, and the place thereof become part
of the bed of the river.

Great fertility is the natural result, and in con-
sequence a very high, dense growth of reeds and
grass covers all the low-lying portions of the valley,
often presenting a huge unbroken expanse over a
very large area, and reaching in places a height
of twenty feet or more. Then too, there are large
and densely jungled churs (or islands) left in the
river when the latter has fallen to its dry season
level, and these often afford excellent shooting.

Assam is par excellence the home of the great
Indian rhinoceros, and in suitable localities his large
three-toed and unmistakable track will generally be
found.

Owing to the nature of the jungle, and the great
height and density of the huge seas of reed and
grass (often matted with creepers) which cover
the low -lying portions of the valley, rhinoceros
can, as a rule, be hunted with any prospect of
success only by sportsmen mounted upon elephants,
with a number of those animals in attendance to
act as beaters. Of course, a great variety of game
is met with and shot while beating these vast
expanses and the churs, since not only rhino, but
tiger, buffalo, panther, pig, and deer of several
species are found therein.

The best season for sport in Assam is the cold
weather — say from November ist to January 31st
— and that period is a very pleasant one there.
Of course, though the nights and mornings are

340

THE INDIAN RHINOCEROS

chilly, the sun is very hot by day, and a big,
thick sola topee is essential as a protection to
the head against its rays. The best advice which
I can give to any sportsman who may desire
to shoot in Assam, and who knows no one there,
is to go up to the hill-station of Shillong about
October, call round the station, make inquiries,
visit any planters or officials in the valley below
of whom he may hear as being keen upon sport
(he will find the planters a fine, manly, hospitable
and kindly set of men), and try to join some one
of the parties which may be going out. The
journey is an easy one from Calcutta, and rail
and steamer will take him almost to the foot of
the Cossya hills on which Shillong stands. He
can go either up or down the valley by steamer,
and from Dibrugarh in Upper Assam, to Sudiya
on the frontier, there is a line of rail which
has been constructed since I left that part of
India,

Of course this method of shooting is expensive
owing to the number of elephants which must be
employed. The more elephants there are, the
longer the line, and the wider the area which
can be beaten.

I have heard of very fine bags of tigers made
upon the Brahmaputra churs. A pair of 8-bore
Paradox guns is the best battery for rhino.

R. Ward quotes one horn of 24, one of 19!^,
one of 19, and two horns of female specimens
as measuring 16^, and 16 inches respectively.
These are all very large measurements, and a

341

BULLET AND SHOT

specimen of 12 inches in length is well worth
baororino-.

00 o

The vernacular names for the rhinoceros are —
Hindustani — Genda, Gonda, Ganda, or Genra.
Assamese — Gor.

THE JAVAN RHINOCEROS {Rhinoceros Sondaicus)

This animal, though called by Jerdon " the lesser
Indian rhinoceros," is of much the same height as
Rhinoceros Indicus. It inhabits parts of India,
e.g.^ the Sunderbunds, Burmah, and Tipperah, and
according to Sterndale, who cites Pollock as his
authority, Assam. Of this species only the males
are horned.

Sterndale mentions two other species of rhino-
ceros, viz.. Rhinoceros Lasiotis, inhabiting Arakan
and Tenasserim,and Rhinoceros Stc7natrensis,2i small,
yet very long-horned species inhabiting Tenasserim,
Burmah, Siam, the Malayan peninsula, and Sumatra.
Both of these two, unlike Rhinoceros Indicus and
Rhinoceros Sondaicus which each have but one
horn, are two-horned.

Jerdon, excluding Rhinoceros Lasiotis alto-
gether, mentions Rhinoceros Sumatrensis, which he
calls ''Rhinoceros Sumatranus^' and about which,
as regards India, he only says that it "is suspected
by Blyth to extend as far north as Assam."

The vernacular names for the Javan rhinoceros are
the same as for the last, with the following additions :
Burmese — Khyen-hsen.
Malayan — Badak.

342

THE WILD BOAR

THE WILD BOAR {Sus Indicus)

This animal, perhaps the most courageous,
determined, and short-tempered of all the denizens
of the Indian jungle, is found throughout the latter
at all elevations from zero up to (according to
Jerdon) 12,000 feet. The largest boars stand some
36 inches or more in height, and their for-
midable and extremely sharp tushes, which often
attain the length of 9 inches, have (according to R.
Ward) been even obtained as large as i4f
inches. These, the animal can use with terrible
effect, as many a tiger has discovered to his cost
when he has ventured to try conclusions with an
old boar, whose wives and progeny form a very
favourite and succulent food of the jungle tyrant.
In these encounters, the tiger has often been
worsted, and even occasionally killed by his well-
armed and powerful antagonist.

General Kinloch relates a terrible experience of
his own when out " pig-sticking," and his recovery
was little short of marvellous, since he was horribly
ripped, and covered with some fifty wounds from
the tusks of a boar which had upset his horse,
and then devoted his energies to the dismounted
officer.

In parts of India, in which, from the nature of
the ground, spearing boars from horseback is prac-
ticable, the latter is the only way in which a
European will kill them. In fact, in such localities

343

BULLET AND SHOT

and their vicinities, shooting a pig is as serious a
crime in the eyes of sportsmen as vulpicide in a
hunting county at home ; and pig-stickers, Hke
fox-hunters, become so sentimental upon the sub-
ject, that nothing short of self-preservation would
induce them to shoot their favourite game anywhere,
however impossible the country might be for the
prosecution of the legitimate sport.

The late Sir J. D. G., who was a good all-round
sportsman and devoted pig-sticker, was upon one
occasion beating sholahs with a friend of mine
on the Neilgherries (where pig-sticking is never
attempted) for sambur and muntjac.

During one of the beats, a big boar dashed
straight down the path on which Sir J. was
posted, and directly towards him. Sir J. could
not bear the idea of shooting the animal, but he
well knew that the pig would not move an inch
out of his way, but would, if permitted, certainly
cut him over ; so when the owner of those wicked,
little, twinkling eyes, and dentine razors, was close
upon him, he shot him dead, thus incurring a good
deal of subsequent chaff, I believe, since his opinions
upon the subject of pig-shooting were well known,
as he did not hesitate to express them.

I have, upon more than one occasion, when bison
shooting, at times too when to have fired a shot at
other game would inevitably have ruined my chance
of success with the nobler animal, been menaced
with a charge by a boar, which, however, in the two
instances which occur to my memory, went off at
last without attacking me. Had the beast in either

344

THE PIGMY HOG

instance charged me, I should of course have been
compelled to shoot him.

Some vernacular names of this animal are —
Hundustani — Soor, Bara-janwar, Kala-janwar,
Canarese — Hundi.
Mahrathi — Dukar.
Telegu — Pandi.

THE PIGMY HOG {Porcula salvania)

This tiny animal, which is said by Mr. Hodgson
to resemble in size and shape a young one of the
preceding species of about a month old, weighs
only from seven to ten pounds. Its habitat is the
saul forests of Sikkim, and the Nepaul Terai.
Hodgson says ''the colour of the animal is a black
brown, shaded vaguely with dirty amber or rusty
red." According to the same author, the pigmy hog
goes in herds, and the males will courageously attack
intruders, " charging and cutting the naked legs of
their human or other attackers with a speed that
baffles the eyesight, and a spirit which their straight,
sharp laniaries render really perplexing, if not
dangerous."

The vernacular names for this animal are —

H industani — Chota-soor.
N epaulese — Sano-banel.

345

CHAPTER XX.

POACHERS AND NUISANCES

IN this list, various animals which prey upon
others will not be included ; some because they
themselves afford coveted trophies, and are there-
fore amongst the most valued game of the Indian
sportsman, as the tiger and the panther ; others,
again, are omitted on account of their rarity, which,
however bloodthirsty and successful a poacher each
individual may be, renders the total damage to
game, which is perpetrated by the whole species,
of small comparative practical importance. Take,
for instance, the Indian and Thibetan lynxes, and
also the Thibetan wolf (or chanko), which last is,
moreover, so well supplied with tame mutton, as
to rarely trouble himself to hunt for the sparsely-
distributed and extremely wary game animals
which roam the vast, inhospitable wastes of bleak
Thibet.

Of the multitude of poachers which harry the
many species of large and small game in the con-
tinent of India, I am doubtful whether I ought
to award the palm for destructive power to the
Indian wild dog {Cuon rutilans), or to the class
of native whose object it is to slay, by any means

346

POACHERS AND NUISANCES

in his power, and utterly regardless of both sex and
age. any animals, the flesh of which may command
a ready sale in his vicinity. The injury done to
the head of game by both is incalculable ; but,
inasmuch as the native is always at work, quietly
and unostentatiously, slaying, without, as a rule,
driving the game out of the sphere of his operations,
while the terror which is inspired by a pack of wild
dogs, hunting in any particular tract of forest, is
such as to denude that tract temporarily of all its
fe7'ce natures and so to necessarily limit the opera-
tions of the canine poachers to an occasional visit,
I am inclined to think that the human poachers are
even greater curses to the sportsman than are the
dogs. I will therefore deal first with the poaching
native. Generally he possesses a gun — an anti-
quated, long-barrelled weapon as a rule, but one
which, when loaded with several irregularly-shaped
chunks of lead, a handful of slugs, or two bullets,
does terrible execution at close quarters — and a
native has far too keen an eye to the retention
of what he possesses to risk even a charge of powder
and lead unless he is morally certain of scoring.
With his bare feet he can walk almost as noise-
lessly as a cat ; practice has rendered both his
eyesight and his sense of hearing exceedingly
acute ; he knows every water-hole, salt-lick, and
glade in the jungles near his home (and his opera-
tions do not usually take him far afield) ; and this
knowledge, together with his intimate acquaintance
with the habits of the game, added to an unlimited
store of patience, and a total disregard of the value

347

BULLET AND SHOT

of time, constitute, with his afore-mentioned anti-
quated weapon and a few charges of powder and
lead, a stock-in-trade which is amply sufficient for
his purpose. For hours he will lie in ambush
watching a water-hole, at which, in the hot and
dry season, deer are wont to slake their thirst ; or
a salt-lick, whither they repair, especially in wet
weather, to eat the salt earth ; but let even a gravid
hind or a young fawn approach his hiding place
so close that to miss is well-nigh impossible, the
murderous charge is launched, and the exulting
poacher secures an animal whose flesh can be sold.

The time has undoubtedly come when a check
should be put on this state of things by the im-
position of gun and game licences, priced sufficiently
high to prevent the majority of these poachers from
incurring the expense of so large an outlay. In
Mysore, as I have elsewhere stated, there is nothing
to prevent anyone from entering even the State
forests (except during the fire season) for the pur-
pose of shooting ; and the ridiculous cost of a gun
licence (about fourpence) and the absence of any
game regulations, enable the poacher to make a
very comfortable living at the cost of very little
exertion, and at an outlay in cash of almost nil.

There are many other human poachers, par-
ticularly gipsy-like wandering tribes, who do not
use guns, but who are extremely expert in every
conceivable device for capturing game, both large
and small, and whose methods often combine great
simplicity in form, with consummate ingenuity in
design. Antelope are sometimes captured by the

348

POACHERS AND NUISANCES

turning out, on ground inhabited by wild herds, of a
tame buck with nooses fastened to his horns. The
natural pugnacity of a wild buck induces him to try
conclusions with the intruder, with the result, of
course, that the former's horns are entangled, and
he is then easily despatched.

By this method, bucks only are taken, but another
plan for the wholesale capture of the animals, with-
out regard to sex or age, is practised with only too
much success in parts of Mysore. A large number
of natives, each with a long cord, to which at
intervals nooses of strong gut are attached, proceed
together to a place towards which the configuration
of the ground renders it probable that a herd
inhabiting the vicinity may be successfully driven.
The cords are then firmly pegged down in a long
and often double line (the second some yards
behind the first), and the men, by making a very
wide circuit, endeavour to get round the herd, and
to drive it in the desired direction, when, should
the operation prove successful, several of the
animals are often caught by the legs, and promptly
butchered by the poachers. Pit-falls, dead-fall
traps, nooses set in various ways, and numberless
devices, too manifold to enter upon here, are
employed with variable success to reduce wild
animals into possession ; while the wholesale
capture (by highly successful methods) of all
edible game birds and wild fowl, forms a never-
failing source of income to the professors of the
art.

349

BULLET AND SHOT

THE WILD DOG {Ction rutilans)

Next, after the human poacher, the most de-
structive is the wild dog. This animal hunts by-
scent in packs, running mute ; and seldom, indeed,
is it that an animal upon whose track a pack of
dogs has started, escapes. Unlike the wolf, the
wild dog is quite untameable. I have seen a pack
running upon a scent just like a pack of hounds,
but quite mute. I fired at one, and hit it, and in
following it up found a hind leg — which had
evidently been shattered by the '500 express bullet,
and then bitten off by the wounded animal above
the hock joint — lying on the track, but the dog
escaped. I have a found a pack, out of which I
shot one, in an open glade in the early morning,
apparently enjoying the rising sun.

I have only upon one occasion seen a single dog
by itself, but I once saw only four or five together
upon the high road, though of course there may
have been others belonging to the same pack in
the adjoining jungle.

The wild dog stands from 17 to 20 inches in
height, is of much the same general colour as a
fox, and possesses a bushy red tail, though the
latter is devoid of the white tip which forms so
strikinsf a finish to the brush of our " little red
rover." The effect upon the game, of the advent
of a pack of wild dogs in any tract of forest, is
magical. As soon as a few head of deer have

350

POACHERS AND NUISANCES

been run down and eaten, all the game leaves the
vicinity ; and even the tiger — his food supply-
having moved off — is also forced to take his
departure.

The wild dog attacks the flank of its quarry with
the object of disembowelling it, and should the
victim be a male, the testes are also a favourite
point (Tappui. Terrible, indeed, is the destruction
of game by these scourges, and considering that
the bitch gives birth to half a dozen pups in each
litter, while, so far as I am aware, nature has
imposed no limit whatsoever, except that of food
supply, upon the increase of this most pernicious
animal, it is high time that the Government should
offer for the destruction of each wild dog, a reward
sufficiently tempting to induce native poachers
to turn their natural ingenuity into a legitimate
and useful channel. The giving of rewards for
killing tigers, panthers, wolves, etc., might well
be discontinued, and a good price set instead upon
the head of the wild dog. I have never known
a case of man being attacked by these animals,
but two instances in which their demeanour
towards him has been uncomfortably contemptuous
and menacing have come within my knowledge.
In one of these a very experienced and intrepid
English sportsman, Colonel G., of the Mysore
Revenue Survey, who was alone, and with no
other cartridges besides the two in his gun, and
in the other a horse-keeper of my own, who, with
another native, was conducting my pony along a
path through the forest, were respectively much

35*

BULLET AND SHOT

relieved when the episodes terminated without an
attack on the part of the dogs. I believe that a
pack of wild dogs is quite capable of dispossessing a
tiger of his kill by forcing the big beast to retire ;
and I know a case in which wild dogs came to feed
upon a cart bullock, which had been killed by a
tiger for whose return Mr. (now Colonel) N. C.
was watching, when the freebooters came on the
scene.

THE INDIAN WOLF {Canis palUpes)

This animal is found throughout India, but does
not occur on the Himalayas. In colour it varies
a good deal, the different tints being dependent
upon climate and season, as well as upon age.
Some are of a reddish hue, others grizzled, a few
dark brown, while very old specimens are quite
grey. The Indian wolf stands 26 inches in height
at the shoulder, and though he is a bloodthirsty
and ferocious animal, is also an arrant coward. In
spite of the fact that wolves are plentiful in the
Mysore district, of the forests of which I was for
seven years in charge, I never heard of a case of
their attacking human beings, or even of their
carrying off native children ; though elsewhere —
and particularly in the Central Provinces — many of
the latter are said to fall victims to the rapacity of
these animals. I frequently saw wolves, sometimes
singly or in pairs, and I have also seen as many as
six or eight together, on ground frequented by
the Indian antelope. They have been observed,

352

THE PARIAH DOG

as related by Captain Baldwin, to hunt their prey
in accordance with an obviously preconcerted plan,
some members of the pack posting themselves at
intervals behind cover, while the remainder went
round to drive the antelope — or gazelles, as the
case might be — towards their ambushed con-
federates. Sheep, of course, form a favourite and
easy prey of this animal, which is also partial to
dogs, foxes and hares. Although it is generally
stated that foxhounds cannot run down a wolf, I
have known two instances in which the pack
formerly kept by the late Maharajah of Mysore
successfully performed this feat. In each of these
cases it is probable that the animal was gorged.

THE PARIAH DOG

The numbers of half- starved, often cruelly-
mutilated, and frequently ownerless dogs which
frequent the purlieus of every Indian village, and
which live mainly upon garbage, offal and carrion,
are very destructive poachers in the case of new-
born fawns, young leyerets, and the young of game
birds before the latter have attained powers of
flight. Nothing that these brutes can circumvent
and seize is overlooked by them, and they are
always hungry, and ever ready to frighten and
to drive away any game the capture of which is
an impossibility for them. In their keenness to
do as much damage as possible to helpless young
animals and birds, the efforts of these pernicious
2 A 353

BULLET AND SHOT

brutes are emulated by the jackal, who, though he
lives chiefly upon carrion, will neglect nothing
edible, living or dead, which he may come across.

MINOR POACHERS

Of the enemies of Indian feathered game —
after the native poachers who have been already
mentioned — several species of wild cat and of
mongoose are the chief delinquents amongst the
small mammalia ; whilst kites and crows (both of
which are in their legions), and in a less degree,
eagles and many species of falcons, hawks, and owls
account for vast quantities of the young of game
birds, as well as (in the case of some of the feathered
poachers) of the mature birds themselves. Snakes
and rats, moreover, as well as the mongoose, take
toll of the eggs of the unfortunate birds ; and it
is wonderful how, in the absence of all protection,
feathered game is able to exist at all in spite of
so many voracious and ever- vigilant foes, in the
case of so many of whom nature appears to have
omitted to place any adequate limit upon re-
production and multiplication,

NUISANCES IN INDIAN SHOOTING

In addition to the list of poachers, all of whom
in a greater or less degree are of course nuisances
to the sportsman, there are two or three nuisances
which are entitled to special mention.

One of these is the " did-he-do-it " plover, so

3SA

• NUISANCES IN INDIAN SHOOTING

called from its startling strident note when disturbed.
This troublesome bird is very partial (for nesting
purposes) to little open spaces in the jungle, and
the sportsman who may, while moving stealthily,
with rifle on full cock, through a likely part of the
forest in search of deer, have had the misfortune
to start one or a pair of these birds, knows well
that every animal within hearing of that eerie cry
has as surely taken the alarm as if it had itself seen
the human intruder. Another unmitigated nuisance
to the sportsman in Thibet is the kyang or wild
ass, whose irritating curiosity leads it to gallop
round a stalker as soon as it has perceived his
presence, and by its absurd antics to communicate
the alarm to the game which he is endeavouring
to approach.

Monkeys, too, are often to blame by chattering
when they see a sportsman, and thus drawing the
attention of all other animals within hearing to the
fact that an enemy is on foot ; but as they often
do the sportsman a service by indicating in the
same manner the whereabouts of a tiger or a
panther, it is comparatively easy to forgive them
for an occasional indiscretion.

355

CHAPTER XXL

SOME SMALL INDIAN ANIMALS WORTH SHOOTING

SO extremely numerous are small animals in
India which fall within this category, that I
shall attempt to deal with only such of them as I
have personally shot, or seen. Sterndale mentions
no less than thirty-six different species of squirrels^
and the skins of many of these are well worth
preserving ; but very few of these are found in
the forests of which I have had most experience,
so that my list will be but a very short one.

THE BLACK MONKEY OR NEILGHERRY LUNGOOR
{Senmopithecus vel Presbytes jubatus)

This beautiful monkey is found upon hill ranges
in the South of India. I have personally seen it
upon the Neilgherry and the Travancore hills.

It is covered all over with long hair, which is
deep black in colour, except on the head and nape
of the neck, where it is reddish brown, Sterndale
states that the length of the head and body is
26, and that of the tail 30 inches.

This animal utters a weird, unearthly cry, which
can be heard a long distance off. It is very wary,

356

THE BENGAL LUNGOOR

and therefore somewhat difficult to shoot. The
skins form splendid rugs, and strips cut from them
make a most effective edging for a tiger's skin.

THE BENGAL LUNGOOR {Presbytes entellus)

This large monkey is common in the forests of
Mysore, where I have often shot it. Jerdon gives
the length of a male specimen as 30 inches to the
root of the tail, the latter being 43 inches, but
states that it exceeds these measurements.

In Mysore, where it is termed Musya, some
old males have very beautiful silver-grey skins,
the hair being fine and long, while in females
and younger animals there is much admixture of
slaty and dirty brown hues, the hair of such
being shorter, and their skins not worth preserving.
The hands, feet, and face are deep black. I did
not like shooting these animals on account of the
rarity of a really beautiful skin, but the Kurrabas
eat them, and often begged me to shoot one for
them.

Like the preceding species, this monkey utters
an uncanny, loud, and long- protracted cry, which
may frequently be heard resounding through the
timber forests of Mysore. It is in that country
a very timid animal, inhabiting only the large
forests at a distance from villages. It is gregarious,
and often a considerable number may be found
together. Its agility is wonderful, and it can jump
from the branch of one tree to that of another with
unerring accuracy. If this should, on account of

357

BULLET AND SHOT

the distance between, be impracticable, it will
descend the trunk and run along the ground ta
the next suitable tree. I but once succeeded in
capturing a young one, which gave me and my
men much trouble ere we secured it. The
Kurrabas sometimes kill these animals by driving
some of them into an isolated tree, and then felling
the latter.

THE MALABAR SQUIRREL {Saurus indicus vel Malabaricus)-

I have often shot this large and beautiful squirrel
in Mysore. In colour it is chiefly of a dark maroon-
red above, and orange-yellow below, the tail being
black with a yellow tip. The head and body are
about 20, and the tail 15 inches respectively in
length. It is found in heavy forest, and is said to
make excellent soup, though I have not personally
tested this, as I acknowledge a dislike for gas-
tronomical experiments.

It appears to pair, since two are often found
together. Skins of this species are well worth
obtaining and preserving, but the animals are of
course frequently met with when the sportsman
is in search of large game, and when he is neither
provided with a suitable weapon, nor, if he had
one with him, would dare to use it, for fear of
spoiling his chances of finding the larger animals.
A charge of number 5 shot is quite sufficient to
bring it down.

358

THE BROWN FLYING SQUIRREL

THE BLACK HILL SQUIRREL {Sciurus giganteus)

This large species measures, according to Stern-
dale, head and body about 15, and tail about 16
inches. It is not found in Southern India, but I
remember shooting a specimen of it in Assam
many years ago.

The following is a small part of Anderson's
description of it, the whole of which is quoted
by Sterndale : — " This species has well-tufted ears ;
the upper surface is either wholly black or reddish
brown without any trace of white ; the tail is
generally jet black, also the outside of the fore
and hind limbs, and the upper surface of the feet ;
an elongated black spot is almost invariably found
below the eye from beyond the moustache, and the
eye is encircled with black."

THE BROWN FLYING SQUIRREL {Pteromys oral)

This curious creature inhabits the large forests
of India. Being nocturnal in its habits, it is seldom
seen by the sportsman, though not infrequently
captured and killed by wood -cutters, from whom
skins might, on promise of payment, be obtained.
In colour it is dark grey. One which was brought
alive to me was about the size of a small domestic
cat. Sterndale states that the head and body
measure 20, the tail 21, and the breadth across
the extended parachute-skin 21 to 24 inches.

359

BULLET AND SHOT

I once saw a flying squirrel in the day-time, in
the act of making quite a long flight, in a glade
in one of the Mysore forests.

THE INDIAN FOX {Vulpes Bengalensts)

This pretty little animal is very common in
Mysore, where it frequents the open plains which
are also the home of the antelope. I used
constantly to see it when out shooting black buck,
but have never specially sought for it. In colour
it is mainly grey and reddish grey. Its size,
according to Sterndale, is : — " Head and body 20
to 21 inches; tail 12 to 14 inches; weight 5^ lbs."

Except for coursing with greyhounds, this animal
affords no sport. I have often been tempted into
firing ineffectual running shots at it with a "500
express rifle, when there was no danger of alarming
the game of which I was in search.

THE WILD CATS OF INDIA

Of these there appear to be about eight species
found in various parts of the empire. They are
not very often seen, and still less frequently shot,
since if one of them should come forward in a
beat for the larger felines, it would not be fired
at so long as any hope remained of the appearance
of one of the former.

I shot a beautiful cat upon one occasion, but
am unable to identify the species to which it
belonged. I did not keep the skin, which had

360

THE BLACK-NAPED HARE

been terribly damaged by the "500 express bullet
with which I shot it.

A forest officer in Malabar, in whose house I
once spent several days, possessed at the time a
tame specimen of the very handsome leopard cat —
so at least my friend, who was a sportsman, and
to some extent a naturalist, termed it. Sterndale
says that the leopard cat [Felts Bengalensis) is
untameable, and he quotes Jerdon, Blyth, and
Hutton in support of this dictum. The cat I
refer to agreed in colouring with the description
of that species given by Sterndale, but it was
quite tame, wandered about the house and grounds
at will, sometimes absented itself for several days,
but always returned. One peculiar, and rather
disgusting, habit of this animal was always to
select a wash-hand basin of water, for the purpose
of defecating.

THE BLACK-NAPED HARE {Lepus nigricollis)

This hare, which in size and colour approaches
more nearly to the blue, or arctic, species in its
summer coat than to the familiar English brown
hare (albeit lighter and yellower in colour than the
former), is common in Mysore, where I occasionally
shot it in large forests, in scrub jungles, on the
plains, and when snipe -shooting in dry grass
adjacent to the wet land.

Hares, as food, afford a pleasant variety in a
country which does not offer a great diversity of
viands, and are therefore worth shooting. They

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BULLET AND SHOT

are easiest obtained in scrub jungles by the employ-
ment of beaters.

THE COMMON FLYING FOX {Pteropus Edwardsii vel medius)

This large bat is very common in India generally;
and in Mysore vast colonies of them are to be seen
hanging by day, with wings closed, on some large
tree, and at dusk flying overhead on their way to
search for the fruits on which they feed. In colour
they are rusty black, with the neck and shoulders
yellow.

Sterndale's measurements are: — "Length 12 to
14 inches; extent of wings 46 to 52 inches." A
few specimens of this species may be procured for
the purpose of preservation as curiosities.

36:

; CHAPTER XXII.

INDIAN SNIPE SHOOTING

ALTHOUGH the continent of India, with
its marvellous range of elevation and
diversity of climate, is the home of an enormous
number of species of game birds and wild-fowl,
there is no bird amongst them all which is at once
so widely distributed, so generally popular amongst
sportsmen, and so welcome an addition to the
somewhat circumscribed Indian menu, as the
ubiquitous snipe. From his peculiar cry when
he rises, the Mahomedans term this bird the
" Cha-ha," in fancied imitation of the former.

Not only is the snipe found during about half
the year nearly everywhere in suitable localities
all over our vast Indian empire, but he also
generally occurs in sufficient numbers to make
it worth the sportsman's while to encounter the
burning rays of the tropical sun, and the fatigue
resulting from severe toil thereunder. Indian snipe
shooting is often a very laborious exercise, owing
to the depth of the yielding mud through which
the sportsman must plod.

The snipe is a sporting bird when flushed, and
his swift, uncertain flight, and diminutive size unite

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BULLET AND SHOT

to render a combination of rapidity in the use of
the gun, with straight shooting on the part of the
sportsman essential for the achievement of success
in his pursuit.

Most people seem to think that the Indian bird
is slower and less gyratic in his flight than his
confrere in the United Kingdom ; but, although
this is doubtless true under certain conditions,
considering the frequently arduous nature of the
walking, the terrible heat of the Indian sun (and
the combined effect of these upon the sportsman),
and contrasting such with the comparatively
pleasant and easy conditions under which snipe
are shot at home, I deem the Indian shooting
by far the more difficult of the two. Throughout
a long day, in which a large bag of snipe is made
in India, I am strongly of opinion that a sportsman
who shoots for a bag, and not for an average, does
really well if he has one bird to show for every
two and a half cartridges expended. Lost birds,
wounded birds which rise again, and long shots,
all help to swell the total of ammunition expended ;
and in my experience, very few men indeed who
try to bag everything within possible (which of
course includes some shots at almost impossible)
distances, can average more than one bird brought
home for every three cartridges used during the
day. At home, on the other hand, I should
consider such an average at snipe as ve7'y poor
indeed. Personally, I find that I can make a far
better average at a small number of snipe at home
than I ever could in India over bags of from

364

INDIAN SNIPE SHOOTING

twenty to sixty couple per diem. It is quite true
that, in the heat of the day, snipe in India often
sit close and fly lazily, but I have also seen them
every bit as wild as their wildest congeners at
home, even when the latter are met with on a wet
marsh, on a wild day, and when the birds are
sufficiently numerous to warn one another by their
cries as they get up.

I have upon two occasions in India seen about
two hundred birds in the air at the same time ; and
when shooting there, as I have sometimes done, in
rain, I have found the Indian snipe well-nigh un-
approachable within possible range, while his speed
and eccentricity of flight in no way fell short of
those displayed under similar conditions by the
English bird.

Three common species of snipe are widely
distributed throughout India, viz., the Fan-tail, or
common snipe, which appears to be identical with
the British bird ; the Pin-tail, which so closely
resembles the former that a tyro would not observe
any diversity between the species ; and the Jack,
which appears to be the same bird as is known
by that name in the United Kingdom. A species,
wrongly named the painted snipe since it is not
a snipe at all, is frequently met with and bagged
when snipe shooting, and is counted in the bag.
A brief description of these four birds may
advantageously be inserted in this place.

365

BULLET AND SHOT

I. THE FAN-TAIL, OR COMMON SNIPE
{Gallinago coelestis)

This bird is widely distributed all over the
greater part of the empire in suitable localities.
It is impossible, where both species are often found
frequenting the same area in almost equal pro-
portions, to lay down any hard and fast rule ; but
it may be safely said, speaking generally, that he
is found in somewhat more humid spots (even upon
the same stretch of wet land) than is the pin-tail.
He is considered to be wilder, and to possess a
sharper and more erratic habit of flight, and is
moreover just a trifle larger than the latter, with
a rather longer bill which is slightly more flattened
at the tip than is that of the other species.

The principal food of this snipe consists of
earth-worms, with small molluscs and other water-
insects, etc.

The common snipe breeds in the Himalayas and
Thibet, and migrates to India proper each autumn,
remaining there until spring (and in some cases as
late as the month of May) of the following year.

The average weight of both sexes calculated
by Mr. Hume (Hume and Marshall's Game Birds
of India) after numerous weighments of individuals,
works out as 4^ oz. per bird, the largest recorded
by him being a female which weighed 5J oz.

The most striking point of difference between
this species and the pin-tail lies in the number and
form of the tail feathers. Hume states that the

366

THE PIN-TAIL SNIPE

feathers which compose the tail of the common
snipe are fourteen in number, occasionally sixteen,
and very rarely only twelve. These are broad,
and are similar to those found in the caudal appen-
dage of the English bird. The pin-tail, on the
other hand, has but ten broad tail feathers, on
either side of which are from five to nine very
narrow, pointed, stiff ones from which the bird
derives his name.

In some localities the first species predominates,
and in others the second ; while in many places
both occur in almost equal proportions. I have
only occasionally taken the trouble to examine the
tails of a bag of snipe (the pin feathers in the pin-
tail lie underneath, and are concealed by the broad
ones), and I have kept no record of the relative
proportions found in different districts.

The common snipe practically has it all its own
way in the North -West Provinces and part of
Oudh, the other species not favouring those
localities.

II. THE PIN-TAIL SNIPE {Gallmago Sthenura) "

Although in the North- West and parts of Oudh
this bird is very rare, in some localities he appears
in far greater numbers than does the preceding
species. Like the common snipe, this bird is
migratory, and arrives in India a little before the
former.

His menu comprises the food of the common
snipe, and in addition insects, such as grubs and

367

BULLET AND SHOT

caterpillars inhabiting drier ground than those com-
posing the ordinary diet of the other bird.

The females of this species are large and possess
longer bills than do males of the same age. Hume,
after compiling the results of the examination of
nearly one hundred specimens, thus states the
range of variation : males, 3^ oz, to 4f oz. ; females,.
3f oz. to ^\ oz. Average of both sexes, 4 oz.

III. THE JACK SNIPE {Gallinago gallinula)

This bird too is migratory, and, although found
all over most parts of India where wet land occurs,
is rare in many places largely resorted to by the
two preceding species. He is further more fas-
tidious in his choice of localities, and in some
seasons, in the same spots, is far more common
than in others. I have often found jacks in places
which were too wet for the other birds, but I do
not remember having ever shot more than three
or four couple in a day amongst a large bag of
snipe.

Jacks, as a rule, lie very close, and rise and go
off with a comparatively slow but erratic flight,
and they are perhaps more often missed than are
their larger cousins. When fired at and missed,
they can usually be marked down — often not far
off — and, once flushed, generally come into the
bag.

This tiny bird, which is considered by epicures
to surpass the other species in delicacy of flavour,,
weighs only from i\ oz. to 2\ oz.

368

THE PAINTED SNIPE

THE PAINTED SNIPE {Rynchcea Capensts)

This species, which is wrongly termed a snipe
only on account of its inhabiting the same ground,
and being somewhat of the same size as, and shape
of the common snipe, remains and breeds in India.
It is a very beautiful bird of truly tropical richness
of hue. The female is larger than the male, and
far more brilliantly plumed, the lovely dark green
hue of the back and wing coverts being strikingly
relieved by the rich chestnut-coloured spots in the
wing feathers. In flight this bird is slow, and,
flapping along like an owl, is often missed when
it rises before a man who has been making good
practice at the far more rapidly flying species. I
have shot it in Assam and Sylhet, in Mysore, near
Madras, and in the Madura district, but I have
never found it common anywhere, though a large
bag of snipe of all sorts has usually contained from
one or two, up to half a dozen " painters."

Hume gives the weight limits of this species as —
males, 3^ to nearly 5 oz. ; females, 4f to nearly
6 oz.

The painted snipe is found over most of India
except the Himalayas, but it is rare in many parts.

The breeding season is August and September.
It is, in my opinion, a very good bird when cooked,
though it has been disparaged in this respect by
others.

The only other species of snipe which deserve
mention are the Wood — and Solitary snipes, and
they are too rare to merit any special notice.
2 B 369

BULLET AND SHOT

SNIPE SHOOTING

Snipe occur in more or less abundance, according
to local conditions, both in natural swamps, and in
the enormous areas of artificially irrigated land
devoted to the cultivation of rice and other crops
requiring moisture.

For the purpose of irrigation, chains of tanks
(or artificial reservoirs) some distance from each
other, and with a fall from the top one to the
next, and so on, supply water to the wet land
(which is usually cultivated with rice) lying below
each of them, the surplus fluid being conducted into
the tank next below.

Any portion of the irrigated land, as well as of
the waterspread of the tank, may, when it is in
condition for them, and at the proper season, be
expected to hold snipe if the locality is a favourite
one with the birds. Snipe have preferences and
dislikes for localities which only one of themselves
could explain, and though doubtless food -supply
is their main factor, the birds usually shun places
in which the mud is mixed with gravel, or is gritty.

Too much water is a very common cause for
disappointment, when the sportsman has perhaps
ridden or driven some miles to a favourite ground,
only to find the greater part of it submerged, and
therefore untenanted by the birds.

Deep, soft mud, if covered with a growth of
short grass, is very suitable for the requirements
of "snipe, and such is often to be found both in

370

SNIPE SHOOTING

the waterspreads of the tanks, as well as in any
rice fields which may be lying fallow for the season.
Very often, while the rice (or paddy) is still short —
more particularly if it has partially failed and is thin
— numbers of snipe may be found in the crop itself.
They need not, however, be looked for in high,
thick paddy, though even when the crop is approach-
ing maturity, I have found a fair number of birds
upon the divisions (or bunds) between the little
fields, where it would not, however, be ordinarily
worth while to seek them.

In one portion of the Mysore province, a goodly
number of the inhabitants are engaged in the
growth of silk, and it was in mulberry fields
below a tank, that I one day found the bulk of
the birds which yielded a bag of sixty -one and
a half couple to my own gun. This was at
Chinnapatna, on the line of rail between Bangalore
and Mysore.

At Yedatore, about twenty -two miles from the
town of Mysore, a friend and I once made a bag of
sixty-nine and a half couple in a day, fifty couple
of which fell to my own gun. The shooting upon
this occasion was obtained mainly in the water-
spread of a tank and in fallow rice fields.

My largest bag of snipe in one day single-handed
was sixty-three couple, and was made a few miles
from Madura (in the Madras presidency), where I
enjoyed the best snipe shooting which I have ever
had. On the last eight occasions upon which I
went out for this game from the town of Madura,
I averaged almost exactly thirty couple per diem

371

BULLET AND SHOT

to my own gun. There was no single bag of much
over forty couple, and one of the eight totals
contributing to form the above -stated average,
consisted of only two couple and a half ! The
reason for this last was that I had, upon a ground
at some distance, seen a large number of birds
some time before, and wishing to ascertain whether
they were still on that ground, I sent a native to
inspect and report. On his returning with the
news that birds were still there, I made sure
that I should make a large bag. Imagine my
disgust, on arriving at the place, to find it quite
dried up, and the birds all gone ! The rascal
whom I had sent had evidently saved himself the
trouble of going, and had trusted to luck (and to
lying) to see him through. He had certainly quite
spoilt my day, but as he accompanied me, and as I
was very far the reverse of amiable towards him,
I am sure that he did not greatly enjoy his own !

Before going out shooting, a native shikarrie —
a reliable man, if possible — should be sent to scour
the country, to visit different places, and to ascertain
which of the latter will best reward the sportsman's
energies. It may be that two or more distinct
grounds lie at no great distance apart, and may
thus be shot over, if not too extensive, on the same
day.

The earliest date on which I have seen snipe
in any appreciable number in Mysore, was on or
about the 20th September, in one year only. This
is extraordinarily early for the arrival of the birds
in that province, though upon that occasion I

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SNIPE SHOOTING

bagged about thirteen couple. It was, however,
seldom much worth while to look for snipe in that
country till the 15th or 20th of October, and I made
my heaviest bags there much later in the season.
In Madura, I have seen a good many birds towards
the end of September, but I seldom looked for
them so early, the heat then being very severe.
In snipe shooting, it is a great advantage if the
sportsman can be accompanied by at least one or
two natives who have been out shooting with him
before, and who know how he wishes the men with
him to act. The best plan is for him to place two
or three men, a few paces apart, in line on each side,
himself taking the centre, the distance between
each man in the line of course depending upon the
nature of the cover, and upon whether the birds
are lying very close, or rising freely, and often
requiring variation in different portions of the
same stretch of ground. The object is, of course,
to put up all the birds on either side of himself
which can be comfortably commanded by the
sportsman's gun, without springing those which
would be out of shot before he could fire at them,
as would be done were the line employed to be too
long. In working a wide stretch of ground, the
line must be wheeled at the end, and as many
beats across and across taken as may be necessary
to cover the whole — just as in walking up partridges
in turnips in England. The men should be warned
to carefully mark all fallen birds, but on no account
to leave the line to pick up one of them unless
specially ordered so to do.

373

BULLET AND SHOT

It frequently happens, when the men employed
are new to the work, that some excited dunder-
head, rushing forward to pick up a bird which
has been shot, puts up a number of others out
of range, most of which would have afforded
chances had the line advanced without any such
exhibition of undesirable zeal. If a bird should
fall in front and in the beat over which the line
is about to pass, it should be picked up during
the advance ; but should it have dropped in a
portion already beaten, the line should halt while
one or more men are sent to retrieve it. If, on
the other hand, a shot bird should be lying in fresh
ground which will not immediately be traversed by
the line, it is better, if there is the least doubt as to
subsequent easy recognition of the place, to call a
halt, while the sportsman goes with one or two men
straight to the spot, so that, should other birds rise,
they too may be added to the bag.

When the ground is very wet, and the birds
rising very wild on account of their hearing the
noise made by the men splashing through the
water, it is often necessary for the sportsman to
walk in advance along one of the dry bunds,
causing the men to walk at some distance behind,
also upon bunds. This manoeuvre on a wild, wet
day, when it is very hard to get within shot of
the birds, will often enable a small bag of snipe
to be made, most of the birds being shot at longish
range, and being to the full as curly and rapid
on the wing as are their most wideawake cousins
in wet weather at home.

374

SNIPE SHOOTING

I remember being delighted with one such bag
of only some sixteen couple which I made under
these conditions, very few of the birds composing
it being shot at a less distance than forty yards,
and many being stopped considerably further off.

Snipe are generally wild early in the morning,
and unless the ground to be worked is very
extensive, it is better not to begin shooting too
early in the day. By about ten o'clock the sun
will be well up and hot, and, in the case of a
limited area of ground, that hour is quite early
enough for beginning shooting. I have shot snipe
from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., with short halts for refresh-
ment during the day ; and where the ground is
sufficiently extensive to afford it, should advise
others to do the same, provided only that they
are physically capable of standing the toil and the
sun.

Snipe shooting in Mysore, where the sun is far
less trying than it is in the vicinity of Madras
and in Madura, and where the climate is so
favourable, is far less exhausting than in the latter
localities ; and yet in the former, I have (once)
drunk a full dozen bottles of soda-water during a
day's shooting, and I always took out a dozen
in case of need. In shooting from the various
stations down the South Indian Railway from the
city of Madras, and also in Madura, I always
took out a box of ice, and cooled my soda-water
bottles therein. Without ice, I do not think that
I could have endured a long day's toil under the
fierce sun of those parts. In Mysore, however,

375

BULLET AND SHOT

ice out shooting is not required, the soda-water
bottles, if carried in a basket with straw wrapped
round each, and the whole kept wet, being rendered
quite cool.

A splendid " pick-me-up " after severe toil, is a
tin of hare, or some other thick soup, at luncheon
time. This is easily procurable at a few minutes'
notice, if a tin of soup be opened before starting
from home, turned into a wide-necked glass bottle,
and carried in the tiffin-bag, together with an etna
ready-charged with methylated spirit, and a soup
plate ; and personally I can swallow soup when
too much overcome by heat and exertion to care
about sandwiches, however well made and appe-
tising under other conditions the latter may be.
(I prefer sandwiches of pdti de foie gras and
sardines to any other.) It has never fallen to my
lot to shoot in places where, and at times when,
very heavy bags of snipe were procurable ; but
in many places, granted favourable conditions, bags
far in excess of anything possible within my own
experience may be obtained, and, only two or three
years ago, a single sportsman shooting within reach
of Calcutta by rail, and in the same season, made
several bags of over one hundred couple each.
The season was the second of two characterised
by abnormal drought, and a huge area of swamp —
usually too wet to be practicable — was in good
order for snipe, and afforded feeding ground to
vast numbers of birds which had been driven to
it owing to the drying up of their usual haunts.
A bag of over. ninety couple has, within my own

376

SNIPE SHOOTING

knowledge, been made in the Madras Presidency
by Captain the Honourable E. B., who was on
the staff of the then Governor — Lord Wenlock.

Burmah is a great snipe country, and Colonel
W. (late 43rd O.L.I.) once made a notable bag
at Tonghoo. He brought home one hundred and
sixty-three snipe, and had not expended the whole
of the two hundred cartridges which he took out
with him. This may seem a "tall order" to
sportsmen who do not know Colonel W., but
I know that it is a fact, and I consider it less
extraordinary than some of the same sportsman's
public performances with the rifle, both at the
running deer target at the National Rifle Asso-
ciation meetings, as well as his score (already
mentioned elsewhere) of one point less than the
highest possible at Bisley for the " Daily Graphic
Cup," the distance being two hundred yards, the
bull's-eye an eight-inch circle, and the position
standing !

The man who is good at standing targets is
rarely remarkable at running game, flying game,
and with the revolver, yet W. excelled in all
branches of shooting.

I have — more particularly in parts of Mysore —
seen snipe seek the shade of trees and bushes
during the heat of the day, and sometimes the
birds did not return to their feeding grounds until
dusk.

In India I preferred No. 8 shot for snipe. At
one time I used No. 10 in the right barrel, and
No. 8 in the left, but I soon gave up the use of the

377

BULLET AND SHOT

former, as I found that it sometimes only wounded
birds which the larger shot would have brought to
bag. Recently, however, in Ireland, a batch of
cartridges loaded with No. 9 shot (I had ordered
No. 8) gave such highly satisfactory results, in use
on snipe, that I intend using this size in future
shooting at these birds at home. I use Schultze
powder, and am well satisfied with it. A light
i2-bore is, in my opinion, the best gun for snipe
shooting. The beginner in this sport must not
be discouraged by missing, and should try to
cultivate a proper style of shooting, regarding
misses with as much philosophy as may be
possible.

There is no royal road to good shooting, and
although some men are quicker in acquiring the
art than are others, practice, and the acquisition
of a good style will usually enable any man who
is blessed with good eyesight to become at least
an average snipe shot.

If a man, who has had no previous experience
in the use of the shot-gun, wishes to begin upon
snipe, he should strive to pitch his gun as quickly
as possible, pulling the trigger the instant that the
butt touches his shoulder. There must be no
attempt to " poke," or aim at the bird. Hand
and eye must work together, and with rapidity
too, for good work at this game ; and they will
with practice act harmoniously if a proper style
of shooting be adhered to.

Of course, in the case of a crossing shot, the gun
must either be pitched at space in front of the bird,

378

SNIPE SHOOTING

or swung with it (the former for choice), and only-
practice will teach the tyro how much allowance,
dependent of course upon pace and distance, should
be made in each case. In snipe shooting, the
sportsman should either personally kill each bird
which may be picked up alive, or see that one of
his men does so directly it has been recovered, for
natives are horribly callous as regards the sufferings
of animals, and would, if permitted, put the poor
birds alive upon the snipe-stick (or game carrier),
which is always used in this form of sport.

In order that full justice may be done to this
really excellent little bird from a gastronomical
point of view, he should be cooked for dinner on
the day of his death, be lightly and rapidly roasted
before a very quick fire, brought up to table under-
done, and gracefully reposing upon a piece of well-
buttered toast. Snipe soup, either thick or clear
as may be preferred, is truly delicious, and, with
the whole of the meat pounded up and incorporated
in the case of the thick kind, resembles hare soup
in consistency, but is greatly superior in delicacy
of flavour to the latter. An allowance of two birds
for each person is ample for soup.

379

CHAPTER XXIII.

BRIEF NOTES ON SOME OF THE GAME BIRDS
AND WILD-FOWL OF INDIA

ALTHOUGH the snipe is, par excellence, the
L game bird of India, since he affords inex-
pensive sport to all sorts and conditions of men,
in suitable localities, all over the vast continent,
from Cashmere in the north, to Cape Comorin in
the extreme south, a multitude of other species
of game birds and of wild-fowl also inhabit the
country. Some of them merit a short description,
and a few notes upon their range, habits, and
capabilities from a sportsman's point of view,' since
they offer more or less opportunity for the exercise
of their favourite sport to many lovers of small
game shooting in different parts of India.

It is impossible, within the limits of a single
chapter, to deal otherwise than very generally and
briefly with even the more important of these ; but
in the hope that the novice may find them of
service, I will attempt to supply him with some
short notes upon the principal game birds and
wild-fowl of India. For weights and distribution
of these, and for other information also, I am
much indebted to Hume and Marshall's Game-
Birds of India.

380

THE INDIAN BUSTARD

THE INDIAN BUSTARD {Eupodotis Edwardsi)

This fine bird weighs from 17 to 22 lbs.,
and is, in my opinion, excellent upon the table.
I have bagged bustard in Mysore, where they
are not uncommon, both with the rifle and with
an 8-bore shot-gun. They are also found in the
Bombay Presidency, Kathiawar, the Deccan, Berar,
Rajputana, the Punjab, etc. In Mysore, bustard
frequent the same ground as the Indian antelope,
but exhibit a marked preference for such parts of
it as are well clad with short scrub, or bushes.
The white neck of the cock is a conspicuous
object, even when all the body of the bird is
hidden by a bush, and it can be seen, a long
way off, overtopping the scrub. The bustard
possesses but three toes, and greatly prefers the
use of his powerful legs to that of his wings, but
when put up and forced to use the latter, he fre-
quently flies for two or three miles before alighting.
Bustard are very wary birds, and it is not easy
to stalk near enough to one for an ordinary 1 2-bore
gun to suffice to bring him down ; but if the
direction of their flight when put up on any par-
ticular favourite spot be noted, and the sportsman
on a subsequent day conceal himself in that line,
sending his men round to drive the ground towards
him, he may obtain a good shot at a bird passing
overhead well within range of that weapon, since
the bustard usually flies low.

In Mysore, bustard are generally found solitary

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BULLET AND SHOT

or in pairs, and occasionally in small parties of
three or four ; I once, however, saw a great gather-
ing of them, numbering, if memory serves me
truly, about twenty-seven.

In Canarese the bustard is called Arlkugina
kukki, i.e., the bird which calls like a man, on
account of the noise which he makes, and which
is audible at a great distance. By the use of a
covered bullock cart, it is usually practicable to
approach bustard within easy range for a rifle,
and I have shot them thus, when antelope shooting
with a '360 express. Bustard are polygamous, the
breeding season varying in different parts of India
from October to March. The hen apparently lays
but one &gg.

THE HOUBARA {Hotibara Macgueent)

This small bustard, which weighs only from
4 to 5 J lbs., is migratory, not breeding in India
proper. It is found in the Punjab, Rajputana,
Northern Guzerat, Cutch, Northern Kathiawar,
and Sind. Large bags of houbara are sometimes
made from the back of a camel driven in ever-
decreasing circles round and round each bird which
has been viewed.

THE BENGAL FLORICAN {Sypheoiis Bengalensis)

This fine game bird is akin to the bustard,
possessing, like the latter, only three toes. It is
found in Eastern Bengal, Assam, the Bhootan duars,
and parts of the North -West Provinces. I have

382

THE LESSER FLORICAN OR LEEK

shot the large florican in Assam, where it frequents
expanses of rough, coarse grass (ooloo grass),
provided that the latter be not too dense, and
that there are plenty of open spaces distributed
through it. In Assam, it is known as the "ooloo
mohr," i.e., the ooloo-grass peacock.

The florican is much appreciated as a table
delicacy, and is on this account always shot when
met with. I used, when shooting florican, to put
a number of men in line, and walk with them
through the grass until a bird rose — usually out
of shot of me — when I marked it down (the first
flight is generally a short one), and then, walking
up quietly and alone, or with only one or two men,
to the spot, nearly always approached it within
easy distance before it got on the wing. Florican
fly slowly and heavily, and there is no possible
excuse for missing one of these birds if within
range.

Though a large bird, the florican's weight is
but 3 J to \\ lbs. according to Hume, though
Jerdon makes him heavier by three-quarters of a
pound.

THE LESSER FLORICAN OR LEEK {Sypheotides awuta)

I have shot this little florican, which weighs only
from I lb. 2 oz. to i lb. lo oz., in Mysore when out
snipe shooting. It is uncertain in its appearances
in different localities, being plentiful in some seasons
and very rare in others. The Tumkur district of
the Mysore province contains good lesser florican
ground. The Bengal florican is not found in the

383

6ULLET AND SHOT

south of India, and the lesser species is very rare
in the north. It is fond of dry grass, and is best
found and flushed by a Hne of men.

SAND GROUSE

Various species of sand grouse, some of them
local and rare, are found in India. I have
personally shot representatives of only two — both
in Mysore — viz., the common {Pterocles exustus)
and the painted (Pterocles fasciatus). Of these,
the former is found throughout India in suitable
localities, while the latter, though widely distributed,
is somewhat local.

The common sand grouse prefers open plains
with a sparse growth of scrub and bushes, and
the painted, stony forest tracts, and the bases of
low, rocky, bush -clad hills. The name "grouse"
is quite undeserved by the various species, which
resemble the pigeon more than they approximate
any other bird. Sand grouse always go to drink
at from 8 to lo a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. (according
in each case to the season), and if the sportsman
should station himself near the water to which they
resort, he may bag a number of them either morning
or evening.

THE GREY PARTRIDGE {Ortygornis pondicenanus)

This bird is found in most parts of India. I
have frequently shot, but have seldom specially
sought it. It is too partial to scrub jungle to afford

384

THE CHUKOR

good sport, and is not worth cooking when bagged.
I always avoided eating these birds on account of
their uncleanly habits in the matter of their food.

THE BLACK PARTRIDGE {Francolinus vulgaris)

This bird belongs to the north, and to Bengal,
and is not found in the south of India. I have
met with and have shot it in Assam. In parts
of Bengal, black partridges afford very pretty
shooting when beaten out of high reed jungle.

THE CHUKOR {Caccabis Chukor)

This fine species is found throughout the
Himalayas, including Thibet, and also in the salt
range of the Punjab. In different localities, it is
found at all elevations from sea-level to at least
16,000 feet.

It is fond of well- wooded hills, provided that
cultivation and plenty of water be in the vicinity.
It is also found in deserts, and on barren, rocky
ranges.

The best month for shooting chukor on the
lower hills is October, when the young birds are
strong and in good condition. They are found
in coveys of from ten to fifteen, or even more,
birds. On being flushed, they fly down hill,
scatter, and at once begin to call, and if followed
up, a number of them may generally be bagged.
The chukor exhibits considerable difference in size,
2 c 385

BULLET AND SHOT

and Hume states the extreme range of variation
as from 19 to 27 oz. in the case of males, and
from 13 to 19 in that of the females.

THE COMMON PEA-FOWL {Pavo Cristatus)

This familiar bird is found inhabiting the
forested area near cultivation, in suitable localities,
all over India. It prefers to combine cover, water,
cultivation and quiet. I have bagged pea-fowl
in Mysore with both rifle and shot-gun, and
consider a young bird as a welcome addition to
the larder. A second species, which differs from
the common one, occurs in Burmah.

THE KALEEGE PHEASANT {Euplocamus)

There are four well-marked species of kaleege,
all of which inhabit the north of India. I have
shot the black-breasted species {Euplocamus
Horsfieldi) in Assam, where it is called the
"derrick." It is a good bird for the table, but
does not usually afford much sport, except where
isolated patches of jungle are separated by cultiva-
tion from the large continuous forest, in which case
any birds in the former can be beaten out just as
pheasants are at home. In the large forest itself,
the only way to shoot derricks is to use a dog to
put them up, whereupon they rise and perch in
trees, and may then be shot sitting. So dense and
tangled is the Assam jungle, that were the

386

THE MOONAL PHEASANT

sportsman to make the bird fly from the tree,
he would be unable to obtain a shot.

The brilliant, glossy black of the cock bird
is a strikingly handsome plumage ; but the hen
is, like the female of most of the pheasants, a
homely brown bird. The natives, taking advan-
tage of the pugnacity of the cocks, capture
numbers by using a male bird as a decoy, with
running nooses set in proper positions all round
him. The derrick is found in the Coosya and
<jaro hills up to an elevation of 4,000 feet.

THE GREY PEACOCK PHEASANT
{Polyplectron Thibetanuiti)

This beautiful but rather rare bird is found in
the hills above the valley of Assam, and in Hill
Tipperah, Chittagong, Arakan, etc.

THE MOONAL PHEASANT {Lophophorus impeyanus)

This magnificent bird is found throughout the
Himalayas in suitable localities. The cock is a
gorgeous exposition of metallic colours of diverse
and striking hues, and weighs up to 5J lbs. in
the case of a large specimen. The hen, whose
plumage is brown, is rather smaller than her
consort.

The moonal requires forest as well as high
elevation. For shooting this bird, the spring is
the best season. The sportsman, sending his men
to walk in line on the hillside above him, must

387

BULLET AND SHOT

shoot the pheasants as they are darting downhill
at a very high rate of speed. Moonal breed in
May and June.

THE INDIAN CRIMSON TRAGOPAN {Cerioruis Satyrd)

This is another pheasant whose male is gor-
geously attired, and which inhabits parts of the
Himalayas, of Gurwahl, Sikkim, Nepaul, and
Bhootan. Like the moonal, it affects wooded
ranges at high elevations. Unless it be called up
to the sportsman by his shikarrie, dogs are required
to put up this bird. Cocks weigh from 3J- lbs.
to 4 lbs. 10 oz., hens being considerably lighter.

THE KOKLASS PHEASANT {Pucrasia Macrolopha)

This Himalayan pheasant is, according to Hume,,
the best of the Indian species, both for sport and
for eating. The middle of November is the most
favourable season for shooting the koklass, whose
favourite habitat is wooded valleys at an elevation
of from 7,000 to 8,000 feet. It is not found much
lower than 4,000, and occurs as high as 14,000 feet.
Well-trained spaniels are useful in this shootings
and trained men to mark the birds are required
for success in the sport.

The breeding season is the spring and early
summer. The cock weighs from a little over
2 up to nearly 3 lbs.

388

THE GREY JUNGLE FOWL

THE RED JUNGLE FOWL {Gallus ferrugineus)

This bird is very like, but rather larger than, a
red game bantam. It is common in the valley
of Assam where I frequently shot it, and also on
the Cossya, Naga, and Garo hills, Cachar, Sylhet,
Eastern Bengal, the Sunderbunds, Aracan, etc.,
and is found also in the eastern portions of the
Central Provinces. Its southern range terminates
at the Godavery river, but it occurs in Ganjam,
Vizagapatam, and part of the Godavery district.

It may be looked for at sea-level, and also at
all elevations up to 3,000, and even, in summer,
5,000 feet. Where it can be successfully beaten
out, as for instance when it is found in detached
hills or in covers of manageable size, this jungle
fowl affords very sporting shots. It is fond of
cultivation at the very edge of the forest. Its
breeding season varies with locality from January
to July. The cocks weigh from if lbs. to
2\ lbs.

THE GREY JUNGLE FOW^L {Gallus Sonnerati)

This beautiful bird is the j'ungle fowl of Southern
India. It extends to part of the Central Provinces,
but is not found north of the Godavery river. It
is fond of hill tracts, and is also abundant on the
Mysore plateau in the forests of which I used
often to shoot it. It is, on the hill ranges of the
Nilgiris, Western Ghauts, Anamalais, etc., found
at considerable elevations, and its range extends

389

BULLET AND SHOT

from sea-level to about 6,000 feet. Jungle fowl
may be beaten out of ravines, small covers, etc.,
and may also be met with on any roads which
are made through forest tracts. It is the cock of
this species which supplies us with the beautiful
hackles which enter into the composition of so
many salmon flies. The grey is a trifle larger
than the red jungle fowl.

THE COMMON OR GREY QUAIL {Cotumix Communis)

This bird is migratory, and arrives in India from
Central Asia, Persia, Arabia, Africa, etc., in the
autumn. The numbers which come over in each
migration vary considerably, as also do the localities
in which the birds are most plentiful, in different
years. If food be scarce in the north, many of
them push on towards the south.

Frequently enormous numbers of quail are found
in March in Northern India, the birds having been
attracted there from the south and east by the
ripening of the crops. They are usually shot in
standing crops, and Hume mentions a device em-
ployed in quail shooting in the north whereby the
birds are put up with the minimum of damage.
A thin cord, forty or fifty yards in length, is
furnished at each yard with a white feather. Two
men, one at each end, drag this cord over the
field, the sportsman walking just behind its centre.
As many as one hundred couple have been bagged
in a day by one gun. Quail fly swiftly, but
straight, and thus afford very easy shooting.

390

THE WOODCOCK

In Mysore, the black -breasted or "rain quail"
is more abundant than the common species, and,
unlike the latter, it breeds in India, the eggs being
laid in August and September.

Other common Indian quails are the various
species known as bush, bustard, and button quails
— all very small but beautiful birds, the last-named
not exceeding about an ounce and a half in weight.

As a table bird, I personally do not think much
of the quail, but many people like him, and a good
deal depends upon how he is cooked.

Hume, who suffered from gun headache after
firing a number of cartridges filled with ordinary
loads, employed, for bush-quail shooting, cartridges
thus loaded —

One drachm of powder, then a thin wad with
sawdust above it to partly fill the case ; then
another thin card wad followed by half an ounce
of No. lo, or of dust-shot, and a cardboard wad
above the shot.

THE WOODCOCK {Scolopax rusticola)

The woodcock occurs on the Himalayas and
other hill ranges in the north, being found thereon
at even above 10,000 feet elevation, as well as in
tracts at the foot of those hills, and on the Nilgiris,
Shevaroys, Anamalais, and other hill ranges in the
south. I have, in India, personally shot it only
upon the Cossya hills. Woodcock shooting is
one of the recognised forms of sport upon the
Nilgiris, and though the bags obtained are but

391

BULLET AND SHOT

light, it claims many ardent devotees. I have
heard a story of an old colonel, who, on being
informed by his companion that the latter had
seen a fine sambur stag, exclaimed, " Damn the
stag! Where's that woodcock?" In woodcock
shooting, a number of coolies must be employed
to beat the sholahs — unless, indeed, the sportsman
should possess a team of well-trained spaniels.

The Indian bird is of smaller average size than
the English woodcock, and weighs only from 7 to

12^ oz.

WILD GEESE

The ^-rey lag goose (Anser cinereus), a large bird
averaging 7, but sometimes reaching 9 lbs. in
weight; and the barred-headed goose {Anser indicus),
a smaller bird than the former, and weighing
only from 4 to nearly 7 lbs., are both cold- weather
visitors to India.

Just as their congeners elsewhere, wild geese in
India are adepts in the noble art of self-preservation,
and are difficult of access. I have never shot the
grey lag, and but once a specimen of the smaller
species. Hume recommends the use of a boat, in
which the sportsman must lie flat, pushed from
behind by a man who keeps himself well concealed ;
and he also mentions another plan, viz. — the sports-
man lying in ambush on their feeding grounds after
dusk, and waiting for the arrival of the birds — as
one which is frequently very successful.

Even such naturally wary and suspicious birds
as wild geese become wonderfully tolerant of the

392

WILD DUCKS AND TEAL

presence of man if systematically protected from
all interference. I well remember how tame were
the barred-headed geese which frequented the tank
which occupies the centre of the Civil Station of
Sibsaugor, in Assam. A public road ran all round
the tank, and along the former were the Europeans'
houses and the official buildings. The geese were
perfectly at home, were never molested while on
the tank, and would approach its edge quite
fearlessly, regardless of passers-by. But this tame-
ness lasted only so long as the birds were in their
sanctuary, viz., the said tank. When met with
elsewhere on their feeding grounds, they were as
hard to approach as are any other wild geese.

WILD DUCKS AND TEAL

Out of the many species of wild ducks and teal
which are found in India, a few only merit special
notice.

The mallard (Anas boscas) is almost entirely
restricted to the far north, and is but very occasion-
ally found elsewhere.

The ruddy sheldrake, or Brahminy duck
{Casarea rutila) is a very handsome bird, but is
not at all good upon the table. I have shot this
species in Assam and Sylhet, where it was common,
but I have never seen it, as far as I remember,
in Southern India.

The grey or spotted-bill duck (Anas poeciloryncha)
is a splendid bird, which even Lucullus would have
welcomed as an addition to his bill of fare. Most

393

BULLET AND SHOT

unfortunately, this duck (which lives and breeds,
in India) is addicted to the culpable habit of
selecting the snipe -shooting season for laying its
eggs preparatory to rearing its second brood. It
is in size very similar to the mallard, if not slightly
heavier, a large drake sometimes attaining a weight
of 3;J lbs. I often shot this duck in the Mysore
country, etc.

The shoveller (Spatula clypeata) is found nearly
all over India.

The pin-tail duck (Dafila acuta) is a large and
handsome bird. A drake of this species sometimes
weighs as much as three pounds. It is common in
Mysore.

The common teal (Querquedula crecca) is found in
most parts of India, and is migratory, arriving in
the autumn and leaving in the spring. Although
I have shot this bird both in Assam and also in
Mysore, I have not found it anywhere as plentiful
as is the garganey teal in the latter province.

The garganey or blue-winged teal (Querquedula
circia) is a migratory species which is widely
distributed. It visits the Mysore country, and the
south of India generally, in large flocks, and, like
the common teal, than which it is just a shade
larger, is an excellent bird to eat.

The whistling teal (Dendrocygna Javanica) is
common in most parts of India. It is fond of trees,
as its scientific name implies. It is not worth eating.

The cotton teal (Nettopus coromandelinus) is
found nearly all over India. It is in reality a
very tiny goose, and, curiously enough, it perches

394

DUCK AND TEAL SHOOTING

and roosts in trees — frequently nesting in holes in
the latter. It is much smaller than the common
teal, and is, in my opinion, a good bird on the table.
Many other species of ducks, teal, and pochards are
found in the empire, and a big bag of web-footed
fowl often contains a great variety.

DUCK AND TEAL SHOOTING

Except in a desultory way, I did not go in
much for duck shooting, the (to me) far superior
attractions of the curly-flighted long-bill inclining
me to devote my spare time in the cold weather
to the latter rather than to the former. I shot
duck and teal when I came across them, and even
on occasion have gone out specially to shoot these
birds, but have thus exclusively devoted com-
paratively little time to the web-footed fowl.

Where duck and teal are found frequenting a
large tank fringed with high reeds, if several guns
go out together, taking up positions amongst the
latter at a considerable distance apart, while a
native, going on the tank in a boat, keeps the birds
on the move, a large bag may often be made.
A collapsible Berthon or other folding boat is a
very useful adjunct in duck shooting.

Personally I prefer No. 5 shot for duck, though
many sportsmen use a larger size. It is advisable
to have as many pellets as is consistent with
sufficient penetration in the charge, on account of
the greater chance of striking a vital spot, and
everyone who has shot duck knows what a number

395

BULLET AND SHOT

of winged birds are lost. No. 5 shot will kill
at a considerable distance, and a charge of it
contains, of course, more pellets than does the same
weight of larger shot. If a strong wind should
be blowing across the large tank, the lee shore
should be searched after all the shooting is over,
and as late as possible before leaving the ground,
as duck often carry on after being mortally
wounded, die in the water, and are drifted by the
wind to the shore.

I will give a brief account of my best day at
this class of sport. I was alone in camp at Hunsur,
and, being lame from a temporary injury to one
foot, was unable to utilise a holiday in pursuit of
my favourite small game, viz., snipe. About nine
miles from Hunsur lay a chain of small tanks, on
which, when snipe shooting, I had seen a number
of teal, and these, when disturbed on the lower
tanks, flew up, I observed, to a very small one
which was the uppermost in the chain. I arranged,
therefore, to send natives with muzzle-loading guns
and powder, one to each of the lower tanks, with
instructions not to permit the teal to remain upon
them, but to keep them moving. With a tennis
shoe on my wounded foot, I rode some nine miles
to the small tank at the head of the chain, under
the embankment of which stood, in a convenient
position, a splendid, shady tamarind tree. I took
the precaution of posting two natives, at some
distance apart, on the grassy sward beyond the
tank, and not too close to the latter. These men
had orders to remain where they were unless and

396

DUCK AND TEAL SHOOTING

until they should see my head appear above the
embankment, when they were to close in to the
edge of the tank, and so put up any teal which
might have settled upon the latter out of shot
from my post.

The whole plan worked admirably, and I had
lots of shooting up till lunch time, after which my
chances were few, the birds having been driven
by the firing to more distant tanks, where they
could rest undisturbed. From my post by the
tamarind tree, I bagged that day forty-four teal
and one duck. The teal were all of the garganey
or blue-winged species, with the exception of a
single Q. crecca.

I once had a day with the late Mr. U., of the
19th P.W.O. Hussars (recently, alas! killed in
action) on a very large tank in the Chitaldroog
district of Mysore, which, though the bag of duck
was small, dwells in my memory as a very enjoy-
able one. The tank was so extensive that a
number of guns would have been required in order
to do justice to it ; whereas U. and I, with the
assistance of Mrs. U., who remained on the
embankment and kept firing shots from a 28-bore,
had to do the best we could in the reeds by
the margin. Wild geese and flamingoes were on
the tank, but these, rising high in the air, departed
at the commencement of operations. We had no
boat, and when the duck and teal sought safety
in the centre of the huge sheet of water, I fired
bullets from my express rifle to stir them up. Up
to lunch time, we shot round the tank, and after-

397

BULLET AND SHOT

wards went to look for snipe. Our bag for the
day was eighteen ducks and teal (one of the latter
being shot by the lady) and twenty-two and a half
•couple of snipe.

Sportsmen should not permit natives to swim
out into tanks which are full of weeds, in order
to recover fallen birds, since many men have lost
their lives through being entangled in the dense
growth.

398

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE FORESTS, PLAINS, AND HILLS OF MYSORE,

THEIR DENIZENS, AND THE FAVOURITE

HAUNTS OF THE LATTER

THE province of Mysore, which is under
native rule, is an elevated table-land, varying
in altitude for the most part from 2,500 to 3,000 feet,
its lowest point being 1,800 feet above sea-level. It
comprises an area of almost exactly 2,700 square
miles. Its chief town, Bangalore, which is a large
military cantonment, lies within ten or eleven hours'
journey by rail from Madras, and stands at an
elevation of 3,000 feet.

There is, as compared with the plains of other
parts of India, practically no heat to complain of
in this climatically favoured province ; and though,
of course, in March, April, and May the tempera-
ture is high for Mysore, the fact that, even at this
season, punkahs are required nowhere but in dining-
rooms, speaks for itself. English light summer
tweeds form, even in the hottest weather, the
apparel of the European male sex in Bangalore.

The rainfall of the province is but moderate,
averaging only some forty inches in the open
•country, though on the hill ranges and in the large

399

BULLET AND SHOT

forests, twice that amount, and in some places much
more than twice, is often registered as the year's
supply.

Mysore is rich in magnificent forests, which offer
to the lover of big-game shooting a splendid field
for sport in its most interesting and exciting forms,,
and under pleasant conditions as regards tempera-
ture.

It is easily reached by rail from any part of India,,
and the haunts of large game are at quite con-
venient distances from the railway lines.

The large military cantonment of Bangalore is.
but eighty-seven miles distant by rail from the
native capital — Mysore — which gives its name both
to the district in which it is situated, and also to the
whole province.

How long those forests will continue to hold out
attractions to the sportsman remains to be seen ; but
since gun licences are being issued broadcast, and
the cost of one is so small, that any native, however
poor, can obtain a permit, while people belonging
to meat-eating castes are very numerous in Mysore,
the game is doomed ; though some time must
necessarily elapse before it will become so rare as.
to be no longer worth the trouble of seeking.

One has only to read old sporting books, and
even so comparatively recent a one as Mr. Sander-
son's, and to know the forests as they are at this
day, to fully appreciate the terrible rate at which
game has decreased, and is ever decreasing, in
Mysore.

According to the forest rules in force there, no-

400

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

one may enter a State forest for any purpose what-
soever except that of shooting. Thus, any idle,
loafing vagabond, who dislikes work, can, by shoot-
ing, say, even two or three hinds or does in a
month (he probably shoots a good many more),
and by selling the meat, earn far more money than
he could do by honest labour. When once game
has been so diminished in quantity as to render this
province a barren field for sport, the stream of
rupees from outside, now annually flowing into the
country from sportsmen who visit it for shooting,
will necessarily be diverted to other parts.

From a sportsman's point of view, the forests of
Mysore may be conveniently classified as (i) State
deciduous, (2) District deciduous, (3) Fuel, and
(4) Evergreen.

THE FORESTS OF THE MYSORE DISTRICT

The forests of the Mysore district belonging to
class I form a continuous belt along the Malabar
frontier. They are the forests of Metikuppe,
Karkenkotta, Begur, Ainurmarigudi, Berrambadie
and Bandipur, which last, however, is situated
partly on the frontier of the Nilgiri district. The
first of these, viz., the Metikuppe forest, is about
forty-six miles distant from the town of Mysore,
i.e., some ten miles beyond the travellers' bungalow
of Antesunte, which is thirty-six miles from the
capital, on the high - road to the western coast.
To shoot this forest, a tent should be pitched at
Bissalwaddie, and if during the hot and dry weather,
2 D 401

BULLET AND SHOT

a cask of good water, mounted on a cart, should
accompany the camp. Twelve and a half miles
along the road beyond Antesunte, is the Karken-
kotta travellers' bungalow, in the forest of that
name. Within a few hundred yards of the high-
road flows the Cubbany river, in which mahseer
run to an enormous size, though they are very
"dour" to take, and, except by means of night-
lines, I have heard of no one having any real
success therein, with the single exception of Mr.
M., whose narrow escape from death at the horn
of a bison has been narrated when describing sport
with that animal. He had a coracle brought from
a long distance, and, fishing from it, secured some
magnificent mahseer, up to, if memory serves me
truly, sixty-two pounds in weight.

Beyond the Cubbany river lies the Begur forest,
and to reach it from the Karkenkotta side, the river
must be crossed. This can be done by means of
a raft at a place called Nissen, only about a mile
from the Government road, the cart-track to it
diverging from the latter nearly half-way between
Antesunte and Karkenkotta. Carts must be taken
over unloaded, and the cart bullocks be either made
to swim, or taken over separately on the raft ; the
loads must also be similarly conveyed, and the carts
reloaded on the other side, so that the operation is
one which occupies a good deal of time. There
used to be a forest lodge at Nissen, and probably it
is still in existence.

After leaving the Government road between Ante-
sunte and Karkenkotta, the Begur, Ainurmarigudi,

402

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

and part of the Berrambadie forests must be
traversed ere another Government road be en-
countered, viz., that from Mysore to Manan toddy,
which passes through the Berrambadie forest, in
which, close to the road, there is (or was) a forest
lodge called Moluhollay. There are, however,
cart-tracks through the forests, though after heavy
rain it is advisable not to overload the carts, and,
further, to have in reserve two or three loose
pairs of buffaloes, to render assistance in case of
need.

Bandipur forest marches with Berrambadie, but
to reach the Bandipur travellers' bungalow — forty-
nine miles from Mysore, on the road to the Nilgiris
— from Moluhollay, two sides of a triangle have to
be traversed.

Goondulpet, on the direct road from Mysore to
Bandipur, is about thirteen miles from the latter,
and about twenty-two miles from Moluhollay ; but
thirteen miles from Moluhollay, and nine miles from
Goondulpet, is a travellers' bungalow called Maddur
at which the journey can be broken.

The game animals inhabiting these forests are
elephant, bison, tiger, panther, sambur, bear,
spotted deer, muntjac and four-horned antelope.
Mousedeer also are plentiful, but are rarely seen,
though their tracks are frequently visible.

Since I left the Mysore district in which these
forests are situated, and before the death of the
late Maharajah of Mysore, some portion of this
area was made into a " Maharajah's reserve."
Whether this distinction has since been preserved,

403

BULLET AND SHOT

I know not ; but a timely request, addressed to
the Private Secretary to H.H. the Maharanee
Regent, for permission to shoot in the reserve
(even should it still exist) would probably be
granted.

All the above-mentioned forests, with the single
exception of Begur, which, owing to the great
preponderance of bamboo therein, is good only for
elephants, are excellent ground for the sportsman,
bison being plentiful in them.

Another considerable tract of forest is that
which extends from Atticulpoor, in the Chamraj-
Nagar taluq of the Mysore district, to the Mysore
boundary upon the Billiga-Rungun hills.

Atticulpoor is about forty-five miles from Mysore
on the Coimbatore road. Now that coffee planta-
tions have been opened upon the Billiga-Rungun
hills, the shooting upon the latter is no longer
what it once was, and this tract is also much
poached by native shikarries.

The jungle men inhabiting those hills are called
Sholagas, and though some of them are useful
assistants to the sportsman, they will neither eat
the flesh of a bison, nor even bring in the head
of a slain bull. |

Personally, I much prefer to shoot bison where, I
as in the case of the forests previously mentioned,
the jungle men will prevent any waste of the flesh
by cutting it all up and drying it in strips for future
use, the whole of the carcass beino- thus utilised.

These forests contain timber trees of many
valuable species, chief in value amongst which

404

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

are the teak {Tectona grandis), the honne i^Ptero-
carptis marstipium\ and the blackwood {Dalbergia
latifolia).

The timber is of very mixed character, any one
species never monopolising any portion of forest to
the exclusion of others, though occasionally, and
over limited areas, the bamboo -cane practically
usurps the whole of the ground.

The nature of the forest varies greatly with each
change in site, locality, elevation and soil. In low-
lying, well-watered and sheltered situations, the
mixed timber is very fine, except where deficient
natural drainage or unsuitable soil prevents the
thriving of timber species, in which cases small
trees of no utility take their place.

Bamboo in large clumps is extremely prevalent ;
in some places, as above remarked, forming the
major portion of the jungle ; in others, occurring
mixed with timber trees ; while here and there,
where it is altogether absent, the pleasant
variety of open timber forest affords a wider scope
for vision than can be obtained amongst the dense
cover afforded by the bamboo — particularly in its
younger stages.

In high, exposed portions, little arboreal vegeta-
tion is observable, except in the sheltered hollows;
while in parts, where rock occurs immediately
below the surface of the soil, the growth is
necessarily stunted and poor.

Rivers, streams, and nullahs intersect the forests,
and afford water for their human inhabitants and
for their wild denizens.

405

BULLET AND SHOT

Unless the efforts of the Forest Department to
prevent fire should be successful (they necessarily
are sometimes the reverse, especially in the case of
the large forests on the frontier), the forests take
fire in the hot season, i.e. between February and
the end of April, when the ground is strewn with
the dry leaves of the now leafless trees, and when
the rank growth of grass has dried up to so high
a pitch of desiccation, that a spark falling upon
the ground, if fanned by a light air, will suffice
to set many square miles in a blaze.

The reason why the efforts of the Forest Depart-
ment to ensure fire protection in these forests are
so often but partially successful, lies in the fact that
the forests are inhabited by a jungle tribe whose
services are quite invaluable to the department,
who perform all the work required by the latter,
and who alone can live, or find their way, in these
vast solitudes. The Forest Department can prevent
fires from spreading into its reserves from unpro-
tected forests of its own, or from Her Imperial
Majesty's forests across the frontier ; it can also
isolate the dwellings of the jungle tribes by clear
belts across which fire cannot pass ; but it cannot
prevent fire spreading from sparks dropped from
the torches of these jungle men, and carried by
them as a protection against wild beasts when they
move about after dark, nor from careless dropping
by them, in the daytime, of fire carried for the
purpose of lighting their tobacco which they smoke
from a green leaf twisted into a conical form. It
were the rankest heresy to question the advisability

406

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

of fire protection, and its probable advantage in the
case of arboreal growth in India; but it is a self-
evident fact that fire protection, unless it be
uniformly successful and continuous, becomes more
disastrous in its effects upon a forest into which
fire may have entered after a year or two of
immunity, than its total neglect would have been ;
for, from the comparatively small amount of
inflammable matter which results in a single season,
an annual fire which would have but little effect upon
healthy standing trees would, in the latter case, do
little damage, while in the former, the large accumu-
lation of dry vegetable matter causes a fire of far
more scorching power and destructive effect.

Forest officers were formerly fond of trying to
account for jungle fires, by the theory of their
reputed spontaneous generation, owing to the
friction of dry bamboos. It is hardly necessary,
however, to state that such a theory is entirely
false and untenable ; the only ordinary origin of
fires being Jire itself, and their only possible natural
source being lightning, any spontaneous ignition
due to the latter being, however, rendered most
improbable from the fact that lightning is usually
accompanied by rain in forest tracts.

Occasionally a combination of circumstances
occurs which renders fire protection an easy matter,
or, rather, which of itself prevents fires from
occurring in the forests, viz., when abnormally late
rains in one season are so closely followed by
exceptionally early ones in the following year that
the grass does not entirely dry up. The early

407

BULLET AND SHOT

showers fall in April and May, and immediately, in
any areas which may have been burnt, cause the
springing, from the moistened soil manured by the
ashes of the burnt grass and leaves, of a new
growth of rapidly-rising, succulent grass — a great
blessing for the game after their short commons
during the hot weather. This is, perhaps, the most
unhealthy season in the forests of the low country,
for the light rains serve to stir up, and to liberate,
gases generated by the decay of organic matter,
without being sufficient to also wash them away.

Between the 25th of May and the 15th of June
may be expected the burst of the south-west mon-
soon (when the wind sets in steadily from that
quarter) which is usually ushered in by heavy
rains. These, washing all the deleterious matter
out of the soil, render the jungles healthy and
free from malaria. This is the time for the sports-
man who values his health, and who wishes to
enjoy big-game shooting in these lovely forests
without fear of fever, so long as he acts prudently
and takes due precautions.

The grass now grows rapidly, and by the end
of the following month will, in places, be several
feet in height.

The south-west monsoon continues till about
September or October, when the wind veers round
to the opposite quarter, and the north-east takes
its place. July is generally very wet, August rather
less so, while in September comparatively little
rain falls, and the drying up of the jungles begins.
Now again an unhealthy season commences, and

408

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

the forests, unless heavy and frequent rains should
fall during the north-east monsoon, remain malarious
until the advent of the next south-west monsoon,
or, should fire protection fail, until the burning of
the jungles in the dry weather renders them tem-
porarily salubrious.

The forest revenue obtained from the large
timber reserves consists mainly, of course, of the
proceeds of the sale of timber, chiefly of the three
species named at the commencement of this chapter,
with the addition of matti {Terminalia tomentosa).
There are, however, certain minor items, such as
beeswax and honey from the combs of wild bees,
myrabolams, gum, etc., which contribute their quota
of revenue.

Important, however, as are the Mysore timber
forests, whether regarded from an economic or a
climatic point of view, the lighter belt of small
jungle between them and the cultivated land, pieces
of small jungle in the interior, and the hedges of
the cultivated fields as well, yield a product which
is by far the most considerable item of forest
revenue, and one of which the Mysore plateau
may almost be said to enjoy the monopoly. This
item is sandalwood, which grows freely in the
light scrub jungles of Mysore, and which is of
extremely high value in several European markets
on account of the scented oil contained in its heart-
wood. Sandal {Santalum albuni) is a tree of small
stature, having diminutive, pointed, dark green
leaves, and it grows most freely where it is shaded
and protected by the proximity of other trees or

409

BULLET AND SHOT

of thorns. It is impatient of injury by cattle and
by fire, and, requiring shade while young, grows
well in clumps of thorny bushes. As the essential
oil, upon which its commercial value depends, is
developed only in the heart-wood, the growth of
the tree should not be too rapid, and hence sandal-
wood from dry, stony situations is more valuable
than that grown in moister localities and in richer
soil, although in the latter case the trees grow to
far larger dimensions.

Sandal trees are not felled, but are uprooted, the
roots containing much oil, and being, therefore,
very valuable. The mature trees, after being
uprooted, are divested of most of the valueless
white or sap-wood, and are then carted to the
nearest sandal store (or '* kothi " as it is locally
termed) to undergo the preparation necessary
before sale. In the kothi, the trunk is sawn into
lengths ; the outside portions, consisting of any
still adherent white wood and a little heart-wood,
are removed by adzing, and the lengths, or billets,
are planed, and finally smoothed by the use of
sand-paper. The branches are similarly treated,
and the roots divested of bark and white wood,
their interstices being at the same time freed from
any adherent or contained soil. All the different
products of manufacture are separately stored, the
billets and chips being sorted into various classes,
and a largely attended auction sale is held annually
in each kothi, at which lots of convenient size
(from three to seven, and in the case of chips
many more, tons) of each class are exposed for

410

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

purchase by the public. Sandalwood is used in
India for carving and ornamental purposes, by
Hindoos for marking their foreheads, and for
burning with the dead on the funeral pyre, by
Parsees in fire worship, and for the extraction of
oil as a perfume ; while it is used in European
countries for the extraction from it of a perfectly
pure oil for use medicinally, the samples obtainable
locally being usually very much adulterated.

The beeswax obtained from these forests is
made by three different species of wild bees, but
the only one which yields any considerable quantity
is the large and savage Apis ferox, whose combs
are hung upon branches of forest trees or under
overhanging rocks, and are often of very large
size. A second species — a tiny bee about half the
size of a common house-fly, and devoid of a sting
— nests in hollow trees, and yields a small quantity
of honey of excellent quality ; while a third, rather
larger than the preceding, nests in holes in the
ground.

Myrabolams are yielded by a small tree termed
the gall-nut tree {Terminalia arju?ia), which
produces an exceedingly precarious crop, varying in
marketable value year by year in inverse ratio to
its quantity, and whose value also depends to some
extent upon the size and condition of the nuts
composing it.

A species of plant belonging to the ginger tribe
yields the wild or jungle saffron, which is used in
"cooking and in colouring the skin ; but its marketable
value is now so low as to produce little more than

411

BULLET AND SHOT

enough to recoup the expenses incurred in its
collection and carriage.

Until some twenty-five years ago, the operations
of the Forest Department were confined to the
collection and sale of timber, sandalwood, and
other produce, and to the prevention of smuggling ;
but about that time planting operations were begun,
and are now prosecuted upon a large scale all over
the province.

Teak, honne, and blackwood are easily raised
from seed sown in nurseries, and, if properly
transplanted, bear the operation well ; but sandal
is a very delicate plant, being impatient of trans-
plantation, and requiring shade while young. It is
therefore more advantageous to propagate sandal
by in situ sowings, in suitable localities, on properly
prepared ground.

The propagation of gall-nuts requires special
treatment of the fruit, from which the hard fibrous
husk must be stripped, and the contained hard nut
well soaked in water, before the latter can be sown
with reasonable hopes of satisfactory and speedy
results. If the fruit be sown without such removal
of the outer husk, germination is extremely retarded,
and only an infinitesimally small proportion of the
contained seeds produce plants.

The forests of the Mysore district are singularly
deficient in orchids of conspicuous beauty, though
there are many small, insignificant, epiphytal species,
and one or two larger and more showy terrestial
ones. In Northern Mysore, however, there are a
few showy epiphytal orchids.

412

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

Creepers, pleasing to the eye, are likewise absent,
while those which strangulate trees, and are by no
means objects of beauty, are very common. One
handsome climbing lily, the Gloriosa superba, is,
however, found in light forest tracts, its fantastic
crimson and yellow blossoms often appearing at
a height of six or eight feet above the ground.

On the whole, the forests cannot be considered
rich in floral gems, though there are some flowers
worthy of notice to be found in them. One feature
in the flora of these forests is the great preponder-
ance of species of the natural order Leguminosae.

Butterflies — some of them very large and con-
spicuous— are to be seen in numbers in suitable
localities and under proper conditions ; but, though
they doubtless exist, and would be found if diligently
sought for, showy beetles do not as a rule obtrude
themselves upon the notice of the casual observer,'
though now and then he may come across one
which may seem to him worthy of preservation.

Chief amongst the human inhabitants of the
forests are the Kurrabas — a shy, timid race, living
entirely in the jungles, and subsisting in great part
upon honey, roots, and fruits gathered in the forests
by themselves and at no expense, assisted by grain
and tubers raised by them in clearances made in
the forests, and by the flesh of wild animals secured
by various primitive devices.

The origin of the Kurrabas is shrouded in
mystery. It is impossible to state whether they
are, or are not, an aboriginal tribe. It is probable
that until the creation of the Forest Department

413

BULLET AND SHOT

they knew little about money, and seldom possessed
any ; but the more civilised families amongst those
who work for that department are now keenly alive
to their own interests in this particular, and they
have been so systematically swindled by native
subordinates that their morals have to some extent
been corrupted, and cases of their attempting to
outwit their oppressors by practices the reverse of
straightforward, are not uncommon, even amongst
this simple and naturally well-dispositioned people.

There are, amongst the Kurrabas, two separate
tribes which do not intermarry, and which differ
in the fact that one tribe is rather more civilised
than the other. These tribes are termed respec-
tively the " Bett " (or hill) Kurrabas, and the "Jain"
(or honey) Kurrabas. Of these the former is the
more civilised, and certain families amongst them
have even begun to settle in villages outside the
forests, and to work in the fields as farm labourers.

The ordinary attire of a Kurraba inhabiting the
forests is a strip of dirty cloth round his loins —
a simple dress of most economical character, light
and airy, and affording free play to all the limbs.
The women wear a cloth of larger size, but equally
dirty, and, as they run away and hide, should a
European approach their humble dwellings, it is
not often that they ar6 seen by the sportsman
shooting in the forests which they inhabit.

Kurrabas are very thankful for a blanket, should
one be presented to them, and the most civilised
among them are beginning to take a pride in dress,
and even in dressing their hair neatly — the head-

414

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

dress of a wild uncivilised member of the jungle
fraternity consisting of loose, shaggy locks, well
matted with dirt, and innocent of the comb.

The word " Kurraba " in Canarese sio-nifies a
shepherd, so it seems possible that the jungle tribes
bearing this appellation may originally have been
a race of pastoral origin, but if so, their habits have
been entirely changed by residence in the forests.
Certain it is, that at one time there was a powerful
race of Kurrabas, presided over by a Kurraba king,
but whether the jungle Karrabas are, or are not,
offshoots from that race, is not known.

Kurrabas are usually of small stature and of
miserable physique, with tiny limbs which look as
if their possessors would be unable to either walk
far or to carry any weight. In this respect, how-
ever, appearances are very deceptive. I have
known a little man of this tribe, who was only two
or three inches above five feet in height, walk all
day long, carrying for a great part of the time an
8-bore rifle of fifteen pounds in weight.

I n disposition, Kurrabas are the mildest, gentlest,
and most peaceable people whom I have ever met.
Crime amongst them seems to be almost unknown.
They never go to court, and, in fact, would bear in
silence any injury or oppression rather than visit
the dreaded town with its "busy haunts of men."
If the poor Kurraba be ill-treated and bullied be-
yond endurance by less primitive natives, he pos-
sesses but one remedy, viz., flight, and he seeks no
other.

A Kurraba's notions of the value of money are

4J5

BULLET AND SHOT

very vague ; he is only too happy to obtain all the
advances which he may be able to extract, and such
ready cash enables him to fuddle himself by pur-
chasing and drinking the fermented juice of the
toddy-palm, in which his simple soul delights ; and
until the money so obtained has been exhausted,
not a single day's work will he do. His knowledge
of accounts is so limited, that he falls the easiest of
prey to the wily rogues who visit the forests with
stores of cloth to sell to the simple Kurrabas at ex-
orbitant prices, and happy the scoundrel who can
get the poor jungle men deeply in his debt. Fortu-
nately, however, he is sometimes checked in his
extortionate proceedings by his victims — who have
probably already paid far more than full value for
what they have received — leaving their humble
abodes, and going away to a distant forest, there
to make new homes for themselves, and to escape
from the extortions of their oppressor. The huts
in which the Kurrabas live are of the simplest
possible description. A few poles, some bamboos,
grass, and mud are all the materials required for
their construction ; and as they are very low and
small in size, the abandoning of one settlement,
or "hady," and the formation of one elsewhere,
entail but little labour upon these expert wood-
men.

The State forests of this district consist, generally
speaking, of heavy forest ; while the district and
village forests, between them and the cultivation, are
of lighter growth, becoming sparser and poorer the
further they recede from the State forest line.

416

FORESTS OF MYSORE DISTRICT

There are, however, exceptions in each case to this
general rule.

Though the elephant and bison chiefly frequent
the State forests, still they are often to be found in
many parts of the district forests ; and similarly,
though the proper home of the tiger, spotted deer,
and panther is the lighter belt (which includes the
greater proportion of the district forest area), all
these animals are to be found in parts of the State
forests also.

Of the forests in the Mysore district, Bandipur
always seemed to me to afford the greatest variety
of game. This forest, a portion of Karkenkotta,
near the Cubbany river, and the tract at the foot
of the Billiga-Rungun hills (which last is, moreover,
the best bear country in the district) are the best
localities for spotted deer.

All the State forests of this district, with the
exception of Begur, are excellent bison ground.
I have seen these animals in the Begur forest
too.

Tigers and panthers are to be found in suitable
jungles all over the district, but the best localities
for bagging them in this country, in which it is
difficult to bring them to the guns by beating, are
the lightly-forested areas near Hunsur, Humpapur,
Heggadavancotta, Maddur and Atticulpore. One
very likely spot is Naganipur, to which, from the
Mysore - Bandipur road at Begur (twenty-seven
miles from Mysore), a road branches off at right
angles. This Begur is a good place for antelope
shooting, and is nowhere near the forest bearing

2 E 417

BULLET AND SHOT

the same name. In the Naganipur jungles, tigers
as well as panthers are to be found, and I have had
sport there with both.

THE FORESTS OF THE KADUR DISTRICT

The Kadur district is reached by rail from
Bangalore, whence a journey of about ten hours
takes the traveller to the town of Kadur. From
this, the district headquarters — Chickmaglur — is
twenty-five miles distant, but if the traveller's
destination be the large bison forests, he should
not get out at Kadur, but go on by rail to Birur
a few miles further down the line.

The Kadur district, in its western extremity,
includes a portion of the Western Ghauts (a high
hill range), in which bison abound, and where they
can be stalked when out grazing on the grassy
opens which alternate with the densely jungled
sholahs. In this part, and also in some other
portions of the district, evergreen forests are found.
Before attempting an expedition upon the Ghauts,
however, the sportsman should make the acquaint-
ance and engage the good-will of some of the
planters in this district — a very fine set of hospit-
able, manly, good fellows — without whose kindly
aid he could do little or nothing there, and who,
he must remember, have to live in the country, and
are dependent for sport upon the game in the
vicinity of their estates, in which they therefore
possess a vested interest.

The principal low-country forests of this district

418

FORESTS OF KADUR DISTRICT

are Lakwallie, twenty-two miles from Birur railway
station, — where there is a travellers' bungalow
outside the forest, and a forest lodge in the heart
of the latter — Muthodie, beyond Lakwallie, and
Tegurgudda beyond Muthodie. Tigers, as well as
bison and deer, inhabit these forests, but the first
are not easily met with.

Lakwallie is a very large forest, the State
reserved portion of which covers an area of forty-
seven square miles. These three forests are all
very thick, but bison abound in them, as also in the
horse-shoe at the foot of, and formed by, the Baba
Booden hills. Bison are no longer to be found
on the grassy slopes on these hills, as they once
were (Colonel Pollock mentions having seen them
there in 1870), but are numerous in the forested
area at their base. The Lakwallie teak plantations
often hold a tiger (I shot two in them upon
different occasions when beating for deer, or for
anything that might chance to appear), and spotted
deer and sambur are numerous therein, as also in
many parts of the forest.

I believe that only two elephants remain in this
and the adjoining district of Shimoga. There
used to be a considerable herd frequenting im-
partially these two districts, but they became very
troublesome to the roots and destructive to crops,
and permission was therefore given to the late
Major P., of the 21st Hussars (now Lancers), to
shoot some of the largest, which he accordingly
did. The balance of the herd, with the exception
of the above-mentioned two animals, was subse-

419

BULLET AND SHOT

quently captured in a kheddah in the Shimoga
district.

Another good locahty for spotted deer and
chinkara, is Yemmaydodie kaval one march from
Kadur ; and, as there is a Public Works Depart-
ment's bungalow on the ground, no tent need be
taken. Spotted deer are also numerous between
Sacrapatam, on the Kadur-Chickmaglur road, and
Santaweri, on the road from Chickmaglur across
the Baba Booden hills, as also in the vicinity of the
lyenkerray tank. Chinkara and antelope occur
between Kadur and Chickmaglur, and I have shot
the latter while staying at the Kadur bungalow,
though one usually has to ride some miles out from
thence in order to find them. There are often
tigers in the district forests near Tarikere, on the
road between Kadur and Shimoga.

THE FORESTS OF THE BANGALORE DISTRICT

The forests in this district consist for the most
part of scrub jungles, and tracts in which the
arboreal growth is more suitable for fuel than for
any higher purpose, with the single exception of
Kankanhully which is a timber forest. Bamboo
is prevalent in parts, and a feature of the district
is the great number of rocky hills, rising abruptly
from the plain, and clothed with thorny jungle
wherever there is any soil to support the latter.

Bangalore is not a good district for shooting, but
a tiger has very occasionally been shot at Closepet,
on the line of rail between Bangalore and Mysore,

420

FORESTS OF CHITALDROOG DISTRICT

(I have myself seen one near Bidadi, the next
station in the Bangalore direction), and there are
panthers at both of these places as well as in many-
other parts of the district.

I have also shot a tiger near Magadi, only some
thirty miles as the crow flies from Bangalore ; and
in the Savandroog forest, round the base of the
high rocky hill of that name, there is always a
chance of bagging one, though the jungle is so
continuous, that it is extremely difficult to locate
a tiger and to get him driven towards the guns.
I tried upon two occasions to bag panthers at
Bidadi by beating, but though upon each attempt
one of the animals was seen, no one obtained a
shot at it.

There are bears in parts of this district, but
game animals generally, even deer, are so scarce
therein, that it would not be worth a visitor's while
to waste time there, since good shooting grounds
lie within such easy reach.

CHITALDROOG DISTRICT

Although, as I have said elsewhere under
"Antelope," it would be worth the while of no
one who intended to visit the north, to shoot
antelope in Mysore, yet in the case of a sportsman
who might be unable to go north, and who could
not spare the time to go to either the Bellary or
the Guzerat districts, but who might wish to bag
a few black buck heads, a visit to this part, where
the heads are certainly larger than I have seen

421

BULLET AND SHOT

them anywhere else in the Mysore Province, would
be worth paying.

There is much antelope and chikara ground in
the Chitaldroog district, which consists largely of
open plains, and which is on the line of rail from
Bangalore to Bombay — the antelope being found
quite near to the railway line, as well as in the
interior.

My best bag of antelope — viz., twenty-four black
buck, together with one buck chikara and two
bustard — was made in seventeen days' actual
shooting in this district, in the vicinity of Hosdroog.

THE FORESTS OF THE SHIMOGA DISTRICT

Shimoga, the headquarters of the district of the
same name, lies on the high-road, only twenty-four
miles from Tarikere, in that of Kadur. This
district contains the best localities for tigers in the
Mysore province, but bison are found in only two
of its State forests, viz., Sacrebail, which is nine,
and Shanker, which is seventeen miles, respectively
from Shimoga. Tigers are found in both of these
forests, as well as in Gangavansara twenty-three
miles, Kardibetta the same distance, Kukuvada-
Ubrani twenty-two miles, Kunchinballi eight miles,
Kumsi eighteen miles, Malandur thirty-four miles,
Nasrur twenty miles, Puradhal eight miles, and
Umblibail and Humsi Kutti ten miles respectively
from the district headquarters.

For working Gangavansara, Kardibetta and
Kunchinpalli, tents are required, but for all the

422

FORESTS OF HASSAN DISTRICT

other forests, owing to the proximity of travellers'
bungalows and inspection lodges, they need not be
carried unless a party should go together, in which
case the accommodation afforded by the buildings
might be insufficient. It is, however, always con-
venient to take one or two tents in case of
necessity.

Deer, etc., are to be found in all the above, as
well as in a number of the other forests of this
large district.

THE FORESTS OF THE HASSAN DISTRICT

About three miles from the railway station of
Arsikere, the State forest of Hirikalgudda com-
mences. There are three forest lodges on the
demarcation line which measures twenty-one miles
round, and tents may also be pitched on a table-land
in the centre of the forest. This forest contains
tigers, bears, panthers, deer, etc.

The same animals are also to be found in a long
range of forest some twenty miles in length, and
from two to five miles in breadth, of which the
State forest of Seegadagudda forms one portion,
the remainder consisting of district forest and
Amrut Mehal kavals (i.e. grazing grounds for the
Government cattle department's use). Tents are
required to work this tract which commences about
fifteen miles from Hassan.

In the Ghaut forests of the Munzerabad taluq,
which borders upon the Imperial district of South
Canara, the same game animals, with the addition

423

BULLET AND SHOT

of bison, are to be found, and to work these, tents
should be taken. Here, again, no move should be
made without the friendly aid of one or more of
the planters having been promised to the visitor.
In parts of the Hassan district, antelope inhabit the
open plains.

The principal small game of the Mysore province
are snipe, jungle-fowl, spur- fowl, bustard, the lesser
floriken, partridges, sand-grouse, quail, wild geese,
ducks, and teal of various species, also hares.

I append a few Canarese words and phrases
which are likely to be of service to a sportsman
who is ignorant of that language, and who may
wish to shoot in Mysore or Canara. The Canarese
equivalents for the English words are written as
phonetically as possible, no attempt being made to
adhere to the Canarese spelling.

NAMES OF LARGE GAME ANIMALS

English.
Antelope

Bear
Bison
„ bull
„ cow
Elephant .
„ Tusker
Four-horned
Antelope

Canarese.
I Jinki and Hoolay-
I kerra.

Kurradee.

Kartee.

Kworna.

Yemmay.

Arnay.

Kombin-arnay.

[Kardcoorie.

English.
Hyaena
Muntjac
Panther

Pig (wild)
Sambur
Spotted
deer
Tiger

Canarese.
Cut-keerba.
Kard-coorie.
Keerba, Ibba,

Mutt-naie.
Kard-hundee.
Kurrowvee.

Sargar, Marnoo.
Hooly, Dod-naie.

424

CANARESE WORDS

NAMES

OF MISCELLANEOUS ANIMALS

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese

Buffalo

Kworna.

Domestic sheep .

Coorie.

Dog

Naie.

Hare

MoUa.

Wild dog .

Kard-naie.

Young one of all

Domestic cattle

Dana.

animals .

Murree.

Domestic bull

Guli.

Male of ditto

Gundoo.

Domestic goat

Ardoo.

Female of ditto .

Hennoo.

A FEW COMMON NOUNS

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarkse.

Arm

Toloo.

Fish

Meenoo.

Back

Bennoo.

Flesh

Marmsa.

Bag

Cheela.

Foot

Pada.

Bamboo .

Bidaroo.

Footprint .

Ajjie.

Bird

Hukki.

Ford

Kadavoo.

Blood

Ruttar.

Forest

Kardoo, Pareest

Brain

Medooloo.

Fowl

Kolee.

Bread

Roti.

Fruit

Phala, Khaie.

Bullet

Goondoo.

Fruit (ripe)

Hunnoo.

Butter

Benne.

Hand

Kye.

Camp

Mukkarmoo.

Head

Tollay.

Cart

Bandi.

Heart

Hardaya.

Cartridge .

Tota.

Hill

Betta, Gudda.

Cholera .

Sunniroga.

Horn

Komboo.

>>

Vantibhadi.

House

Munnie.

Darkness .

Kuttarle.

Jungle

Kardoo.

Day

Deevasa.

Knee

Monakarloo.

Ear

Kivi.

Ladder

Yaynee.

Eye

Kunnoo.

Leg

Karloo.

Fault

Tuppa.

Lie

Poie.

Ferry

Kadavoo.

Light

Belakoo.

}>

Tari.

Man

Arloo.

Fever

Jowra.

Mangoe .

Arm.

Few

Swelpoo.

Medicine .

Owshada.

Finger

Beraloo or Bettoo.

Mile

KuUoo (literally

Fire

Benky.

stone).

425

BULLET AND SHOT

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

Milk

Harloo.

Spot (on

Money

Hunna.

animal)

Mutt.

Moon

Candra.

Stick

Komboo.

Morning .

Beilige.

Stone

Kulloo.

»>

Wottare.

Sun

Suriya.

Mouth

Byee

Tank

Kerray.

News

Vurtamarna.

Tent

Dehra, goodara.

Night

Rart.

Throat

Guntloo.

Nose

Mugoo.

Tongue

Narlige.

Order

Appane.

Tooth

Halloo.

>j

Hookoomoo.

Town

Ooroo.

Peacock .

Nowlo.

Tree

Morrer.

Plain

Beiloo.

Truth

Neeja.

Potato

Aloogudde.

Tusk

Komboo.

Rain

Mollay.

Village

Grama.

River

HoUay, Nuddy.

Water

Neeroo.

Road

Marga.

Wind

Gharli.

Rock

Kulloo.

Wound

Ghyar.

Rupee

Rupaiye.

Salt

Oopoo.

Note,—

-To form the plural

Shot

Cara.

add the affix "galu" to the

Sickness .

Roga.

singular noun.

Snake

Ow.

PRESENT IMPERATIVES OF A FEW VERBS

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

Be careful

Jagrate iroo.

Cut .

Kutarisoo.

Be silent .

Suramane iroo.

Do not

Baydar.

Bring (a

Eat .

Teenoo.

person) .

Kurrukondoo,

Feed

Sakoo.

bar.

Find

Kanoo, Sikkoo

Bring (a

Follow

Himbasiloo.

thing) .

Tegadadu

Give

Kodoo.

Kondoo, bar.

Go .

Hogo.

Call .

Kurree.

Hold

Hidee.

Come

Baroo, bar.

Inquire

Vicarisoo.

Cut .

Koyyoo.

Lift .

Yettoo.

426

CANARESE WORDS

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

Make

Mardoo.

See .

Nordoo.

Must (in

Shoot

Ese

(combi-

Shout

Koogoo.

nation) .

Baykoo.

Speak

Martardoo.

Put .

Harkoo.

>>

Hayloo.

Remain

Take

Tegge.

(or stay)

Iroo.

Throw

Bisardoo, Ogee

Remember

Nenapoo mardoo.

Tie .

Cuttoo.

Run

Ode hogo.

Wait

Kayu.

EXAMPLES OF A FEW OTHER

TENSES

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

Has become Aietoo.

Has hit .

Bidto.

Has come

Buntoo.

Has

Has died .

Settoo hoietoo.

missed .

Tuppaietoo or

Has gone

Bidit ilia.

to sleep

Is .

Oontoo.

(or lain

[too.

May be .

Irabhodoo.

down) .

Nintaietoo or Nin-

A FEW ADJECTIVES

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese

Bad.

. Kettoo or

Long

Oodda.

Kettadoo.

Many

Rumboo.

Black

. Koppoo.

Much

Bhalar.

Blue

. Neela.

Near

Huttra.

Brown

. Kandoo.

>>

Huttrakke.

Cold

. Tannagada.

Red

Kempoo.

Deep

. Ala.

Shallow .

Uttana.

Far .

. Doura.

5>

Alavillada.

Good

. Wollay or

White .

Billi.

WoUaydoo.

Yellow

Arasina.

Green

. Hasaroo.

High

. Ettara, Unnata.

Adverbs

derived frorr

Hot

. Bissey.

jectives generally bear the

Large

. Dodd, Doddadoo.

"Arge," e.g

., Badly = Ket

ad-

427

BULLET AND SHOT

PERSONAL

PRONOUNS

English

t. Canarese.

English.

Canarese

I

. Narnoo.

It

Adoo.

Thou

. Neenoo.

We .

Nava.

You

. Neevoo.

They

Avaroo.

He

. Avanoo.

They

She

. Avaloo.

(neuter).

Avoo.

SOME MISCELLANEOUS WORDS

English

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

About

. Sumaroo.

Near .

Bali.

After

. Turuvaya.

No or not .

Illar.

From

. Add "inda" to

Now .

Ippo.

name of place, e.g.,

Outside

Horage.

Mysore-inda = from

There .

Ulligee.

Mysore, except where

Till .

Tanaka.

euphony requires

Under .

Kellagee.

"dinda," e.g., Cham-

Upon .

Mayley.

raj-nagardinda = from

Where .

Yayley.

Chamrajnagar.

Why .

Yartikke.

Here

Illigee.

Yes .

Howdoo.

How

. Hyarge.

Yesterday

Ninne.

A FEW PHRASES SHOWING FORMS OF
COMBINATIONS OF WORDS

English.
The bullet has hit .
The bullet has missed

The tiger is asleep, or is lying down

The elephant is dead

Bring water ....

The bison is a big bull

How far is Mysore ? .

It may be about ten miles

428

Canarese.
Goondoo bid-to.
Goondoo Tuppaietoo,

or Bidditilla.
Hooli nintoo, or

Nintaietoo.
Arnay settu hoietoo.
Neeroo tegadukondoo

bar.
Kartee dodd kworna

oontoo.
Mysooroo yestoo doura?
Sumaroo hutt kulloo

irabhodoo.

CANARESE WORDS

CARDINAL NUMBERS

English.

Canarese.

English.

Canarese.

One

Wondoo.

Twenty-two Ipput-yerradoo.

Two

Yerradoo.

Twenty-

Three

Mooroo.

three,

Ipput-Moorow.

Four

Nalkoo.

etc., etc.

Five

Eidoo.

Twenty-

Six .

Aroo.

nine

Ipputtumbuttoo.

Seven

Yayloo.

Thirty

Mowatoo.

Eight

Yentoo.

Forty

Nalvattoo.

Nine

Wombuttoo.

Fifty

Eivattoo.

Ten.

Huttoo.

Sixty

Aravattoo.

Eleven

Hunnondoo.

Seventy

Yeppattoo.

Twelve

Huddinyerradoo.

Eighty

Yembbattoo.

Thirteen .

Huddimooroo.

Ninety

Tombbattoo.

Fourteen .

Huddinalkoo.

One

Fifteen .

Huddineidoo.

hundrec

[ Nooroo.

Sixteen

Huddinaroo.

One thou

-

Seventeen .

Huddinyayloo.

sand

. Savira,

Eighteen .

Huddinyentoo.

NOTE.-

-To form ordinal

Nineteen .

Huttumbuttoo.

numbers,

substitute *'ane" in

Twenty

Ipputtoo.

place of

"oo" as an affix to

Twenty-

the cardinal, e.g., First =

one

Ipput-wondoo.

Wondane.

429

CHAPTER XXV.

HINTS ON CAMP EQUIPMENT, SERVANTS,
TRAVELLING IN INDIA, etc.

TENTS

ALTHOUGH I have elsewhere indicated my
IX. own preference in the matter of tents,
individual views and tastes are so diverse, that,
before setting himself up with these indispensable
articles, I would recommend a sportsman to write
to the Elgin Mills Company, Cawnpore, for their
illustrated catalogue, and from it he can then make
his selection. He must do this with special regard
to the country to be worked, and the means of
transport therein available.

CAMP FURNITURE

Camp furniture should be obtained in India, and,
to save the expense of carriage by rail over a long
distance, had better be purchased at the nearest
large town to the starting-point. Native servants
are very careless, and to avoid subsequent breakage
during marches, the furniture, though it must,
if intended for use in hilly country, be light, ought
also to be strong. All should of course be capable

430

THE CAMP MEDICINE-CHEST

of folding irlto a small space, and excellent folding
tables, chairs and cots, from which the sportsman
can select whatever kinds he may prefer, are made
in the country.

THE CAMP MEDICINE-CHEST AND HOW TO USE IT

This should contain whatever laxative may prove
most satisfactory in the case of the individual
sportsman (I personally pin my faith to compound
liquorice powder, in doses of one large teaspoonful
each) and some strong purgative (such as pills
containing a little croton oil) for use when neces-
sary by the servants. Too great attention cannot
possibly be paid in India to the interior economy
of the body, more particularly in feverish localities.
Castor oil is an excellent and safe purgative, but
I am personally unable to take it owing to the
nausea which it causes.

In case of incurring fever, quinine, Java Hari,
and Warburg s tincture are most useful, also
phenacitine (or antipyrin) as a sudorific. A fever
patient should be put at once to bed, well covered
with bed-clothes, and encouraged to drink freely
in order to induce perspiration. Ten-grain doses
of antipyrin will accelerate this result. As soon as
the temperature of the body has fallen (as shown
by the clinical thermometer which should find
a place in the chest), quinine may be administered
in ten-grain doses thrice daily, but must, in the
absence of skilled medical advice, never be given
while fever is actually raging. After profuse

431

BULLET AND SHOT

perspiration, great care must be taken to prevent
the patient from incurring a chill.

The native patent medicine named " Java Hari "
can be safely taken while fever is on, and I have
often used it, with apparently useful results, in the
case of native servants. Warburg's tincture has
often proved very valuable in cases of obstinate
continued fever which would not yield to other
remedies, and is taken during its continuance.
I used to carry this medicine, but happily never
had occasion to use it.

I generally, in the case of natives, began the
treatment of that horrible disease, dysentery, with
a dose of castor oil, followed, after this had
thoroughly acted, by chlorodyne. The best treat-
ment of this ailment, however — in addition to the
avoidance of all solid food (except a little toast
or bread), which must in every case be insisted
upon, the diet being confined to milk, cold beef-tea,
cold soup, etc. — lies in large doses of ipecacuaiiha^
and perfect rest. ' The patient should lie down
as much as possible, and any semblance of a
draught must be carefully avoided. The sports-
man can take with him powders or capsules which
his doctor will prescribe, containing as much
ipecacuanha as may be thought advisable in his
case, and in the deplorable event of his incurring
this troublesome and dangerous complaint, he
should take them according to the directions given
him by the medical man ; and, when well enough
to travel, should leave the jungles, and seek the
nearest place where he can obtain medical

432

THE CAMP MEDICINE-CHEST

attendance. I always carried with me in camp
a small bottle of pure carbolic acid, in case of
being mauled by an animal, and though I never
had occasion to use it in my own case, I was, by
having her wounds well syringed with a two per
cent, solution of this drug, enabled to save the life
of a favourite dog which had been horribly mauled
by a panther. I recommend every sportsman
who is in pursuit of dangerous game, to carry a
bottle of this, and a syringe wherewith to inject
a two per cent, solution of it to the full extent
of the wounds, should one of the party unfortu-
nately meet with an accident.

In case of toothache arising from a hollow tooth,
I know no better remedy than a drop or two of the
purest carbolic acid on a tiny piece of cotton-wool
inserted in the hollow. A pad of cotton-wool
should be placed inside the cheek on the same
side, and the patient should stand with his mouth
open, allowing the saliva to run freely to avoid
any burning of the mouth or tongue by the acid.

In case of diarrhoea, it is advisable in the first
instance to ascertain its cause. It may be due to
some internal irritant, in which case castor oil
should be administered ; or to a chill, when thirty
drops of chlorodyne in a wineglassful of brandy
and water is a good remedy, which can, if necessary,
be repeated a few hours later.

For external use, in case of injuries other than

those caused by wild animals, homocea- is a valuable

remedy, as is sulphate of zinc ointment in the case

of cuts. Ellimans embrocation, of the strength

2 F 433

BULLET AND SHOT

recommended for use upon horses and catde, is
valuable in the cases of rheumatism and of bruises.
In the case of ulcers, carbolic acid is useful. For
colds, I am a great believer in quinine, taken, as
soon as the malady is detected, thrice daily. It is
usually unnecessary in India to carry any solvent
for quinine, as the juice of one of the limes so
largely used in native cookery will dissolve it.
Eucalyptus oil, taken internally on sugar, is also
good for colds, and I have derived much relief at
home recently, in the case of heavy head colds, by
the use of menthol snuff combined with doses of
quinine taken thrice daily.

Some lint, cotton-wool, two or three bandages,
and a pair of scissors will complete the necessary
list of contents of the medicine-chest which need
be carried by a healthy man, though, should any
sportsman be liable to suffer from an ailment which
requires special remedies, the latter should of course
be taken in addition to those named above.

In case of sunstroke, the patient should be
undressed, and a cold water douche, from a height
of three or four feet, applied to the head, neck,
chest, and all over the body. Two grains of
calomel may be thrown on the back of the tongue,
and, after consciousness has returned, five grains of
antipyrin may be administered. An attack of
sunstroke appears to predispose the patient to
further seizures of the same malady, so that
exposure to the sun should be avoided after anyone
has once suffered from this complaint. The tabloid
is the most convenient form in which the majority

434

CAMP SERVANTS

of medicines which should find a place in the camp
medicine-chest can be carried and administered.
Messrs. Burroughs, Wellcome & Co., Snow Hill
Buildings, London, E.C., make up convenient
tabloid chests of sizes to suit the requirements of
all classes from the cyclist to the explorer.

CAMP SERVANTS

In engaging servants for a shooting trip, the
sportsman should be careful to select only those who
have been well accustomed to travelling, and it is,
of course, a great advantage should he be able to
secure any who have previously travelled in the
locality in which he intends to shoot. Directly it is
known in the bazaar that servants are required by
him, a number of them, each bearing a lot of
certificates, will appear and offer themselves for
employment. Regarding these certificates, a word
or two of caution is necessary for the enlightenment
of the newly-arrived European in India. Not only
does a "sahib," who has found a servant most
unsatisfactory, in the softness of his heart at the
moment of parting with the " boy," not infrequently
present him with a written character far better than
he deserves, but very often the characters produced
for the sportsman's inspection do not refer to the
bearer thereof, but to some other servant from
whom their bearer has bought, hired, or borrowed
them, simply adopting the same name as that men-
tioned therein. Then, again, fictitious characters
are written (for a consideration) for servants by

435

BULLET AND SHOT

loafing rascals who would commit any villainy for a
fee. All these tricks make it very difficult to dis-
tinofuish between the false and the true, and a
personal recommendation from any previous
employer (or an intimate friend of the latter) is
worth a whole sheaf of the often very dirty scrip.

It must be borne in mind, in enoraoring- servants
for camp work, that it by no means follows that a
really excellent headquarters " boy " will be at all
a shining light in camp. Having had myself, ever
since my marriage in 1885, to keep two sets of
servants when in India, I have had considerable
experience of the way in which good camp boys
often fail when tried in headquarters, and also
conversely. In the case of cooks — in my opinion
the most important of Indian servants — this charac-
teristic is curiously accentuated. It is very easy
to comprehend why a good station cook, capable
of preparing a dinner of which his master need not
be ashamed, if taken out to camp with but few
appliances wherewith to work, should fail to give
satisfaction ; but it is less facile of comprehension
why a really good camp cook, if employed at a
pinch when his master is in headquarters, with a
good cook-room and all the necessary utensils and
materials, should be unable to do even as well as he
can, with but a very limited amount of the latter,
when in camp, and yet I have in practice found
this to be the case, and much of the sportsman's
comfort will depend upon his securing a really
good specimen of the genus cook, species camp-
understanding.

436

CAMP SERVANTS

The servants of the north greatly differ from
those employed in the south of India.

In the north, the majority of domestic servants
are Mahomedans, and, personally, I prefer these,
as being men possessed of far more self-respect
than members of the class from which the
servants of the south are drawn. Moreover, any
Mahomedans who are strict disciples of the
Prophet are strict teetotallers, whereas drink is a
terrible curse amongst the servant class in the
south of India.

In the south, the majority of the domestic
servants are pariahs, or outcasts, the representa-
tives of which class in the villages have quarters
in a separate part thereof, are not permitted to
mix with the inhabitants possessed of that wonder-
ful Indian fetish, caste, and who are horribly
foul in their manner of life, not even scrupling
to eat domestic cattle which have died natural
deaths, or have succumbed to disease. A primi-
tive pariah will even move right out of the way,
should he meet a Brahmin, for fear of his very
shadow falling upon and polluting so holy a being.

It is not to be wondered at, in so very con-
servative a country as India, that the servant
class, though for many generations they have
been domestic servants, and far too well fed to
hanker after diseased flesh (in the case of a large
number, moreover, rejoicing in the profession of
some form of Christianity), should, with such
traditions, be less self-respecting, and therefore
less reliable, than are Mahomedans ; and when

437

BULLET AND SHOT

the influence of the demon drink, from the sale
of which the Government derives so great a
revenue, is superadded, it will be seen at a glance
that the pariah, or native Christian servant of the
south, can scarcely be expected to be so trustworthy
as is the Mohamedan of the north.

Excellent servants are to be found in Madras,
as also in other large towns in the south ; but
such can usually obtain congenial and well-paid
employment in those towns, and are generally, even
if found when temporarily disengaged, unwilling
to risk their health in, or to undergo the privations
and (to them) monotony of camp life.

The first demand which a servant will make on
being engaged will be an advance of half a month's
wages. In every case the sportsman must insist
upon retaining, as some small security therefor,
the chits, or written characters, which the boy will
have presented for his perusal, the same to be
carefully kept and returned to the latter when
his services are dispensed with.

As stated elsewhere, a suit of warm clothes and
a blanket, and in wet weather a cheap waterproof
coat and turban cover also, should be given to
each servant before he leaves headquarters for the
jungles, or hills, as the case may be.

The only domestic servants which a single sports-
man in the south need take into camp with him
are, a head boy, or " butler," and a cook. As,
however, servants are terribly liable to suffer from
fever, etc., when in the jungles, the head boy must
also be a capable cook, and It will add to the

438

CAMP SERVANTS

master's comfort, if he should take as well a third
servant who is able also to cook a little in case
of need. For each horse or pony which he may
take out, he will require a syce (or groom) and
a grass-cutter (usually the wife or female friend
of the syce), except in localities wherein grass
can be purchased in camp, in which case I should
recommend that the grass-cutter be dispensed with.

A Mahomedan, if procurable, or, failing him, a
native of some sort who is thoroughly versed in
the pitching, packing, and drying of tents, should
accompany the camp, and in places in which the
sportsman travels by bullock-coach, he can be
occupied during marches in driving the latter.

If two or three sportsmen should be out together,
one personal servant apiece, with a cook and an
under servant, in addition to the horses' attendants,
will be ample for comfort. In the latter case, one
of the personal servants must be entrusted with
the general care of the camp arrangements and
of the table, and the others be clearly made to
understand that they are to obey him.

The usual wages of the different classes of
servants in Southern India, while in headquarters,
are appended, the rupee being calculated as
equivalent to one shilling and fourpence. It
must be remembered, however, that all servants
expect a special allowance to cover the additional
cost to which living apart from their families (if
they possess such), and in some cases the higher
price of provisions in out-of-the-way places, may
entail upon them. This used to cost me, in

439

BULLET AND SHOT

the case of upper domestic servants, about two-
pence a day, and in that of lower ones and of
syces, one penny per diem in addition to their
monthly pay.

Rupees per mensem

Butler in headquarters

14 to 16

Head matey „

12

Under matey „

10

Cook „

14 to 16

Syce

7

Grass-cutter „

4

Tent lascar „

8

When two or more sportsmen go out together,
one member of the party should undertake sole
responsibility for the commissariat. If this be
not done, and a constant check thus imposed
upon pilfering and waste, not only will it often
be found that supplies ample for a month will
disappear in less than half that period, but, if
the head boy be entrusted with the catering, he
will wait until he has entirely, or almost entirely,
run out of some essential item, before informing
his master that more of it is required.

For the carriage of sugar, rice, ghee (clarified
butter, used in lieu of lard in cookery), curry
powder, flour, salt, pepper, mustard, etc., I re-
commend strong wooden boxes fitted with tin
canisters, unless in the case of ghee, salt, pepper,
etc., for which strong glass jars may be used. A
strong wooden box lined with tin should also
contain potatoes and onions. All such boxes should
be fitted with padlocks and keys of not too common

440

CAMP SERVANTS

a design (the Yale padlocks are excellent), and if
the member of the party who has charge of the
stores should call up the cook every morning
directly after breakfast, give the latter the keys,
and tell him to take out all his requirements for
the day in his presence, he will find that the few
minutes thus spent will be very well paid in
economy in use of the articles.

The keys should never be given to the servant
for use unless in his master's presence, and after
the former has taken what he requires, the latter
should see the boxes locked up again, and resume
possession of the keys.

All wines and spirits must be kept carefully
locked up, and when a bottle of either has been
opened, it should be secured with a "bottle-lock,"
which can be bought at any of the large shops
in the country. This will prevent not only theft
of the liquor and the possible temporary incapacity
of the boy, but also the addition to the former of
water (frequently dirty) with the object of concealing
the peculation.

In travelling in India, it is not only unfeeling
towards the servants to expect them to make long
marches, in a broiling sun, along hot roads, but
also bad policy from the standpoint of their master's
own comfort, such being very liable to cause illness
in the case of people of generally very poor
physique. Care should therefore be exercised to
see that carts enough are provided for the carriage,
not only of the camp requisites, but also of the
servants, who, however, take up very little room,

441

BULLET AND SHOT

and can squat for hours together in a position
which would soon become agony to a European.
A native servant, in the south, who does not
drink, is a great treasure, and when once secured
should be retained as long as possible, much being,
if necessary, forgiven him in consideration of so
valuable a trait.

TRAVELLING TO AND IN INDIA

Should a sportsman from England wish to visit
Bengal, or the north of India, he will probably
prefer to go by one of the Peninsular and Oriental
S.S. Company's vessels from Marseilles or Brindisi
to Bombay, and to travel thence by rail to the
nearest point at which the latter approaches his
destination. He can, however, should he prefer to
do so, go the whole way to Calcutta by sea, and
commence his rail journey there.

If, however, his destination be the south of
India, and if he should be so unfortunately con-
stituted as to be liable to sea-sickness (from which
I personally suffer whenever there is the least
excuse for so doing), an expeditious route, with a
minimum of sea, is the following. Sending his
heavy luggage to the agents at Liverpool a week
or ten days before one of the steamers of the
Bibby Line is timed to leave that port, and
ascertaining on which day the vessel will reach
Marseilles, he can join her there, and thus avoid
about a week of sea, including the oftentimes
turbulent Bay of Biscay. The steamers of that

442

TRAVELLING TO AND IN INDIA

line are fine, large, well-appointed ships, with all
arrangements for the comfort of passengers. A
journey of seventeen clays' duration will take him
to Colombo (the capital of the island of Ceylon),
whence one night's journey by sea, in one of the
British India steamers which ply between that port
and Tuticorin, will put him down at the latter
whence he can travel by rail.

In railway travelling in India, it is practically
necessary to travel first class. Even this will not
secure the traveller from the intrusion of a possibly
scantily -clad native, whose manners and customs
may be the reverse of agreeable to the former.
It is high time that the railway companies should
provide separate first-class accommodation for
Europeans and for natives, and permit none of the
latter, except such as may have adopted English
costume, to enter the carriages reserved for
Europeans.

Before starting on a railway journey in the
plains of India, the traveller should ascertain
whether ice is carried on the train for supply to
the passengers, as, if not, he will find a box of it,
taken with him, a great comfort, and he should
not omit to also take some soda-water and a
tumbler. Having reached the termination of his
journey by rail, the sportsman's means of transport
thence will depend entirely upon the means avail-
able in the locality, which he will have to ascertain.

As is elsewhere stated, in Mysore and other
parts of the south, a comfortable bullock- coach
for his own conveyance can be hired either for

443

BULLET AND SHOT

a single journey, or at a monthly rate if retained ;
while carts drawn by bullocks will convey his
baggage and servants, one of whom, however,
should travel on the box of his master's coach
with the driver. If the sportsman has taken with
him a horse or a pony, or has arranged to hire
one in the nearest large town to the area to be
worked, he can, if he should choose so to do, dis-
pense with the bullock-coach, though the latter
is a great comfort in wet weather, and also a
convenience when travelling by night. Personally
I can sleep splendidly while travelling by bullock-
coach.

Before starting on his journey from the nearest
railway station, the sportsman should ascertain
what travellers' bungalows, and at what distances
apart, lie along the roads which have to be
traversed by him en route to his shooting grounds ;
and also, in the case of each, what necessaries in
the way of furniture, etc., are provided, as
bungalows are by no means uniformly provided
with necessary kit. Thus, should cooking utensils
and crockery be not provided in all of those in
which he proposes to halt, the traveller must take
sufficient of them, and of supplies for the journey,
with him in the coach ; or, should he be riding,
then in one of the carts. In the latter case, it
is better to have the small stock of necessaries
which he will require before he reaches his destina-
tion and pitches his camp, packed separately in one
or two boxes, to avoid as much as possible unpack-
ing and repacking while travelling.

444

TRAVELLING TO AND IN INDIA

All rifle- and gun-cases should be strong, and
capable of standing, without risk of breakage, the
wear and tear of cart travelling, and possible care-
less packing and handling.

In travelling, the sportsman should personally
superintend the loading of his carts, to prevent
ponderous articles being placed upon light and
fragile packages.

445

CHAPTER XXVL

RIFLES AND GUNS, AMMUNITION AND
ACCESSORIES

T would be invidious, where so many firms of
gunmakers are capable of turning out first-
rate weapons, to select any of them for particular
mention ; but, especially where weapons for use
upon big game are concerned, a few words of
-caution and advice to the beginner may usefully
introduce this chapter.

In the first place, the sportsman who may wish
to shoot large game will do well, so far as his
pocket will admit, to purchase only the very best
weapons. By the " very best " is meant, not
necessarily the most expensive, but those whose
accuracy, power, and mechanism leave nothing to
be desired. They may be of quite plain finish,
but they must fit the intending user, be suitable
for use upon the game which he is likely to en-
counter, shoot as straight as any weapons of the
same bore can be made to do, and their locks,
fittings, and actions should be of the very best
types.

Cheap double rifles for large game cannot be
relied upon, and few men who value their lives

446

RIFLES AND GUNS

in the case of dangerous game, or who want to
make the best use of their opportunities in the
case of other animals, would care to trust to single
barrels.

The process of laying together a pair of barrels,
so that both will shoot accurately from the same
sight, is a laborious and expensive operation ; while
the skilled, and therefore highly-paid, labour which
must be employed in securing that extreme nicety
of fitting of the different parts — a sine qua non in
securing absolute smoothness and uniformity in
working, perfect balance, and longevity — precludes
the possibility of any gunmakers being able to turn
out the very best class of weapon at even a com-
paratively cheap price.

None of the leading firms, whose reputation
amongst sportsmen is known all over the world,
will allow a weapon which has not been thoroughly
proved to leave their establishments ; so that in
buying from one of the leaders of the profession
the purchaser can be sure of obtaining a really
reliable rifle. With regard to rifles burning nitro
powders, it would be most dangerous to purchase
from any but the very best makers.

In the case of guns for small-game shooting, the
sportsman will find that, to a great extent, the same
principles apply ; and although numbers of even
country gunmakers can turn out good-shooting,
good-looking, and reliable guns, at prices, too, to
suit the respective pockets of their various cus-
tomers, a great difference will be apparent between
the cheaper and the more highly priced weapons

447

BULLET AND SHOT

of the same firm. Without entering into the
question of how the former are affected by use,
only contrast the difference in the degree of
pleasure which is afforded the owner of a well-
built, well-fitting, accurately-balanced, and neatly-
finished gun, who has for the nonce been compelled
to take out for the day, say, a so-called ** keeper's
gun " in place of his own, even although the
stranger may fit him well, and both weapons be
equally effective and deadly when held straight.
The sportsman will, in the matter of guns, probably
" cut his coat according to his cloth," and buy the
best which he may be able to afford. Personally,
I prefer the hammerless ejector, but have not yet
tried the single trigger.

If practicable, both rifles and guns should be
made to order, and, in the case of the latter, the
purchaser will do well to be fitted by actual practice
at a shooting school with the adjustable " try-
gun," to the merits of which, in securing a perfect
fit, numbers of sportsmen (myself included) can
testify.

ACTIONS FOR RIFLES AND BALL GUNS

For all weapons burning large charges of powder,
there is no better action than that known as the
double-grip lever, which, in efficiency and power,
leaves nothing to be desired.

Provided that the Indian sportsman intends
taking an ample battery, with, say, a couple of spare
weapons in case of accident or loss, or even with-

448

EXTRA PARTS

out the latter in the event of his thoroughly under-
standing the mechanism of the hammerless system,
and being able to take the locks to pieces and
to re-adjust them, there is no reason why his rifles
should not be built upon that principle which
possesses many advantages over the hammer type.
A sportsman, however, who is obliged to limit his
battery to two or three weapons, will, in the
absence of such special knowledge (which com-
paratively few possess) do well to order the simpler
system, which is less liable to be affected by sand,
rust, etc., as well as far easier to take to pieces and
re-adjust, than is the hammerless.

THE ANTI-RECOIL HEEL PAD

This is a useful adjunct to all weapons burning
heavy charges of powder. When I was upon one
occasion knocked right over by the simultaneous
discharge of both barrels of my 4-bore, the cart-
ridges being loaded with ten drams of powder, and
bullets weighing 3|- oz. each, the rubber pad pre-
vented the slightest inconvenience to my shoulder.

EXTRA PARTS

Spare mainsprings, tumbler pins, and foresights,
etc., with the necessary strong tools fit for the
practical work of taking weapons to pieces and
putting them together again, should be taken, and
the sportsman before starting on his trip should
learn how to use the tools with facility and
efficiency.

2 G 449

BULLET AND SHOT

RIFLE STOCKS

As a rule the stock of a rifle should be rather
more bent than is the stock of a gun used by the
same sportsman, the tendency of the latter in using
a rifle being to shoot too high. Moreover, if a
straight stock be used on a rifle carrying a heavy
charge, the cheek is liable to suffer. Most sports-
men prefer a pistol grip on their rifle stocks, and
this certainly affords a firmer hold.

HAMMER STOPS

Never allow stops to be fitted to any hammer
rifle which is intended for use upon dangerous
game, though for rifles meant for deer-stalking
they are recommended.

SLINGS

It is only in the case of severe climbing, in the
course of which the sportsman may require both
his hands free, or in riding, that he will ever need
to sling his rifle on his back. The loops for
attachment of the sling should be made flat, thus
obviating the rattling of rings or swivels.

RIFLE-CASES, ETC.

A convenient form of rifle-case is the " Shikari,"
made of strong sole leather ; but to prevent any
tampering with the contained weapon by inquisitive

450

RIFLE SIGHTS

natives, each case should be fitted with a padlock
and key. As long as transport by bullock carts
is available, strong cases of the ordinary make are
preferable.

Every weapon should be fitted with barrel-rods
covered with baize or flannel, and loose flannel
bags for barrels and stocks are also useful.

For the barrels and external metal parts of
rifles and guns, the best lubricant is vaseline ;
while for their locks and works, the purest and most
refined Rangoon oil alone should be used.

RIFLE SIGHTS

In the matter of rifle sights, each individual
sportsman of any experience has his own prefer-
ences, but for the benefit of the tyro a few remarks
upon this subject may not be out of place.

It is obvious that a deep V backsight, however
suitable for target shooting, would be quite out
of place upon a sporting rifle which will be used
at running as well as at standing animals ; and
even in the case of " bull's-eye shooting," many
of the best shots elect to take aim over a plain
bar in preference to even a broad shallow V, which,
with a small central nick and a fine line down from
the latter, is by far the best pattern of backsight
for sporting rifles.

The foresight should be a small, fine, platinum
bead, unless, indeed, ivory be preferred. If re-
quired, a folding sight for use after dark can be
added, and elevated when needed. Any of the

BULLET AND SHOT

leading firms can, if desired, fit any rifle with a
telescopic sight, whereby great accuracy of shoot-
ing can be secured ; but the difficulty of taking aim
at running animals with such a sight is a serious
objection to its use. Moreover, in the case of
rifles firing heavy charges, this sight is not recom-
mended.

A common fault in rifles is over-sighting. Con-
sidering that when still-hunting in the forests, as
also when tiger, panther, bears or deer are driven
out by beaters, very close shots are obtained, there
is no advantage in the standing backsight of an
express rifle being regulated to shoot at more than
lOO yards. The majority of animals are killed
at much shorter ranges, and for hill stalking and
antelope shooting, when longer shots may have
to be taken, two folding flaps for use at long ranges
may be added. By target practice, the sportsman
will soon learn how much difference in elevation
is caused by taking the foresight fine, or the re-
verse, and he must always be on his guard against
shooting over, since the tendency in shooting game
with a rifle is to shoot too high. A standing back-
sight regulated for lOO yards will afford a better
chance in firing at moving objects than one which
is set for 150 or more yards, since the common
error of shooting too high is accentuated in the
case of running shots, owing to the difficulty of
taking a sufficiently fine foresight. In firing from
a hard, rigid rest, such as a rock or a log, it is
necessary, in order to prevent the barrels from
flying up at the shot, to interpolate some soft

452

EXPRESS RIFLES

substance, e.g., a cap, or a large pocket-handkerchief
well bunched up, between the barrels and the rest.

EXPRESS RIFLES

These, in spite of the recent introduction of the
•303 and "256 sporting rifles, are still the weapons
in most general use, by the majority of sportsmen
who enjoy frequent opportunities of large-game
shooting, upon the lighter and softer-bodied class
of game animals ; while the largest of these
excellent weapons, viz., the '577, is, with suitable
bullets, very deadly when employed against even
the ponderous section of Indian and African ferai.

The principle of the express proper is the
enormous velocity imparted to a light, and more
or less hollow bullet, driven by a very large charge
of powder, causing the projectile on entering an
animal's body (i) either to break up altogether,
and thus to act like an explosive shell ; (2) to
break up partially, while the large solid base and
a portion of the adherent anterior part of the
bullet carries on ; or (3) to open out in a mush-
room-like form, and thus present a cutting surface
equivalent to that of a bullet of much larger
calibre. All these three results may be attained
by the use of different bullets from the same rifle,
and although in the case of each pattern the
results attained will be less accentuated the greater
the range at which the shot has been fired, and
are moreover liable to variation when large bones
are struck, their relative effects may be relied upon

453

BULLET AND SHOT

when enterine the vitals of an animal of the softer-
bodied class at the same range. Expresses are
generally made of '360, '400, -450, -500, and -577
calibres. Given the same charge of powder and
the same range, the larger and longer the hollow
in the front of the express bullet, and the lighter
therefore the latter becomes, the more the thinness
of its walls facilitates its breaking up at ordinary
ranges, or almost pulverisation if fired into an
animal at very close quarters.

The above three results are the legitimate work
of the express rifle with its proper bullets, though
the weapon may be instantly converted into a hard-
hitting small bore by the substitution of solid
bullets, though this last is but a casual and
secondary — albeit often extremely valuable — ser-
vice which it is capable of rendering when
desired.

In addition to its power, and the shock to the
nervous system of an animal struck by its peculiar
bullet, the express rifle possesses the further advan-
tage of a comparatively flat trajectory owing to the
great velocity of its light projectile driven by a
large charge of powder. As has been said above,
bullets of different weights may be used out of the
same rifle, but as the latter will have been tested
and sighted for but one of these, a slight increase
of elevation will, in the case of long shots, have
to be given when a heavier bullet is employed, and
a finer sight be taken when a slightly lighter pro-
jectile is used.

The weight of Eley's papered hollow tube '500

454

THE PARADOX GUN

express bullet is only 340, whereas that of the
long, canelured bullet is 440 grains ; if, therefore,
it be desired to use in a '500 express rifle, tested
with and sighted for the heavier projectile, a bullet
weighing 100 grains less, the charge of powder
must be reduced.

It is dangerous to trust to the 340 grain '500
express bullet in tiger shooting, owing to the
great risk of the bullet breaking up on impact
before it has reached the vitals. Many tigers,
however, have been killed with that bullet, which
is all that can be desired for use upon antelope
and small deer, while for tigers and large deer
(e.g. sambur) the 440 grain bullet is infinitely more
effective.

For Indian antelope shooting, the "360 express
in the hands of a good shot is, with bullets con-
taining only a short hollow plugged with wood,
quite sufficient ; though some sportsmen prefer
the "400 or even the "450, which latter, of course
with suitable bullets, is also effective in tiger
shooting.

The "577 is, with suitable bullets, a most reliable
weapon for use upon tigers and bison, and if loaded
with solid bullets, it forms a serviceable second gun
when the sportsman is in pursuit of elephants.

THE PARADOX GUN

This splendid weapon is the invention of Colonel
Fosbery, v.c. Weighing, in the case of a 12-bore,
but 7 lbs. or 7^ lbs., the Paradox shoots a heavy

455

BULLET AND SHOT

conical ball with extreme accuracy up to loo yards
or more, while when used with shot, it is as effective
as is a good shot gun. Its lightness, handiness and
power render it a most valuable weapon for tiger or
bear shooting, as also for use upon deer in forested
areas, and for running shots up to lOO yards or so,
it is to be preferred to any rifle.

Paradox guns are now made of i6, 12, 10 and
8 bores, but the 12-bore is the one in most general
use.

The Paradox is rifled only at the muzzle, friction,
and consequently recoil, being thus minimised.

ORDINARY BALL GUNS

Ball guns of 8 and 4 bores are very useful for
elephant and bison shooting in thick forests, and,
at the short ranges at which they are used, are
quite sufficiently accurate. Smooth bores are much
lighter than rifles of the same calibres, and a
further advantage in the case of the former in
close-quarter work upon ponderous animals, is
the tremendous energy of the bullet owing to
absence of friction. A 4-bore bullet striking an
elephant's head rarely fails to floor him, whether
the animal be brained or not.

Care must be taken in using guns or rifles of
these calibres to invariably fire the left barrel
first, as otherwise both barrels are apt to go off
together, which, however, never happens when the
trigger of the left barrel is first pulled.

456

RIFLES BURNING NITRO POWDERS

RIFLES BURNING NITRO POWDERS

That these are the rifles for long-range shooting,
such as hill stalking, is beyond dispute, the extra-
ordinarily flat trajectory far surpassing all the hopes
of sportsmen previous to their introduction.

There can be little doubt that the rising genera-
tion will live to see marvellous strides made both
in the application of nitro powders to sporting
rifles, and in the extension and improvement of
the Paradox system of boring. Apart from the
advantage of a small, handy weapon, with a tra-
jectory so flat that accurate judging of distance is
hardly required, combined with immense power,
and (provided suitable bullets be used) tremen-
dously destructive eflect, the mere absence of
smoke is itself a great boon. In thick, heavy
forest, on a still day, the smoke from black
powder often hangs so heavily as to obscure the
animal fired at, as well as the intervening space,
and this might cost the sportsman his life when
attempting to kill, or at any rate to stop, a wounded
animal of the dangerous class in the act of charg-
ing. Many an animal, which has not seen the
sportsman at all, has charged the cloud of smoke
by which the position of the enemy has been
betrayed.

So far as the application of nitro powders to
sporting rifles has at present gone experience
proves conclusively: (i) that rifles made for large
charges of such explosives must be much more
heavily and powerfully built than weapons of the

457

BULLET AND SHOT

same bores constructed for use with black powder ;
and (2) that only the cartridges specially loaded for
them by the makers, and with which the weapons
were tested, ought to be fired in them.

Whereas a given charge of black powder can,
with very slight variation, be depended upon
to give certain specified results, what might, and
doubtless would by the majority of sportsmen, be
regarded as very trivial differences in loading,
will, in the case of nitros, exhibit very seriously
diverse effects. For instance, the same charge of
cordite, in a rifle of say ■450-bore, will give very
different velocities and elevations, and gravely wide
diversities in strain on action, breech-end and
barrels, according to whether the cartridge-case
carries (i) a cap constructed for cordite 5 (2) a
rather too powerful cap ; or (3) the ordinary
cap. Further, the amount of air-space left between
the powder and the base of the bullet governs,
to a great extent, the combustion, and the amount
of pressure which is exerted on the barrels. In
addition to these factors, we find variations in
cordite according to the degree of heat to which
it is subjected, as well as to the amount of moisture
which it contains.

All the above considerations should deter sports-
men from trying any experiments with cordite or
kindred powders, from attempting to load their
own cartridges with such, and even from purchas-
ing loaded cartridges from anyone except the
makers of their own rifles.

Taking the larger bores first, rifles burning

458

THE -303 SPORTING RIFLE

cordite and rifleite are now being made of '400,
•450, '500, and '577 bores, but of two very different
types. For instance, the more powerful pattern, of
say •450-bore, made to shoot a large charge of
cordite, say 50 grains or more, and a heavy bullet
with a velocity of 1,900 or 2,000 feet, the stress or
strain of which charge is far more severe than that
caused by five drams of black powder, has for
safety's sake to be made much stronger, and there-
fore much heavier, than a rifle made for black
powder. The lighter type, on the other hand, is
built to shoot a charge of cordite powder large
enough to give only the same velocity and strain as
result from a charge of four drams of black powder.
Now the strain in the case of the larger charge of
cordite is from 50 to 100 per cent, higher than that
of the comparatively small charge of the same, and
one trembles to think what might happen, should a
cartridge loaded for use in the heavier weapon be
fired by mistake in a rifle of the lighter type. Yet
this might very easily occur in the case of a powder
taking up so little room in the cartridge-case as does
cordite. The safest plan would be for the gunmaker
to stamp the outside of every cartridge with the
weight of the contained charge.

THE "303 SPORTING RIFLE

The author has had no opportunity of trying the
•303 at game, but he was delighted with a double
rifle of this bore by Messrs. Holland and Holland,

459

BULLET AND SHOT

Limited, which he used at the running deer in the
N.R.A. meeting of 1898.

Many other sportsmen have, however, used this
charming little weapon on many kinds of game,
and they appear to be unable to say too much
in its praise. The following letter from that mighty
hunter, Mr. F. C. Selous, shows his opinion of the
rifle, and of Messrs. Holland's peg bullet used
therein.

" BULUWAYO,

"August lytk, 1895.

" Dear Mr. Holland, — I have now shot with the little
•303 rifle you made for me the following animals :

3 Sable antelope bulls. I i Great crested bustard.

I Sable antelope cow.

3 Black wildebeest.

4 Bontebocks.

2 Sassaby antelopes.
I Leichtenstein hartebeest
bull.

3 Blesbucks. 3 Reedbucks.

3 Springbucks. I 3 Steinbucks.

2 Vaal rhebucks. ! 2 Duikers.

I Roan antelope bull. i Crocodile,

1 Leopard. j i Jackal.

2 Koodoo bulls. I I Rock rabbit.

" Briefly, I have found it a most deadly little weapon, and
am more than satisfied with it. I killed every animal I
hit, with one exception — a wart hog, whose hind leg I
broke with a running shot. This animal I should also
have got, but I had first (after wounding it) to go some
distance after my horse, and then lost the pig's spoor.

" The hollow bullets are excellent, but I like your patent
Peg Bullets even better. I killed the roan antelope bull
with a shot in the chest at 300 yards. The bullet did not
hit any bones (but the chest bones) but it dropped him on
the spot and he died almost immediately, as the bullet

460

THE -303 SPORTING RIFLE

had passed through his heart. The crocodile I ^Iso killed
dead with a Peg Bullet behind the shoulder. These bullets
not only expand and make a very severe wound in large
heavy animals, but they also expand very well in small
beasts, such as jackals and rock rabbits.
" Please send me 500 more.

" Believe me,

" Yours very truly,
(Signed) " F. C. Selous.

"P.S. — You can make any use you like of this letter, as
it is a simple statement of facts, which speak for them-
selves. I have no trouble in cleaning the rifle."

Major David Bruce, a.m.s., in the Field of
May 8th, 1897, gives his experiences in Africa
with a Holland '303, which are extremely favour-
able. Although, as he most reasonably and justly
remarks, he would not take the same liberties with
dangerous game when armed only with so small
a rifle as when he had in hand a "577, the Major
on one occasion killed a buffalo cow with a single
Holland's special bullet from the '303.

Many other sportsmen have testified to the ad-
mirable work done by this most powerful, accurate,
and handy little weapon, whose flat trajectory,
moreover, renders it extremely valuable for long
shots.

Although I should consider no battery, for use
in India or Africa, complete which did not include
a double "303, I would counsel the tyro not to
allow his admiration for the weapon to induce him
to use it upon large or dangerous animals which
are ordinarily killed by much larger rifles.

461

BULLET AND SHOT

It is true that many big beasts have been killed
with the '303, but experiments in this direction are
better avoided, both on the score of cruelty to the
animals, and upon that of danger to the sportsman.
The '303 in its proper and legitimate use will be
found all that can be desired, but it is unreasonable
to expect it to do the proper work of a bone-crusher
of large bore.

With the object of meeting the views of some
sportsmen who desire a weapon of the same type,
but more powerful than the '303, Messrs, Holland
and Holland have lately built a rifle of '375 bore,
the velocity of which is the same as that of the
former.

THE '256 SPORTING RIFLE

I have never had the opportunity of trying the
'256 sporting rifle, regarding which the opinions of
sportsmen who have used it are conflicting, some
deeming it an excellent weapon for use upon deer,
etc., while others do not believe in it.

CARTRIDGES

All cartridge cases, even 8- and 4-bores, should
be made of solid brass. It is a good plan to have
those of small bores soldered up in tin packets each
holding twenty-five, and those of the larger calibres
in similar packets of ten cartridges each, the
number of the bore being stamped on the outside.
An ample supply should be taken, and no attempt

462

BULLETS

be made to reload even brass cases with black
powder, the risk of a miss-fire rendering such pro-
cedure very bad economy. Then again reloaded
brass cases are apt to stick in the chambers owing
to their having expanded when fired, and though
this drawback can be coped with by trying all the
reloaded cartridges in the rifle before use, the other
and more serious danger, viz., the possibility of a
miss-fire, remains, and is sufficient to more than
counterbalance the saving in cartridge cases which
reloading would effect.

For use out shooting, and to prevent the dinting
of brass cartridges, carriers, made on the principle
of the magazine, and the belt elsewhere described
in this book, will be found useful, and can readily
be made to order.

BULLETS

A few words on the subject of bullets may be
of some service to the beginner.

So many, and so diverse in effect, are those on
the market from which he must make his choice,
that the embarras de richesses may well render his
selection a matter of some difificulty.

The classes of bullets which a sportsman will
select for his battery will, to some extent at least,
depend upon the composition of the latter. A
man who cannot afford a number of weapons may
be compelled, as a makeshift, to make one weapon
do the work of three, and in such case he will
require different bullets for various kinds of game.
To a certain extent, it is easy to guide him, for

463

BULLET AND SHOT

spherical bullets of large bore hardened by the
admixture of one-tenth or one-eighth of quick-
silver (tin also will harden the lead, but it reduces
the weight of the bullet) are the proper pro-
jectiles for use upon all animals of the ponderous
type. But then comes in the powerful '577
express, which, if made to burn 6^ drams of
powder, will propel a large bullet containing but
a small hollow stopped with a wooden plug, or
a solid projectile, with great effect in use upon
animals of the genus Bos.

Personally, I prefer the '577 where bison are met
with in fairly open country, and a regular bone-
crusher — such as an 8- or 4-bore — where the same
animals are encountered at close quarters in very
thick forest.

For use upon the Indian elephant I found the
4-bore with spherical bullets most effective. As
the Indian sportsman fires, at very close quarters,
only at the brain of an elephant, a 4-bore bullet
possesses ample penetration, while the weight of
the projectile, and the large surface simultaneously
struck by it, convey such a shock as rarely fails
to floor an elephant, even though the brain be
missed. This is, in my opinion, the one and only
instance in which the 4-bore with spherical bullets
possesses any advantage over the 8-bore Paradox
gun, the latter being much lighter and handier, and
possessing superior penetration as well as much
greater accuracy than the former. In fact, for use
upon rhinoceros and the African elephant (which
is shot behind the shoulder) the 8-bore Paradox

464

BULLETS

appears, judging by the experience of great
hunters who have tried both, to be far more
effective than are rifles of 8 and 4 bore.

I have never personally tried the Paradox, but
there is no doubt that it is rapidly superseding the
rifle for use upon game which is shot at fairly
close quarters.

Though a solid, hardened bullet, from an express
rifle carried as a spare gun, may be useful at a
pinch, few men of any experience would care to
trust to such weapons for elephant shooting,
though, of course, even the largest animals have
been, and may be with luck, bagged with rifles
of even '450 bore.

The number of the bores of rifles and guns
built for spherical bullets, such as 4, 8, 10, 12, etc.,
means the number of spherical bullets of the given
calibre which theoretically weigh one pound avoir-
dupois. Practically, however, the thickness of the
cartridge case makes it impossible for it to contain
a bullet quite so heavy. For instance, the largest
bullet which I could fire from my 4-bore, which
took paper cases, weighed only 3^ ounces, and
to get that bullet into the case, the mouth of the
latter had to be pared down internally, and so made
very thin. In the case of the small bores, e.g.,
the various express, '303, and other small-bore
rifles, the decimal represents the diameter of the
bullet in the fraction of an inch. Thus a '500 bore
bullet is half an inch in width at the base.

Great care must be taken in casting hardened
bullets, as if too much antimony, tin, or quicksilver
2 H 465

BULLET AND SHOT

be put in, the bullets become brittle, and so lose
penetration when they encounter large bones.

In casting bullets with an admixture of quick-
silver, the latter must not be added till the lead
has been melted, as otherwise it would evaporate.
After the molten lead is ready for the mould, the
mercury should be poured in, mixed well with an
iron rod, and the bullets cast off as rapidly as
possible. Antimony is, however, easier to use,
and is equally effective in hardening lead.

If tin (which is not recommended) be used to
harden bullets, it appears to oxydize more readily
that does lead, and upon re-heating any residue
which may have got cold, it is better to add a little
pure lead in order to avoid the risk of over-
hardened bullets.

BATTERY FOR LARGE GAME SHOOTING IN INDIA

This is a somewhat difficult subject, owing
mainly to the immense variety of game animals
which inhabit the continent of India, but partly
also to the individual preferences of sportsmen, as
well as to the exceedingly variable limits of ex-
pense within which each individual may wish to
confine himself. Then, again, comes in the per-
sonal equation. It is no fair argument that
because A., a first-rate shot and very experienced
sportsman, can kill any given class of game satisfac-
torily with a rifle of comparatively small bore, B.,
who is quite a beginner, ought to be able to do the
same ; and the latter will therefore do well to err

466

BATTERY

upon the side of too much, rather than too little
power. He will soon feel his own way, and as
his ability to place his bullet where he wishes
increases, he may, if he chooses to do so, use
lighter weapons.

Amongst all humane men who deprecate every
moment's unnecessary pain inflicted upon the
game which they may wish to secure, there can
be but one opinion, viz., that the novice, at any
rate, should use more powerful weapons than the
past master, to compensate for his own deficiencies
in the matter of " buck-ague," or over anxiety to
bag. This last impediment to good shooting is,
however, by no means confined to beginners. The
keener a man may be, and the more enjoyment
he may therefore derive from shooting, this element,
though it ordinarily becomes tempered by fruition,
may, if he be of an excitable and nervous dis-
position, affect him in a greater or less degree —
whether he is personally conscious of its existence
or no — throughout the whole of his sporting
career.

Beyond certain limits, it is impossible for any
one weapon to be really effective. Much may be
done with it, however, which would be infinitely
better accomplished with another rifle, and it then
becomes, when used upon game rather too large or
rather too small for it, a more or less unsatisfactory
makeshift. For instance, bison have been killed
with a "500 express, whereas both a powerful "577
and an 8-bore are infinitely superior weapons in
bison shooting. On the other hand, antelope may

467

BULLET AND SHOT

also be killed with the '500, though either a "303 or
a '360 express is a much better weapon in antelope
shooting.

Again, that admirable weapon, the 12-bore Para-
dox gun, would be out of place in hill stalking
when long shots must often be taken, nor, if used
in elephant shooting, would it possess the tremen-
dous knocking-down power of a 4-bore. Of course
a Paradox of larger bore would be too large, too
heavy, and unnecessarily powerful for use on tigers,
bears, and deer, where the 12-bore Paradox is so
effective, but would be a splendid weapon for rhi-
noceros, buffalo, and bison, and quite sufficient for
elephant shooting, though the Indian sportsman of
the present day is unlikely to have many chances of
sport with elephants.

The sportsman must consider what game animals,
he is likely to meet with, and what amount of
money he may wish to spend upon his battery,
and then select the latter accordingly. If expense
be no object, and if he should aspire to make a
bag which shall include all species of Indian game,
a comprehensive and efficient battery would be a
pair of double "303 sporting rifles ; one double
•577 express, taking the long case and 6 J drams,
of powder; one double 12-bore Paradox gun; one
double 8 -bore Paradox gun.

If the sportsman is unwilling to incur the ex-
pense of two "303 rifles he must needs be content
with one. A pair is put down merely as a pre-
caution against disappointment, should anything
happen to the one in use, the above battery con-

468

CLEANING OF SMALL-BORE RIFLES

taining no other rifle suitable for long range hill
shooting at light-bodied game.

NOTE ON THE CLEANING OF SMALL-BORE RIFLES
BURNING NITRO POWDERS

Cleaning is a far less easy operation when cordite,
etc., is used, than when the fouling is due to black
powder. Plenty of friction with the cleaning rod,
supplemented when necessary by the use of hot
water, and the application to the interior of the
barrels after cleaning of a special preparation called
" Nitroclene," are the most satisfactory means of
keeping such rifles in good order. They should
be cleaned as soon as possible after use.

469

CHAPTER XXVII.

HINTS ON SKINNING, AND ON THE PRESERVATION
OF TROPHIES

A LTHOUGH in the body of this work I
Jr\ have given rough-and-ready methods, which
I have personally employed for the treatment of
skins, head-skins, etc., I am indebted to Mr. Butt,
taxidermist, of 49, Wigmore Street, for the following
up-to-date instructions on the subject : —

ON SKINNING MAMMALIA

Directly after the animal has been killed, the
nostrils, throat, and any bullet -wounds should be
plugged with cotton-wool or tow.

To remove the skin, place the animal on its back,
and make a longitudinal incision with the knife
along the centre line of the belly to the lower lip,
which latter must be divided. In performing this
operation, care must be taken that the hair along
the line of incision be carefully divided, and not cut.
Straight cuts through the skin may next be made
along the inside of each leg as far as the claws,
or hoofs, as the case may be. Next turn the skin
back in every direction as far as the incisions made
will admit of this being done, and free the legs

470

THE PRESERVATION OF TROPHIES

from the skin. Continue the longitudinal cut
along the under part of the tail to its tip, and
turning the skin back, strip that organ of it.

Nothing now remains but to remove the skin
from the back and the head. To effect this, place
the carcass on its side, and with the scalpel carefully
separate the skin, drawing it towards the head. In
skinning the head, great care must be taken to
avoid the accidental making of any unnecessary
incisions in or around the eyelids, nose, and lips.
The ears should be cut off as close as possible to
the skull, their cartilages being left in the skin.

The skin is now free from the body, and the
next operation is to turn the ears inside out, and
to remove from them, the nostrils, lips, and feet,
all adherent cartilage and flesh.

Place the skin open on the ground, with hair side
underneath, and carefully remove any flesh or fat
which may adhere to it, scraping it well to remove
all loose particles of underskin, or pelt.

ON PRESERVING THE SKINS OF MAMMALIA

The above operations being thoroughly performed,
take a quantity of powdered alum (which must be
used liberally) and a very small quantity of common
salt, and rub these well into the skin, taking especial
care to do this very thoroughly in the case of the
ears, nostrils, lips, and feet, till the whole has been
completely impregnated.

Allow the skin to lie, with the raw side upper-
most, on the ground for an hour or two, and then

471

BULLET AND SHOT

hang it up on a line or a branch to dry. The
drying should, if possible, be effected in the shade.

If the specimen be not destined for mounting
whole, the skin may be pegged out on the ground
to dry, but the common mistake of unduly stretching
it out of shape, in order to make it appear larger
than it really is, should in every case be avoided.

As soon as the skin is thoroughly dry, it may be
folded with the fur or hair inside, and so packed.
Skins are best packed for sending home in a
wooden box lined with tin, whose cover (of the
same material) should be soldered on to the lining,
thus rendering the case perfectly air-tight.

When it is intended that the animal shall be
mounted whole, the leg -bones must be preserved.
These should be separated from the trunk at the
shoulder -joints and the thighs, and thoroughly
cleansed from all adherent flesh, etc.

In every instance the skull should be preserved.
To effect this, place it in boiling water for five
minutes only in the case of small specimens, and
ten minutes or more in that of larger ones, after
which clean thoroughly, scooping out all the brains.
Care must be taken not to lose any of the teeth.

In packing skulls, each should be separately tied
up in paper, and marked with a number correspond-
ing to that by which the skin belonging to it is
indicated, and packed tightly moreover to avoid
breakage of teeth, etc., through rolling about — a
frequent source of disappointment.

Another excellent method for the preservation
of skins of the mammalia, where it is practicable,

472

THE PRESERVATION OF TROPHIES

is the following, which may be confidently relied on.
After the skin has been thoroughly scraped and
freed from all adherent particles of flesh, etc., place
it entirely in a cask or tub in which a pickle,
consisting of one pound of powdered alum, half
an ounce of saltpetre, and two ounces of common
salt to each gallon of cold water, has been previously
prepared, and well mixed. After the skin has been
soaked therein for two days or so, it may be either
hung up, or pegged out on the ground to dry,
according to whether it is destined for mounting
whole, or for retention merely as a skin.

In all cases, sportsmen should pack and forward
to England as soon as possible any skins and heads
which they may desire to preserve. Not only are
insects very destructive to skins in India, but, in
the hot and dry weather, teeth are very apt to
split, and no process of which I am aware will
prevent this.

In the case of very thick skins, such for instance
as the masks of bison, the only method of preserving
them is to shave the skin down, to about one-third
of its original thickness, before applying preserva-
tives or placing it in pickle, as the case may be.
A good plan is to take a native chuckler (worker
in leather) with the camp, but on no account, in
such case, must he be allowed to work his wicked
will upon the skins in his own primitive way. He
should simply work under the sportsman's own eye,
and be made to obey orders literally and promptly.

When it is intended to preserve the head of a
hornless animal for subsequent mounting separately

473

BULLET AND SHOT

from the skin, no incision through the under part of
the neck and the upper Hp need be made, since
after the severance of the head in its skin, the
latter can be drawn back over the face and
separated without any further cutting.

Mr. Butt regards the use of turpentine as pre-
judicial, and that of arsenical soap as unnecessary.

474

APPENDICES.

THAMIN, AND THEIR QUEST*

Of all the deer family Thamin or brow - antlered deer
(Cervus eldii) are among the most graceful and beau-
tiful, and least generally known of their species. They
are found in Burma — from the Chindwin Valley to
Tenasserim — in Siam and Manipur. On the immense
plains of Lower Burma, which lie between the hills and
the sea, they may be met with in considerable numbers.
They seem to prefer the flat country, especially those
plains where a dense growth of elephant grass occurs ;
this land affording good grazing and capital shelter. The
peculiarity of this grass {Saccharum spontaneum, S.
procereum, etc.) is its immense size, and the remarkable
scarcity of trees amongst it. The grass, called by the
Burmans " kiang," attains a height of eight feet and over,
and possesses thick woody stems. During the dry
weather fires occur, and on these clearings a short
succulent grass springs up when the rains come, affording
good pasture. In the wet season patches of low-lying
ground become swampy which, when the dry weather
comes, retain sufficient moisture for short grasses. These
patches, called " kwins " by the Burmans, are much
favoured by thamin, and it is in these localities the
sportsmen may expect to find them. I have not heard
of their being found in heavy jungle, " though in Upper
Burma they are frequently met with in ' open tree '
jungle, but probably only resorting there for shade and
rest." (Evans.) In appearance a mature thamin stag is
of a dark russet brown, which at a distance appears

• This article, which appeared in the Field of December 31st, 1898,..
is reproduced in extenso by kind permission of the editor and the author.

477

BULLET AND SHOT

blackish. The coat is thick and shaggy, the hair being
especially thick round the neck and down the spine ; on
the under part it is white and thinner. In height he
stands from 10*3 to ir2 hands, and weighs from thirteen
to fifteen stone, and sometimes over. According to
Veterinary-Captain Evans of Rangoon, who has probably
shot more of these animals than anyone else, there are
not two distinct kinds of thamin, as some sportsmen have
assumed, the difference in colour, etc., being probably due
to age, season of the year, and perhaps locality. The
head is graceful, the peculiarity being the great develop-
ment of the brow antlers. The main horns sweep
upwards, outwards, and inwards, and the usual number
of tines are ten, though often more are found. A good
head will measure 36 in. to 40 in. between widest points,
and from tip of brow-antler to tip of main, from 50 in.
to 55 in. The difference between stags found in Upper
and Lower Burma appears to be in colour and sweep
of horns, those of the latter province being wider and
more graceful. The hinds are a bright chestnut colour
with fine hair, the calves being pretty little creatures,
usually spotted white. Thamin are gregarious, and may
often be met with in herds of twenty and over. Though
found on the same ground as hog deer {Axis porcinus)
they do not seem to mix. The best time of the year for
a shoot is during the hot weather, March, April, and
May, the stags not being out of velvet before the end of
February. This means a fairly warm time, as the
thermometer frequently rises to 104°- 106° Fahr. during
the afternoons, but as the heat is of the dry kind, and
nights nearly always deliciously cool, it is not unbear-
able. I think Lower Burma affords better sport for
thamin than any other part of the country, and travelling
is easier.

To make a " bandobast " (expedition) for this particular
sport does not present many difficulties ; and, once in the
locality we have selected to shoot in, the rest is easy. At
fairly frequent intervals, Public Works Department bunga-

478

THAMIN, AND THEIR QUEST

lows are met with. They are lightly-built houses, erected
for the convenience of travelling officials.

Here one may put up for a few days, and make a
change from camp life. As they are usually near a village
where bullocks, carts, men, etc., can be procured, all of
which are indispensable, it is sometimes wiser to make
one's headquarters here than farther away in plain or in
jungle.

In some parts of Upper Burma thamin are shot from
bullock carts — a vehicle, by the way, of the most primitive
form, and eminently calculated to jolt one's heart into
their mouth, being innocent of springs. To this cart
two bullocks are fixed, and leafy branches spread round
the framework. The deer pay but little attention to it,
though its progress is attended with much noise ; but they
are accustomed to see carts frequently, being the one
means of transport the natives here possess. Very often
one can get within range while the stag gazes curiously at
its approach. I shot my first thus ; but I must confess the
method practised in Lower Burma commends itself more
to one's sense of sport and fairness. Here the bullock
cart takes us to the ground, and on sighting a stag,
feeding probably in an open patch, or " kwin," we dismount
and begin to stalk.

Another method is to shoot from an elephant. The
deer do not seem to mind the sight and smell of one, as
they frequently see wild herds on their feeding-grounds
during the rains.

Supposing one has left camp or bungalow about
4.30 a.m., and arrive where we may expect to find
game a couple of hours later, by now the sun is well
up and getting warm. Thamin get very shy and nervous
even at considerable distance after a day or two's shooting,
so it is very desirable not to attract their attention. We
will suppose our stag is feeding in a kwin. Frequently
there is but scanty cover, and after some manoeuvring,
finding out how the wind blows and the best cover to
make for, we begin the stalk through the long grass

479

BULLET AND SHOT

(about one foot high). It usually means a pretty hot
time before one is within range, as deer have the most
aggravating way of moving on and on. How often,
after a grilling time, with a fierce sun beating down
on my head and back, have I got almost near enough
to open fire, dripping with perspiration, and black as a
sweep from the charred and burnt grass, to see some
inquisitive hind come towards me, sniffing suspiciously,,
while her unconscious lord was quietly grazing just out
of range ! At this time of year the ladies appear
especially on the qui vive, and many a hard hour's
work has been quite spoiled by a hind scenting or seeing
me, and giving the alarm. When disturbed they go off
with big bounds, but soon settle down to a running trot,
and strange to say, instead of making for cover, make
for the open, halting now and then to see what caused
the disturbance. On more than one occasion such a halt
has proved fatal, for it gave me an opportunity for a long
and perhaps a steadier shot than when I had just finished
my hot crawl. A wounded stag always makes for cover,
and once in the thick elephant grass it is almost im-
possible to find them. On these shoots one frequently
comes across native fisheries (deep pools of muddy water,
which they stock with small fish for drying), and at these
very good hunting -dogs can be procured, especially in
the Pegu District, where they have a famous breed of
dogs. Sometimes we can recover our stag with their
aid. Another invaluable " tracker " is the vulture, which
abounds when there is anything to eat, though where
they depart to when no carrion is about, is hard to say.
One afternoon I wounded a stag badly, getting a good
shot, after a long stalk, at about one hundred yards. I
knew I had planted my bullet where I wanted to, and saw
he was hard hit ; yet he made a dash for the high grass,
and, before I could get in another shot, had disappeared.
I was shooting with a Lee-Metford "303 and dum-dum
bullets, and was disappointed with the result. I drove
the bullock cart through and through the long grass, but

480

THAMIN, AND THEIR QUEST

could find no trace of him. At last, evening coming
on, and being a long way from camp, I had to give up
the search and turn homewards, much to my regret, for
he carried a fine head, and I was loth to lose it. Near
by was a solitary dead tree, and on the top branch an
evil-looking vulture was perched. My Burman tracker
said he had marked the deer down, and that by-and-by
others would come. Next morning, being on another
part of the ground some distance away, I noticed a
number of birds hovering over one particular spot. We
steered towards it, and, as we drew near, clouds of vultures
rose and settled again. I knew it was either my stag
or a dead buffalo, frequently met with on these grounds ;
but they were so thick on the carcass that not until I
had fired a shot and disturbed them, could I see what
it was. To my delight it was the thamin — what re-
mained ! The bullet had entered in front of the
shoulder, passing through the lungs and out behind the
shoulder on the opposite side. With this terrible wound
he had managed to reach cover and disappear. I found
the lungs ploughed up and quite blooded. The exit
wound was as large as a five-shilling piece, and a
portion blown out of two ribs. I should mention what
little meat remained, my Burman tracker carried off for
drying.

I think the best weapon for this sport is a double '500
or '450 Express. An excellent gun is the "Jungle"
Paradox, and one I found to do good work. I shot at
first with a Lee-Metford -303, using dum-dum and soft-
nosed bullets, and although for long shots and straight
shooting it probably cannot be beaten, yet I was some-
what disappointed with the results, for the only stags
I lost were shot with this rifle. Unless hit in a vital
part, the animal will manage to reach cover, and so
lost, for it is surprising what an amount of killing a
full-grown thamin requires. The dum-dum bullet makes
a terrible wound, but I do not think it has sufficient
striking power, and therefore the shock is not sufficient
2 I 481

BULLET AND SHOT

to cause collapse. The effect of the heavier ball of the
Paradox and '500 Express I found quite the reverse.

Good water is a serious difficulty on these little ex-
peditions, and arrangements must be made for a daily-
supply for cooking and other purposes. For drinking,
either soda-water should be carried, or aerated water made
from boiled water. In its unboiled state it is unsafe to
drink. One little point requires mentioning, and that is
to be on one's guard against snakes when stalking. These
are very numerous, and comprise cobras, hamadryads, tic
bolongas, etc. No one can shoot much in Burma without
coming across specimens of each species, which, as they
are all extremely poisonous, must be carefully avoided.
The danger, of course, lies in one's relaxing their attention
when stalking. It is a good plan to wear a pair of soft
leather socks over one's ordinary ones, and putties from
the knee down. With these precautions, and good boots,
one is pretty safe, even if they did tread on a snake.

Burma offers a fine field for the sportsman and the
naturalist. The former may obtain elephant, tiger,
panther, the various kinds of deer, gaur, pig, etc., with
a reasonable amount of trouble. Tigers are bold and
numerous, and in May last, when in Rangoon, I heard
of a tiger being shot within nine miles of the town. The
country is picturesque, and the people interesting, but
the " trackers " are somewhat lazy and indolent. During
the months I have named the climate is excellent, though
warm, and tolerably, if not altogether, free from fever.
As I have said the nights during the hot weather are
nearly always cool, and, in those parts I shot, I noticed an
entire absence of mosquitoes, due probably to the scarcity
of water.

There is no sensation more pleasing than the welcome
rest which comes after a long day's stalk, and my mind
goes back to a little camp, pitched in a grove of mango
trees, through whose thick leaves the sun never came. To
see this looming up, when one was tired and thirsty, was a
welcome sight; and after a refreshing tub and a good

482

THAMIN, AND THEIR QUEST

dinner (with hunger for the sauce) in which the most
tasty parts of thamin figured in ways known to our
native cook, with what contentment one settled into a
long chair and enjoyed the after-dinner cheroot! making
fresh plans for the morrow, and lazily admiring the beauty
of the tropical night. It was all so pleasant, that when
the end came we were unfeignedly sorry.

To Veterinary-Captain Evans my best thanks are due
for permission to refer to his paper on "Thamin" in the
records of the Bombay Natural History Society.

(Sd.) G. R. Radmore.

483

THE BANTING OR TSINE IN UPPER BURMA*

Not much has been written about the banting, or tsine»
as it is called by the Burmese, chiefly because it is locally
confined to a few spots on the globe ; and, unlike the
bison, it very much objects to dwelling in the near neigh-
bourhood of human habitations. It has thus happened
that what little information we possess concerning the
haunts and habits of this animal has come to us through
sportsmen exceptionally favoured by circumstances, and,
we should add, exceptionally tough, for the successful
pursuit of tsine entails the roughest of camp life. The
notes here gathered together have been made during the
course of some years' sojourn in the jungles of Upper
Burma, mainly in the Terai, at the foot of the Chin Hills.
A description of the kind of country at the foot of these
hills may, perhaps, be of interest. It is here that the
plains of Upper Burma, and the steep, irregular slopes
of the wild Chin Hills meet. The Chin Hills, through
many streams, drain into the valleys of Burma ; in these
valleys there are vast plains of grass and stunted trees,
over which the tsine roams ; the country is of a prairie-
like description, much broken up by ravines, some shallow,
some deep. In parts of this undulating prairie — for it
cannot well be called forest — it is possible to see for
many hundreds of yards, and a shot has occasionally
to be taken at such distances, there being no choice in
the matter of a nearer approach. The grass in these
plains is of a rather fine quality, almost equal in appear-
ance to our own meadow grasses ; the soil is a browny-

* This article, which appeared in the same issue of the Field as the preceding
one, is reproduced in extenso by kind permission of the editor and the author.

484

THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA

red, and in some places almost a brick-red colour. The
trees grow sparsely about these plains, and are almost all
confined to the species indine, which grows to about
thirty feet in height only, the soil presumably not being
favourable to a luxuriant vegetation. It should be men-
tioned that a large river drains the valley, to the west
of which lie the Chin Hills, the Burmese villages being
almost entirely confined to the east bank of the river,
a precaution necessary in times when the King of Burma
ruled the land on account of the raids which the Chins
made on the Burmans. I do not, however, think that
this would entirely account for the almost total absence
of Burmese villages and cultivations from the west side
of the river, and the cause must, no doubt, be found
partly in the poorness of the soil on that side. However
this may be, it has been very acceptable to the solitude-
loving tsine, which has roamed here between the river
and the hills from " time immemorial." These plains
soon became familiar to me after my arrival in the
valley, as they are in the vicinity of forests where I
have to superintend the felling of teak trees on behalf
of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, who are
known throughout the East for their wealth and enter-
prises in Burma, Siam, and elsewhere. As my work
takes me into the jungle all the year round, I find
exceptional opportunities for hunting big game and
noting their habits. The great difficulty for a sportsman
in Burma is the question of transport. In India coolies
can, I believe, always be obtained, but in Burma it is
quite otherwise ; the inhabitants are few to begin with,
and unfortunately payment, however liberal, has not the
least attraction for them. The only way in which a man
unacquainted with the language and country could get
transport would be to obtain an order on village headmen
through the Deputy-Commissioner to supply coolies, but
it is rather doubtful whether the Deputy- Commissioner
would even do this ; certainly not at a busy time of year
when crops were being planted, for would not that mean

485

BULLET AND SHOT

loss of revenue to Government, the be-all and end-all
of administration in Burma. This was never a difficulty
for me, as the Corporation supplied me with two elephants
to carry my camp when on tour. Of the many ways
in which Englishmen pass their lives in all quarters of
the globe, this is perhaps one of the wildest and most
peculiar — the wildest because one's life is spent in nature's
primeval forests, the most peculiar because it is practically
a nomadic life. Englishmen are wonderfully successful
in this kind of life, even getting to know the jungles as
well as the natives themselves ; thus do the old instincts
of our ancestors reassert themselves. Engaged in this
employment, a man will have his headquarters, or place
where he lives and keeps his stores, about the centre
of the district over which he has charge. From this
place he starts on a tour of his district of many square
miles of forest, and hither he returns when down with
fever or when he has completed the tour of his district.
It is during the monsoon that he will be most busy,
as then he has to see that his foresters are keeping the
logs in the streams after every flood so that they may
float out to the main river, as well as putting in freshly-
cut logs. The best time of year for the pursuit of tsine
is during the monsoon, when it is quite easy to track a
herd on striking a fresh trail ; at this season the tsine
is finding abundance of fodder, and now the young
bamboo shoots, the piece de resistance of bovine fare,
are springing up. On these the tsine takes heavy toll,
with the result that he keeps himself fat and sleek during
the cold weather, and even in the hot weather does not
show any failing in condition. A somewhat strange trait
in the character of the tsine is that he keeps to the same
part of the prairie land and will not leave it unless dis-
turbed ; this allows the native hunters to know exactly
whereabout to look for a herd, and they seldom fail to
find fresh tracks in the course of a day's pursuit.

I would recount the procedure of a few days spent in
hunting tsine. In one somewhat restricted area in this

486

THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA

valley tsine are more numerous than elsewhere ; there
^ must be something in the nature of the ground or jungle
growth which attracts them, but to one's own perception
the prairie land appears the same for miles. Taking
my two elephants, with sufficient of the necessaries of
life, such as tinned vegetables, curry powder, oil, etc., to
last for about three weeks, I leave my headquarters and
proceed down the river to a village, opposite which I shall
strike off into the tsine country. The distance to this
village is about thirty miles, so that the journey takes
me three days, camping nightly at some village en route.
Arrived at my destination, I make arrangements to get
a hunter or " mokso " (as he is known in Burma) who
knows the jungles well ; there still remain a few " moksos "
(to call these individuals hunters would quite rob them
of their individuality) from Burmese times, for since the
occupation of Upper Burma by the British all guns have
been withdrawn from the natives, and thus the extinction
of the species " mokso " is almost complete, and there is
difficulty in finding any of the old school. Starting at
daybreak, the kit is ferried across the river, whilst the
elephants swim. A swimming elephant is a curious sight,
the animal appearing to float rather than swim, nothing
but the highest ridge of the back being visible, whilst
occasionally the trunk is protruded to draw in air. But
to proceed on our journey. We take a Chin path, which
is merely a jungle track used by Chins on their way from
and to their hills during the cold season, when they come
into the valley to sell ginger-root, plantains, and other
produce of their hill country to the Burmans, and return
with the produce of the valley, such as dried fish and
cotton goods. They frequently purchase, or sometimes
steal, buffaloes, which they drive back to their hills, and
kill on some feast-day, amid copious libations of liquor
distilled from hill rice. Up to the foot of the hills, a
distance of about nine miles from the river, the path is
exceedingly good, winding in such a manner as to avoid
nullahs and broken ground, and yet take the nearest

487

BULLET AND SHOT

possible route. We journey over the grassy plain, inter-
spersed with stunted trees, for six miles to the westward ;
this will bring us to our camping-ground beside a creek
rushing from the hills, where our " mokso " has often
camped before, in days when he had a muzzle-loader
and shot the wily tsine. On our way we are on the
qui Vive for any fresh tracks of tsine which may have
crossed the path recently, and also keep sharp eyes to
either side, as, not unfrequently, tsine may be viewed,
although the habit of the animal is to be cautious when
crossing a jungle-path, and to hurry on for some distance
after doing so. It must not be supposed that tsine are
not cognisant of a path and its purpose ; they know
very well, and, if on the feed, when reaching a path
they will hurry on for some few hundred yards before
grazing again. Indeed, in my experience, most wild
animals have this habit. Should we come on fresh
tracks, we start off to track, intending to reach our camp
later on towards nightfall. The tracks are not unlike
those of the village cattle, but cut more finely, and, if
one might use the expression, more deer-like in appear-
ance. The tracks of a tsine and a bison may be easily
distinguished after a little experience, the former being
elongated, whereas the latter are almost circular, and, of
course, broader. The track of the tsine is, indeed, so
nearly approaching that of a sambur, that one some-
times has to look twice before making quite sure.
Following up the herd, we shall probably find evidence
that they have been cropping the long grass as they
go ; if, on the contrary, there are no such signs, it would
not . be worth while tracking them, for, of a certainty,
they have been disturbed by getting the wind of some-
body or something, and are making a line for another
part of the prairie land, which will lead us on for miles,
till nightfall. As the herd moves along it breaks up,
rejoining again and proceeding in Indian file where a
nullah has to be descended by a single break in the
bank or broken ground, to be avoided by a strip of

THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA

sound going, for the tsine, like the bison, always takes
the easiest and most level path, and not the steepest and
most difficult, as some men, who have never had experience,
are fond of asserting. It may be safely laid down that no
tsine or bison can go in any place where a man on foot
cannot follow, but there are many places where a man
can go and the bovine tribe could not follow. Following
on the tracks, we come to a depression in the ground in
which there are clumps of bamboo growing; the herd,
after spreading about this and feeding on the bamboo
shoots, have made their exit on to the prairie again. As
the sun is now hot, the probability is that the herd is lying
down in some dense bamboo grove similar to that through
which we have just come. We shall, therefore, have to
proceed steadily on nearing the next bamboo grove, and
listen carefully, for the animals, if not resting, may be
feeding, in which case we may expect to hear the bamboo
breaking. Now we get on to a well-beaten big game path,
which is well marked, even without the aid of the fresh
hoof prints. These paths often lead for many miles over
the prairie, connecting one tsine ground with another, and
passing en route through groves of bamboo and out on to
the open grass land again. One herd of tsine will resent
and forcibly oppose the intrusion of another herd on to its
own particular division of country, there being apparently
a sphere of influence allotted to each herd by the unwritten
code of tsine laws. Tsine are very fond of breaking small
trees with their horns as they pass along, and of bowling
over the ant-hills which the white ants make in the rainy
season ; this they do presumably with a view to cleaning
their horns as well as getting rid of the tics which cling
to their heads when they could not otherwise be disturbed.
Now we cross a small nullah where the tracks of the herd
show freshly, but at what hour exactly they passed it is
impossible to say. Going a little further, we find that the
herd has stampeded, but this often occurs when they are
stung by wasps, which make their nests in the bamboo
clumps, and the pursuit should not, therefore, be given up,

489

BULLET AND SHOT

as it will probably be found that they have resumed their
usual pace a few hundred yards further on. We are now
on the open prairie again, all eyes for the expected herd.
Ah, what is that about one hundred yards off, half con-
cealed by the trunk of an indine tree ? After a little
reflection we are satisfied that it is only an ant-hill or
an indine leaf, which are both easily mistaken for tsine,
the maxim here, as elsewhere, holding good that animals
only inhabit places or country which closely resembles
the shade of themselves and so act as a self- protection
from man. Thus the elephant inhabits the dense shade
of thick forests, and it must be seen to be believed
how effectually this trait acts as a complete concealment
of the presence of the animals. Bison, which are black,
inhabit the same sort of country, but tsine which are
a bright chestnut, must live on the yellow lands of the
plain where the soil and the ant-hills harmonise with
the colour of their hides. On we trudge, dipping in and
out of nullahs, taking a view under the lowest branches of
the forest as we go.

My attention is arrested by some movement ; ah ! sure
enough, the swishing to and fro of tails, which, like any
movement in the quiet jungle, immediately rivets the
observation. The herd is in front of us. I can see
them now, as I write, seven of them following one another
in irregular order ; to our left and a little ahead is a knoll ;
here no doubt the herd made its midday siesta, and, as
the sun declined, came slowly trooping out to graze ; they
wander on athwart our track, presenting their bright sides
to a side-shot ; as they graze along they do not raise their
heads but hold them always on the qui vive in such a
manner as to be able to see under the branches of the
forest trees ; the breeze or rather the currents of the air (for
there is no breeze proper) are apparently unfavourable to
us, for one of the herd moves round with head still
declined and peers in our direction ; the others, without
moving, take note of their comrade's attitude in silence.
The only chance now of a shot is to fling away the sun-

490

THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA

hat and crawl up as near as possible to the herd, taking-
cover behind the ant-hills and rough grounds. As I move
or rather wriggle along towards them I have a peep to
see what they are doing ; now the whole herd, having got
our wind, are standing with head erect sniffing the tainted
breeze directly from us ; arrived at an ant-hill I prepare
for the shot which can at best be a poor one, for only the
chests of the animals are presented at a distance of about
130 yards. In the excitement I make as steady a shot as
possible ; the herd, however, do not move off at once, but
stand gazing, motionless. There is time for another shot ;
just as I have reloaded my '450 there is a clatter, followed
by the thundering of the herd over the prairie ; they are
gone, gone for miles ere they will feed again. No blood
is apparent in the place where the herd were grazing, nor
in the track of the fleeing beasts, so the bullet did not
probably take effect.

The sight of a herd of tsine is, indeed, a placid one ;
as one stops and watches them lazily grazing amid a
wealth of luscious grass, showing unmistakable signs of
a surfeit of good feeding, the absolute stillness of the
jungle impresses itself upon one more than usual, and in
the harmonious placidity of the scene almost suggests
a picture of the Golden Age. Without doubt the tsine
is an exceptionally keen-scented and wideawake animal ;
and many a long and toilsome tramp has proved in vain
through the animals having winded the hunter as he
peregrinated here and there trying to puzzle out the
tracks of the herd and determine the direction taken.
When once the herd has taken alarm, it will travel for
days, finding refuge in some prominent ground amid
the lowest Chin Hills, from which any enemy approaching
can either be winded or seen. A herd which may happen
to be in the vicinity of one fired at will, on hearing the
shot, likewise make off; and, should it en route encounter
other herds, will probably cause them also to seek safety
in flight, so that it is prudent when after tsine, to fire at
nothing but tsine, and even then to make sure as possible

491

BULLET AND SHOT

of your mark. Sad experience has taught me that nothing
inferior to a '577 rifle should be used, but I should prefer
an 8-bore, for a weapon is required which will knock the
animal over wherever hit, bearing in mind that the difficult
and annoying chest shot is the most usual one offered in
tracking big game. Even when well hit with a bullet
from the '577 (excepting the shot planted behind the
shoulder) a tsine may give a lot of trouble by going some
miles ere he will yield to another shot. I have been at
some pains in making inquiries from the old Burmese and
Chin hunters as to the propensity of the tsine to charge
when wounded or when fired at in the first instance. The
consensus of native opinion will, no doubt, be contested
by many shikaris, but tot homines quot sententice, and no
two sportsmen seem to have the same experiences, or
perhaps the same occurrences, present themselves differ-
ently to the minds of each and every individual. This
somewhat unorthodox opinion is that the tsine is a less,
nay, much less fearsome animal when wounded than the
bison in a similar plight ; that the bison is " tai so dai "
(" very bad "), to use the Burmese expression, but that the
tsine will die quietly, or, at any rate, receive the coup de
grace with more composure than the bison. I cannot but
think that, from the cautious manner in which the natives
pursue the bison, and the somewhat listless manner in
which they attack the tsines, there must be some founda-
tion for their assertion. Most of the old hunters will
relate an adventure in which one of their companions
came to a tragic end, either by the animal's horn having
been thrust through the thigh of the said companion, or by
being taken between the horns of the animal and the
life shaken out of him. On asking whether the animal
in question was a bison, or a tsine, the answer is invari-
ably " a bison ! " As there has been a good deal of
diversity in describing the colour of tsine, having seen
them at all ages and under various conditions, I may be
excused for recording my experiences as, at any rate, they
presented themselves to me. Once on coming up the

492

THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA

bank of a nulkh on to the prairie, I had the unusual, but
fortunate, experience of almost walking on to a solitary
bull tsine lying down, evidently asleep. He could not
have been fifteen paces from me. I did not, however,
observe him until he jumped up and was making off at a
gallop ; as he did so, he leapt into the air, and lashed out
with both his heels, evidently from disgust at having
been caught napping at such close quarters ; indeed, his
demeanour suggested that no liberties would be permitted
if we had fired a shot at him. This was the first tsine
which I had ever seen, and it was not only a grand sight at
such close quarters, but the appearance of the animal was
altogether different to that which I had previously figured
in my mind. I exclaimed to the " mokso," " Blue ! blue ! "
Now there are various shades of blue ; it was not a sky-
blue, nor a sea-blue, nor any blue of that kind, but the first
impression that arose in my mind was, " a tsine has a blue
hide." To analyse this blue we will call it steel-blue ; but a
shade must be taken out of the blue and put into the
steel ; it was thus very nearly approaching that of an old
and rather washed-out kharki coat, a colour impossible to
describe accurately. Some would call it a bluish-grey or a
whitey-grey ; the Burmese who were accompanying me
called it " blue," and those animals met in a herd they
designate " red " (their language, however, does not permit
of much delicacy in designating colour). A mouldy bluish-
grey would, I think, describe the colour as accurately as
any other. Only in advanced life or old age is the hide
of this colour, that of the young animals being rightly
described as a bright chestnut. The skull differs from that
of the bison, the forehead being flatter and the bone thicker,
whereas the bison's forehead is concave and the bone less
dense. The distinction in the horns may be thus illus-
trated : Holding the arms above the head so that each
hand is directly over the temple will represent the shape
of the bison's horns ; holding the arms above the head,
but bringing the hands lower down than in the former
case, will roughly represent the tsine. A more accurate

493

BULLET AND SHOT

angle will thus be formed at the elbow, which is consonant
with the shape of a tsine's horns. The Burmese will lie
down on the ground if attacked by a tsine, as the latter
cannot thus do damage with his horns, the points of which
turn inwards, whereas, if attacked by a bison, the only
thing to do is to get behind, or preferably, up a tree. The
following measurements, which I have selected from among
some hundreds of heads hung up in Chin villages in the
plain, may be of interest ; the largest measurements which
I could find are here given, and may be taken to be, as
regards the tsine, if not a record, at any rate dimensions
which very few tsine attain.

Round left horn, at base .
Round right horn, at base
Between horns, on top of head
Between horns, across forehead
Round outside curve of left horn
Round outside curve of right horn
Between tips of horns
Length of skull
Thickness of skull (about)

Tsine.

Bison.

in.

in.

. 20

20

20

20

6

10

loj

i3i

31

30

31

29

21

29

21

22i

li

2

(Sd.) TSINEGALAT.

i

494

GAME LAWS AND RULES OF THE MADRAS
PRESIDENCY AND THE NILGIRI HILLS.

MADRAS ACT No. II. of 1879.

An Act to provide for the protection of Game and Acclimatised Fish
in the District of the Nilgiris in the Madras Presidency.

Whereas it is expedient to provide for the protection
of wild animals and birds used for food
and of acclimatised fish, and to prohibit
the killing, capturing, and selling game and acclimatised
fish in the district known as the Nilgiris, as described in
the Schedule hereto appended, under certain conditions.
It is hereby enacted as follows : —

1. This Act may be called "The Nilgiris Game and

Fish Preservation Act, 1879" ; and it shall
Title and local ex- ^^^^ j^^^ operation in the district afore-
said, or such parts thereof, and from such
dates as the Governor in Council may from time to time
declare by notification in the Fort St. George Gazette.

2. In this Act the word "game" shall include bison,

sambhur, ibex, jungle-sheep, deer of all
^.fg'^ ^»^^ "^^ descriptions, hares, jungle-fowl, pea-fowl,

partridge, quail, spur - fowl, snipe and
woodcock, or such birds or animals as the Governor in
Council may deem fit to specify by notification from time
to time in the Fort St. George Gazette.

495

BULLET AND SHOT

3. The Governor in Council may, by notification in the

Fort St. George Gazette, from time to time,

Poivcr to fix close

season ^^ ^ season or seasons of the year during

which it shall not be lawful for any person
to shoot at, kill, capture, pursue or sell, or attempt to kill,
capture or sell game, as may be specified in such notifica-
tion within the district aforesaid.

Provided that nothing in this Act contained shall pre-
clude proprietors or occupiers of land from

Proviso as to private 1 . • , 111

j^jj^jg '^ adoptmg such measures on such land as

may be necessary for the protection of
crops or produce growing thereon,

4. Whenever any animal, bird, or fish, useful for food,

not indigenous to the district aforesaid, is
Protection of animal, introduced into it with the approval of the

bird, or fish not in- ^ . , . ^ .

digenous. Government with a view to becoming

acclimatised or being propagated therein,
it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, from time
to time, by notification in the Fort St. George Gazette,
to prohibit altogether, or to regulate in such manner and for
such period not exceeding three years as may be declared
in such notification, the pursuit, killing or capture of such
animal, bird, or fish.

5. It shall be lawful for the Governor in Council, by
Power to prescribe notification in the Fort St. George Gazette,
rule for the regula- from time to time to make rules for the
tion and control of regulation and control of fishing in any
fishing. stream or lake within the said district ;
and such rules may, with the view to protect acclimatised
fish which may be believed to be there, or may be here-
after introduced therein, prohibit or regulate the poisoning
of the waters of any stream or lake, the throwing of any
deleterious matter therein, the use of fixed engines for the
capture of fish in any stream, and the use of nets of a
mesh below a certain size to be defined in such rules for
the capture of fish in such stream or lake.

496

GAME LAWS

6. Any Government officer or servant or policeman

producing his certificate of office, or
Power of Govern- •vvgaring the prescribed distinctive dress

ment officer or , , . , . ,

police. *-*^ badge of his department, may require

any person whom he finds committing
any offence against sections 3, 4 or 5 of this Act to
give his name and address, or if there is reason to doubt
the accuracy of the name and address so given, to accom-
pany him to the nearest poHce station.

7. Every person convicted before a Magistrate of any
^ , . , , offence against sections 3, 4 or ? of this

Penalties for shoot- . , ,, , i- 1 1 r 7 X-

ing, etc., during ^^^ shdW be hable for a first offence to
close seasons and a penalty not exceeding rupees fifty and
for breach of fishing ^q the forfeiture to Government, at the
discretion of the Magistrate, of the
game, birds or fishes taken, and of all guns, engines,
implements, nets and dogs used in or for the purpose
of aiding the commission of such offence, and, in default
of payment of fine to simple imprisonment for a period
not exceeding one month, and for every second and
subsequent offence, to a penalty not exceeding rupees
one hundred, and the same liability to forfeiture, and
in default of payment, to simple imprisonment for a
period not exceeding two months.

8. The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure

relating to the summoning and examina-
roce ure un er ^j^^ ^^ persons accused and witnesses, and
to the levying of penalties shall be applied
to proceedings under this Act.

9. All fees, fines and forfeitures realised
Appropriation of ^^^^^ ^j^j^ ^^^ ^j^^jj y^^ j^ j^^.^ ^^^
fees, fines, etc. '^

public treasury.

But it shall be competent to the convicting Magistrate
to award such portion of the fine, or of

Award to informer. , , /• ,1 r r -^ 1

the proceeds of the forfeiture as he may
2 K 497

BULLET AND SHOT

think fit, not exceeding one-half the amount of full fine
authorised to be imposed by this Act in any case under
this Act, to the person or persons on whose information
the conviction is obtained.

SCHEDULE REFERRED TO IN THE PREAMBLE.

The Nilgiri District shall, for the purpose of this Act, be
held to be bounded by —

The north bank of the Bhavani River from Attipadi in
Attipadi Valley to the junction of the Moyar River.

The west and south banks of the Moyar River from its
junction with the Bhavani to the point in the Mudumullah
District nearest to Gudalur.

A line carried thence to the head of the Pandy River
(Ouchterlony Valley).

The east bank of the Pandy River to where it falls
near the Karkur Pass in Malabar Payenghaut.

A line along the south crest of the Ouchterlony Valley
and across the western slopes of the Nilgiri and Mukurti
Peaks and Sispara Ranges to Wallaghaut.

A line thence along the west crest of the Silent Valley
(Malabar) Range.

N.B. — The district shall include the entire tract known
as the Silent Valley.

A line from the south end of the above-named range
to the Bhavani River at Attipadi in the valley of the same
name.

498

NOTIFICATIONS

418

487

16

*40S

REVENUE DEPARTMENT. NOTIFICATIONS.
Fort St. George, January 10, 1894

No. 40. — In supersession of the notifications quoted in

the margin, His Excellency the
At page 1117 of Part I. of the Governor in Council is pleased,

Fort St. George Gazette, dated , ,. y ^ , ^-^ ^

2ist December 1886. ""^^^ sections 21 and 26 (/) of

No. 214, dated 30th July 1889. the Madras Forest Act, to make
99 „ 9th March 1991. the following rules for the regu-

^!!l r^f" " lation of fishing anywhere within
27th Oct. „ . , ^ „ . ° ./
9th Jan. 1892. the followmg limits :—

1st July 1893. (i) The south bank of the

♦Vide note on page 675, ^<?r^.S'^.G^^^<r "RVipv^n; T? Jvp^r from Affindrli in
Gazette, dated jth June 1894, Part I. -tJ^avani KlVCr trom Attip^dl, in

the valley of that name, to its
junction with the Moydr River ;

(2) from that point the north bank of the Moydr River

as far as the boundary of the Nilgiri District, and
thence the boundary of the said district as deter-
mined for ordinary administrative purposes to Nilgiri
Peak;

(3) from that point the western crest of the Nilgiri Hills

to its termination below Sispdra ;

(4) thence along the northern, western and southern

crests of the Silent Valley Range to its southern-
most point ;

(5) from that point to Attipddi ;

and of hunting and shooting in all the reserved and rented
forests, fuel and fodder reserves, grazing-grounds and areas
under special fire-protection within the said limits.

Rules.
I. Unless with the sanction of Government, no person
shall shoot at, wound or kill the females or immature

499

BULLET AND SHOT

males of any of the following animals within the limits
of any reserved or rented forest or of any fuel or fodder
reserve, grazing -ground or area under special fire -pro-
tection : —

(i) Bison or Gaur. (5) Antelope.

(2) Sambhur. (6) Barking-deer,

(3) Spotted-deer. (7) Four-horned deer.

(4) Ibex.

2. Unless with the sanction of Government, no person
shall kill, wound or shoot at any mature male sambhur or
spotted-deer if it is hornless or if its horns are in velvet

3. No person shall kill, wound, shoot at or capture pea-
hens at any time throughout the year or the hens of
jungle-fowl between the ist of March and the ist of
October of each year. No person shall take the eggs of
pea-hens or of jungle -hens at any time throughout the
year.

4. No person shall hunt, kill, wound or shoot at any
game as defined in Madras Act II. of 1879, within any
of the reserved or rented forests, fuel or fodder reserves,
grazing -grounds or areas under special fire protection
comprised within the aforesaid limits, until he has ob-
tained a license from the Collector of the Nilgiris.

5. Any person may obtain from the Collector a license
to shoot game on payment of a fee of Rs. 30. The
Collector may refuse to grant a license only if the
applicant has been convicted of an offence against the
rules under the Forest Act relating to hunting, shooting
and fishing, or against the provisions of Act II. of 1879.
The license shall not be transferable and shall be available
only for the currency of the fasli year to which it relates,
whether it be taken out at the commencement of, or
during the currency of the year.

The Collector of the Nilgiris shall, however, have
authority, at his discretion, to reduce the payment for
each license to Rs. 5 in the case of non-commissioned
officers and soldiers of Her Majesty's forces on proof to

500

NOTIFICATIONS

his satisfaction that the appHcation for the license is for
bond fide sporting purposes.

6. The seasons during which such Hcenses shall permit
hunting or shooting of game in the reserved or rented
forests or other areas specified in rule 4 comprised within
those limits, shall be duly notified, from time to time,
by the Collector of the Nilgiris and shall be clearly
endorsed on the licenses.

7. The Collector may from time to time, by notification
in the District Gazette, declare all or any rivers, streams
or lakes closed against fishing during any year, or part
of a year within any part of the aforesaid scheduled
area and may similarly declare the whole or any part
of any reserved or rented forest, fuel or fodder reserve,
grazing-ground or area under special fire-protection within
such scheduled area, closed against shooting or hunting
for the whole or any part of any year. He may also
prohibit within the same areas and for like periods the
pursuit, killing or capture of any particular species of
game or fish.

8. The poisoning of water, the dynamiting of fish, the
setting of cruives or fixed engines for the capture or
destruction of fish, the damming and baling of water
for the capture of fish, the netting of fish with nets,
the meshes of which are under i^" square, and the setting
of traps and snares for the capture of game are absolutely
forbidden anywhere within the limits of the scheduled
area in which these rules are in force.

9. Any breach of the above rules within any area
reserved under section 16 of Act V. of 1882 will render
the offender liable on conviction before a Magistrate, to
the punishment provided by section 21 of the Act and
any breach of the above rules in any of the above-
mentioned areas, other than those reserved under section
16 of the Act, will render the offender liable on conviction
before a Magistrate to imprisonment for a term which
may extend to one month or to fine which may extend

501

BULLET AND SHOT

to Rs. 200 or both. Erratum dated 6th April, 1894,
page 414, Fort St. George Gazette, Part I., dated loth
April 1894.

The following notifications, issued under Act TI. of 1879,
which still remain in force, are reproduced below : —

No. 41. — It is hereby notified under section 5 of the

Nilgiri Game and Fish Pre-

Fort St. Ge^gc Gazette, ^S^^.m. g^.^^tion Act, 1 879, that, with
vember 1884, page 231. . . .

the view to protect acclimatised
fish which may be believed to be in the undermentioned
streams and lakes within the Nilgiri District and specified
in the Schedule to the said Act or which may be here-
after introduced therein. His Excellency the Governor in
Council hereby prohibits the poisoning of the waters of
the said streams and lakes and the throwing of dynamite
or any other deleterious matter therein, and the use of
nets of a mesh below one inch and a half: —

Streams and Lakes.

1. Ootacamund Lake and Stream issuing therefrom.

2. Marlimund Reservoir in Ootacamund.

3. Lawrence Asylum Lake and Stream issuing therefrom.

4. Pykara River and its confluents from their sources

down to the limits.

5. Avalanche or Kunda River and its confluents.

6. The Karteri and its confluents.

No. 42. — The Governor in Council hereby notifies under

section 5 of the Nilgiri Game
^°"'^*' ^^f-^^^'^^f''2"dNo- ^^^ pj^j^ Preservation Act (II.
vember isoo, page 980. ^

of 1879, Madras) that from and
after this date until further orders, the catching or killing
of fish is prohibited in the Bay of the Ootacamund Lake
at the foot of Awdry House. The limits within which
fishing is prohibited as above will be demarcated by posts
erected by the Nilgiri Game Association, one of which
shall be placed below St. Thomas' Church and the other
below Black Wood Cottage.

502

NOTIFICATIONS

No. 43. — Under the provisions of Madras Act II. of

1879 (an Act to provide for the

Fort St. George Gazette, 28th ... r j ,.

October 1890. page 825. protection of game and acch-

matised fish in the district of
the Nilgiris in the Madras Presidency), and in supersession
of the notification published at page 70, Part I., of the
Fort St. George Gazette of the 8th February 1881, His
Excellency the Governor in Council hereby fixes the
undermentioned periods as the seasons during which it
shall not be lawful to shoot at, kill, capture, pursue, or
sell, or attempt to kill, capture, or sell large and small
game, respectively, in the year 1891 and future years,
viz. : —

Large game (including all "1 ^, , - . , ,,

^. ^. ^ The 1st of June to the

game other than hares \ ^ cr^ ^ / • ^ •

J ^ ^, , . 3 1st of October mclusive.

and feathered game). j

f, „ ^ ,. .\ The 15 th of March to the

bmall Game (hares and 1^ec^^^.

r ^, J N y 1 5 th of September

feathered game) -^ . , f

^ ■^ ) inclusive.

(Sd.) C. A. Galton,

Secretary to Government.

Extract from Rules under Act II. 0/ iSyg, Nilgiri Game and
Fish Preservation,

3. All Police Officers and Heads of Villages are required
to give every possible assistance in the detection of per-
sons violating these provisions, and to give information
to the Magistrate, and section 9 of the Act empowers
Magistrates to award to any person by whose aid or
information a conviction is obtained, half of the fine
inflicted on the offender.

503

BULLET AND SHOT

THE RULES OF THE NILGIRI GAME AND FISH PRE-
SERVATION ASSOCIATION, AS AMENDED AT THE
GENERAL MEETING HELD ON THE 23RD AUGUST,
1893.

1. The name of the Association shall be "The Nilgiri
Game and Fish Preservation Association."

2. The objects of the Association are the preservation of
the existing indigenous game and the introduction of game
birds and animals and fish, either exotic or indigenous to
India.

3. Any person taking out a license under the Game Act
shall be eligible for membership.

4. Any licensee desirous of becoming a special member
of the Association, shall submit a written request to the
Honorary Secretary to that effect, and, if elected a mem-
ber, an entrance fee of Rs. 5 must be remitted to the
Honorary Secretary. Such special membership shall cease
on the expiry of the license. Any other person shall be
eligible for ordinary membership on payment of Rs. 5 and
election, but shall have no vote.

5. An Annual General Meeting shall be held on the
15th July each year or such date subsequent thereto as
may be fixed by the President, when the Committee shall
submit an Annual Report of their proceedings with a
statement of accounts.

6. A Special General Meeting shall be held at any time
on the application of 10 members of the Association to
the Honorary Secretary, provided 14 days' clear notice
of such meeting has been given in writing to the Honorary
Secretary and that the notice specifies the subject to be
discussed at such special meeting.

504

NILGIRI GAME ASSOCIATION

7. The control of the funds and the entire management
of the Association shall be under a Committee comprised
of the President and not less than 12 members to be
elected at the Annual General Meeting.

8. The Collector, by virtue of his appointment, shall be
ex-officio President.

9. The Committee shall elect its own Honorary Secre-
tary.

10. The Committee shall meet once a quarter or oftener,
if necessary. Four members of the Committee shall form
a quorum and the Chairman shall have a casting vote.

11. The accounts of the Association shall be audited
yearly by two members of the Committee and the
Honorary Secretary.

It shall be competent for the Committee to form Bye-
laws to be in force till the following Annual General
Meeting.

505

RULES FOR OBSERVANCE BY VISITORS AND
RESIDENTS IN THE TERRITORIES OF
H. H. THE MAHARAJA OF JAMMU AND
KASHMIR.

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA. FOREIGN DEPARTMENT.

Notification. No. 85 E.

Fort William, the i^th January 1888.

In supersession of the Notification of the Government of

India in the Foreign Depart-

* Note. -Copies of these Rules ^^^^ ^^ ^ p j^^^j ^^^

can be obtained from the Resident _,, . ., '"1 , .,,

in Kashmir. 28th April, 1885, the following-

revised Rules,* for observance
by all Europeans, Americans and Australians, who are
now, or may be hereafter, in the territory of His Highness
the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmfr, which have been
drawn up with the consent of His Highness the Mahardja
and have received the sanction of the Governor-General
in Council, are published for information : —

I. — (i) Military or Civil Officers of the British Govern-
ment may, at any time, and without passes, visit and
reside in the territories of His Highness the Mah^rdja of

Jammu and Kashmfr, subject to

t At present there is no limit. 1 i- •, 1 • i_ .1

such limit t m number as the
Government of India, with the concurrence of His High-
ness the Maharaja, may prescribe, and subject also, in the
case of Military Officers, to the military regulations or
orders for the time being in force.

(2) Other Europeans, Americans or Australians, wishing
to visit or reside in the said territories, require passes which

506

RULES FOR VISITORS

may be granted (in the Form A annexed) by the Resident
in Kashmfr.

II. — Information as to the usual routes for entering and
leaving Kashmfr may be obtained from the Assistant
Resident. The route via Jammu and Banihal is private,
and may not be used except with the special permission
of His Highness the Mahardja obtained through the
Resident.

III. — Persons subject to these rules are not allowed to
travel from Kashmir to Simla (or vice versd) across the
hills, or the plains (or vice versd) via Kishtwar, Bhadarwar,
and Chamba, except with special permission of His
Highness the Maharaja obtained through the Resident.

IV. — No request should be preferred to the ordinary
officials of His Highness the Mahdraja, except in real
emergencies. An officer of the Durbdr is appointed by
His Highness the Maharaja to attend to the wants of the
European community at Sn'nagar, and application may be
made to him for assistance in petty matters. All pay-
ments must be made at the rates demanded, which, if
deemed exorbitant, can be reported to the Resident in
Kashmir.

V. — Complaints should be preferred, with statements
of the circunistances, to the Resident in Kashmir.

VI. — No present may be accepted from His Highness
the Maharaja or his officers.

VII. — Persons subject to these rules, who may be
desirous of paying their respects to His Highness the
Maharaja, can be introduced by the Resident on suitable
occasions ; and all arrangements for official visits to Jammu
or Sn'nagar should be made through the Resident.

VHI. — The customs and regulations of His Highness
the Maharaja's territory should be carefully observed by
persons subject to these rules and by their servants.

IX.— When attending evening entertainments given by
His Highness the Maharaja, Military Officers should wear,

507

BULLET AND SHOT

subject to the military regulations or orders for the time
being in force, either uniform or evening dress, and other
visitors or residents should wear evening dress.

X. — The Resident may, from time to time, with the
concurrence of His Highness the Mahdraja, prescribe
limits of travel beyond which no one will be allowed
to go unless supplied with a special pass obtained from
the Resident.

XI. — Rules may, from time to time, be made by the
Resident, with the concurrence of His Highness the
Mahdraja, regarding the routes for entering, leaving and
travelling in Kashmfr, the rates to be paid for coolies,
transport, supplies and other minor matters.

Xn. — The Resident in Kashmfr is authorised to require
any persons subject to these rules, who breaks any of
them, to leave the territories of His Highness the
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmfr. If any such requi-
sition on the part of the Resident is not at once complied
with, the matter will be reported by him for the orders of
the Governor-General in Council.

Form A.
Pass No. of 189 .

of is permitted to travel ) in the territories of

or reside J His Highness the
Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmfr from the to the

189 , subject to the conditions noted on the back of
this pass.

This pass may be cancelled or withdrawn at any time,
and it requires renewal at the end of the period for which
it is current.

Endorsement on Reverse of Pass.

I agree to conform to the rules prescribed by the
Government of India for observance by Europeans,
Americans and Australians in the territories of His

508

RULES FOR VISITORS

Highness the Mahdrdja of Jammu and Kashmfr. I will
return this pass to the Office of the Resident in Kashmfr
at the end of the period for which it is current.

General Rules.

1. All visitors to Srinagar are requested to communi-
cate their names and dates of arrival to the Durbdr official
deputed to attend on Europen visitors. The official for
the time being is Rdi Sahib Amar Ndth.

2. Visitors are advised, in their own interests, to
procure such Kashmiri servants as they may require,
specially boatmen and shikaris, through Rdi Sahib Amar
Nath and not through local bankers.

3. Visitors to Srinagar are not permitted to encamp
in the Dilawar Khan Bagh situated within the city, nor
in the Nishat, Shalimar or Chashmah Shihi Gardens on the
Dal Lake. The fixed camping-places are the Munshi,
Hari Singh, Ram Munshi and Chinar Baghs at Srinagar,
and the Nasi'm Bagh on the Dal Lake. Visitors are also
informed that the plot of ground at Sumbal, known as the
" Nandi Keshwar Bhairava," should not be used for
camping purposes.

4. Visitors wishing to visit the Fort or Palace at
Srinagar are required to give at least one full day's notice
of their intention to the Rai Sdhib deputed to attend on
European visitors.

5. Cows and bullocks are, under no circumstances, to
be slain in the territories of His Highness the Maharaja,
and visitors are requested to take precautions that their
dogs do not worry these animals.

6. Visitors about to proceed into the interior and
wishing to be supplied with carriage are requested to
communicate with the Rai Sahib at least 30 hours before
the time fixed for their departure. Failing this notice the
Rai Sdhib cannot be responsible for the supply of carriage
in proper time.

509

BULLET AND SHOT

7. Travellers in the interior should not encamp within
villages. They are advised to encamp only at the ordinary
stages and camping -grounds, supplies are not usually
available in any other place.

8. Persons going on shooting excursions are required
to take carriage and supplies with them. They may
not demand them in places where no provision is made
for supplying them, and they are forbidden to press into
their service the people of the country as beaters for
game.

9. Visitors to the Skardu District are informed that
the route, via the Deosai plains, from Skardu to Bandi-
pore, is reserved, and passes to use the same will only
be issued to a few visitors by the Kashmir Durbar through
the Residency and under the conditions that those, to
whom such passes are given, will be prepared to pay
double the rates for carriage and coolie transport now
in force on that route in cases in which it is necessary
to make local arrangements for transport and supplies.
Visitors are also informed that when visiting the Skardu
District they should make their own arrangements for
transport, as the local officials of the Kashmir Durbar
will not be bound to meet their requisitions for transport.

9 {a). Visitors are also informed that no supplies,
except wood and grass, are obtainable, nor should they
be requisitioned at the village of Tolti in the Skardu
District on the Dras-Skardu route.

10. Visitors are not permitted to shoot in the tract

of country extending along the Lake from the Takht-i-

Suliman to the Shdlimdr Gardens or anywhere in the

hills between the Sind and Lidar Rivers, or in the Wangat

„ _ „ , . „ ^, . . Valley, or any nullah thereof,

Dopatta Kukiawala, Machipura, ; ' ■' r tt-

Danuchikar, Uri, Banyar and in all whlch are preserves of HlS

the territory of the Raja of Khar- Highness the Mahdraj a. Shoot-
mong in Baltistan without the j^g q^ the tracts marginally
permission of the Rdia. ^ 1 1 • 1 • ^ .

■^ noted,which are private property,

is also prohibited ; and no one should shoot anywhere in

510

RULES FOR VISITORS

Jammu territory without a parwdna obtained from the
Durbdr through the Resident.

The attention of sportsmen is invited to notifications
issued by the State Council for the preservation of game
in Kashmfr, published at pages 7 to 9 of this -pamphlet.

11. Visitors are prohibited from shooting heron in
Kashmir.

12. Fishing is prohibited at the places marginally

Martund, Verinag, Anantnag, noted, as also between the ISt

Devi Khirbhowani. and 3rd bridge in Srinagar

and in the Jammu Province, unless a parwdna has
been previously obtained from the Durbdr through the
Resident.

13. Visitors are not allowed to encamp in the gardens
and pavilion at Achhabal, which are the private property
of His Highness the Maharaja, nor are their servants
allowed to make cooking-places there.

14. When the Dal gate is closed no attempt should be
made to remove the barrier or to lift boats over the bund
to or from the Lake.

15. Application for houses or for quarters in the
Barracks at Srinagar should be made to the State
Engineer, Kashmir Durbdr, Srinagar.

16. A visitor may not sub-let his house or quarters,
and no visitor may rent more than one set of quarters
except with special permission.

17. Rent must be paid on demand, or in advance
when required, to the State Engineer, Kashmir Durbdr.

18. When attending evening entertainments given
by His Highness the Mahardja in honour of Her
Majesty the Queen- Empress, Military Officers should
appear in Mess uniform.

19. Visitors are particularly requested to be careful that
their servants do not import into the valley articles for
sale, on which duty is leviable. The baggage of visitors

5"

BULLET AND SHOT

is not examined by the Mahardja's Customs officials, and,
in return for this courtesy, it is expected that any evasion
of the Customs Regulations will be discountenanced.

Subject to this provision, and with effect from nth
April, 1897, Customs duty according to the tariff in force
in the State will be charged on all goods imported by both
visitors to, and residents in, Kashmir.

20. Servants of visitors found in the city after dark,
and any servant found without a light after the evening
gun has fired, will be liable to be apprehended by the
Police.

21. Servants of visitors found resorting for pur-
poses of nature to places other than the fixed latrines
are liable to punishment.

22. Grass-cutters are prohibited from cutting grass
in, or in the neighbourhood of, the gardens occupied by
European visitors.

23. All persons are required to settle all accounts
before they leave Kashmir, and are responsible that
the debts of their servants are similarly discharged.

24. Complaints of the nature of civil suits against
subjects of His Highness the Mahdrdja can only be taken
cognizance of by the State Courts, and against all British
Indian subjects who are visitors to Kashmir, by the Court
of the Assistant Resident on payment of the usual
Court fees.

25. Visitors are reminded that the forests in the
Jammu and Kashmfr State are in charge of the State
Forest Department, and that no trees may be felled
without permission and payment of the price.

Application for trees and for permission to cut them
should be made to the Conservator of Forests, Srinagar, or
to the nearest Forester.

26. A dairy has been established, under State super-
vision, behind Doctor Neve's Hospital. Milk can be
obtained there twice a day at the rates in the "Nirakh-

512

GAME LAWS OF JAMMU, &c.

namah," which is posted at the Library, or is obtainable
from Rdi S^hib Amar Nath, the Durbcir Official deputed
to attend on visitors.

Visitors should send their own cans for milk, and they
are reminded that the Kashmfri seer is less by about two
chittacks than the Indian seer.

27. Visitors to Gulmarg are requested to kindly warn
their grass-cutters not to encroach on the cultivated parts
of villages.

Grass can always be cut from the Tangmarg.

28. The attention of visitors is called to the special
notices printed at pages 25 to 31.

jAMMU.

29. Visitors to Jammu are informed that permission to
visit the town and to occupy rooms in the State Travellers'
Bungalow must be obtained from the Assistant Resident
in Kashmir, who will issue passes to approved persons on
receipt of application.

This rule does not apply to officers of Her Majesty's
service in Civil and Military employment.

30. These rules will be revised and new rules added
from time to time as circumstances may require. Any
doubt as to the meaning of any rule will be decided by
the Resident.

Notification, No. 232, dated 21st April, 1896.
Game Laws of Jammu and Kashmir State.

The following rules for the preservation of game are
published for general information : —

I. Driving game with men and dogs in Kashmfr,
including Gilgit, Ladakh and Skardu, is prohibited, except
in the case of bears, leopards and pigs, driving and beating
for which is allowed between 15th May and 15th October,
but not at other times of the year. The destruction of all
2 L 5»3

BULLET AND SHOT

females of the following animals : Barasingha, Ovis
Ammon, Yak, Shahpoo, (Oorial) or Burhel, Markhor, Ibex,
Tibetan Antelope, Tibetan Ravine Deer, and Serow, is
absolutely prohibited in Kashmir. No Musk Deer, either
male or female, are to be shot or taken.

2. The sale in Kashmir of the horns and skins of any
of the animals mentioned in Rule i , excepting the skins of
bears and leopards, is prohibited.

3. The breeding season of pheasant, chikor, and
partridge extends from 15th March to 15th September,
inclusive, in each year.

During the breeding season, as above defined, the shoot-
ing of any of the birds above-mentioned, their destruction
by nets or in any other fashion, or the taking of their
eggs, is absolutely prohibited. During the breeding
season no person shall sell in Kashmir any such bird
recently killed or taken.

4. During the shooting season, i.e., from the i6th
September to 14th March, the netting, trapping and
ensnaring of the above-mentioned birds is also prohibited.

5. Whoever intentionally commits a breach of rules
I and 2 shall be punished on first conviction by a fine not
exceeding Rs. 25, or with imprisonment for a term not
exceeding one month, or both ; and on second conviction,
by a fine not exceeding Rs. 100, or with imprisonment not
exceeding four months, or both, together with forfeiture of
the guns or other weapons and dogs of the offender to
the State, and if the offender is a shikari, with forfeiture of
licence for one year ; provided, that when the offender is a
European, or a servant of the European, the case shall be
immediately reported to the Resident for disposal in such
manner as he may think fit.

6. Subject to the same proviso any person convicted of
a breach of rules 3 and 4 shall be punished by a fine not
exceeding in each case Rs. 25.

514

GAME LAWS FOR LADAKH, &c.

7. His Highness the Maharaja may, by order in
-writing, relax any or all of the foregoing rules in favour
of any person.

Amar Singh, Raja,

Vice-President of the Jammu and Kashmir
Countersigned — State Council.

A. C. Talbot,

Resident in Kashmir.

■Game Laws for Ladakh, Skardu and Baltistan.

It has been observed that the coolies and shikari's of
Kashmfr engaged by European visitors and taken up
to Skardu and Ladakh, often use violence to the people
and create trouble by non-payment for the supplies and
carriage obtained from the villagers. In the hope of
preventing complaints arising from this cause, the follow-
ing rules have been framed and passed by the State
Council : —

I. — The local officers shall open a register of all shikarfs
residing in Ladakh who are known to be competent and
willing to accompany visitors in search of game. Many
excellent men are to be found among the Ladakhis, and
gentlemen desirous of shooting in Ladakh are advised,
if possible, to employ Ladakhi shikdri's, in place of men
from Kashmfr.

II. — To facilitate the engagement of Ladakhi shikaris
copies of the register referred to in rule I. will be
supplied to, and circulated among, visitors in Srinagar
by Rdi Sihib Amar Nath, who will be able to give the
necessary information as to where, and how, any shikari
selected for employment can be engaged.

Ill, — Officers who, nevertheless, wish to employ Kashmiri
shikdrfs in Ladakh should, before starting, register, with
the Assistant Resident in Kashmir, Srinagar, the name
of their shikirf and of his chota shikari, stating also the
shikdrfs' fathers' names, residence and the district, and,

515

BULLET AND SHOT

if possible, the nullah in which it is proposed to shoot.
This information is necessary in order that the names of
Kashmiri shikdrfs, going to Ladakh, may be known and
notice taken of misconduct.

IV. — Copies of the register kept by the Assistant
Resident in Kashmir under rule III. will be sent to
the Assistant Resident for Leh and to the Governor in
Kashmir, and, in the event of any misconduct being
proved against any shikari permitted to go to Ladakh,
his name will be noted and permission to go to Ladakh
in future will be withheld.

V. — In order to prevent inconvenience to officers wishing
to travel to Ladakh direct from Baramula, the information
required by rule III. may be given to the Assistant
Resident by letter, or shikaris who have been actually
engaged beforehand, by officers in India, may themselves
register their names with the Assistant Resident in
Srfnagar before joining their employers. It should be
clearly understood that any Kashmiri shikari employed
in Ladakh, whose name has not been registered, will be
liable to the punishment mentioned in rule IV.

Kashmir Residency : I (Sd.) H. S. Barnes,

Dated Sidlkof, the loth March, 1895. i Resident in Kashmir.

Public Works Department.

JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE.

Rules for Rental of Huts at Gulmarg, sanctioned by the State
Council, under Resolution No. 22, dated Zth October, 1896.

The huts in Schedule A are available for rental on the
following conditions': —

I. No hut will be allotted until the full season's rent
has been deposited with the State Engineer, and priority
of deposits shall constitute priority of claim to allotment.

516

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

2. Such deposit will be refunded in event of failure to
occupy, subject to the following deductions : —

A deduction of Rs. lo, if notification of relinquish-
ment is given before 1st April.

A deduction of Rs. 20, if such notice is given after
1st April and before ist June.

One-half the deposit will be forfeited, if such notice is
not given until after ist June.

3. Tenants may dispose of their right of occupancy for
any period of a season for which they shall have paid
the full rent in advance, provided that, in each case, the
terms of the arrangement shall be clearly defined in a
written agreement (signed by both .parties thereto), and
that a copy thereof shall be filed in the office of the State
Engineer for record and for reference of the Resident in
case of disputes arising.

4. It is to be clearly understood that the foregoing rule
is framed solely for the convenience of tenants who may
be unable to occupy their premises after allotment for part
or whole of the season ; it is not intended to permit of the
acquirement and sub-letting of the huts for purposes of
profit which is prohibited.

5. The payment of rent as fixed will entitle the tenant
to the use of the premises as detailed in the Schedule,
in a state of reasonable and water-tight repair, but the
tenant will be liable for all breakages which may occur
during his tenancy.

6. Any tenant wishing to add to the accommodation
of his holding may do so, with the previous sanction of
the State Engineer, at his own cost, and on the under-
standing that such additions become the absolute property
of the State.

7. Any tenant adding to his holding under the fore-
going rule shall have the right to occupy the same without
enhancement of rent for as many consecutive seasons as he

517

BULLET AND SHOT

wishes, provided that he shall pay the full season's rent in
advance on demand.

The huts in Schedule B are available for allotment on
the following conditions : —

8. No hut will be allotted until the nominal ground-
rental of Rs. 20 for the season has been deposited with the
State Engineer.

9. Tenants may occupy and add in any way they choose
to the existing premises subject to the provisions of rules
3, 4, 6 and 7, but the State will be in no way responsible
for repairs or up-keep.

10. Any person wishing to build on a new site may
do so free of charge for the first year, provided that the
Resident's approval of the site has been first obtained, and
also provided that, after the first year, the premises shall
become subject to rules 8 and 9.

11. Tenants (Schedule A) asking P. W. D. to make
additions or changes, or tenants (Schedule B) asking for
repairs to their huts, will be charged 10 per cent com-
mission on the amount of expenditure.

(Sd.) M. Nethersole, C.E., State Engineer,
Jammu and Kashmir State.

(Sd.) Amar Singh, Raja,

Vice-President of State Council.

Schedule A. — Gulmarg Huts for Rental.

Hut No. I. — A new four- roomed hut, two bath-rooms,
one small godown, no pantry, stone nogging walls, shingle
roof, one kitchen, four servants' quarters, six stables,
plank walls, and plank and shingle roof: rent Rs. 130
per season.

Hut No. 3. — A new eight-roomed hut, four bath-rooms,
one store-room and one pantry, stone nogging walls,
shingle roof with one kitchen, three stables and three
servants' quarters, all shingled : rent Rs. 200 per season.

518

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

Hut No. 4. — New, three rooms, two bath-rooms, one
pantry, plank wall, shingle roof, kitchen, servants' quarters
three, stables three, verandah in front of stables, plank wall
and shingle roof: rent Rs. 130 per season.

Hut No. 5. — New, same as hut No, 4: rent Rs. 130 per
season.

Hut No. y. — New, four rooms, three bath-rooms, one
pantry, one kitchen, plank walls, shingle roof, six servants'
quarters, plank wall, shingle roof, stables five, old
pacherbandi wall, mud roof, two old pacherbandi servants'
quarters : rent Rs. 1 30 per season.

Hut No. 8. — Dining-room and drawing-room, mud roof,
four large bedrooms, shingle roof, four bath-rooms, pantry
and three godowns, six servants' houses, eight stables: rent
Rs. 270 per season.

Hut No. 10. — New, three rooms, two bath-rooms, one
pantry, nogging walls, shingle roof, with one new hut
close by, with one room, one bath-room, plank wall,
shingle roof, one new kitchen, four new servants' quarters,
weather-boarded walls and shingle roofs, four stables
pacherbandi walls and shingle roof: rent Rs. 130 per
season.

Hut No. 22 A. — New, four rooms, two bath-rooms, no
pantry, weather-boarded walls and shingle roof, three
servants' houses, shingle roof: rent Rs. 80 per season.

Hut No. 22B. — Old, three rooms, two bath-rooms,
pacherbandi walls, mud roof, one new hut close by,
three rooms, two bath-rooms, weather-boarded walls,
shingle roof; one kitchen with the old hut, four weather-
boarded servants' quarters, new shingle roof: rent Rs. 130
per season.

Hut No. 25. — New, four rooms, two bath-rooms, one
pantry, nogging wall, shingle roof, one kitchen, new, and
four servants' quarters, weather-boarded, shingle roof: rent
Rs. 130 per season.

519

BULLET AND SHOT

Hut No. 35. — New, four rooms, two bath-rooms, one
pantry, nogging walls, shingle roof, four new servants'
quarters, shingle roof, one kitchen old, pacherbandi walls,
mud roof, weather-boarded, no stables: rent Rs. 130 per
season.

Hut No. 36. — New, two rooms, one bath-room, verandah
converted into a room, nogging wall, shingle roof, one new
kitchen, four servants' quarters, weather-boarded, shingle
roof: rent Rs. 70 per season.

Hut No. 24. — New hut, plank walls, shingle roof, three
living rooms, two small dressing-rooms, four bath-rooms,
pantry and store-rooms, one kitchen, three servants'
quarters, three stables, all shingled : rent Rs. 160 per
season.

Schedule B. — Old huts for allotment on payment of
ground-rent Rs. 20 per season.

Hut No. 23. — Old, three rooms, two bath-rooms, one
pantry, pacherbandi wall, mud roof, one new kitchen,
four new servants' quarters, weather-boarded, one stable.

Hut No. 26. — Old, one room new, with pacherbandi
walls, shingle roof, two rooms old, pacherbandi walls,
mud roof, two bath-rooms, one pantry, one kitchen, three
servants' quarters, pacherbandi walls, plank roof, sheds for
stables.

Hut No. 27. — Old, three rooms, two bath - rooms,
pacherbandi walls, mud roof, one kitchen, three servants'
quarters.

Hut No. 30. — Old, four rooms, three bath - rooms,
pacherbandi walls, mud roof, two kitchens, five servants'
quarters, two stables.

Hut No. 31. — Old, two rooms, one bath-room, pacher-
bandi walls, mud roof, one kitchen, three servants' quarters,
old pacherbandi wall, mud roof.

Hut No. 34. — Old, three rooms, three bath-rooms, one
pantry, pacherbandi wall, mud roof, one new kitchen,

520

LIMITS OF TRAVEL— ROUTES

four servants' quarters, weather-boarded, three old stables,
and four servants' quarters, pacherbandi walls, mud roof.

Huts Nos. 2)7 (tnd 38. — Old, each with two rooms, one
bath-room, mud roof, no servants' quarters, only two
kitchens, four old stables, pacherbandi wall, mud roof.

Hut No. 39. — Old, two rooms, one bath-room, one
pantry, pacherbandi walls, mud roof, very old, one new
kitchen and one new servants' quarter, weather-boarded.

Hut No. 40. — Three old rooms, with one new kitchen,
three servants' quarters.

Limits of Travel.

Gurais has been fixed as the limit of travel in the Gilgit
direction, and the frontier of His Highness' territories in
the Ladakh direction. No visitor will be permitted to
cross any frontier of Kashmir territory except when con-
tiguous with British India, without a special permit from
the Government of India.

Routes.

The following routes for entering and

leaving Kashmir

are open to the public

: —

I. Vid Rawalpindi,

Murree, Kohdla and Bdramula.

The stages are as follows : —

Name of

Distance in

No.

Stage.

Miles.

—

Rawalpindi

—

British j ^
territory. ' ^

Murree .
Phagwari .
Kohdla .

37
H
13

^ 6

Dulai

II

7

Domel

10

8

Garhi

14

Kashmir ^
territory.

9

10

Hattidn .
Chakoti .

9
"1

II

Uri

n\

12

Rampore .

^z\

13

Baramula

nh

I 14

Srinagar .

33

Total

521

195

BULLET AND SHOT

There is a Dak Bungalow at every stage in Kashmir
territory, except Hattidn. From Baramuia to Srinagar
the journey can be performed by boat if desired. The
tonga road is, however, now open, and tongas can be
procured from Messrs. Dhanjibhoy and Son for the entire
journey from Rawalpindi to Srfnagar. A Dik Bungalow
has been opened at Srfnagar.

2. Vid Abbottabad, Domel, and Bdramula.

Name of

Distance in

No.

Stage.

Miles.

I

Abbottabad .

—

2

Mansahra

. i6

3

Ghari Habibulla

. i8

4

Domel ) See route I
Srinagar ) (i) j

• "3

12

Total

147

There is a Dak Bungalow at Abbottabad, Mdnsahra
and Ghari Hab{bulla. As far as Ghari Habfbulla there
is a fair cart road, and between Ghari Habibulla and
Domel a fair pony track.

3. Vid Bhimber, Rajauri and the Pfr Panjal Range.

No.

Name of
Stage.

Distance in
Miles.

3
4

Gujrat .
Bhimber
Sarai Siabadad .

2^
14

5

Nowshera

12

6

Changas Sarai .

14

Kashmir
territory, y

7
8

Rajauri (Rampore)
Th^na Mandi .

14
14

9

10

Bahramigulla
Poshidna

10
10

II

Aliabad Sarai

II

12

13
14

Hirpur .
Shapiyan
Ramu .

12

8

12

Ws

Srinagar

18

Total

• i77i

52:

TARIFF OF BOAT HIRE IN KASHMIR

4. Vid Bhimber, Punch, and over the Hdji Pfr Pass
to Uri.

Name of Distance in

Stage. Miles.

Bhimber J See route \ . .68

Thani Mandi 1 (3)
Suran
r Punch

No.

I
6

7
8

9
10
II

12

Kahiita
Aliabad
Haiderabad
.Uri { See route \

Srinagar \ (i) )

Total

5. Vid KotH, Punch, Uri, and Baramula.

i6

14
12

9

Name of

No.

Stage.

I

Bhimber

2

Shaidabad

3

Dharmsal

4

Koh-i-ruti

5

Dhuna

6

Kotli .

7

Sehra

8

Punch

9

Srinagar

14

_65
206

Distance in
Miles.

15
18

7i
7i
6

12

10
108

Total

184

In ordinary seasons Route (3) is impracticable till May,
and is closed by snow in November. Route (5) is usually
open in April, but it is difficult and is not recommended.
On Routes (3), (4) and (5) the Rest-houses are not kept
up, and the supply of ponies and coolies is very limited,
and can in no way be guaranteed. The distances in miles
are approximate.

Tariff of Boat Hire in Kashmir.
I. Boats hired by the month —

{a) Living Boat (Dunga) with crew consisting of at
least four persons, Rs. 20.
523

BULLET AND SHOT

(J?) Kitchen Boat (Dunga) with crew consisting of at
least three persons, Rs. 15.

(c) Third-class Boats (small Dunga) with crew con-
sisting of at least two persons, Rs. lo.

{d) Small boat (Shikara) for boat only, Re. i. For
each member of the crew of the same, Rs. 4 a
month in Srinagar.

Note. — Women and children over twelve years of age are counted as
members of the crew in the cases of (a), {b) and (c).

The boats belonging to classes {a), {b) and {c) are
marked with a brand L. B., K. B. and 3rd class,
respectively.

2. Wages for extra boatmen employed are annas 4 for
each man per diem.

3. In addition to the rates given above, rasad at the rate
of Re. I per head per mensem, can be claimed by every
member of the crew when the boats on which they are
employed are taken out of Srinagar.

4. Boat-hire by distance —
(?.) — For each member of the crew :-

Boats of class

Rs.

{a)
a.

P-

Rs. a.

P-

From Baramula to Srinagar

0

10

0

0 8

0

„ Srinagar „ Baramula .
„ „ „ Islamabad .

0
0

8
10

0
0

0 6
0 8

0
0

„ „ „ Avantipore .
„ Islamabad ,, Srinagar
„ Avantipore,, Srinagar

0
0
0

6
8
5

0
0
0

0 5
0 6
0 4

0
0
0

(k.) — For the trip, crew to consist of the minimum laid
down in para. ( i ) : —

Rs. a. p. Rs. a. p.

From Srinagar to Ganderbal , . 140. 120

„ „ „ Awatkala . . 320. 300

„ „ „ Bandipore . . 200. i 12 o

5. When boats are ordered from Srinagar to meet a
visitor at any place, half hire of the boat from Srinagar

524

TARIFF OF HIRE OF COOLIES, &c.

to that place is payable in addition to the fare due for the
journey to the place where the visitor is proceeding.

6. When a boat is not used on the date for which it is
ordered, the following rates for each day during which the
boat is detained and not used, are payable for detention : —

Rs. a. p.
Class (a) . . .0100 per diem,

„ (<5) . ..080,,

„ (c) . . .060,,

7. Visitors requiring boats and extra boatmen at
Srfnagar must apply to R^i S^hib Amar N^th, giving
30 hours' notice for the former and 48 for the latter ;
and when extra boatmen are required at Sopor to cross
the Wular Lake on the journey from Baramula to
Srfnagar, at least 24 hours' notice must be given to the
Tahsflddr at Sopor.

8. Extra boatmen can only be supplied at the following
places on the river, viz.: — Baramula, Sopor, Hajan, Srfnagar
and Khanabal (Islamabad). They are not procurable at
Sumbal, Shadipur, Pimpur or Avantipore, the inhabitants
of which places are not boatmen by profession but zamfn-
d^rs. In every case at least 24 hours' notice must be given
to the Civil authorities for their supply.

9. Visitors are particularly requested to satisfy them-
selves that the wages of any extra boatmen supplied to
them have been properly paid before they are dismissed.

It is also requested that they will be careful to see that
firewood, milk and other supplies along the river are
regularly paid for by their servants and boatmen.

Tariff of Hire of Coolies, Ponies, etc.

I. In all localities in the territories of His Highness the
Mahdrdja of Jammu and Kashmir the standard rate shall be
paid for the hire of coolies, etc., except where otherwise
specially provided.

525

BULLET AND SHOT

2. The standard rate in the said
Hows ■

territories is

For a

Rs.

coolie carrying the established

a.

P-

load of 25 s^rs or less . . 0

4

0 per stage

it

coolie carrying a load in excess
of 25 sdrs, but not exceeding
one maund . . . 0

6

0 »

kahar . . . . 0
riding pony with English pattern
saddle and bridle . .1

7
0

0 »
0 »

»

baggage and servants' pony or
mule . . . . 0

8

0 »

>>

bullocks . . • . 0

8

0 „

as

The load of a baggage pony or mule is 80 s6rs ; of a
j/ak or bullock 60 s6rs. Travellers must provide, at their
own cost, all ropes required for securing their baggage.

3. The following rates are prescribed for the under-
mentioned marches, in supersession of the standard rate : —

The Ladakh Road.

All visitors to Laddkh are required to enter their names,
destination and permanent address in the Visitors' List.
The rates for the different marches are as follows : —

Coolies.

Ponies

annas.

annas.

Srlnagar to Ganderbal, or vice versa .

4

8

Ganderbal to Kangan „

4

8

Kangan to Goond „

4

8

Goond to Sonamarg „

4

8

Sonamarg to Baltal „

4

8

Baltal to Matiun „

6

12

Matiun to Dras „

4

8

Dras to Tashgam „

4

8

Tashgam to Kargil „

6

12

Kargil to Shergol „

6

12

Shergol to Kharbu „

6

12

Kharbu to Lamayuru „

4

8

Lamayuru to Nurla „

6

12

Nurla to Saspul „

4

8

Saspul to Nimo „

4

8

Nimo to Phiang or Spitak „

4

8

Phiang or Spitak to Leh „

2

4

526

TARIFF OF HIRE OF COOLIES, &c.

The above rates are not applicable when the Passes are
closed by snow.

Sportsmen and others wishing to cross the Zojila Pass
before the ist of May will be required to obtain 3.parwdna
from the Assistant Resident for Leh, who resides at
Srfnagar, or, in his absence, from the Governor of Kash-
mir, and who will make the necessary arrangements for
transport, etc.

The rates to be paid to coolies between Goond and Dras
will be entered on the back of the parwdna in English and
vernacular, and will vary according to the season. The
maximum being limited to Rs. 5 per coolie.

Sportsmen will not be allowed to cross the Pass more
than two at a time and at fixed intervals according to
priority of application at Sri'nagar.

Supplies and transport are obtainable at all the regular
stages above, except Matayun, where nothing can be
demanded ; travellers halting at stages other than those
above must take their chance about supplies and not ask
to change transport.

Notices to this effect will be found along the whole
line.

At Leh there is a furnished Dak Bungalow, and all
information about the districts beyond Leh is obtainable
through the Wazi'r of Ladak and from the notices in the
Bungalow.

II.— The Bhimber Route.

From Bhimber to Uri, 6 annas each coolie and 8 annas
■each kahdr per stage.

From Bhimber to Shapiyan, 6 annas each coolie and
8 annas each kahar per stage.

The rest-houses on this route are not kept up and the
supply of coolies is limited, and cannot be guaranteed.

527

BULLET AND SHOT

III. — The Jhelum Valley Cart Road.

1. Any traveller may bring his own transport, and is
entitled to buy supplies at any Dik Bungalow at the
prescribed rates on this road.

2. The Durbar cannot guarantee the supply of riding
ponies, baggage animals, or coolies along any portion of
the road opened to wheeled traffic.

528

BRIEF NOTES ON TRAVELLING IN
CASHMERE.

{Condensed from Official Handbook.)
MURREE SECTION.

FROM RAWALPINDI TO MURREE AND VICE VERSA.

The cost of a single journey by mail tonga of the Imperial
Carrying Company is eight, that of a return journey
twelve, of a family tonga taking three adults and two
children thirty, and of an express tonga (three passengers)
twenty- four rupees respectively. A bullock train cart
costs sixteen rupees, and parcels are conveyed at rates
varying from one to four rupees per maund (of eighty-two
pounds) or less in the case of lighter parcels.

CASHMERE (KASHMIR) SECTION.

FROM MURREE TO SRINAGAR AND VICE VERSA.

The same Company offers tonga carriage for passengers
between Murree and Baramula at the following rates : —

Single journey by mail tonga, thirty, special tonga (three
passengers) ninety, and family tonga (three adults and
two children) one hundred and twenty rupees respectively;
and between Murree and Srinagar the cost is, single
journey thirty-seven, special tonga one hundred and ten,
family tonga (if available) one hundred and forty-five
rupees. In all the above quotations, toll, which must be
paid by the passengers, is not included.

Bullock train carts from Murree to Bdramula cost fifty,
and from the former to Srinagar sixty rupees each,
'2 M 529

BULLET AND SHOT

luggage not requiring a special cart being carried at
fixed rates.

Tongas, except those carrying -the mails, may run only
by daylight, and each tonga may carry but one maund
and a half of luggage, the allowance in the case of a
family tonga being reduced to one maund only. The
free allowance of luggage for each seat in the mail tonga
is twelve seers.

The time occupied respectively in making each of these
journeys by tonga is as follows : —

Between Rawalpindi and Murree ... 6 hours.
„ Murree and Baramula, inclusive

of two nights' halt ... ... 48 „

„ Baramula and Srinagar ... ... 6 „

Heavy packages for Cashmere should be sent at least
ten days in advance, to ensure their reaching destination
before the arrival of the travellers.

(An English sovereign may be roughly calculated as
equivalent to fifteen rupees, though the value of the latter
varies slightly.)

NOTICE. {Verbatim.)

The Kashmir Durbar having introduced a Civil Trans-
port Corps to assist in the requirements of travellers
between Srinagar and Gulmarg, and Gulmarg and Bdra-
mula, the following rules (sanctioned by the Kashmir State
Council under Resolution No. 9, dated 2nd June, 1894, and
approved of by the Resident in Kashmir), regulating the
employment of this transport, are published for information
of the public : —

1. The Transport Corps will only work from the 15th
April to the 1 5 th October of each year.

2. Transport can only be obtained at Srinagar, Gulmarg
and Bdramula.

3. Requisitions for transport at Srfnagar should be
addressed to Rdi Sahib Amar Ndth, but at Gulmarg and
Baramula to the Transport Agent.

530

TRAVELLING IN CASHMERE

4. Requisitions for transport must be delivered to the
Rai Sahib or the Transport Agents, as the case may be,
at least 30 hours before the transport is required.

5. Applications for transport will be booked according
to priority of receipt. In the event of all the coolies and
ponies at a stage being already engaged for the day, any
further requisitions for transport on that day will be
returned with an intimation to that effect.

6. Persons must avail themselves of the transport for
which they have indented on the day and at the time
mentioned in their requisitions, otherwise their requisitions
will be considered cancelled, and they will be liable to pay
half rates for the transport entered in their requisitions.

7. A voucher in duplicate will invariably be furnished
when the transport is supplied. Travellers are requested
to sign one voucher as an acknowledgment of the receipt
of transport entered therein and return it to the Transport
Officer by whom it is presented, the duplicate copy should
be kept in case of any cause for complaint arising.

8. The rates for hire of transport under these rules are : —

Rs. a. p.

For each coolie ...040

„ „ kahar ... ... ... o 7 o

„ a baggage pony ... ... o 12 o

„ a riding pony with English saddle 100

These rates are for each full stage or distance less than
a full stage.

9. Each coolie will carry a load of 25 s^rs and each pony
one of two maunds.

These are the maximum weights and must not be ex-
ceeded.

10. On arrival at their destination (or at Magam, in
the case of a journey between Gulmarg and Srinagar)
travellers are requested to dismiss the transport engaged
by them with the least practicable delay.

11. The journeys between Srinagar and Gulmarg, and
Baramula to Gulmarg, and vice versa, as also from Gul-

531

BULLET AND SHOT

marg to Palhalan (in cases when the transport is taken
from Gulmarg to that place) will be charged as two full
stages. In the case of the former journey, transport
must be changed at Magam, in the cases of the two latter
journeys, coolies will not be changed on the road.

12. In cases when a halt is made during any journey
half rates only will be charged in respect of each day that
such halt may last.

13. In all cases baggage will only be carried at the
owner's risk. All possible precaution will, however, be
taken to guard against damage and loss, and assistance
will be given in investigating circumstances under which
damage or loss may have occurred.

14. All complaints against the transport staff should
be made to Rai Sahib Amar Ndth at Srinagar.

15. Employers of transport are, in no case, to take the
law into their own hands by attempting to deal with
causes of complaint themselves ; contravention of this
rule will be brought to the notice of the Resident in
Kashmir.

16. Visitors are reminded that, under the published
rules, payment for coolie and pony transport must be
made in advance to the Transport Agent and not to the
coolies or pony men. If payment is not made in advance
the Transport Agent has authority to refuse to supply
transport.

17. It is requested that the Transport Agent be treated
with the consideration due to officials of His Highness
the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.

(Sd.) Amar Singh, Raja,

Vice-President,
Jamtnu and Kashmir State CounciL
Approved —

(Sd.) A. C. Talbot,

Offg. Resident in Kashmir.

532

GAME RULES OF KASHMIR STATE

Jammu and Kashmir State.

Notification. {In extenso.)

The following rules for the preservation of game are
published for general information. They apply to European
and native residents and visitors, and also to State subjects
and officials : —

1. Driving game with men and dogs in Kashmir,
including Gilgit, Ladakh, Skardu and Kishtwar, is
prohibited, except in the case of Bears, Leopards and
Pigs, driving and beating for which is allowed between
15th May and 15th October, but not at other times of
the year. Between Shupyon and Baramulla on the hills
which bound the vale of Kashmir to the south, Black
Bears may be driven for from ist April to 15*^ October.
The destruction of all females of the following animals —
Barasingha, Ovis ammon, Yak, Shahpoo (Oorial), or
Burhel, Markhor, Ibex, Thibetan Antelope, Thibetan
Ravine deer and Serow — is absolutely prohibited in
Kashmir. No Musk deer, either male or female, are to
be shot or taken.

The possession by anyone of a net or nets for the
express purpose of taking birds or wild animals is hereby
declared to be illegal, except netting for hawks in Kishtwar
(Jammu Province), which is permitted as heretofore.

2. The sale in Kashmir of the horns and skins of any
of the animals mentioned in rule i, excepting the skins
of Bears and Leopards, is prohibited.

3. The breeding season of Pheasants, Chikor, Partridges
and Wild-fowl is considered to extend from icth March
to 15th September, inclusive, in each year.

During the breeding season, as above defined, the
shooting of Pheasants, Chikor, Partridges, Geese, Ducks
and Teal, their destruction by nets or in any other
fashion, or the taking of their eggs, is absolutely pro-
hibited. During the breeding season no person shall
sell in Kashmir any such bird recently killed or taken.

533

BULLET AND SHOT

4. During the shooting season, i.e.^ from i6th September
to 14th March, the netting, trapping and ensnaring of
Chikor and Pheasants is also prohibited. Wild-fowl
may be noosed by villagers in their fields, but not in
the jhils.

5. His Highness the Maharaja may, by order in writing,
relax any or all of the foregoing rules in favour of any
person.

6. Sportsmen wishing to shoot in the lands of the Raja
of Kharmang must first obtain his permission to do so.

7. The following nullahs are closed until April 15th,
1900 : —

I. — The Bow above Bandipur. The stream in this

nullah rises between Changwai and Ranga, and

flows in a south-easterly direction towards Kral-

poora, when it is joined by another stream coming

from the west.
n. — The Oor in the Liddar. This is on the right

bank of the Liddar, close to Dowhat.
HI. — The Zais Nai in the Wardwan. This joins the

Kreashnai above Furriabad, and the stream is the

western source of the Furriabad River.
IV. — The Gweo Nai in the Wardwan. This is the

nullah which joins the left bank of the Wardwan

River one march above Maru Wardwan.
V. — The Phoo, or as it is sometimes called the

Kurtsee Phoo. It joins the right bank of the

Suru River above Kargil.
VI. — The Achkor in Baltistan. This joins the right

bank of the Indus above Rondu.
VII. — The Braldah or Braldu. The river of this

nullah rises to the east of the Shigar, and is the

main source of that river.
VIII. — The Basgo in Ladakh. This is above the

village of Basgo on the Leh road.
IX. — The ravine above Saspul which is adjacent to

Basgo.

534

GAME RULES OF KASHMIR STATE

I

2

6

2

4
4
4

2
2

I

no limit.

8. Markhor shooting in the Kanjinag and Shamshibri
Mountains is prohibited until April 15th, 1901.

9. Licenses to shoot large and small game will be
granted as follows : —

I. — A license, for which the sum of Rs. 60 will be
charged, permits the holder to shoot large game
in the districts and nullahs which are open for
sport, provided he does not kill more than the
following numbers of the animals specified : —

Pir Panjal Markhor

Astor variety of Markhor

Ibex

Ovis Hodgsoni (Ammon)

„ Vignei (Sharpu) .

„ Nahura (Burhel) .
Thibetan Antelope

„ Gazelle
Kashmir Stag
Serow
Bears, Leopards, Pigs, Tehr, and Goral

This license to be in force from March 15th to
November 15 th.

II. — A license of the value of Rs. 20 will cover the
period from 15th March to 15th November, and
will permit the holder to kill Black Bears and
Leopards only.

III. — A license of the value of Rs. 20 will be issued
to cover the period from November 15th to
March 15th. It will permit the holder to kill
Tehr, Goral, Serow, Bears, Leopards, and Pigs,
and in addition two Kashmir Stags and one Pir
Panjal Markhor.

IV. — A small game license, for which Rs. 20 will
be charged, will be issued to all who wish to
kill wild-fowl, Chikor, Partridges and Pheasants
within the season. No restrictions as to number
are made, but it may hereafter be found necessary
to curtail the shooting season. Snipe and quail
shooting is open to all, free of cost.
535

BULLET AND SHOT

10. The Takszldari of Kiskiwar, mclud'mg the Wardwan
and Duchin Districts^ are under the regulations for the
preservation of game.

11. Whoever intentionally commits a breach of rules i,
2, 7, 8, and 9 (I.), (II.) and (HI.), shall be punished, on
first conviction, by a fine not exceeding Rs. 25, or with
imprisonment for a term not exceeding one month, or
both, and on second conviction by a fine not exceeding
Rs. 100, or with imprisonment not exceeding four months
or both, together with forfeiture of the guns or other
weapons and dogs of the offender to the State, and if
the offender is a Shikari, with forfeiture of license for
one year ; provided that when the offender is a European,
or the servant of a European, the case shall be immediately
reported to the Resident for disposal in such manner as he
may think fit.

12. Subject to the same proviso any person convicted of
a breach of rules 3, 4 and 9 (IV.) shall be punished by
a fine not exceeding in each case Rs. 25.

(Sd.) A. C. Talbot,

Resident in Kashmir.
(Sd.) Amar Singh,
Vice-President of the Jammu and Kashmir State Council.

Applications for licenses should be made to the Assistant
Resident in Kashmir. All other communications should
be addressed to Colonel A. E. Ward, Honorary Secretary,
Kashmir Game Laws, care of Postmaster, Srinagar.

536

INDEX

Ailments, common, Treatment

of, 431-
Ammunition, spare, Magazine

for, 83.
Antelope, The four-horned, 336.

— The Indian, 316.
in Mysore, 317.

— Scarcity of, in Mysore, 319.

— Vitality of, 322.

— How to bag, 323.

— shooting, Weapons for, 327.

— Preservation of heads of, 329.

— Localities for, in Southern
India, 330.

— Abundance of, in N.W.P., 331.

— The Thibetan, 334.

B

Ball-guns (ordinary), 456.
Bangalore District, The, 420.
Banting, or Tsine, The, in Upper

Burmah, 484.
Battery for large game shooting

in India, 466.
Bear, The brown, red, or snow,

204.

— The Himalayan black, 202.

— The Indian black sloth, 197.

Bad temper of, 198.

Methods of bagging, 199.

Best localities in Mysore

for, 201.

Belt for carrying cartridges, 83.
Bison, The Indian, 10.

— Recent record head of, 1 1.

— Proper measurement of heads
of, 12.

— Friends' adventures with, 1 7.

— Sounds emitted by, 21.

— Reputed ferocity of, in Assam,
22.

— Localities for, 23.

— shooting, 26.

Best season in Mysorefor,29.

Best weapons for, 31.

How to aim in, 34.

— Preservation of trophies of,

39, 473.

— shooting. Personal reminis-
cences of, 42.

Hints to beginners in, 68.

Boar, The wild, 343.

Boots for shooting, tj^ 80, 81.

Brow-antlered or Eld's deer, 260,

477.
Buffalo, The wild, 88.
Bullets, 463.

Bullock coach. Travelling by, 23.
Burhel, The, 310.
Bustard, The Indian, 381.

Camp cots, 79.

— furniture, 430.

— kit, 72.

537

BULLET AND SHOT

Camp medicine-chest, 431.

— servants, 435.

Wages of, 440.

Canarese language, Some useful

words of the, 424.
Carrier for luncheon, 84.
Cartridges, Belt for carrying, 83.
Cashmere (Kashmir) stag, The,

255.

— stag. Horns of, 256.
Rarity of, 257.

Col. W.'s luck with the, 258.

— Rules for visitors in, 506.

— Game laws of, 513, 533.

— Routes to and from, 521.

— Tariff of boat-hire in, 523.
coolie- and pony-hire in, 525.

— Brief notes on travelling in, 529.
Cats, wild, 360.

Cheetah, The hunting, 191.
Chills, Danger of, 78.
Chitaldroog District, 421.
Cleaning of rifles burning nitro

powders, 469.
Cloth, Basel Mission Shikar, 78.
Clothes for shooting, 78.

D
Deer, List of Indian and Hima-
layan, 244.

— Barking or Muntjac, 262.

— Brow-antlered or Eld's, 260,

479-

— Cashmere. See Stag or Cash-
mere.

— Hog, 253.

— Mouse, 265.

— Musk, 264.

— Sambur. See Sambur.

— Sikkim. See Stag or Sikkim.

— Spotted, 250.

Distribution of, 251.

Deer, Spotted, Still-hunting for,
252.

— Swamp, 254.
Distribution of Indian large

game, 3.
Dog, The wild, 350.

— The pariah, 353.
Ducks, wild, 393.

Duck shooting, 395. -

E

Elephant, The Indian, 206.
Elephants, Solitary and rogue,
208.

— Food of, 209.
Elephant, Brain of the, 210.
How to aim at the, 211.

— shooting, Weapons for, 216.
Elephants, Liability of, to charge,

219.

— Blind rushes of, 220.

— Tusks and tushes of, 222.

— Fine trophies of, 222.

— Preservation of trophies of,
225.

Elephant shooting, Episodes in,
228.

Fire protection, 406.
Florican, The Bengal, 382.
— The lesser, or leek, 383.
Forest lodges, 79.
Forests of the Bangalore Dis-
trict, The, 420.

Chitaldroog District, The,

421.

Hassan District, The, 423.

Kadur „ „ 418.

Mysore „ „ 401.

Province generally, 400.

Shimoga District, The, 422.

53«

INDEX

Fox, The Indian, 360.

— The common flying, 362.

Furniture, Camp, 430.

Game laws of Jammu and Kash-
mir (Cashmere) State, 513, 533,

— of Ladakh, Skardu, and Bal-
tistan, 515.

— of Madras Presidency and the
Neilgherry Hills, 495.

Gazelle, The Indian, Chikara, or
ravine deer, 332.

— The Thibetan, or Goa, 335.
Geese, Wild, 392.

Gooral, The, 303.

H

Hare, The black-naped, 361.
Hassan District, The, 423.
Head, Protection of the, 81,
Head shots at felidce. Danger of

firing, 124, 175.
Hills and Mountains :

Anaimalai hills, The, 23.

Ibex on, 291.

Billiga-Rungun hills. The, 19,
404.

Chamundi hill. Large panther
of, 174-

Gopalsawmy hill for bears, 201,

Himalayan mountains. The, 4.

Snow panther of, 194.

Black bear of, 202.

Red bear of, 204.

Deer of, 255, 259, 263,

264.

Ibex of, 292.

Markhor of, 299.

Tahr of, 302.

Gooral of, 303.

Serow of, 304.

Hills and Mountains :
Himalayan mountains, The,

Ovis Ammon of, 307.

Burhel of, 310.

Shahpoo of, 312.

Thibetan antelope of, 334.

gazelle of, 335.

Best months for ibex

shooting on the, 294.
Limits of travel on the,

521.
Major D.'s disastrous

start on the, 294.
Major G.'s fine bag of

ibex on, 294.
Kurdebetta hill for bears, 201.
Nilgiri hills. The (higher ranges

of, called Koondahs), 267.

Tigers on, 136.

Sambur on, 249.

Ibex of, 267.

— — Black lungoor of, 356.
Pulney hills. The, 20,

Salt range, Oorial of the, 5, 313.
Sewalik hills, Sambur on the,

249.
Sigeebetta hill for bears, 2or.
Travancore hills. Bison on the,

16, 23.
Man-eating tigers on the,

102.

— — Black panther on the, 189.

Elephants on the, 226.

Ibex on the, 291.

Black lungoor on the, 356.

Western Ghauts, 23.

Ibex on the, 291.

Portion of the, in Mysore,

418.
Hog-deer, The, 253.
Hog, The pigmy, 345.
Houbara, The, 382.
Hunting cheetah, The, 191.

539

BULLET AND SHOT

I

Ibex, The Himalayan, 292.

— The Neilgherry (Nilgiri), 267.

— The, of Asia Minor, 297.
India, Travelling to and in, 442.
Indian game, General distribu-
tion of, 3.

J
Jungle-fowl, The red, 389.

— The grey, 389.

K
Kadur, The district of, 418.
Kashmir. See Cashmere.
Kurrabas, 32, 48, 413.

Lion, The Indian, 195.
Lungoor, The Bengal, 357.

— The Neilgherry, 356.

M
Magazine for spare ammunition,

83.
Malaria, 70.
Mammalia, Skinning of the, 470.

— Preservation of skins of the,
471.

Markhor, The spiral-horned, 299.

— The straight-horned, 300.

— Difficulty of the pursuit of the,
301.

Medicine, Moore's family, for

India, 87.
Medicines, Camp, 431.
Minor forest produce in Mysore,

409,411.
Monsoons, The (in Mysore), 408.
Mosquito curtains. Necessity for,

79-
Mouse-deer, The, 265.

Musk-deer, The, 264.

Mysore, The Province of, 399.

Mysore District

of, 401.

Kadur „

„ 418.

Bangalore „

„ 420

Chitaldroog „

„ 421

Shimoga „

„ 422

Hassan „

V 423

N
Neilgherry (Nilgiri) ibex, 267.

Sport with the, 268.

How to stalk the, 290.

Haunts of the, 291.

Nilghaie, The, 334.
Nitroclene, 469.
Nuisances, 354.

O

Oorial, The, 313.

Ounce, The (orsnow panther), 194.

Ovis Amnion, The (or nyan) 307.

Panther, The, 170.

Cunning of, 172.

Sport with, 174.

— A man-eating, 182.

— shooting, Advice to beginners
in, 184.

after dark with lantern, 185.

— The black, 189.

— The clouded, 190.

— The snow (or ounce), 194.
Paradox gun. The, 455.
Partridge, The grey, 384,

— The black, 385.
Pea-fowl, The common, 386.
Pheasant, The kaleege, 386.

— The grey peacock, 387.

— The moonal, 387.

— The Indian crimson tragopan,
388.

540

INDEX

Poacher, The native, 346,
Poachers, Minor, 354.
Preservation of trophies, 470.

Quail, The common (or grey), 390.

— The rain, 391.

— The bustard, 391.

— The button, 391.

R

Reason in animals, 186.
Rhinoceros, The great Indian, 339.

— The J a van, 342.
Rifle, Sporting -303, 459.
-256, 462.

Rifles and guns. Sporting, 446.
Appurtenances of, 448.

— Express, 453.

— burning nitro powders, 457.

■ Cleaning of, 469.

Roberts, Lord, v.C, F.M., En-
couragement of shooting by, I.

Salt licks, 26.
Sambur, The, 244.

— Stalking of the, on the Koon-
dahs, 246.

— Still-hunting for, 248.
■ — leather, 249.
Sandalwood, 409.
Sand grouse. The, 384.
Serow, The, 304.
Servants, Camp, 435.

Warm clothes for, 86.

Wages of, 440.

Shapoo, The, 312.
Shimoga District, The, 422.
Sholagas, 404.
Shooting-ladder, The, 1 16.

— Col. G.'s adventure on a, 123.

Sickness, Liability of camp ser-
vants to, 85.

Sikkim stag. See Stag.

Skinning of mammalia, The, 470.

Skins of mammalia. Preservation
of the, 471.

Snipe shooting in India, 363.

Snipe, The common (or fan-tail),
366.

— The pintail, 367.

— The jack, 368.

— The painted, 369.

— How to cook, 384.

— soup, 384.

Snow bear. The brown, red, or,
204.

— panther. The (or ounce), 194.
Spotted deer. The, 250.

Distribution of, 251.

Still-hunting for, 252.

Squirrel, The Malabar, 358.

— The black hill, 359.

— The brown flying, 359.
Stag, The Cashmere, 255.
Rarity of, 257.

Col. W.'s luck with, 258.

— The Sikkim, 259.
Stockings for shooting, 77.

Sun, Necessity for caution re-
garding exposure to the, 77.
Swamp-deer, The, 254.

Tahr, The, 302.
Takin, The, 338.
Teal, The Indian, 394.

— shooting, 395.
Tents, 430.

— for the Mysore forests, 79.
Thamine (or Thamin), 260.
Thamin and their quest, 477.
Tiger, The, 97.

S4I

BULLET AND SHOT

Tigers, man-eating, Rarity of, loi.

— how driven to man-eating, 104.

— Measurement of, 106.
Tiger shooting in S. India, 109.
Head shots in, 124.

Following up wounded ani-
mals in, 125.

Death of Sir James Dormer

when, 126.

Big bags made in Deccan,

128.

Weapons for, 129.

Best localities for, 136.

Incidents in, 138.

Tiger, My pony attacked by a
(frontispiece), 165.

Timber trees of Mysore, 404, 409.

Travel, Limits of, on the Hima-
layas, 521.

Travelling by bullock coach, 23.

— Exciting episode in night-, 45.

Travelling to India, 442.

— in India, 443.

— in Cashmere, 529.
Trophies, Preservation of, 470.
Tsine, The, 95.

— The Banting or, in Upper
Burmah, 484.

W

Water, Necessity for caution in

use of, in India, 71, 79.
Weapons for bison shooting, 31.

— for tiger shooting, 129.

— for elephant shooting, 216.

— for ibex shooting, 297.

— for antelope-shooting, 327.

Yak, The, 94.

PLYMOUTH

WILLIAM BRBNDON AND SON

PRINTERS

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