CsJ 
 O 
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INCIDENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 FOREIGN SPORT AND TRAVEL 
 
/ 1 I 
 
 INCIDENTS OF FOREIGN 
 SPORT AND TRAVEL 
 
 BY 
 
 COLONEL POLLOK 
 
 AUTHOR OF "SPORT IN BRITISH BURMA," "REMINISCENCES OF AN INDIAN 
 OFFICER," "A LADY'S CAPTIVITY AMONGST THE NAGAS," ETC., ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 LONDON : CHAPMAN & HALL, LD. 
 
 1894 
 
 [All Rights Reserved] 
 
RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, 
 
 LONDON AND BUNGAY. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 THE " Incidents " related in this work have been 
 put together as a guide to the numerous class of 
 sportsmen who, year by year, go abroad in search 
 of game. Very many men lose their lives yearly, 
 simply from a superabundance of pluck ; and the 
 want of training in wild sports, which is as necessary 
 to a successful hunter as learning A B C is to a 
 youth prior to reading and writing. There is no 
 royal road to learning, nor can a man become a 
 proficient as a hunter who has not acquired the 
 knack by undergoing a great deal of toil ; for 
 experience is only learnt after years of practice. 
 
 The author may be said to have commenced his 
 novitiate before he was six years old, as he was 
 then allowed to sit in the back seat of his father's 
 howdah in charge of an orderly, and as soon as he 
 was capable of using a gun or a rifle, he graduated 
 in sport under competent guidance, and learned 
 how the ferce naturce should be followed up to the 
 bitter end with safety to himself and attendants. 
 
 513251 
 
vi Preface. 
 
 He was exceptionally lucky in being sent to a 
 province teeming with game when barely twenty- 
 one years of age, which had never been hunted 
 over. He was for twenty-one years in the best 
 sporting countries under our rule ; he had under him 
 vast districts ; his work lay in surveying, and laying 
 out roads, which enabled him to travel over virgin 
 forests and jungles ; he had numerous elephants ; he 
 was not only young, but had the constitution of a 
 buffalo, ample means, and had shooting and hunting 
 on the brain. He made the most of his oppor- 
 tunities to the best of his ability, and hopes, by 
 relating his experiences, to not only instruct the 
 young, but also to afford an hour or two's amusement 
 to far better and more successful sportsmen than 
 himself. A few of these " Incidents " have appeared 
 in the pages of the Field, Land and Water, and 
 Shooting Times, and are reproduced with the kind 
 permission of the proprietors of those journals. 
 
 March, 1894. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. TIGER SHOOTING 1 
 
 II. RHINOCEROS (ASIATIC) SHOOTING 64 
 
 III. ELEPHANT SHOOTING (ASIATIC) 85 
 
 IV. INDIAN BUFFALO SHOOTING 125 
 
 V. HOG HUNTING 179 
 
 VI. BEARS (ASIATIC) 220 
 
 VII. SAMBUR 243 
 
 VIII. PANTHERS AND LEOPARDS (ASIATIC) 278 
 
 IX. A MIXED BAG IN SOUTHERN INDIA 333 
 
 X. SPORT IN SYRIA 342 
 
 XI. MAHSEER FISHING 355 
 
 XII. IN THE AZORES 368 
 
 XIII. A WEST AFRICAN EPISODE 378 
 
 XIV. ESCAPE FROM HYDROPHOBIA 387 
 
 XV. AN EXCITING DAY'S SPORT 390 
 
 XVI. THREE YEARS WITH MURDERERS ON A SOLITARY ISLAND 399 
 
 INDEX . 423 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 1W HER THAMIN OVER HIS 
 TREATED BACKWARDS INTO THE RIVER "... Frontispiece 
 
 TO FACE PAGE 
 
 'ONE OF THEM THREW HER THAMIN OVER HIS HEAD . . . RE- 
 
 THE NOOSE OVER ITS HEAD " 114 
 
 " OUR SHIKARIES WERE UNEXPECTEDLY CHARGED BY AN ELEPHANT " 124 
 
 "THE BULL CHARGED US SO SUDDENLY THAT I HAD NOT TIME TO 
 
 RAISE THE RIFLE TO MY SHOULDER " 162 
 
 " SENT HIS OWNER OVER HIS HEAD, RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE BOAR, 
 
 WHO MADE AT HIM " 202 
 
 " ON THE BANKS OF WHICH WAS AN ENORMOUS CROCODILE " . . . 217 
 
 SPEARING BEARS IN THE DECKHAN 233 
 
 I CAME UPON FOUR LEOPARDS WATCHING A HERD OF HARTE- 
 
 BEESTS " . 332 
 
 " A TIGER BOUNDED OUT ON ONE SIDE AND WAS PROMPTLY MET BY 
 
 A BULL-BUFFALO " , . 397 
 
 " THE ELEPHANT SPUN ROUND TO BOLT, BUT THE FELINE WAS TOO 
 
 QUICK FOR HIM, AND SPRANG UPON HIS HIND QUARTERS " . . 399 
 
INCIDENTS OF 
 FOREIGN SPORT AND TRAVEL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 TIGER SHOOTING. 
 
 TIGER shooting in India is carried out in various ways. 
 
 Off Machans (raised platforms). 
 
 Out of Marts (circular pits dug in the ground). 
 
 The former can be used either for day or night 
 shooting, the latter for night work alone. 
 
 On Foot. Principally in Central, and parts of 
 Southern, India. 
 
 Off Elephants. In Bengal, Assam, Burma and 
 other parts of India where grassy plains abound. 
 
 Tigers are also killed, during inundations, out of 
 boats and also by being surrounded by nets and then 
 speared but these two sports cannot be separated 
 from such shooting or spearing as would represent 
 general shooting for, for one tiger so killed, a dozen 
 other animals will be accounted for. 
 
 I personally detest night shooting in any form, 
 and care very little for shooting even by day off 
 machans, but very often when no elephants are 
 procurable and the nature of the country prohibitive 
 
2 Intid&tt>t$ \of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 tq\ hunting on foot,, posting guns and beating up to 
 them is the only alternative. 
 
 There are men, who can boast of having killed, it 
 is asserted, five hundred tigers mostly off machans. 
 But it is an expensive mode of warfare against the 
 felines, for buffaloes have to be purchased and tied up, 
 and an army of beaters is required to drive the game 
 towards the guns, but having tried it pretty often, I 
 have come to the conclusion that it is unsatisfactory 
 and scarcely worth the cost. Very often when a 
 man is posted on a tree, a tiger passes him within 
 easy distance, yet so uncomfortable is his position 
 that he cannot turn round to get the shot. But tastes 
 differ. I do not care to pot a tiger from a coign of 
 vantage some twenty feet high, and although I have 
 done so several times, yet I always felt less pleasure 
 in thus slaying the foe than when I have followed it 
 up either on foot, or beat for it with elephants. 
 
 I will here briefly relate incidents of the various 
 modes of slaying tigers, in which I have had a share. 
 
 In my boyhood, at sixteen, I entered the service, 
 and at nineteen I commanded a detachment at 
 Condapilly. In those happy days there were no rail- 
 ways, telegraphs were unknown and the posts came 
 only every other day. I had a good " writer " and a 
 good native commissioned officer Peer Bukh. 
 Muster over, I used to sign the returns for the 
 month, frank the necessary official envelopes, direct 
 the subadar to have three parades a week, and then 
 disappear for a fortnight or more to hunt and shoot 
 the neighbouring jungles which swarmed with game. 
 I had fine sport but I need not enumerate it here. 
 
 At Condapilly itself, leopards were numerous, and 
 
Tiger Shooting. 3 
 
 tigers fairly plentiful. My bungalow was situated at 
 the foot of a range of hills, some 600 feet high, once 
 the stronghold of Mahratta chiefs, more noted as 
 freebooters than as peaceable inhabitants. A broad, 
 winding, we]l-paved road, laid out in steps, led to the 
 top, where were then, and are still, the remains of a 
 palace. The whole country was rudely fortified. Solid 
 stone walls with flanking towers extended for miles 
 around, being carried up hill and down dale, and 
 must have been the work of ages. In ancient times, 
 before ordnance was known, these defences were all 
 but impregnable ; in my day even, they would have 
 given a great deal of trouble to any enemy to carry, 
 if he were unprovided with artillery. The population 
 had disappeared with the fall of the power of the chiefs, 
 and the whole country was a wilderness, inhabited by a 
 few deer, a few tigers, many leopards and thousands 
 of lungoor and other varieties of monkey, and 
 occasionally by a few bears. You might go fifteen, 
 yea, twenty miles, without encountering an inhabitant. 
 From Condapilly, a considerable village, amounting 
 almost to a town, vast flocks of goats and sheep and 
 herds of cattle were taken daily past my house for 
 grazing purposes, and as in those good old times, when 
 the country was ruled by the Honourable the East 
 India Company, whose directors had passed the 
 greater part of their lives in India and knew how to 
 rule the natives, every village and every district had 
 its nerick, or a fixed price for every article of food 
 required either by Europeans or the people of the 
 country, there was no bargaining. The price of a 
 selected fat sheep was one rupee (two shillings) ; 
 for one taken at haphazard out of the flock twelve 
 
 B 2 
 
4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 annas, or eighteenpence. Of course I was a constant 
 purchaser and knew and was known well by every 
 herdsman, and as I rewarded them liberally for 
 " Jcubber" if an animal was killed, as happened almost 
 daily, I was sure to hear of it. Thus whenever I 
 was at Condapilly, during the moonlight nights I had 
 full occupation. 
 
 Mogul Beg, the shikarie, and I had sat up no less 
 than sixteen nights without getting a shot. It is 
 one thing to sit up, and quite another to be successful 
 in slaying the object of your quest. Tigers and 
 leopards are wary creatures, and as they lie up not 
 far from the animal they have slain so are often scared 
 away from their prey by the shikarie's talking or 
 cutting down branches in the vicinity of the " kill," 
 when they are erecting a machan. Not only do the 
 beasts of prey disappoint by not returning to their 
 victim, but when one comes, shooting by moonlight 
 is so uncertain, that oftener than not, an animal fired 
 at, is missed, or gets away more or less severely 
 wounded. 
 
 I had returned from hog-hunting with the Nugied 
 Rajah, and was reclining en deshabille, in my long 
 armed chair, when Mogul Beg appeared, and informed 
 me, that a gwala reported that a leopard had killed a 
 three-parts-grown heifer, and that if I would start at 
 once, he thought we might get a shot, for, said he, 
 ' The moon is nearly at the full, and no portion of the 
 animal has been eaten." 
 
 " Well, Mogul Beg," said I, " how often have we sat 
 up and never got a shot ? It is a long trudge to the top 
 of the range. I am very tired, for I have been riding since 
 daybreak, and don't care to go so far for nothing." 
 
Tiger Shooting. 5 
 
 " But gurreeh pumvah" replied he, " it won't take 
 us long to get there the spot is a secluded one, and 
 more than likely, if we get there early, and make no 
 noise, the borbutcha (leopard) will come before dark. 
 Our nusseeb (luck) has been so bad, it must change 
 
 soon." 
 
 " Well," said I, " I am too lazy to change my 
 clothes I'll put on a pair of shoes and be with you 
 directly. Take down two guns and the ammunition, 
 and if we don't get a shot to-night, I'll be hanged if 
 I go again." My night suit, in which I was robed, 
 was a dark gray. I soon drew on a pair of socks, and 
 a stout pair of shoes, and then the shikarie and I 
 commenced the ascent of the hill a fatiguing thing 
 at the best of times, but particularly so then, as 
 every bone in my body ached from my previous 
 exertions. It took us half an hour to get to the 
 ruins of the palace, and three-quarters of an hour 
 more to reach the " kill," where we were met by a 
 herdsman who had been left behind to act as our 
 guide. He pointed out the heifer, and as there was 
 no tree suitable for a machan, Mogul Beg, and the 
 givala collected brushwood and formed a circular 
 enclosure within about four yards of the dead beast. 
 By the time our cache was completed, the sun 
 had set, and as there is little or no twilight in the 
 East, the herdsman hurried off home, as the jungles 
 were not over safe, for a lone man to wander in after 
 dark. 
 
 The fence thrown up was about three feet high 
 excepting opposite the dead heifer, where it was 
 about four feet and loop-holed for us to fire through. 
 Mogul Beg was a strongly made man, cool, plucky 
 
6 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 and determined, in age about thirty years, and liad 
 killed several tigers and many leopards. Like most 
 Mussulmans, lie was a fatalist. His eyesight was 
 remarkably keen, he was moreover a dead shot at 
 close quarters, either by day or night, for his nerve 
 never failed him. 
 
 By the time we had settled down, the moon rose, 
 but unfortunately behind a conical, abrupt peak, 
 so would be some time before its light would be 
 shed upon where we were in hiding. We were thus 
 in semi-darkness, and therefore I did not anticipate 
 success for hope deferred had made my heart sick. 
 
 Young as I was I had had now nearly three years' 
 experience of sport so although not expecting to 
 see anything, I sat perfectly quiet about a couple of 
 feet to Mogul Beg's right. We had been watching 
 barely an hour, the place we were in was still obscured 
 in semi-gloom, when we heard the booming, if I may 
 term it so, of the lungoor monkeys and chatterings 
 of smaller species. " Atta hi" (He is coming), said 
 Mogul Beg. Well, in about a quarter of an hour, 
 without the slightest noise, an indistinct outline 
 came between us and the " kill " and squatted down on 
 its hams like a dog, and lo ! it was not a leopard, but 
 a right royal tiger ! It sat so close to our fence, that 
 by thrusting our guns out of the port-holes we could 
 have touched it. My heart beat faster than it was 
 wont to do I felt a hand laid on my arm, and a voice 
 muttered, " Durro mut (Don't be afraid), Sahib." If 
 every bit of pluck in my body had oozed out of my 
 finger-ends, I would rather have been torn to pieces 
 than expose any signs of funk before my sable 
 comrade, so I whispered back as indignantly as my 
 
Tiger Shooting. 7 
 
 trepidation would permit, " Khoon durta" (Who is 
 afraid) ? " Bahut acha, Sahib " (Very good), replied 
 Mogul Beg. " Maro jelde " (Fire quickly). 
 
 I thought it would be better if we waited until the 
 tiger began his meal, as he would then be a yard 
 further off, but seeing my comrade poke his gun 
 through the loop-hole, I did the same, and, taking a 
 careful aim, for the barrels of our guns were not a 
 foot from the brute's body, we both fired at the same 
 instant Mogul Beg his two barrels, and I but one. 
 For the next moment or two what occurred I could 
 not tell there was a deep roar, a huge body struggling 
 about, scattering our fence right and left, a tail 
 swishing madly to and fro, and two wretched mortals 
 crouched in the smallest possible space in the furthest 
 corner of the cache, anxious only to be clear of it and 
 observers at a greater distance. It was too close work 
 to be pleasant. In vain I tried to get a shot at the foe's 
 head, but the body was gyrating like a teetotum ; where 
 the head was one moment the tail was the next, the 
 whole body threatening every second to be on the top 
 of us. Mogul Beg could not load, for his powder-flask 
 had been sent flying by a whisk of the tail, and I was 
 just thinking of jumping up and taking the further 
 fence at a leap, when I felt an iron grip on my 
 shoulder, and a voice said in my ear, " Don't move." 
 It takes time to tell the tale, but the occurrence did 
 not last a minute. In its struggles the beast, after 
 coming within a yard of us, went further off, and 
 whilst struggling to get on its feet, fell over the 
 dead calf, and although almost at the last gasp, it 
 gave it a grip, which we were thankful was not inflicted 
 on us, for we could hear the crunching of bones 
 
8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 and the tearing of flesh. A moment after, the tiger 
 rolled over, slid down a steep declivity and fell into 
 the bed of a nullah (ravine) which was covered 
 with a carpeting of long grass. In that we heard 
 it struggle for some little time, then followed a 
 few moans, a gasp or two succeeded, and all was still. 
 "Murffya" (He is dead), said the shikarie, and stood up. 
 I was not sorry to follow his example, for I was bent 
 and doubled, and so cramped that I could scarcely 
 straighten my limbs. We consulted together and 
 decided that, though the tiger was more than probably 
 dead, we had better not approach it until the morning, 
 so we made our way homewards. Whilst Mogul Beg 
 went to his domicile in the village, about a quarter 
 of a mile from mine, I tumbled into bed. I am a light 
 sleeper and am generally wide awake at daybreak, a 
 habit which has stuck to me through life. But that 
 night I was very tired ; I had ridden out eighteen 
 miles, had hunted the whole day, securing four first 
 spears, and had returned home barely an hour when 
 Mogul Beg had induced me to go up the hill. So, 
 thoroughly wearied, I did not awake that morning 
 till past six. By the time I had had my cJwta hazarie 
 and had bathed and dressed, Mogul Beg, accompanied 
 by eight coolies, presented himself. He was as 
 pleased as Punch, for he thought the reward then 
 given for a dead tiger, Rs.50, was as good as in his 
 pocket. It must have been past seven before we set 
 out, for there did not seem to be much need to be 
 in a hurry. We climbed the hill, arrived at the scene 
 of action, searched everywhere, but could find no 
 tiger ! Was it all a dream ? Scarcely ! for there 
 lay the dead heifer, the debris of our mart, 
 
Tiger Shooting. 9 
 
 quantities of blood, and the broad trail where the 
 tiger had rolled down the bank into the bottom of 
 the hollow. Moreover the undergrowth was trampled 
 down, but no marks except of blood, were visible, 
 for the ground was parched and as hard as if com- 
 posed of granite. Like fools we spent a couple of 
 hours searching far and near, but were no wiser at the 
 end of that^ time, than we were at the commence- 
 ment. 
 
 "I am afraid," said I, "it has got away." 
 "Impossible, Sahib," said the shikarie, "I heard 
 its death-rattle." "Then where can he be?" 
 " That is what puzzles me," said the Mussulman. 
 Then, turning round to the coolies, as if suddenly 
 struck with an idea, he asked if any of them had 
 heard any one leave the village early. " Well," said 
 one of them, " I saw Peecheemootoo go out at five 
 with some of our people to bring in, as he said, a 
 sambur he had shot over night." " Why," said Mogul 
 Beg, " the fellow was standing close to my house at 
 ten last night and heard me tell my brother that the 
 sahib and I had killed a tiger on the hill. He 
 must have stolen it before daybreak, but we will soon 
 find him, and the sahib will teach him not to play 
 such pranks." 
 
 Now Peecheemootoo was a rival low caste Hindoo 
 shikarie, very good for marking down small game, 
 for which purpose I often employed him, and there 
 was no love between him and Mogul Beg. We 
 hurried back and lost another hour or two in searching 
 for the suspect and his prey, but in vain ; no one had 
 seen him, since he went to fetch his sambur. Some 
 one suggested that as the Tahsildar was holding 
 
io Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 cutchery at Ebrampatam, eight miles off, perhaps he 
 had gone there by bye paths, and taken the dead tiger 
 to claim the reward. I was in a rage. " Why had the 
 fool not told us cutchery was being held so near ? " So 
 bidding Mogul Beg get on a tat and gallop over as 
 fast as he could, I hurried back to my bungalow, 
 mounted my horse, and made the best of my way to 
 Ebrampatam, and the first thing I saw when I got 
 there was a fine tiger lying in front of the cutchery. 
 I dismounted and had an interview with the Tahsildar 
 (an Eurasian) and he informed me that Peecheemootoo 
 had brought in the beast and claimed the reward, 
 which had been paid him. He asked what proof I had 
 that the tiger was the one Mogul Beg and I had killed, 
 "for," said he, "tigers are plentiful, and I only yesterday, 
 paid another man a similar reward." Proof I had none, 
 for w r e had fired at such close quarters that our 
 bullets had gone clean through the carcass. I pointed 
 to the three holes and asked the official if he believed 
 they were produced by a rusty old matchlock, such 
 as native shikaries use, but he responded that he had 
 no other course than to give the reward to the person 
 who brought in the dead body. I then asked for the 
 skin, but the Tahsildar had taken a fancy to it for 
 himself, and declined to part with it. So Mogul Beg 
 and I went back lamenting, but determined to thrash 
 Peecheemootoo within an inch of his life ; but the 
 wily native was not at home for many a long day, 
 and when he did appear I had left Condapilly on sick 
 certificate, having miraculously escaped from death 
 after a six weeks' bout of jungle fever. Thus I 
 assisted to kill, yet lost my first tiger. 
 
 Somewhere about a month afterwards a large cow 
 
Tiger Shooting. 1 1 
 
 had its back broken by a tiger, but it had been driven 
 off by the gwalas before doing further damage. As 
 the victim was not dead, I made sure the tiger would 
 return, so went about five o'clock to sit up over it. En 
 route, an unusual object on a ledge of rocks far up 
 the hill caught my eyesight, and bringing my glass to 
 bear upon it I saw that it was a tiger crouching down 
 and noting our movements, so although I sat up all 
 night, I need not say that the tiger did not put in 
 an appearance. 
 
 On another occasion a large bullock was killed near 
 a lot of detached rocks, and as but very little of it 
 had been eaten, the givalas covered it up to protect it 
 from vultures, which (ever on the look out for 
 carrion) soar about in the sky far beyond the 
 vision of the keenest of human sight. In the 
 afternoon we constructed a screen under the ledge of 
 some rocks, with loopholes in front the carcase being 
 secured with strong ropes to pegs driven well into 
 the ground. It must have been somewhere about 
 ten, just as the moon was declining over some tall trees, 
 when we heard a struggle and the body was jerked 
 away, taken to our rear, and there the brute remained 
 feeding the greater part of the night. That he knew 
 we were there was evident, for if we moved there 
 was a snarl, accompanied doubtless by a display of 
 ivories. There was nothing to prevent the brute 
 springing upon us. About three o'clock, after keep- 
 ing us on tenter hooks for five mortal hours, he left off 
 eating, and, we believed, went to a rivulet about a 
 quarter of a mile off for a drink. That opportunity 
 was taken to stretch our limbs, which were benumbed 
 from the crouching position we had so long been in. 
 
1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 and to move a portion of the screen, so as to get a 
 sight of the tiger when he should return. This In* 
 commenced to do about four A.M. We could hear his 
 footsteps as he trod over fallen leaves, and we were 
 prepared to give him a warm reception ; but his 
 quick eyesight must have shown him the alteration w- 
 had made, and to our great chagrin we heard him 
 retreat, and the sound of his steps gradually die away. 
 As soon as we could distinguish objects in the early 
 dawn, we got out of our crib and took a stroll, more 
 for exercise than anything else, and walked towards 
 the rivulet where very often jungle fowl were to be 
 seen. The shore on one side was clayey ; that on the 
 opposite was sandy and covered with pebbles and lo< 
 stones. The spoor of the tiger where he had crossed 
 the river was distinct, and I was admiring the size of 
 the pugs and regretting that he had not given us a 
 chance of securing his pelt, when Mogul Beg touched 
 me on the shoulder and with the other arm pointed at 
 something across the river. I thought it was probably 
 a jungle fowl and held out the rifle to exchange it 
 for a smooth bore, when he thrust aside my arm 
 abruptly, and pointed again. I still failed to see any- 
 thing. I was evidently overlooking the object that 
 he wished to attract my attention to, so looking in- 
 tently in the direction indicated I noted amongst some 
 low bushes a pair of ears, with the unmistakable white 
 spots they were a tiger's ! He was not watching us 
 his back was towards us, his head away something 
 moving in the jungle beyond must have riveted his 
 gaze. I had a very accurate rifle in hand. 1 With it 
 I had practised a good deal, and I could break more 
 1 Made by Westley Richar-1-. 
 
Tiger Shooting. 13 
 
 limes at a hundred yards than I missed, and here the 
 object to be struck was not more than fifty yards off. 
 As a rule I am a snap shot, but firing at a mark of 
 course I align the sights. On this occasion I brought 
 the fore sight to bear in the centre of the two white 
 spots, but three or four inches lower. I was as steady 
 as a rock, and gradually pressed the trigger, holding 
 my breath the while. A bang the smoke hung 
 badly and when it cleared, nothing was to be seen. I 
 was afraid I had missed, but could scarcely credit it, 
 as I never fired more steadily in my life, so I asked 
 falteringly, " Has he run away ? " " Ne, Sahib," said 
 Mogul Beg, " murgya" He stepped into the rivulet, 
 and I followed and found a fine tiger, measuring nine 
 feet nine inches in length, and proportionately heavy, 
 lying dead. That was one of the happiest moments 
 of my early experiences ; the ball had struck the 
 junction of the head and neck and death must have 
 been instantaneous. 
 
 On another occasion I had to keep tryst with some 
 friends, with whom I was going on a shooting trip, 
 into the Nizam's country that borders on the banks 
 of the Godavery, the rendezvous being Eagapore. I 
 was then temporarily with the headquarters of my 
 regiment, at the time stationed at Samulcottah. A 
 month's leave w T as granted me, and Tom Prendergast, 
 the Collector, having kindly sent on a purwannah 
 to the Deputy-Commissioner of Rajahniimdry 
 and given me a general order on all native 
 officials within his province to aid me in all 
 things. I " daked " out to Eajahniundiy, crossed 
 the river and got into a hackery, or native cart, 
 which awaited my arrival. My guns and heavy 
 baggage had been sent on some days before via, 
 
14 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport, 
 
 Ellore, only one boy remaining behind with food, &c., 
 sufficient for a couple of days. . These carts are not 
 to be despised for travelling in. With a heap of straw 
 at the bottom, a light mattress on the top, and a 
 couple of pillows, one can be comfortable enough in 
 them, especially if you travel over the Government 
 roads ; but I was going across country, my sole guide 
 being a section of the map of the district compiled 
 by the Topographical Department. These are wonder- 
 fully correct, and show all bye ways, villages, and even 
 small sheets of water. I had examined my map care- 
 fully. The route I proposed taking was not only far 
 shorter than that by Ellore, but it would be novel to 
 me, as I had travelled the habitually used course 
 several times. All went well until I had got half way, 
 I then halted for a few hours at a considerable village, 
 put up in the choultry, a place set apart principally 
 for native travellers, intending to be again on the 
 move directly the moon was well up, which would be 
 at 2 A.M. About 1 A.M. I was awoke by a voice uttering. 
 " Sahib, Sahib, chota hazarie tyar hi " (Sir, your early 
 breakfast is ready). I was out of bed in a moment, 
 swallowed my cup of coffee, poured half a dozen chatties 
 (earthenware pots) of water over my head, and did not 
 take long to adorn my person. " Are the bullocks put 
 to ? " I asked. " The peon has gone to get them," was 
 the reply. I was getting very impatient at being 
 kept waiting, when the peon, a fine soldierly-looking 
 old Mussulman, said he had been to the Tahsildar 
 (who had only just retired to rest, having had a 
 nautch at his house) and that he had said that there 
 were no bullocks procurable. " How is that ? " said I, 
 "Did not the Burra Sahib send punvannahs to have 
 everything ready ? " " Ho, Sahib," replied the man, 
 
Tiger Shooting. 15 
 
 saluting. " but the Tahsildar may his mother and 
 all his female relations be denied ! is a banshoot 1 and 
 thinks he can do as he likes." " He does, does he ? " 
 said I. " Take some one with you and bring him here 
 by the scruff of his neck, and if he is not before me 
 in five minutes I'll fetch him myself in a way he won't 
 like." " Bhoot atclia" replied the peon who by the 
 bye was a pensioned sepoy saluting and spinning 
 round on his heels in the most approved military style 
 of that day, took his departure. In a few minutes I 
 heard a good deal of hubbub, and much native galee 
 or abuse ; just as I was on the point of going after 
 the man myself, the peon entered, followed by 
 a fat, greasy, half-naked native, and a posse of his 
 followers. He barely salaamed, and I could see that 
 he was not inclined to be civil, or to show that 
 deference for a European in Government employ- 
 ment which, in those days, was our due from all, 
 whatever their position. " How is this, Tahsildar ? " 
 said I. " The Collector Sahib sent you orders to have 
 relays of bullocks for me two days ago. Why are they 
 not ready ? " " Sir," said the native in fair English, 
 " no grass, no provender got. How can make ' biles ' ? 
 Bad season, all cattle sent away." " Why did you 
 not send for them when you got the order ? " I asked. 
 " I plenty business forgot," said the native. He saw 
 I was young, and doubtless thought he could be 
 impertinent with impunity. I was on the point of 
 teaching him a lesson, when the peon remarked, 
 "Sub jitt bat (All lies), Sahib. Tahsildar got fine 
 pair of Mysore bullocks. If master give hukJcum, I 
 bring." " Oh, Sapperee bcqi" replied the greasy 
 
 1 A common term of abuse untranslatable. 
 
1 6 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Hindoo, " those not my ' biles ' but my poor mother's, 
 who arrived last night and leaves for Ell ore to day." 
 " Not true, Sir," said the Mussulman there was 
 evidently no love lost between them " they have 
 been here for more than a year and are the Tahsildar's 
 own." " Bring them at once," said I, and ejected 
 the official with a toe behind, which considerably 
 detracted from his dignity in the sight of his com- 
 patriots " and," I added, " if the bullocks are not 
 here in five minutes, I'll have you punished." The 
 swagger was taken out of the man, but he kept 
 protesting the bullocks were not his, but his mother's. 
 The peon and Ramasawmy, my boy, returned with as 
 fine a pair of Mysore cattle as I ever wish to see. 
 They had been pampered, and were somewhat fatter 
 than they should have been for hard work, but, 
 thought I, they'll be thinner before I am done with 
 them. I had them harnessed to my cart, and amid 
 the lamentations of the native official and his satellites, 
 off we went. 
 
 The bullocks went along merrily for some time. 
 They were an excellent pair and could not have cost 
 less than Rs.150 each, which sum doubtless the 
 native had accumulated by bribes and extortions. I 
 may here say he never saw those bullocks again, for 
 reasons to be presently related. He brought an 
 action against me, putting his damages at Rs.500. 
 Prendergast gave a decree in his favour for Rs.300, 
 the original cost, but fined him a similar sum for 
 disobedience to orders, and removed him far away 
 from the locality where he had ruled the roost so 
 long. Thus he did not gain much by his action. 
 
 The so-called road was a mere track, had never 
 
Tiger Shooting. 17 
 
 been levelled for boulders were cropping up here 
 and there, amidst numerous ruts while the water- 
 courses were unbridged. The animals, unused to 
 such travelling, soon tired. Twisting their tails and 
 belabouring them had no effect, and at last they lay 
 down and refused to budge ; we were miles away 
 from any village, it was not yet daylight, and if I 
 did not get to Eagapore that afternoon, my comrades 
 would have left. Urgent cases require drastic measures, 
 thought my driver ; so, collecting a lot of dry grass, 
 the "ghariwan" who cared little for the Tahsildar, 
 as he belonged to another district placed it under 
 the bullocks and set it alight. The effect was magical. 
 Up jumped the " biles," and off they went threaten- 
 ing to upset the hackerie over the numerous rocks, 
 but presently there was another stoppage. " What is 
 the matter now ? " I asked. " Two bears are in front," 
 said Eamasawmy, every tooth in his head rattling 
 with fright. What a fool I was, thought I, not to 
 have brought my gun with me ; but between us and 
 the brutes the track was covered with long but 
 dry grass, for there had been a drought, and a 
 lighted match thrown into it, soon caused a blaze. 
 The bears scampered away, and we continued our 
 course more sedately. The moon was now obscured. 
 We came to a nullah which the cart was not driven 
 down properly, so it went in with a flop, and the 
 axletree broke ! As everything was getting wet, 
 Ramasawmy and I dragged my mattress, on which I 
 had been lying, on to the bank, and the driver unyoked 
 the cattle and tethered them to some creepers, a 
 little way off. It was too dark and the jungle too 
 -dense for the people to venture into it at night for 
 
 c 
 
1 8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the purpose of cutting a fresh pole to act as an 
 axletree, but the driver said he knew of a village a 
 little way off, and would go there for fresh bullocks 
 and for help. On his starting, Ramasawmy lit a fire, 
 set a pot upon it, and prepared the ingredients for 
 making an egg and sardine currie. Dawn, such as 
 it is in the East, was approaching, jungle and 
 pea cocks were crowing their matutinal greetings, 
 and with that exception all was as still as death, 
 when there was a rush and something sprang on to 
 one of the bullocks. The other broke away and 
 rushed into the jungle, where it too was felled. We 
 could hear it struggling, so it was evident there 
 were more foes than one. 
 
 My own position was not a comfortable one. I dared 
 not move, for I was only three or four yards away 
 from the tiger who was slaking his thirst, drinking 
 the life-blood of one of the Tahsildar's pet cattle. 
 Where Kamasawmy was I did not know ; he had 
 mysteriously disappeared. The tiger, after a good 
 drink, dragged the bullock with the greatest ease into 
 the jungle, and I could hear the tearing of flesh and 
 the crunching of bones for some time, but directly 
 the sun rose, the depredators departed. After look- 
 ing about for some time, I espied my boy 
 perched on the topmost branches of a tree close by, 
 and it required some threats and considerable per- 
 suasion to induce him to descend. He trembled so he 
 cou]d scarcely stand, but I gave him a tot of brandy 
 and after a while he resumed his functions as cook. 
 About eight o'clock, a sowar rode up with a letter 
 from my friends, saying they were all ready to start 
 and only waited for my arrival. I wrote across the 
 
Tiger Shooting. 19 
 
 letter my adventures and begged them to come to 
 me at once, as I felt sure we could bag one, if not 
 two, tigers. Instructing the sowar that the " chit " 
 was of the greatest importance, he mounted and went 
 off at full gallop. I then explored the locality and 
 found the dead bullocks one partially eaten and the 
 other all but untouched collected wood which would 
 help to rig up a machan, and then sat down to an 
 early breakfast, but whilst I was still eating, the "ghari- 
 wan " arrived with a fresh pole and a relay of cattle. 
 The cart was soon after repaired, dragged across 
 the watercourse, and sent off to a distance. This 
 done, with the help of a villager or two I erected 
 two machans about eight feet high, for the trees were 
 not large, and besides I anticipated no danger. The 
 carcases were then dragged into the open in front of 
 my perches and covered over with long grass to hide 
 them from the birds of prey which otherwise would 
 not have long left a scrap of them remaining. About 
 4 P.M. I was glad to see several coolies arrive with 
 pittaralis (leather-covered baskets, which they sling 
 across their shoulders on a bamboo) containing things 
 necessary for a dinner, as w r ell as wines, beer, &c., 
 the latter being immediately after their production 
 submerged in the stream as an impromptu excellent 
 substitute for icing. About 5 P.M., two of my friends 
 arrived. I will denote them as A and B ; the third 
 had gone ahead to our future camp, where we were to 
 join him. The adventures of the previous night we 
 discussed over our early dinner, and mounted our 
 machans just as the sun was setting. As Eama- 
 sawmy was afraid to go alone to the village where the 
 other people had gone, B took him into his perch. The 
 
 c 2 
 
2O Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 boy was in a blue funk, but thought that of two evils, 
 being with an armed sahib on an elevation was 
 better than walking alone through the forest. We 
 had a young moon about ten, and about eleven, or 
 perhaps nearer twelve, we heard a tell-tale pit-a-pat, 
 and a tiger appeared from one direction and another 
 from the opposite. The two beauties commenced to 
 snarl at each other, so we reserved our fire, wishing to 
 see the upshot. The duo gradually approached each 
 other with manes erect and lips drawn back, exposing 
 formidable ivories, when a third, evidently a female, 
 showed herself on the scene and commenced to make a 
 meal of the untouched ox which was opposite B's 
 machan. When the lady commenced to satisfy her 
 appetite the males sprung at one another, and whilst 
 struggling A and I fired four barrels. B also fired two 
 at the tigress. The belligerents, however, would not 
 separate, and whilst struggling got right under B's 
 machan. At the same instant, the wounded tigress 
 looked up, saw B, and with a roar sprang at him, 
 lighting on the edge of his hiding-place. The next 
 second there was a crash, a cloud of dust, and an awful 
 cry. There was not much light, for the moon was then 
 obscured behind a fleeting cloud, but we jumped off 
 our machan. and ran to the assistance of our comrade. 
 Nothing could we see of him. In vain we called, beg- 
 ging for a reply. A heap of debris only lay under 
 where his perch had been. All this did not take 
 up more than a minute, when we heard a shot, and 
 hurrying towards the report and falling over creepers 
 and torn with thorns, we came upon the body of our 
 comrade lying under that of the tigress. Dragging 
 the beast off we found B insensible, but alive, with 
 
Tiger Shooting. 21 
 
 one arm broken in two places. Taking him into an 
 open space, we did what we could to resuscitate him, 
 and when he came to, he told us that as they fell 
 the tigress had seized him by the arm, and was drag- 
 ging him off, when he remembered he had a double- 
 barrelled pistol in his belt. Fortunately at that 
 instant the brute paused for a moment ; this enabled 
 him to draw the weapon and, putting it to her ear, fired, 
 and then became unconscious. We asked him, did he 
 see anything of the two tigers ? He said he fell almost 
 on top of them, but that they were engaged in too 
 deadly a conflict to notice him and that they were still 
 struggling when the tigress dragged him away. He 
 was very faint, but not seriously wounded ; a glass of 
 grog revived him, and as he was a plucky fellow and 
 not despondent as are too many who have been 
 mauled by a tiger we anticipated that he was in 
 no immediate danger. Hearing the monotonous cry 
 of a set of palanquin bearers, to intercept them 
 did not take us long. Our delight may be imagined 
 when in the occupant we recognised the superin- 
 tending surgeon, 1 who was going his rounds of in- 
 spection, en route to Eagapore and Ell ore. He was 
 out of his conveyance in a moment and soon dressed 
 B's arm and deposited him in the palanquin, 
 saying he himself would walk ; but just then two of 
 the sowars, who had been sent some way off, hear- 
 ing our shots, rode up. One was dismounted and 
 the doctor got on his horse and altered his course 
 from Eagapore to Ellore. As soon as we had seen 
 them off we thought of Eamasawmy, and fruitlessly 
 we searched everywhere, to find only one tiger dead, 
 
 1 Dr. Lo Veil, a well-known shot. 
 
2 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 killed more by the wounds inflicted on him by his 
 antagonist than by the bullet one of us had given 
 him. As we could find no trace of the servant, we 
 thought the other tiger must have carried him off and 
 so in all probability he was dead. At daybreak we 
 moved off under the guidance of a native, and about 
 two o'clock overtook C. We then went on to Buddre- 
 chellum, had rare sport with gaur and sambur, 
 but got no more tigers. I had been probably a 
 couple of months at headquarters, when one 
 day a decrepit, half-naked old man, almost 
 bent double, walked on to my verandah and 
 clasped my feet, rubbing his head on them and 
 blubbering violently. I thought some one had 
 maltreated him. " Who are you ? " I asked, I fear in 
 no gentle tones. " Get out, or I'll set Bob " (an ugly 
 bull terrier of mine) " at you." " Oh !" cried the poor 
 wretch, " master not know me ? " " Never saw you 
 in my life, and hope never to see you again. Get out ! 
 Here, Bob, seize him ! " The man, still on his knees 
 cringing, showed no fear of the dog, and the beast, 
 contrary to his custom for he disliked strange 
 natives and was apt to go for them went up to the 
 unknown and instead of seizing him, began to lick his 
 face and otherwise to fawn upon him. " See, master," 
 cried the fellow, " Bob know me. I Eamasawmy, 
 master's maty boy." I burst out laughing. " Why 
 you vile old impostor," said I, " Eamasawmy was 
 about twenty-four, and has been dead these three 
 months, whilst you are seventy, at least." " Sahib," 
 said the mendicant, for he looked like one if ever a 
 man did, " I Ramasawmy. Tiger done eat me up. I 
 then come back to life. I live in jungle many days 
 
Tiger Shooting. 23 
 
 and then I come to master and lie say, ' You not 
 Eamasawmy,' and not know me." By this time 
 several of my other servants had come up, and I 
 asked them, " Is that Kamasawmy ! " " No, Sahib," 
 they all replied, " maty boy young man ; that," 
 pointing to the mendicant, " an old thief." " If you 
 don't know me," said the individual, " I know you," and 
 he called each by his name. My old butler then ap- 
 peared, and when appealed to, said, " Sahib, he knows 
 us, but we don't know him. But stay," said he, 
 " his wife is still here, I will call her, and if he is 
 Eamasawmy surely she will know him." He was 
 gone some little time, and then returned accompanied 
 by a comely-looking wench, who, with the vanity of 
 her sex, had kept him waiting to adorn her person 
 before appearing before the Lord Sahib ! She was 
 dressed in spotless muslin, and displayed not only 
 various jewels, but a good deal of her charms ! I had 
 often seen her. She was uncommonly well-made, not 
 bad looking and young probably not over fifteen 
 but supposing her to be the wife of one of my 
 retainers, I had not given her a second thought. As 
 she now appeared before me, with a mock modest air, 
 I could not help thinking what a fine animal she wa,s. 
 "Well," said I, "is that Eamasawmy." " Oh, sir," 
 she replied in fair English, and with as she thought 
 many a killing look, " that old man ! old enough to 
 be my grandfather ! " Here the mendicant went off 
 into torrents of abuse in Tamil. She responded, and 
 for five minutes the two railed at and abused each 
 other. " Hold your tongues," said I ; "I don't want 
 all this talk, Is that Eamasawmy or not ? " Here a 
 horsekeeper broke in, saying, " Sahib, that very bad 
 
24 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 woman too much tongue got she tell me Kam- 
 asawmy dead eaten by a tiger- and I marry her, 
 but she too much bobbery make, and now Kamasawmy 
 comeback, he may take her again." Here the woman 
 was nearly flying at him ; but the more she stormed 
 and raved, the more the servants laughed, and at last 
 I had to dismiss them all and tell them to settle 
 amongst themselves whether the claimant was Kam- 
 asawmy or not. In the afternoon the butler told me 
 that they had questioned the old man, that there was 
 no doubt he was my former maty boy, but that fright 
 had blanched his hair, want of food and exposure to 
 the weather for several months had doubled him up 
 with rheumatism, that he was now half-witted but 
 harmless, and if I sent him away he would die of 
 starvation, "for who would employ him, Sahib ?" So 
 I told him to let the poor fellow have a " godown." 
 He did a little work now and then, but often he 
 wandered away no one knew where, and would be 
 absent for days at a time, for a week or more. 
 Occasionally woodcutters would bring him in and say 
 they had found him in the depths of the forest and 
 were afraid he would be killed. But if this was 
 said in his hearing he would rejoin that he was 
 already dead, and had been eaten, and nothing 
 could hurt him again this went on for a year or 
 two. The man was truly harmless, so was allowed 
 to do as he liked, but one day he disappeared 
 for good and was never heard of again ; the forest 
 and wild beasts he had so dreaded, had a strange 
 fascination for him, and whether he died, or was 
 eventually killed and eaten, I cannot say. In the 
 meantime his wife was the cause of so much dis- 
 
Tiger Shooting. 25 
 
 turbance, that after tolerating her for some time I 
 had eventually to order her off, and I believe 
 she became an ayah, but whether she became 
 reformed in character I doubt for she was innately 
 a bad woman. 
 
 One more instance of machan shooting and I 
 have done on that subject. Years after these 
 events I found myself once again at Eajahmundry 
 in command of a wing of a regiment. We were 
 cursed with a fussy commandant, and a fool for 
 an adjutant. They were some way off it is true, 
 but not a day passed without telegrams arriving 
 about nothing, but to which an answer was ex- 
 pected ; then there were idiotic returns, of no earthly 
 use to anybody, to be prepared daily, weekly, and 
 monthly, so one had not a moment's respite from work. 
 After sending off a budget, which I thought would 
 take the martinets at head-quarters a week to 
 digest, I sent on a boat ahead, "daked" out thirty 
 miles, and by next evening found myself on the 
 top of Bison Hill, situated on the Godavery. I 
 had good sport for two days, which will be related 
 further on. On the third day, on a further hill, I 
 killed a particularly large " gaur," and sent some low 
 caste coolies to fetch in the head. They returned 
 about noon saying that they could not approach the 
 game as a family of tigers had taken possession of 
 it, adding, that if I would start at once I should be 
 sure of a shot and be back by night. Just as I was 
 prepared to go a coolie arrived with two telegrams 
 from headquarters, the first asking whether it was 
 true Yenketsawmy had cholera, and the second to 
 know why the first had not been answered. " Con- 
 
26 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 found the asses, why could they not apply to 
 the doctor?" mentally I ejaculated. So scribbling 
 a note to my wife, telling her to find out from the 
 medico and embody the answer in a telegram, I bid 
 the man hasten back and in reward for his expedi- 
 tion he would get a good enam (present). I then, 
 accompanied by my shikarie carrying an extra rifle, 
 and two coolies, not in the best of tempers set- 
 out. About 3 P.M. we got to our destination. I 
 could hear the big cats at work, but they had dragged 
 the gaur into a patch of heavy grass and there was 
 no getting at them on foot. A convenient tree, how- 
 ever, overlooked the spot where they were feasting, 
 so I planted my light bamboo ladder, which I always 
 carried about with me when I visit that locality. It 
 was about four feet too short to reach the lowest 
 branch, but I sent the shikarie up first and then with 
 his assistance climbed up into my perch, the two 
 coolies betaking themselves to a small tree a little way 
 off. I always have a few cartridges in my pockets, 
 but the greater number were in my waterproof bag, 
 which it was the business of the shikarie to carry, but 
 on this occasion, although I did not notice it at the 
 time, he had given it to one of the coolies, so with the 
 exception of those I had on my person, I was without 
 ammunition. Fortunately both rifles were twelve bore. 
 After climbing some way up the tree, I got a good 
 view of a large and a medium sized tiger ; the first 
 had the whole of his broadside exposed, but the 
 second was partially hidden by the long grass. Taking 
 a careful aim I fired at the centre of the shoulder of 
 the large one and took a snap shot at the other as it 
 bolted, and broke its back, and there it lay roaring 
 
Tiger Shooting. 27 
 
 most lustily. Instantaneously there were responding 
 roars, and whether we were seen or not, a tiger rushed 
 at our tree, apparently with a view of ascending it ! 
 However, the only result of this effort was, that the 
 ladder was knocked down. Taking the second rifle 
 I fired a hurried shot, and slightly wounded the beast, 
 when it took up its quarters in a heavy patch of 
 grass about ten yards from our perch. There I fired 
 five shots at it, but the brute shifted its position 
 each time, and continued to roar and snarl at 
 us. This tiger at the same time kept guard not 
 only on us but over the two coolies. Feeling in 
 my pockets I found I had but two cartridges left, 
 so held out my hand to the shikarie for more, but my 
 disgust and rage may be imagined when I found him 
 minus the bag. What to do I did not know. Only a 
 monkey or a native could descend from our tree with- 
 out the help of the ladder, and to do so under the 
 circumstances would be madness, so there we were 
 imprisoned for an indefinite period, and probably more 
 insane commanding officer's telegrams waiting for 
 immediate replies ! The great red ants also soon 
 found us out, and led us a most lively time. The 
 brute whose back I had broken was only a youngster 
 and he did roar, while his mother responded through- 
 out the entire night. If I had had cartridges I should 
 have kept up fire in the hopes of either killing her or 
 driving her away, but I was obliged to retain the only 
 two I had left for an emergency. Thus passed I think 
 the most wretched period I ever experienced in my life. 
 An hour before daybreak the tigers became silent, so 
 telling the shikarie to break off a dead branch and 
 fling it towards the patch of grass, he did so. An 
 
28 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 immediate roar answered this salute, so we knew the 
 sentry was still on guard, but as such a slight thing 
 as a stick seemed to disturb her, I concluded to do 
 what I should have thought of long before. I 
 divested myself of my unmentionables, stuck a forked 
 branch into them, hung my coat on that, stuffed both 
 as full as I could of leaves, and thus made a guy which 
 as much resembled the human figure divine as a scare- 
 crow does a man. Bidding the shikarie take off his 
 turban, I tore it into strips, then sent him as far 
 out on to a lateral branch as was safe, and taking up 
 a position to command the spot where the dummy 
 would touch the ground, I, with rifle on full cock, 
 waited events. " Chordoa," (let it go), I said. The man 
 let it down and as it reached the ground the tigress 
 sprang upon it and tore my habiliments to bits, but 
 in so doing exposed the whole of her body. I fired 
 steadily, and rolled her over with a ball through the 
 neck and the other through her shoulder ; she died 
 without a groan. Calling out to the coolies to descend 
 and re-erect the ladder which they did after a little 
 delay, for the brute of a cub was not yet dead, and they 
 were afraid to touch terra firma I eventually came 
 down, and ultimately killed the youngster. The shikarie 
 then got admonished for parting with the cartridge-bag 
 in such a way as he was likely to remember. On ex- 
 amining my garments, the trousers were found to be 
 torn to pieces, the coat a mere shred. So there I was, 
 more undressed than a Scot in full parade costume, 
 and with a good four-mile walk through thorny 
 jungles before me ere I reached my tent. En route 
 we came across two bears, and these charged viciously, 
 a very unusual occurrence with these brutes when 
 
Tiger Shooting. 29 
 
 unwounded, so I floored the first and sent the second 
 off seriously wounded. Taking the second rifle I 
 followed the retreating animal quickly up, with my 
 shirt tails flying like a bunch of homeward-bound 
 pennants. Nevertheless luck favoured me. 
 
 Then the secret of their pugnaciousness came 
 out : they had two cubs with them, of the size of 
 spaniels. These interesting "varmints" we secured 
 after a severe struggle, for they bit and scratched 
 like demons. 
 
 At my camp I found a " chit " from my wife begging 
 me to return at once, as there were numerous official 
 letters with "immediate" on them, waiting for me. 
 On receipt of it I am afraid my language was 
 more forcible than polite, but donning some fresh 
 raiment, leaving the shikarie to collect the pelts, I 
 walked down the hill, got into my boat, and was back 
 at Eajahmundry by three. The " immediate " letters 
 were of no account, so answering them briefly and 
 not over-politely, I consigned all fussy commandants 
 arid their foolish adjutants to Hades and once more 
 resigned myself to the humdrum existence of detach- 
 ment life. 
 
 Some years before this occurrence I had been 
 surveying in the Yomahs, Burmah, and having 
 completed that season's work I was hurrying back 
 so as to have a few days' shooting at Myetchin, 
 before the rains set in. My servants and elephants 
 went along cleared paths, but hearing jungle fowl 
 crowing and my shikarie elephant being sick, Mong-Oo 
 (Mr. Egg) and I walked down the long slope which 
 stretched from the foot of the hills to the plain below. 
 The country was wonderfully free from that curse of 
 
30 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Burma, the long kine grass, the surface of the ground 
 being covered with a substitute which never exceeds 
 three feet in height. In this cover we saw several ghee 
 (barking deer), a few pheasants, and jungle fowl. By the 
 time we got in sight of a cluster of Karen huts, Mong- 
 Oo was well laden, as he had a buck over his should- 
 ers, and some six or seven birds attached to his belt. 
 These Karens for such was the race of my neighbours 
 are scattered about in the remoter parts of Burma ; 
 they and the Burmese do not agree, and their habits 
 are totally dissimilar. Whilst the former wander 
 about forming townyahs, or clearances reclaimed 
 from the primaeval forests, and abandoned after 
 two years' cultivation, the latter congregate together, 
 and grow different cereals, principally rice. The 
 Karens are a sturdy race, bigger and stronger than 
 the Burmese. This distinction is more marked even 
 among the women, who when obtained young, and 
 taught cleanliness, make capital ayahs. We were 
 sufficiently near to distinguish groups of women 
 hoeing a field, and others pounding paddy, when 
 there was a skedaddle, the women made for the 
 huts screaming, whilst the men rushed out of their 
 houses and gardens, with such arms as they could 
 lay hands upon. "What is up?" said I. "Surely 
 they can't be frightened of us." " I think some one 
 has been killed, and probably by a tiger," said the 
 Shikarie. We hurried on and when near enough heard 
 the death wail, and on reaching the village were told 
 that a girl had been carried off by a tiger. The 
 people were fearfully excited ; they had lived there 
 over a year, and had not before been molested. 
 The parents of the girl and her affianced husband 
 
Tiger Shooting. 31 
 
 were in great grief, sobbing and crying incessantly. 
 
 It was some time before I could ascertain particulars, 
 
 and then found that a tiger had rushed out of a 
 
 nullah close by, had seized the nearest girl 
 
 and retreated with her to his lair. I told them I 
 
 would endeavour to kill the beast and recover the 
 
 body, if they would assist me ; in the meantime 
 
 they must keep quiet, collect all the so-called 
 
 musical instruments they could lay their hands 
 
 upon, and then I would place myself ahead for 
 
 them to beat towards me. While the people 
 
 were obeying my behest Mong-Oo and I explored. 
 
 The extremity of the nullah commenced within 
 
 two hundred yards of the cultivation, and the body 
 
 had been dragged into it. Skirting the bank, we 
 
 looked for a clearance or a tree into which we could 
 
 climb and thus obtain a better view of the bed of the 
 
 ravine. The only spot we could find was where a trunk 
 
 had fallen, or had been felled, and formed a frail bridge 
 
 extending from bank to bank. It was very old and 
 
 decayed but apparently able to bear our weight, and 
 
 as the grass had been trampled down either by wild 
 
 beasts or the few buffaloes belonging to the Karens 
 
 immediately in its front, I thought it would answer 
 
 our purpose, so walking along the stem we sat down 
 
 about the centre, a few feet apart, and found, that we 
 
 were about seven feet off the ground and could see 
 
 some distance in advance, and that nothing could pass 
 
 us without going under our perch. All being ready, 
 
 Mong-Oo stood up, waved the 'kerchief he usually tied 
 
 round his top-knot, and the beat commenced. First 
 
 it was tried to set the grass alight, but the heavy dews 
 
 had rendered it for the time fire -proof. After this 
 
3 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 failure the natives advanced in a compact body. Man- 
 eaters, indeed any tigers, are not to be dreaded when 
 a lot of people act together and present an unbroken 
 front, while the din the Karens made was enough to 
 frighten the old gentleman himself. They were still 
 only about half way between the starting point and 
 us, when, without a rustle even, a brindled body 
 bounded forward as if from a catapult, and lit between 
 us, on the debris hanging over the trunk, which, 
 being more rotten than we thought, cracked in two, 
 and fell with a great crash into the bed of the ravine. 
 Over we all tumbled, luckily clear of the fallen mass, 
 which was of no mean weight. I rolled over and 
 over, until I was some way off fortunately retaining 
 hold of my rifle then recovered my feet. Mong-Oo 
 was on the opposite bank yelling to me to fire. What 
 at ? I could see nothing but a cloud of dust, but 
 hearing sundry " aughs " and deep groans, I looked 
 towards where we had been sitting, and under the 
 fallen tree I could see a tail flourishing and a part of a 
 brindled body struggling violently in its endeavours 
 to extricate itself. Not if I know it, thought I, and 
 stepping up quickly, I put a couple of balls in just 
 behind the jaw, at the junction of the neck, for the 
 animal, a tiger, was on its back, all four feet in the 
 air, and the log resting across its body. While 
 mechanically I reloaded my rifle not that I thought 
 it would be required, but out of sheer habit Mong-Oo 
 advanced to pick up the 'kerchief which had done 
 duty for a turban, and had fallen off in the 
 scrimmage. A very slight movement in the grass 
 caught his eye. He hesitated held up his hand as a 
 warning. In a moment I was behind him, capped 
 

 Tiger Shooting. 33 
 
 my nipples, and had both barrels full cocked. Out 
 sprang a tigress, down went Mong-Oo, my outstretched 
 rifle exploded, and I was thrown to the ground, the 
 beast falling just beyond me in a heap. Her chest 
 had come into contact with the muzzle of my rifle, 
 she left the marks of her fangs on the barrels, but 
 the bullets had done their work, passing clean through 
 the heart into the abdomen, and breaking the spine 
 close to the loins. After this there was some 
 hesitation on the part of Karens to advance through 
 the long grass, and they began to scatter, but re-col- 
 lecting them together, I placed myself at their head. 
 With half-a-dozen tom-toms and four cholera horns 
 beating and blowing, we made a din which, if it did 
 not frighten a tiger into fits, would certainly render 
 him deaf for some considerable time ! Soon we came 
 upon the poor girl, stone dead, but otherwise un- 
 touched. After the body was removed, the beat was 
 continued on till within fifty yards of the fallen trunk, 
 when cubs were found, which the Karens knocked 
 on the head. I halted at their village that day, got 
 the people to collect a quantity of brushwood ''and 
 dry grass, and about 3 P.M., set the grass in the 
 ravine again on fire. This time it burnt merrily and 
 was not extinguished till midnight, when the dew 
 put it out. Still the conflagration had cleared the 
 nullah for several miles, and the villagers ran little 
 or no risk of wild animals visiting them, until the 
 cover had regrown. I fancy these tigers had wandered 
 to where we found them by mistake. The female 
 had been confined only a few days, and as they 
 could find no game, they had taken to homicidal 
 practices. 
 
 D 
 
34 ' Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Shooting Tigers on Foot is exceedingly dangerous. 
 A tiger can hide behind a bush and be invisible 
 where you would think a hare could not conceal 
 itself. Again they will lie perdu until their pursuer 
 is within striking distance, when even if shot through 
 the heart, will at times have enough vitality left 
 to kill a dozen men. Only when the spine is 
 severed, or the brain penetrated, can one reckon 
 on a mortally-wounded tiger being harmless. Never 
 approach a tiger, even when in articulo mortis. 
 With one expiring effort he may deal a blow, which, 
 if it does not kill, will seriously maim. This is a 
 mode of sport which should be undertaken only by 
 experienced and cool hunters, who can rely on 
 unfailing nerves and accuracy of eyesight. They 
 who follow up a wounded tiger in thick bush, carry 
 their lives in their hands. I don't pretend that I 
 made a practice of this mode of tiger slaying, but 
 I have had to do it many times, and of the two* 
 I think I prefer running the risk attached to killing 
 a tiger on foot, to potting him off a tree. I will here 
 give a few experiences. 
 
 News of a tiger having killed a grasscutter's tat 
 (pony) was brought in one day, and three of us sallied 
 out accompanied by thirty Ghoorkhas, those well- 
 known plucky little fellows who are amongst the 
 best of our soldiery in the East. The pony lay in a 
 slight depression in the hills (Cossyah) and it was easy 
 to trace the line its destroyer had taken. We at first 
 followed up in single file, Colonel H. leading, until 
 we came to an extensive elevated plain, covered with 
 grass from three to four feet high. We then formed 
 line, H. in the centre, B. on the right, and I on 
 
Tiger Shooting. 35 
 
 the left, with the sepoys equally divided between 
 us. We moved along quickly, hoping to find the 
 marauder lying out in the open, the only sound to 
 be heard besides our footsteps being an occasional 
 tap on the ground given by the men every now and 
 then with the long laities or sticks with which they 
 were armed. The dew had been very heavy, the grass 
 was saturated, and so were we before long. It was 
 easy to trace the trail of a large animal through this 
 savannah. Within half a mile the track we had been 
 following bifurcated ; but the two led towards a nasty 
 ravine, which had before now proved a stronghold of 
 not only tigers, but also of leopards and bears. The 
 plain we were on was almost treeless excepting a 
 sapling here and there, intermixed with a few dwarf 
 scattered pines. Seeing the ravine so close at hand we 
 despaired of finding our game out of cover and were 
 carelessly strolling along with our rifles on our 
 shoulders, when one of the Ghoorkhas called out, 
 " Dekho, Sahib ! baghjata hi" (Look, sirs, there is a 
 tiger), and sure enough, between H. and me, a tiger 
 was making the best of its way over the plain. We 
 could only see him now and then as he cantered along, 
 yet we both saluted him. He responded with a deep 
 growl as much as to say " Curse you ! " but continued 
 his course. No sooner had we fired than a cry of 
 " Bagh ! bagh ! " arose all along the line. Three 
 other tigers were scampering along ; two appeared full 
 grown, the other a cub. We opened a fusillade, all 
 three firing three or four shots, for the orderlies 
 promptly handed us the spare rifles, reloading those we 
 had discharged they were breechloaders, of course. 
 One, a tigress, rolled over, but regaining her feet, 
 
 D 2 
 
36 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 pulled herself together with her head towards us, and 
 no sooner did she spy us than she came at us with a 
 will. She made straight for H., who reserved his fire, 
 w T hilst B. and I blazed away, apparently without any 
 result. H., who was a plucky, phlegmatic sort of fellow, 
 cool and collected, waited until she was within ten 
 paces of him ; he then gave her the right barrel. This 
 caused her to stumble, but recovering herself, growling 
 and roaring most diabolically, she almost sprang upon 
 him. B. and I had closed up ; whilst she was in the air 
 the three of us fired. H. sprang aside, turned round, 
 and seizing a rifle from his orderly gave her both 
 barrels ; but she was dead, pierced by no less than nine 
 bullets. The slain was a small hill tigress, measuring 
 only eight feet five inches. We covered her over with 
 grass, which the sepoys cut with their kookries, and 
 placing a handkerchief on a stick in a bush, to indicate 
 the spot, we followed the other tigers. There was blood 
 only on one spoor, and the beasts were well in the 
 ravine before we got to its edge. Now the ticklish part 
 of the work commenced. It was about as nasty a place 
 to go into after a wounded tiger as can be imagined. 
 The ground was uneven, cut up into fissures ; there 
 were dense bushes in parts, rocks in others, just 
 the spot for a tiger to hide in and charge when 
 least expected. It was amusing to see the nonchalant 
 manner in which the Ghoorkhas advanced, stooping 
 to pick the ripe tiparie, or cape gooseberry, which 
 grew in profusion perfectly wild. This fruit is 
 delicious, even when made into preserve. Our 
 advance was slow and cautious, and whenever we 
 came to a boulder higher than its neighbours, a man 
 quickly ascended it and spied around. We had de- 
 
Tiger Shooting. 37 
 
 scended one side, reached the bed, which was some 
 twenty yards broad, but densely jungly, then followed 
 the trace of blood, as the bushes were liberally 
 sprinkled with it. Evidently the fugitive was hard 
 hit, so we all got as close together as the nature of the 
 ground would admit, our rifles at full cock and our 
 orderlies in close attendance. The sepoys knew 
 this ground well, as here, only a short time before, 
 they had by themselves traced up and shot a tigress, 
 and they said, " The tigers will not lie up until they 
 reach that ledge of rocks yonder," pointing to the hill 
 side, some way off, where the action of water had worn 
 the stone into crude caverns. It certainly was a 
 nasty-looking place, and we feared that if the game 
 took up their position among them our task was fruit- 
 less, but before we got half way, a roar from the left 
 was answered by one on the right, and two tigers bore 
 down upon us. We fired, but not before the beasts 
 had penetrated our line. Over went a man close to 
 me and another near to H., and before we could seize 
 our extra weapons, turn round and fire, both assailants 
 had disappeared. The men who had been floored 
 were happily only slightly wounded one lost a part 
 of an ear, and the other had been clawed on the 
 shoulder but the beast had not got off scot free, as 
 a Ghoorkha, the Havildar one of our best cricketers 
 and football players, who unhappily was afterwards 
 killed in an attack on a Naga stronghold, where he 
 
 o o ' 
 
 greatly distinguished himself had given the brute 
 a blow with his kookrie, which we found afterwards 
 had all but severed its foreleg. It was bleeding to 
 death when we finally came upon it lying under a 
 bush. Not fifty yards further had we proceeded 
 
38 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 when there was another charge, this time of course 
 by only one beast. It was well riddled but not killed. 
 Fearing some casualty amongst our followers, deeming 
 the beasts mortally wounded, we were for leaving 
 them until the next day. but the blood of the 
 plucky little hill-men was up and they begged us 
 to continue the fight. H., their commandant, was 
 against our going on. He and the brigadier were 
 not on the best of terms, and he feared if a man was 
 killed he would be blamed. But B. and I, seeing how 
 determined the Ghoorkhas were and it is not wise 
 to thwart them when their blood is up begged 
 him to gratify them. We gave the Havildar and 
 two of the best shots our spare rifles, telling them to 
 use them if necessary, and then advanced. The sepoys 
 had silently dropped their laities and drawn their 
 Jcookries (a weapon without which no Ghoorkha will 
 move), and we knew if the beasts were not killed by 
 our bullets, the men would force a settlement with 
 their knives. However, when the brute charged the 
 next time, he was duly rolled over. As the trail went 
 no further we came to the conclusion that one tiger 
 had been left behind, so thus retraced our steps. A 
 Ghoorkha on the extreme left soon spied the tigress 
 wounded by the Havildar, rushed at her in the most 
 insane manner, and gave her a crack wilich laid open 
 her head. She, although all but dead and weak from 
 loss of blood, made a grab at him with her sound 
 paw which tore the sleeve off his arm and left deep 
 marks of her claws in the flesh. It is a wonder that 
 he fared no worse. Thankful that w r e had got off so 
 well, and satisfied with the day's work, we told the 
 men to collect the slain and bring them to the Mess 
 
Tiger Shooting. 39 
 
 House, and while they went to get their laities we 
 trudged home. We had forgotten all about the cub ; 
 not so the men. Directly our backs were turned, they 
 searched for him, found him, and literally hacked him 
 to pieces, receiving sundry wounds in the encounter 
 for he was fully as large as a big St. Bernard dog 
 but these men made nothing of the mauling they got, 
 only treating their wounds with laughter and joke. 
 Such are these plucky good-natured Ghoorkhas, with 
 whom I have had many a hunt. On service they are 
 inferior to no troops in the world. They do not fear 
 death in the least, and would, if ordered, as soon 
 march up to a loaded battery of guns as enter into a 
 game of football. The only drawback, if it can be 
 called one, is, that if they meet with a stubborn 
 resistance they get wild with excitement ; then there 
 is no holding them in hand. In such emergencies 
 they drop their rifles, and rush in with their kookries, 
 when the strife becomes a case of slaughter: for 
 either they are killed or slay all opposed to them. I 
 wish we had a couple of hundred thousand of them in 
 a European war. I think they would astonish the 
 flower of Continental troops. 
 
 I have been at other hunts after tigers on foot, 
 alone and in company, but space is limited for I have 
 to give instances of other modes of killing the right 
 royal beasts. 
 
 Shooting off Elephants out of Hoivdcihs is very 
 exciting. There is just enough danger in it to stir 
 up one's blood. If every elephant used could be 
 thoroughly depended upon at all times, there would 
 be little risk, but an elephant that is perfectly staunch 
 
4O Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 one day will probably turn tail the next, and a 
 powerful tiger is capable of pulling down a large 
 elephant. When your mount gets really frightened, 
 it becomes ungovernable, and is as likely to tumble 
 into a pitfall, or to go over the steep side of a nullah 
 or precipice, or what is far worse and far more frequent, 
 if a forest be anywhere near, to run amuck through 
 it, when your howdah will be smashed to pieces, 
 you and your weapons tossed about, and if you are 
 not killed, well, you are lucky ! These leviathans, 
 so sagacious at times, when in a panic are really 
 idiotic, and rush for the very place they should avoid ! 
 I have killed more tigers off elephants than in any 
 other way ; but then for twenty-one years I had a 
 number of elephants at my command, and the right 
 of travelling over districts extending over 400 miles 
 in length and some 200 in breadth, in which were 
 extensive plains covered with grass of from three or 
 four to twenty feet high, and swarming with game. 
 Departmental elephants I took care should also be 
 good for shikar, as I had the purchasing of them, not 
 unfrequently adding Ks.500 to their price out of my 
 own purse in addition to the Es.2000 allowed by 
 Government, that I might obtain really good beasts. 
 The same animals I used incessantly for years and 
 years, and never lost one. With good feeding, careful 
 handling, and never overworking, when I made them 
 over to my successor, they were in prime condition 
 and as good of their kind as could be obtained 
 in India. I regret to say, however, that, within 
 eighteen months not one out of six I left behind 
 me was alive. Besides the Departmental elephants, 
 I had one or two of my own, and the right of 
 
Tiger Shooting. 41 
 
 indenting on the Commissariat for four, and as the 
 head of that Department was an old brother officer 
 and a great chum and his principal gomastha worked 
 as a contractor (sub rosa) under me, I got the 
 pick of the keddah and knew far more about the 
 elephants than did any one in charge of the 
 animals. 
 
 On one occasion Archie C., lately Deputy Com- 
 missioner of Kamroop, then in the charge of the 
 Burpetta subdivision, and I were beating in the 
 dooars for whatever we could get. Our luck had not 
 been great ; for we had only bagged a couple of hog- 
 deer, when a givala appeared on the scene and told 
 us a family of tigers had killed no less than six of 
 his cattle. Now an Assamese cow or bullock is a 
 miserable little beast. One would scarcely suffice as a 
 meal for a leopard, so is therefore little more than a 
 flea-bite for his royal relation. On this account very 
 often tigers will kill a lot of cattle more than they 
 can consume drag them into densely- wooded nullahs 
 or jungles, where they are safe from the ken of carrion 
 birds, and there eat them at their leisure. The 
 higher the meat the more tigers seem to like it, and 
 woe betide any stray jackal that dares to encroach on 
 their larder, for the proprietor is never far off. But 
 to return to the givala s story. The cattle killed 
 were untouched several were not even cold so, 
 forming line, we beat straight ahead towards a small 
 bheel where there was sufficient water and cover to 
 afford tigers good shelter. General D. Hamilton no 
 mean authority has said that he has never seen a 
 tiger take a bath ; but then his experience was acquired 
 principally in the Neilgherry and other hill ranges, 
 
42 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 where the climate is cold ; but in other parts of 
 India, Assam and Burma, in the hot season, the 
 tiger dearly loves a moist locality. In vast hot 
 plains, if there be any bheels about, and you are in 
 search of tigers, make for them, for if there is one 
 anywhere in the vicinity, there he will be found. So 
 in the full assurance that before long w r e should make 
 the acquaintance of the royal family, we continued to 
 advance, C. on the left and I on the right, with eight 
 elephants closely jammed between us. Our mahouts 
 were always very keen when out with us, for we 
 divided all Government rewards between them. We 
 had no shikaries, as none exist in Assam. A Cacharie 
 mahout, who was afterwards for some years in my 
 employment, a plucky fellow, knew every inch of 
 the dooars and he was besides without exception 
 the very best tracker I ever saw. The elephants 
 moved along briskly enough till we got to the edge 
 of the bheel ; they then began to be unsteady, to 
 give tongue, in other words to make dismal noises, 
 and as there was no solid ground, they flickled the 
 tips of their trunks against their own legs, and in 
 other ways gave us plainly to understand that they 
 advanced under compulsion. We had not fired a 
 shot and had entered about fifteen yards into the 
 marsh, when, as if by a preconcerted arrangement, 
 several tigers, as far as we could judge, rushed 
 roaring in our direction. We could see the water 
 splash, but the tigers were themselves hidden by the 
 vegetation. We opened fire a little ahead of the 
 moving grass, but I don't think we touched one of 
 them. The uproar now was more than our elephants 
 could stand even packed as they were, so they broke 
 
Tiger Shooting. 43 
 
 away from the mahouts, spun round on their own 
 axis, and made a strategic movement to the rear ! 
 One tiger which followed my mount to the very edge 
 of the cover I got a glimpse of, for I had turned 
 round and stood in the howdah, ]ooking back, expect- 
 ing what had occurred. At it I took a snap shot 
 and hit it somewhere, for it gave a roar ; this was a 
 bit of luck, of course, as no one can be sure of 
 killing an object even the size of a tiger when 
 carried along at racing speed. But " Lutchmee " 
 was a very smooth goer, and so used was I to living, 
 as it were, on an elephant's back, that I was tolerably 
 at my ease whether it was standing still, walking, or 
 at full gallop, which is by the way an amble, for 
 elephants move both legs on one side at the same 
 time. From constant practice I could shoot snipe 
 off their backs nearly as well as I could on foot, and 
 this knack has stood me in good stead when being 
 chased either by a buffalo, rhinoceros or tiger, as I 
 think the reader will acknowledge when he has read 
 more of this volume. We could not stop the 
 elephants until we had got as far as the " kills," 
 which, by the bye, were being devoured by thousands 
 of vultures who pounced down upon them from 
 every quarter of the heavens. After pitching 
 into the mahouts, we told them, if they did not 
 keep their beasts together and in line, with 
 their heads to the foe, they would get no backsheesh 
 but instead a taste of the stick. 
 
 If the elephants were in a funk before, they were 
 now doubly so, literally trembling with fear, and it 
 was only by a free use of the " ankus," or driving 
 hook, they could be induced to advance. Again the 
 
44 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 tigers tried the same tricks, but with less success this 
 time. One charged home (we found afterwards that it 
 was the one I had fired at) and bit an elephant in 
 the leg, near the foot, but C. who was the nearest, 
 neatly bowled it over ; the others, finding our phalanx 
 unbreakable, wheeled off to the right and left, and 
 took refuge in a nasty boggy part of the bheel, into 
 which the elephants could not penetrate. Fortunately 
 C. had some rockets and other fireworks with 
 him, and after discharging a few infernal machines, 
 we started the game afresh. They did not attempt 
 to leave the marsh, as the country on our right 
 side was open, and on the other our elephants had 
 trodden down the grass, so that there was no cover 
 for them to hide in if out of the quagmire. C. now 
 went to one side of the bheel and I to the other, 
 where I was on pretty firm ground. Everywhere 
 we beat about, but could not see a sign of a tiger, 
 and there ought to have been one, if not two. 
 Getting out of the swamp I halted close to a 
 bush, to watch C. I saw him raise his gun and 
 fire, over the side of his howdah, and the next 
 moment a tiger sprang clean off the ground, and 
 seized hold of the lower bar of it with both teeth 
 and claws. There was a crash, the elephant fell on 
 to its side, sending C. and the mahout flying, and 
 then there was the devil's own hallabaloo where the 
 mass of flesh was struggling. I was glad to see 
 the bipeds pick themselves up as I started for the 
 scene of the accident. On moving off, a sound 
 made me turn round, and from the very bush by 
 which I had been standing for five minutes or more, 
 out rushed a tiger. I fired in such a hurry, that I 
 
Tiger Shooting. 45 
 
 am ashamed to say I missed with both barrels. 
 Before I could get to the fallen elephant, a huge 
 "mucknah" (a tuskless male), he, after moving his legs 
 up and down like a pendulum, recovered his feet, and 
 immediately commenced to play football with the tiger, 
 kicking it forward with a hind foot, and throwing 
 it back with a fore ; if the brute had not been 
 dead, he could not have long survived such treat- 
 ment. We had to take two female elephants, one 
 on either side of him, before we could pacify him 
 and get him away. The only wounds he had on 
 him, were the claw marks of the tiger's hind legs, by 
 which he had clung to the elephant's belly. The 
 howdah was smashed to bits, one of C.'s guns had 
 a broken stock, so, considering all things, the elephant, 
 and the two men escaped wonderfully well. On 
 examining the tiger we found almost every bone in 
 his body broken ; for he was literally kicked into a 
 jelly. C.'s last shot had caught the foe fairly in the 
 chest, passed through the lungs and stomach, and 
 made its exit close to the rump. If the elephant, who 
 was standing on a declivity which gave way, and 
 caused him to fall, had not squashed him, the 
 tiger must have died of his wounds. My comrade 
 was terribly shaken, but no bones were broken. 
 Leaving the mahouts to pad the slain, C. got 
 on to a pad elephant, and we went back to camp, 
 whence we sent in to Burpettah for a howdah. 
 Next morning my comrade was too poorly to go 
 out, so taking all the elephants, I went alone. We 
 beat about all day, getting only a small deer or 
 two, and then a cry of " Bayh ! " arose, and from a 
 detached clump of long grass out rushed a tigress, 
 
46 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport, 
 
 making for the same bheel as witnessed the previous 
 day's adventure. I was quickly after her, and, odd to 
 say, the elephants behaved admirably. I suppose from 
 carrying home the tigers the day before, they had be- 
 come accustomed to the smell, so when we put the 
 game up and she made the usual feints at charging, 
 the elephants did not budge. At length we got her 
 into a corner, where we lost sight of her, but presently 
 she sprung from the stump of a tree clean on to the 
 back of a small beating elephant, lighting on the pad 
 as noiselessly as a cat might have done. As she was 
 now only a few yards from me, I dropped her stone 
 dead, and she remained on the pad as if she had been 
 placed there for removal to camp. These were the 
 only tigers we got that trip, but I believe that the 
 family consisted of six in all, for we heard of several 
 " kills " afterwards in that neighbourhood, but 
 although we went after them time after time, they 
 always managed to evade us. 
 
 I could multiply indefinitely instances of tiger 
 shooting off elephants, but the following, I think, 
 particularly deserves mention. I was once beating a 
 chur below Doobree, and the Deputy Commissioner of 
 the Garow Hills, a clever plucky fellow, a splendid shot, 
 and the most rising man in the Assam Commission, 
 joined me. We killed several tigers and speared 
 numerous hog, which run big there and fight hard. 
 One day we came across a huge tiger, which W. hit 
 hard. It took up its position in a dense thicket 
 which no elephant would go into. W. dismounted 
 his mahout, took his place, drove the elephant 
 in as far as he could, then stooping well over his 
 beast's head got a glimpse of the tiger, and shot it 
 
Tiger Shooting. 47 
 
 dead. It was as plucky and cool a thing as I ever 
 saw in my life. 
 
 I once met with a curious adventure and may 
 mention it here. It smacks of the marvellous, but it is 
 nevertheless perfectly true. I had sent my wife and 
 children for a change to Ootacamund. During the 
 monsoon ; the works on the lighthouse, in the construc- 
 tion of which I was then engaged, were in abeyance, 
 and therefore there was no difficulty in obtaining leave. 
 I crossed over from Burma, spent a month or two at 
 Ooty, and then tried for elephants and gaur in the 
 Wynaud Forest, making Coimbatore my headquarters. 
 A fortnight I had been shooting and had had fair 
 sport, killing several gaur, sambur and one elephant, 
 but it was hard work, and I was thinking of return- 
 ing to Ooty, when some Corumbirs, who live in the 
 dense jungles much as the Karens do in Burma, and 
 have but an apology for clothing, appeared one day and 
 reported that a wonderful tusker frequented the forest 
 in their vicinity. Casually they mentioned too that 
 a tiger had lately been killing a good many people. 
 I had still a fortnight remaining of the month I had 
 devoted to sport, so thought that I might just as well 
 try and pick up a good pair of tusks and rid the 
 country of a man-eater. Packing up my goods on 
 bullocks I returned with them. I searched the jungles 
 for five days. The marks of a large elephant were 
 certainly visible, but the animal himself we could 
 never come across. As for the man-eater, there were 
 reports of a " kill " here and a " kill " there, but when 
 I got to the place the replies were indefinite or no- 
 body visible. On the sixth day a man rushed into 
 my camp, and said his daughter had been killed that 
 
48 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 morning at daybreak, and if I would come at once 
 they would beat for the beast, and that people 
 had surrounded it. I hurried there, but the corpse 
 had been removed and was being cremated. Also 
 the circle formed round the man-eater had been so 
 defective that he or she had got away. I was very 
 angry, and swore they might all be decimated before 
 I trudged a mile to save them. These people are 
 very superstitious, and believe that if the body of a 
 person killed by a tiger is not recovered and burnt, 
 the defunct will arise and destroy all its relatives who 
 have failed to give it the rights of burial, which in 
 most cases means being burnt. I then removed my 
 camp further inland about ten miles, searching for 
 the tusker daily without getting a sight of him. 
 Hearing of a human being being killed here and there, 
 notwithstanding what I had stated, I did go frequently 
 to try and get a shot at the homicide, but it was all 
 in vain ; the people would not leave the victims, but 
 drove the tiger off before I could get to the scene of the 
 tragedies. On the eleventh day I came upon fresher 
 marks than usual of the tusker, and was following 
 them up, accompanied by my shikarie, a local man, 
 and a Karumba. We were far from the haunts of man, 
 and all was solitude, when there was heard a piercing 
 cry, which was unmistakably the death shriek of some 
 miserable creature struck down by a beast of prey. 
 I rushed forward, followed most reluctantly by my 
 two attendants, and found a poor wood-cutter. He 
 was a small, wiry, man probably about forty years of 
 age, all but naked, and the breath was scarcely out of 
 his body. As I stooped over him to ascertain whether 
 there was the least hope of his recovery, I found that 
 
Tiger S /looting. 49 
 
 the back of his skull had been beaten in, as with a 
 sledge-hammer. When I turned round the Karumba 
 was making tracks, evidently with a view of giving 
 notice of the misfortune to some villagers, and as I 
 knew if he once got away we should have a posse of 
 men with torches coming for the body, I caught him 
 by the scruff of his neck and told him if he attempted 
 to leave I would break every bone in his body. Now 
 that I had a corpse I meant to utilise it, so I forcibly 
 detained him and made him and the shikarie, collect 
 wood and erect a " machan." The body lay with the 
 face uppermost, and had fallen amid some brush- 
 wood close to a stout sapling, while a fair-sized tree 
 commanded the position from a distance of about 
 fifteen yards. There was fortunately a good moon, so 
 soon before dusk we climbed into our perch, the villager 
 muttering that it was sacrilege we were guilty of, and 
 that surely the corpse would arise and slay us. Finally 
 I procured silence by telling the men, if they made 
 the least noise, I would tie them up as living bait. 
 It was a gruesome sight, watching that dead body as 
 the moon shone on its face, exaggerating every feature. 
 I must own, were it not that I considered it a duty to 
 try and rid the country of that awful infliction, a 
 man-eater, I would even at the last moment have 
 gone back to camp. 
 
 The time went by but slowly. Eleven o'clock 
 arrived ; no appearance of the tiger. Some tall trees 
 cast a shadow over the corpse, but I could not take 
 my eyes off that poor, thin, ghastly upturned face, when, 
 oh, horror ! one eye opened, then the other ; soon after 
 an arm moved, succeeded by a shiver of the body. 
 Was it going to rise and kill us as the men asserted ? 
 
 E 
 
5O Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 It was too absurd. The sight was too much for my 
 companions. They dropped forward in a swoon. Even 
 I, too, felt as if icy cold water was being poured down 
 the back of my neck. Demoralised I was certainly 
 getting, I do not think that I could have borne the 
 gruesome sight much longer, when there was a roar, and 
 a brindled mass sprang at something which was invisible 
 to me. Instantaneously a vast speckled body coiled itself 
 round the brindled matter, there was a struggle, 
 bones seemed to be crunched to bits, the tiger gave a 
 feeble roar or two, and then all was still except 
 an occasional convulsive upheaving. In that fearful 
 effort, the corpse had been shifted so that its wide 
 and sightless orbs no longer stared upwards. That 
 alone was a relief. What had occurred I could not 
 conjecture. 1 The men, when they recovered from 
 their faint, still lay prone with their hands over their 
 faces, muttering that we were now as good as dead. 
 'Giving one a slight kick, I asked him what he 
 was afraid of. " The corpse wil] kill us, "he muttered. 
 "Why, you fools," said I, "the dead come not to 
 life again. The woodcutter is dead, and something 
 has killed his destroyer. We shall know all about it 
 in the morning. I am going to sleep ; you had better 
 do so too." 
 
 I knew they were in too great a fright to descend 
 from the machan and seek a village at that time of 
 night, so making myself as comfortable as I could, 
 I turned over on my side and dozed off, giving a 
 convulsive start now and then as I dreamt that the 
 woodcutter was threatening me. But everything has 
 .an end. That long, long night at length terminated, 
 1 There was a good deal of brushwood and debris about. 
 
Tiger Shooting. 5 i 
 
 and thankful I was to see the dawn of day and hear 
 the jungle fowls proclaim that sunrise was at hand. 
 Losing no time I descended to solve last night's 
 mystery, the sight that met my eyes was marvellous- 
 A huge rock snake, a python, just over twenty-one feet 
 in length, lay coiled round the body of the tiger, whose 
 fangs in turn were imbedded in the back of the snake's 
 head, while the reptile's folds, after enveloping the 
 tiger, had got a purchase by lashing its tail round the 
 adjoining sapling, and so assisted the vast muscular 
 power it possessed in crushing the tiger to death. 
 On examining the corpse of the man, we found saliva 
 or slime over the face and the upper part of the 
 body, and so I have no doubt the snake had thus 
 prepared the human prize for swallowing when the 
 tiger sprang upon it, resulting in the two meeting 
 their deaths as described. The movements of the 
 man's body were doubtless cavised by the snake's 
 pressure and by its progress round and about the 
 carcase. The python, though dead some hours, had 
 still sufficient muscular power left to make it appear 
 dangerous. These reptiles are properly called boa 
 constrictors, for their power of contraction, when they 
 have a purchase to aid them, is immense, and I have 
 heard the natives tell wonderful tales about their 
 strength, even to their making buffaloes their victims. 
 Snakes may have the power, but as they could not 
 make a meal off a buffalo, they would have no object 
 in assaulting them, unless under similar circumstances 
 to those related above. 
 
 Having procured coolies, with the united strength 
 of twenty men, aided with coils of strong rope, we 
 unwound the snake from its hold on the tree, when a 
 
 E 2 
 
52 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 cart being procured, the two, lying dead in each other's 
 embrace, were conveyed to the village. 
 
 Having secured a rough sketch of the extraordinary 
 scene, I had the snake skinned, but the people failed 
 to hang it out of the reach of prowling jackals, and 
 five feet of it was torn away. 
 
 It was thus lost as a specimen. I thought it very 
 large at the time, but subsequently I saw two snakes 
 killed each over twenty-four feet in length. But one 
 might live to the age of Methuselah, and wander in 
 the forests for five hundred years and never see such 
 a sight as that witnessed by me that night. The 
 dead woodcutter was duly cremated. I remained a 
 week longer, got the " tusker," but heard no more of 
 anybody being killed. There is little doubt there- 
 fore, that it was the veritable man-eater that was 
 destroyed by the snake. The tiger 1 was only eight feet 
 one inch long, in perfect condition as to skin, but very 
 emaciated, as if her food either did not agree with 
 her or she did not get enough of it, and I strongly 
 suspect the latter was the case, for so vigilant were 
 these people that they never gave the depredator time 
 to make a square meal off her numerous victims. 
 But for the chance of my having witnessed the wood- 
 cutter's death, and so prevented the men removing 
 the corpse, the probabilities are the man-eater would 
 have lived many a day longer and continued its 
 ravages upon the human family. 
 
 In the Yonzaleen, Burma, man-eating tigers are 
 very numerous, in other parts of that country they 
 are, comparatively speaking, unknown. But occasion- 
 ally one hears of a person being killed here and 
 
 1 It turned out to be a tigress. 
 
Tiger Shooting. 53 
 
 there, although the remoter villages are protected by 
 either a palisade or by a strong fence of thorny 
 bushes. 
 
 I had a lime quarry about thirteen miles from 
 Tongho. There I had built a good house, out-offices, 
 etc., but a tiger one night killed a valuable pony of 
 mine in the stable. I sat up for him, and hit him hard, 
 but never got him. Then for about a year we heard 
 nothing more of tigers, but news was brought to me 
 by one of my workmen that several people had dis- 
 appeared from an inland village, about fifteen miles 
 from the limekiln station, so I determined to pay 
 it a visit and arrange for a hunt. The country was 
 very rough, being a series of low hills covered with 
 dense bamboos with other jungle, nasty swamps 
 occurring between them, so elephants as beaters 
 were utterly useless. Moreover the interstices were 
 seldom burnt, so undergrowth was excessive, making 
 stalking and beating alike impracticable. Thus 
 the only chance of a shot was to sit up over a 
 " kill." * 
 
 A day's journey from the "kilns" up the lovely 
 Thouk-y-ghat, or drinking-water stream, the country 
 was opener, and yit, (pheasants), jungle fowl and 
 barking deer were to be found. So I had a hut built 
 there close to a toivnyali or clearance, where three or 
 four Karens lived, who looked after my effects 
 during my absence. I was well known and friendly 
 with all the people, and about once a year I used to 
 send invitations to the different head men within a 
 day's journey to attend a pooay, or native theatricals, 
 which the Burmese dearly love. One April it was 
 if I mistake not the 21st I left for my hut on 
 
54 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the Thouk-y-gliat, put up there that night, and the 
 next morning, accompanied by my lugalay, or Burmese 
 boy, I set out to visit the village of Shoaydeik, 
 distant about twelve miles, intending to sleep there 
 and make inquiries about a reported man-eater. 
 A coolie also carried a few necessaries, especially a 
 set of curtains for mosquitoes, for these wretches 
 make life a burden to all in Burma unless pro- 
 tected by a muslin curtain which enwraps the whole 
 of one's crib. When safely ensconced thus, I could 
 sleep on anything, but without it, sleep even on 
 the downiest couch would be impossible. My lad 
 carried a short double-barrelled No. 12 rifle, 1 a 
 splendid weapon, and my special favourite, smooth 
 bore which threw ball and shot at short range 
 equally well, and were the first breechloaders I ever 
 possessed. 
 
 We had gone probably six or seven miles with- 
 out seeing anything, but in crossing a well- wooded 
 watercourse a sambur ran up the hillside, exposing 
 the whole of his broadside at a distance of not more 
 than fifty yards. A lucky shot with the left barrel, 
 which was loaded with ball, broke his back. I cut 
 its throat, and as the head was a particularly fine 
 one for Burma I wanted to preserve it entire, and 
 was proceeding to cut it off and hang it on a tree 
 until our return, when the coolie said there was a 
 small village about two miles off, and the people would 
 be glad of some of the meat, and that we could send 
 in the head and the rest of the flesh for the use of 
 the workmen at the quarry. So I told him I would wait 
 there until his return, but he said he was afraid to go 
 1 They were made in 1863, by Westley Richards. 
 
Tiger Shooting. 5 5 
 
 alone, and asked me to allow the lad to accompany 
 him ; so telling them to put their "packs" down on a 
 knoll overlooking a clear, bright streamlet, and cutting- 
 branches and grass to cover over the sambur and pro- 
 tect the body from the vultures, which would other- 
 wise have swept down upon it, I let them start, then r 
 leaving the beaten path, about one hundred yards. 
 I sat down. I made myself as comfortable as I could, 
 choosing for my perch a projecting rock, with another 
 just a little below it on which I could rest my feet, my 
 gun and rifle being close at hand. It was just the 
 kind of jungle where one might expect to see "yit' r 
 and jungle fowl, who are very fond of scratching and 
 pecking about for ants and larvae near the banks of 
 mountain streams, especially when they are shaded, as 
 this one was, by a grass which much resembles young 
 bamboos. At my back was a small "bear" bush, 1 
 against the stem of which I leant my back, and on 
 either side of me the undergrowth was rather heavy, 
 but down to my front I could see very distinctly. I 
 did not think that even a hare could have gone by 
 without being observed. To pass the time I ate 
 some hard-boiled eggs, and drank some of Crabbie's 
 ginger-wine, for the day was sultry, not a breath of 
 air moving the atmosphere. Here I had been perched 
 for nearly an hour and was getting drowsy, when I 
 heard the musical laughter and voices of some 
 approaching Burmese girls. I thought they prob- 
 ably belonged to the village my people had gone to ? 
 and that the men were following ; yet they appeared 
 
 1 This is a thorny, stunted tree and bears a fruit somewhat 
 resembling a small crab apple which are not bad eating if 
 thoroughly ripe. 
 
56 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 to come from a different direction. I did not move, 
 as if they followed the path they must pass close to 
 me when I could question them. 
 
 Presently four lassies, the eldest not more than 
 seventeen and the others between fifteen and that 
 age, with trays on their heads and in gala costume, 
 came in view on the opening at the further side of 
 the river's bank. It did not take them a minute to 
 deposit their burdens, take off their thin jackets, lay 
 aside their " thamins," and throw themselves into the 
 river, which nowhere was much above their knees. 
 They amused themselves playing and romping with 
 each other, totally unconscious that there was a man 
 sitting down within thirty yards of them. I was 
 absorbed in the spectacle, for the girls were pretty, in 
 fact you might travel through the length and breadth 
 of Europe and not meet with such perfect figures. 
 But Asiatics, left to nature, strangers to corsets 
 and tight-lacing, develop in a manner unknown to 
 people of colder climes, who, though oftener prettier 
 in the face, are sadly deficient in the contour of the 
 body. The Elders who peeped at Susanna, would 
 have gone raving mad could they have seen the 
 abandon of these four damsels ! I had been inwardly 
 chuckling and conceived the idea of jumping up and 
 overwhelming them with confusion, when a movement 
 in the grass attracted my attention. As I said before, 
 I did not think that a hare could have passed without 
 being seen, but though I took my eyes off the fascin- 
 ating spectacle in the stream, and bent them on the 
 spot, I could see nothing, but once my attention had 
 been called away from the nymphs, my instinct as a 
 hunter predominated. So I seized my rifle, loaded the 
 
Tiger Shooting. 57 
 
 gun with ball so as to be ready for any contingencies, 
 and silently cocked both weapons. For the space 
 of half a minute nothing moved and nothing was 
 visible ; and the girls continued splashing one another 
 and enjoying their douche amidst fits of laughter. 
 Then there was another slight rustle, yet I could 
 see no living thing. I surmised it might be a snake, 
 or a yit, so thought of replacing the shot cartridges, 
 when another movement riveted my attention. I 
 forgot the girls, my eyes protruding out of my head in 
 a vain attempt to penetrate the mystery, but although 
 the whole time was not more than a couple of minutes, 
 it appeared an hour, before I obtained a view of a 
 brindled mass which, crouching with belly touch- 
 ing the ground, was creeping slowly but surely 
 towards its unconscious victims in the water ! Why, 
 thought I, it is a tiger, and probably the man-eater 
 we have heard of. It is stalking the girls, but by G d 
 I'll spoil its little game. I could distinctly trace the 
 murderous brute drawing its hind legs under its body 
 preparatory to springing forward, so I thought it time 
 for me to interfere. I could see the two white marks 
 which are so conspicuous on the backs of a tiger's ears, 
 and knew therefore that if I fired exactly between 
 them, that I should hit the back of the head at its 
 junction with the spine a fatal spot if struck, no 
 matter whether the animal be an elephant, a rhino- 
 ceros, a buffalo, or any other living thing. Moreover 
 my position for that shot was most advantageous, for 
 I was shooting downwards. The rifle 1 and I were 
 old comrades. I had killed much game with it and 
 won many a match, so provided my nerve did not 
 
 1 It was a two-groove No. 10 rifle, by Joseph Lang. 
 
58 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 desert me and I held the weapon straight, the bullet 
 would not fail me. I had a splendid support, for 
 my feet resting on a rock a little below, enabled 
 me to place my elbows on my knees, so taking 
 a rapid but careful sight, I fired. What happened 
 for the next second or two I cannot tell, for at 
 the report of the rifle the girls screamed and made 
 for the bank, luckily on the side they had entered 
 the river. The smoke hung, but there was a roar 
 and something flashed past me, and as the smoke 
 cleared away I saw a tiger in the water bounding 
 towards the girls, who, huddled together, appeared 
 paralysed with fright and unable to move. Surely, 
 thought I, I could not have missed. I never fired 
 more coolly or steadily in my life and if struck the 
 brute should be as dead as a door-nail. But the 
 fact remains, there he is, and if I don't disable 
 him within the next minute he'll kill some of those 
 girls. Then I remembered the roar behind me and 
 the flashing of something over me, and wondered 
 whether there could be a second brute, but I had not 
 much time for cogitation. Act I must, and that 
 speedily. Fortunately I had not altered my position ; 
 my elbows were still on my knees, and aiming at the 
 would-be destroyer's broad back. I fired. Luckily a 
 gust of wind at that moment blew the smoke aside 
 and I saw the tiger rear up, give a gasp, and then 
 swim steadily forward. I dropped the rifle and seized 
 the gun, but by that time the tiger was all but out 
 of the water, and as he made for the girls I fired and 
 broke a fore leg, but beyond stumbling and giving 
 one snarling roar, he continued on his way. Again I 
 pressed the trigger when over he rolled, almost within 
 
Tiger Shooting. 59< 
 
 touching distance of the women, and as he struggled 
 on the ground, one of them 1 threw her " thamin " over 
 his head, and dragging her comrades with her, retreated 
 backwards into the river, and made for my side of it, 
 as fast as they could. Before the tiger could clear 
 himself of the encumbrance over his head for he had 
 a foreleg broken and was otherwise hard hit the 
 girls were scrambling up the hill-side, while I 
 again was ready for the would-be homicide. The 
 tiger without a moment's hesitation plunged back 
 into the river. I aimed at his head, the ball struck 
 him just above the nose, but below the brain, and 
 passed through both jaws, breaking them. But 
 the enraged beast would not be denied, and he was 
 dragging his dripping body out of the water, when I 
 hit him in the chest, but the ball did no great 
 harm as it passed downwards and did not penetrate 
 a vital part, as it would have done had I been on the 
 same level. However he now stood still, uttering 
 roar on roar, swaying about so that I hesitated to fire 
 for fear of missing him altogether. The girls in 
 the meantime had rushed past me and I knew they 
 would be up trees before the feline could overtake 
 them in his crippled state, moreover now I was- 
 between him and them. I had therefore time to 
 slip in another cartridge, and biding my time, as 
 he turned his side to me, for he could not face the 
 steep ascent of the bank, I struck him in the centre 
 of the shield and knocked him over. As he was not 
 dead, but still gasping and now and then uttering a 
 low growl, I reloaded the rifle and going down put 
 
 1 She married a noted worker in gold in Tongho and was- 
 christened, why I know not, " Orangie." 
 
<6o Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the brute out of pain. Whilst I was standing over 
 my prize, T found that it was a very large tigress. I 
 heard voices some way off, so crossed the river, seized 
 the girls' clothes, ran up the hill, and found them as I 
 anticipated perched upon so many branches. Laughing 
 at them as they attempted to screen their nakedness 
 from me, I told them not to be afraid as the tiger 
 was dead, but as a lot of villagers were not far off 
 they had better don their dresses. So not wishing 
 to add to their confusion, I turned my back on 
 them and walked off, and in a few minutes my 
 -boy and about a dozen men appeared, but from a 
 direction quite different from that by which the 
 girls had come, as the latter belonged to another 
 village. 
 
 My boy said they had heard the shots and thought 
 I was firing at a mark for practice and to pass away 
 the time ; but I took them up to the tigress and told 
 what had occurred. Some of the men examined 
 the carcase and exclaimed, '* Why, it is one of 
 the dreaded man-eaters. Look here, she has lost 
 two toes off a hind foot. That was done by a man 
 she seized about six weeks ago." " But where can 
 the other be, for they are never far apart ? " " Why," 
 said I, " I think there must have been another, for I 
 -don't think this is the one I fired at first, but I fear 
 I must have missed him." " Be ready then, Tuckin" 
 (Sir), said one of the men, " now that the female is 
 dead he will attack us to a certainty." So cocking 
 my rifle, and bidding my boy to remain close behind 
 me with the gun, I went towards where I thought 
 the first tiger should be. The men all separated and 
 went into the trees in a minute. The girls had 
 
Tiger Shooting. 61: 
 
 descended and clothed themselves, but seeing the men 
 running, and climbing aloft, they did likewise. My 
 lugalay (boy) was very reluctant to come with me, 
 but I told him if he moved or attempted to loiter, I 
 would tie him up as a bait, for I was determined to 
 have that tiger. But there was no need for fear, or 
 further precautions, for after a little search I found a 
 tiger stone dead, lying on its back, hidden by a 
 rock, and on which he must have been crouching 
 preparatory to springing on the girls. Calling out 
 that the other tiger was also dead, I told the 
 people to come down and drag both to the river 
 bank, but until the boy had assured them that it 
 was really true that both the beasts were defunct, 
 not one of them would move. Indeed the girls were 
 the first to set this example, for they slipped off their 
 perches and came to where I was standing, clasping 
 my knees as they knelt down, and calling me their 
 preserver and goodness knows what, whereas if the 
 truth be told, the whole time the scrimmage lasted 
 and it was not of five minutes' duration I had not 
 given the women a thought, for my hunter's instinct 
 had been so wrapped up in the death of the royal 
 cats, that everything else had gone out of my 
 head. But of course I was glad that I had been 
 instrumental in having saved them from becoming 
 food for such monsters, for the girls were far too 
 fine specimens of the human race to have met with 
 such a fate. I was then told that these two tigers 
 always hunted in company, and that they had killed 
 over twenty people in two months, a great mortality 
 for a tract so sparsely populated. 
 
62 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 But my own escape must have been a narrow one, 
 for whilst the male was making for the girls, the female 
 must have been stalking me, and I attribute her 
 failure, to my having fired just as she was about to 
 take her spring. The report doubtless startled her, 
 and as I was enveloped in the smoke, she probably 
 lost sight of me and miscalculating the distance, 
 sprang over instead of on to me, and so the -impetus 
 carried her down hill, where she probably saw the 
 dead body of her mate, when she made for the girls 
 determined on revenge. Her subsequent behaviour 
 proved how utterly reckless she was of her own life 
 provided she could avenge the death of her lord and 
 master. There was no excuse for their homicidal 
 propensities, for' both were young and in the full 
 vigour of their strength. The male measured nine 
 feet eight inches, and the female nine feet one 
 inch. 
 
 It took us some time to deprive them of their 
 pelts, and by the time they were skinned it was too 
 late for me to go on, so taking six men with me, 
 carrying the heads and skins, and a goodly supply of 
 sambur meat, I returned to my hut on the Thouk-y- 
 ghat. The other villagers took the remainder of the 
 venison and went home. The girls asked to be 
 allowed to accompany us, as they were too terrified 
 to travel alone, so giving up my cabin to them, I 
 slept in my boat, and the next day took them down 
 in it to the limekilns. I found that one of my 
 head quarrymen was the father of the eldest lass, who 
 had so pluckily and at so critical a moment thrown 
 her " thamin " over the tiger's head. All the others had 
 
Tiger Shooting. 63 
 
 relations in Tongho, most of them men in my employ. 
 They often afterwards brought presents of flowers to 
 my wife and children. They all married very well, 
 and whenever I met any of them alone I used to 
 make her blush and run away by asking her when 
 she was going to the river to bathe again. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 KHINOCEROS SHOOTING (ASIATIC). 
 
 IT is a current belief, that the skin of a rhinoceros 
 will resist an ordinary bullet that it is all but 
 impervious. This is nonsense. A spherical ball out of 
 a 12 smooth bore, driven by five drachms of black 
 powder, if rightly placed, will kill a rhinoceros far 
 easier than it would a buffalo ; for though the skin 
 is very thick, it is easily penetrated. I have seen a 
 man of ordinary strength drive a " shikar " knife up to 
 the hilt behind the shoulder of a prostrate rhinoceros. 
 But still it is better to use heavy weapons, with large 
 charges and hardened bullets ; not on account of the 
 denseness of the cuticle, but because the missile has to 
 pass through an immense quantity of flesh, well 
 covered with muscle, before it can reach a vital part. 
 Jerdon (the naturalist) recommends steel- tipped bullets 
 and shells. The former are of course very well adapted 
 for slaying all pachyderms, but the latter are simply 
 useless. I tried many kinds, notably Forsyth's, but 
 I never succeeded in killing a rhinoceros with one, 
 though I fired with them at over thirty. I found the 
 belted bullets from my two grooved rifles hardened 
 with a mixture of quicksilver, very deadly. Shooting 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 65 
 
 downwards, I once put a ball right through a charging 
 beast ; it entered near the spine and made its exit 
 through the abdomen. I have shot two rhinoceros 
 right and left killing them with one ball each but 
 they were very close and inclined to fight, so gave 
 easy shots. Most elephants dread these animals very 
 much, and few will go close to them. If a ball 
 be placed in the centre of the shield over the shoulder, 
 rather low down, it penetrates the heart. If behind 
 the shoulder, the lungs are perforated, and the animal 
 subsides in a few moments. When thus shot it runs a 
 little way, then falls down, and in its dying moments 
 makes a peculiar noise which can be heard a long 
 way off, and once heard can never be forgotten. In 
 hostilities, Indian rhinoceros do not use the horn, but 
 their tusks, with which they can inflict fearful gashes. 
 In Burma, the most common rhinoceros is the double 
 horned, but two other species exist, yet are seldom 
 come across, as they inhabit morasses that may be 
 termed quagmires, over which a loaded elephant 
 cannot travel: In Assam, we have but two kinds 
 of this genus, the larger and the lesser. They are 
 exceedingly plentiful in the Terai, at the foot of 
 the Bhootaii and Himalaya ranges, and are also 
 found in the swamps along the base of the Cossyah 
 and G arrow Hills. Throughout the province there are 
 favourite localities, as well as in many of the 
 " churs " (islands) of the Brahmapootra river. The 
 larger Asiatic rhinoceros has only one horn, seldom 
 eighteen inches long, generally a good deal less. 
 This horn is said to be but a conglomeration of 
 hairs, and is liable to be detached through either 
 injury or disease, when another grows in its place. 
 
 F 
 
66 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 The skin, as stated, is very thick, with a deep fold 
 at the setting on of the head, another being 
 behind the shoulder, and a third in front of the 
 thighs. Two large incisors are in each jaw, with 
 two smaller intermediate ones below, and two still 
 smaller outside the upper incisors, the last are not 
 always present. The general colour is dusky black. 
 The dimensions of one I bagged were as follows : 
 extreme length of body, twelve and a half feet ; tail, 
 two feet ; height, six feet two inches ; horn, fourteen 
 inches. These animals delight in swamps and mud 
 holes, and even in running streams, and " lie up" in 
 them during the heat of the day. The lesser 
 rhinoceros is found in the Soonderbunds, near Calcutta, 
 and in all suitable localities on the left bank of 
 the Brahmapootra river. I never came across it on 
 the right bank, but doubtless it exists there too, as 
 all these beasts wander about a good deal in search 
 of food. In appearance it somewhat resembles the 
 larger, but the folds are not so pronounced, and 
 the shields have often tubercles on them, and it is 
 said it is attracted by fire. The Burmese assert it eats 
 it ! As a rule the rhinoceros is very inoffensive. 
 It lives in such remote localities, that none but 
 a hunter thinks of intruding upon its habitat, but 
 if there be any grain grown within a few miles of 
 their outlying haunts, it will march long distances 
 during a night to feed upon it. To get these animals 
 in fairly open ground, the sportsman must be in their 
 preserves at daybreak, for the beasts soon retire into 
 impenetrable forests where there are mudholes, and 
 in them takes their siestas. It is naturally a timid 
 animal, more anxious to escape than fight, is very 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 67 
 
 easily killed, but if pushed hard or driven into a 
 corner it turns to bay and if it can close, it will 
 leave its marks for time and a day. Although the 
 horns are contemptible as trophies, the native 
 Assamese and Mawarries prize them greatly, and will 
 give as much as Ks.45 a seer (2 Ibs.) for them. They 
 are also greatly prized by the Chinese. Two officers, 
 Cock (afterwards killed in the Naga campaign) and 
 Bunbury, just before I arrived at Go what ty, made a 
 good bag of these beasts, and by the sale of the horns 
 more than repaid all their expenses. They live in 
 apparent harmony with wild elephants, and I have 
 seen them lying down in the same mudhole with a 
 buffalo ! 
 
 Many castes of Brahmins, Hindoos, and Mawarries 
 will not touch flesh of any kind, living on grain and 
 vegetables alone, but they make an exception in 
 favour of the flesh of the pachyderm I am describing. 
 They have often asked me to dry the tongue for them. 
 This they pulverise, bottle it, and take a pinch or two 
 when ill. The Assamese and bigoted Hindoos follow a 
 sportsman about like vultures, and as soon as a 
 rhinoceros is dead they rush upon it, fight for the 
 tit-bits, and do not leave even a piece of the skin. 
 This they cut into long strips, roast it over embers, 
 and eat it as we do the " crackling " of a pig. Consider- 
 ing the habits of the beast, for it deposits its ordure 
 always on the same spot until a considerable mound 
 is formed, and the value put on the flesh and horns 
 by the natives, I am suqDrised there are any left alive. 
 If native shikaries dug a pit, and sat near one of these 
 places of deposit, they could easily shoot the animal 
 on its nightly visits. It was in this way that I 
 
 F 2 
 
68 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 bagged the only rhinoceros I ever killed in Burma. 
 But in Assam I killed a great many off elephants 
 and a few on foot. 
 
 Jerdon says the height of the lesser rhinoceros is 
 only from three to three-and-a-half feet, but I have 
 killed them at least a foot higher. He was a very 
 clever naturalist, but most obstinate, and occasionally 
 quite wrong as to facts. Now, I mentioned to him 
 that the Tucktoo, a Gecko I had heard every day and 
 night of my life in Burma for thirteen years, was in 
 existence in Assam. He flatly contradicted me. So 
 the very next time I went to Burneyhat, the first 
 stage en route to Shillong, where I often heard them 
 uttering their cries, I got the natives to catch one for 
 me. This they did reluctantly, for they believe them 
 to be poisonous but what will not a wretched Assam- 
 ese do for a rupee or even a few annas ! so I took it 
 to Jerdon, who was staying with me in Gowhatty. 
 Again I told him that amongst many bears I had 
 killed in the province, one had been the ordinary 
 Ursus labiatus. He would have it that that was 
 impossible, but as the beast had been killed only a 
 short time before, and I had its skin, with the skull 
 attached so took it to him. Now the U. labiatus has 
 only four incisors in the upper jaw, whilst the Ursus 
 tibetanus has six. How that individual beast found 
 its way to the foot of the Himalayas, where I shot it, 
 I don't know, for the ordinary bear of the country is 
 Ursus tibetanus, though why so-called would be a 
 puzzle to most sportsmen, as it is not found in Thibet 
 at all ! 
 
 General Sir Charles Eeld, G.C.B., of Delhi fame, 
 when shooting at Loqua Ghat with me, killed two 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 69 
 
 rhinoceros in one day with one ball each, and those 
 bullets were twenty to the pound in calibre, yet 
 the next day he lost a large rhinoceros after re- 
 peated discharges at close quarters ! Truly there 
 is great luck in shooting ! One day a man will 
 bag all he fires at ; the next day, under equally 
 favourable circumstances, he will not kill a single 
 thing. 
 
 The two-horned rhinoceros's habitat extends from 
 Chittagong southwards, and it is also found in Sumatra, 
 Java and some of the other large islands. Its skin is 
 as smooth as a buffalo's, but in habits and customs it 
 much resembles the other species of its family. A 
 curious variety of this rhinoceros was secured by 
 Captain Hood, and is now, I believe, in the Zoological 
 Gardens, Kegent's Park. Its ears, if I remember right, 
 were somewhat tesselated, and I believe there is an- 
 other variety called the hairy rhinoceros. I waged 
 war against these pachyderms, why, I don't know r 
 for I was not fond enough of the ungrateful Assamese 
 to provide them with such choice food but I can 
 answer for it, that of the forty- seven or forty- eight 
 which I killed, not an ounce of flesh was thrown away. 
 I, however, lost a number of wounded. Whenever I 
 was out shooting in the " dooars," I was followed 
 secretly by " shikaries," who retrieved my wounded 
 beasts, sold the flesh to the natives and appropriated 
 the horns. In this way I was robbed of a magnificent 
 one (for Assam), fully eighteen inches long and weigh- 
 ing three seers or more. I should have known nothing 
 of this larceny but that two men quarrelled about 
 the plunder, and then one went post haste to Bur- 
 pettah and reported that he and his partner had 
 
7o Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 found a rhinoceros I had shot, with the above horn, 
 which from its length was a rarity. The Commissioner 
 sent " peelers " to have the man apprehended, but he 
 bolted across the frontier. The late Major Cock, 
 finding the Assamese so eager to buy the mere 
 stumps which most of the rhinoceros he had shot 
 were adorned with, seeing in Calcutta a lot of 
 African rhinoceros horns for sale, several nearly 
 three feet in length, for a trifling sum, bought the 
 whole lot, and sent them to a tea planter to dispose 
 of, but the Assamese would not credit that they were 
 genuine, so would have none of them. What became 
 of them eventually I do not know, but I often saw 
 them lying about in the tea house in Gowhatty. 
 Sometimes a sportsman slays a cow rhinoceros with 
 a calf. When such happens, by all means send for 
 the nets which every village in Assam possesses 
 for catching wild animals including the immensely 
 powerful wild buffalo and you will have no great 
 difficulty in securing the youngster. In my day 
 Jamrach's agent would give from Ks.1000 to Ks.1200 
 apiece for them. I had two, and was offered Rs.2000 
 for the brace, delivered in Calcutta or Ks.1600, de- 
 livery in Gowhatty, so I chose the latter offer, but 
 discovered afterwards that if I had stuck out, I 
 should have got a good deal more. 
 
 My first experiences of rhinoceros in Assam were at 
 Loqua Ghat, in 1866 or 1867, when shooting with 
 General Sir Charles Eeid. I was unlucky, and failed 
 to bag. But in June, 1867, I determined to visit the 
 dooars, though it was very late in the season, and bets 
 were offered that if I went there, and remained a 
 week or ten days, I should be a dead man, a month 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 71 
 
 afterwards from jungle fever. But I never listen to 
 croakers. Having to go to Burpettah where I had 
 works in progress, I thought that I might as well try 
 for game. I reached Tara-baree Ghat about 8 A.M. 
 on June 10th. Although I had sent on my elephants 
 several days before, and they had had ample time to 
 get there, I found none had arrived. Thinking the 
 mahouts might have gone to Burpettah, I sent a note 
 to the Assistant Commissioner, and he very kindly sent 
 over a "palanquin" for me, but as it and the elephants 
 arrived almost together, I sent it back, and halted for 
 the night where I was. The next day, June llth, I 
 aw r oke the people at 4 A.M., and being independent 
 of Assamese coolies, who seldom put in an appearance 
 before 8 A.M., I got off at 5 o'clock. I sent my baggage 
 elephants with servants, &c., to Burpettah by the 
 beaten track, whilst I, with two elephants, went 
 across country, being anxious to ascertain whether 
 there were tigers about, as reported by the native 
 officials. 
 
 At starting, the country was quite open, with paddy- 
 fields, not in use, and overgrown with short grass. 
 In these I noticed a broad trail. Whether made 
 by buffaloes or other heavy beasts I could not tell, 
 but as the animals, whatever they might be, were 
 going our way, I followed them up. Leaving the 
 open ground, we entered a grassy savanna, in which 
 were a few marshes, surrounded by thick bushes. 
 The track abruptly turned off to the right, and 
 directed for a very heavy patch of long grass. On 
 examining the spoor, I saw that we were following 
 rhinoceros and not buffaloes. In addition to my old 
 battery I had purchased a breechloading rifle, No. 10 
 
72 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 bore, 1 with very short barrels, a wonderfully handy 
 weapon, and w r ith which I killed a lot of game. We 
 had not advanced very far when we came upon the 
 usual mound of ordure, with fresh droppings upon it, 
 so we knew the animal could not be far off. Our two 
 elephants now began to show decided symptoms of 
 funk, but the mahouts kept them straight. At last, 
 at the edge of the "jeel," partially covered by a 
 bush, I distinguished the body of a rhinoceros. It 
 was standing broadside on, but the head was turned 
 in our direction with the ears cocked forward, listening 
 to the noise our mounts made splashing through the 
 grass and water. Neither the mahout nor the 
 elephant saw it, so I touched the man on the head, 
 which was always a signal for him to promptly pull 
 up the " hathee." I could distinguish only a form ; 
 no vital part was visible, but about where I thought 
 the shoulder should be, I let fly. On the smoke 
 clearing aw r ay a very large animal rushed into the 
 " jeel" and I fired the left barrel into its shoulder. 
 On receiving this shot, which was well placed, the 
 mammoth pulled up and faced me. I dropped the 
 discharged weapon and had just time to seize one of 
 the two-grooved rifles, when with a shriek the monster 
 charged. I gave it the contents of both barrels at 
 a distance not exceeding ten yards. This caused it 
 to swerve, shrieking loudly, and rush away. All 
 this time my elephant, apparently paralysed with fear, 
 had not moved, but the noise the pachyderm made 
 was irresistible, so my " hathee " broke away from the 
 mahout and ran off in a direction the very opposite 
 of that taken by our antagonist, and went fully a 
 1 By Lyell of Aberdeen. 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 73 
 
 quarter of a mile before it could be stopped. Whilst 
 running away, I turned round and was under the 
 impression that I saw a second rhinoceros retiring, 
 and it must have been that one I afterwards followed, 
 for I could not find it anywhere. An ominous noise 
 from quite a contrary direction now struck my ear, 
 so I hied back, and found a very large male, stone 
 dead. It had a thick, massive horn, but only eight 
 inches in length, weighing one and three quarter seers. 
 We got men from a village not far off to help us to 
 cut off the head and to put it on the spare elephant, 
 and then rode triumphantly into Burpettah. In the 
 " dooars," I met with great difficulties, owing to the 
 monsoon having set in, and the nullahs and rivers 
 being very full, but I hunted there for a week, 
 wounded half a dozen, if not more, rhinoceros, but 
 did not bag a single one. In returning, I got back to 
 Gowhatty with the greatest difficulty, owing to the 
 inundated state of the country. As a madman I was 
 looked upon for having entered there at that season, 
 and my death from jungle fever was avowed, but I 
 disappointed the prophets, and I did not suffer from 
 the exposure I had undergone in the slightest degree. 
 With Jackson of the 43rd, I killed thirteen rhinoceros 
 in fourteen days, and had some narrow escapes. Once, 
 while following closely up a wounded bull, he came 
 for me. " Lutchmee," my elephant, turned tail, and 
 just managed to keep about a foot ahead of the 
 assailant's snout, whose upper lip was curled up, 
 disclosing his formidable tusks. I spun round, took 
 a snap shot downwards, struck the junction of the 
 head and spine, and the huge monster rolled almost 
 heels over head. No rhinoceros has been so close to 
 
74 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 an elephant I have been riding on, as this one. If 
 I had had a man behind me, I feel sure my animal 
 would have been cut, for I could not have fired as I 
 did. In the " dooars," Colonel Cookson and I went 
 out on foot one afternoon to pick up jungle fowl, 
 florikan, black partridge, or in fact anything we could 
 get. Our elephants were tired, as they had been 
 worked from dawn to mid-day, during which time 
 we had bagged three rhinoceros, one male and two 
 females. A couple of attendants carrying rifles 
 attended us, for one never knows what may be come 
 across in that region. At the edge of the forest we 
 hit a marsh deer with exceptionally fine horns, and in 
 following it up, forgot time and distance, and found 
 ourselves in a vast plain dotted here and there with 
 bushes, which almost deserved the names of trees. 
 Water-fowl we could see flying about, so we knew there 
 must be marshy ground towards which our stag had 
 retreated. So we followed and followed. At last 
 we noticed that the sun was declining, so pulled up, 
 but where w r e were, no one knew. We sent a man 
 up a tree, but he could distinguish no land marks 
 that were known to him, but he suddenly pointed 
 to the north and said he saw three or four rhinoceros 
 not far off. The grass was only about three to four 
 feet high, so more favourable for tigers than for 
 pachyderms, yet we thought we would just go a 
 little way and try for a shot. We got to within one 
 hundred yards of the game easily enough, then there 
 was little or no cover, excepting a few conical white 
 ant hills. My companion chose one, I another, and we 
 crawled on hands and feet till we got about thirty 
 paces of the animals, and then we opened fire. One 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 75 
 
 got a ball behind the ear a chance shot I fear and 
 dropped, two others were wounded and charged 
 straight at us. We were about fifteen yards apart. 
 My ant nest was a good six or eight feet high. I was 
 on its summit in a moment and gave each beast a 
 shot as he passed. They ran all abroad. One fell 
 an awful cropper into a mudhole, sending a deluge 
 of water into the air, and falling almost on the top 
 of a huge male buffalo, who, disturbed by our shots, 
 was scrambling on to his legs and endeavouring to 
 get out of his bath. The rhinoceros must have been 
 mad with rage, for he gave the buffalo a gash across 
 the thigh, and that beast resented it by giving its 
 assailant a right and left with his horns on either 
 side of the neck close to the jowl. A right royal 
 fight then took place. The two were well matched and 
 almost of a size. The thick-skinned animal endeav- 
 oured to close and rip, but the other used his horns 
 as skilfully as a prizefighter would his fists, and 
 showered blows upon the face, head, and neck of his 
 adversary. Wherever he was attacked there were his 
 long, powerful horns ready to interpose. We were 
 hurrying to the scene, when the buffalo made a de- 
 sperate attack, fell into the mudhole, and before he 
 could recover himself the pachyderm ripped open the 
 whole of his stomach as cleanly as if it had been done 
 with a knife. The next moment we fired and the rhino- 
 ceros fell dead upon his foe, all but burying him in the 
 slimy depths of the mudhole. A bullet through the 
 head put the poor bovine out of misery. This 
 was a grand exhibition and seldom witnessed, there- 
 fore I mark it with a red letter in the calendar of my 
 memory. We reached home very late, and doubt if 
 
76 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 we should have got to camp that night, had not our 
 men lit fires, discharged guns and let off a rocket or 
 two. 
 
 On April 20th, 1871, a companion and I took 
 a hurried trip. I had to go to Baghdooar, where I had 
 contractors who had been collecting limestone I had 
 to take delivery of; to measure its cubical contents 
 and to ascertain that amidst the stone material 
 gathered, there was not any useless stuff for burning 
 purposes. En route we got on to a rhinoceros 
 trail, and on looking down into a shallow nullah there 
 lay the brute fast asleep ! He looked like a huge 
 pig, the head being on the ground between its fore legs 
 and feet. I was only about ten yards off, but could see 
 no vital spot, but my mahout whistled, the sleeping 
 beauty awoke, and I fired at its chest. Up it jumped, 
 and came straight at us, champing its tusks, and 
 making that peculiar cry something between grunt- 
 ing and squealing but before it could do any damage, 
 or our elephants turn tail, our battery proved too 
 strong and it fell dead. It possessed only a mere 
 rudimentary horn. I was on a huge mucknah, 
 attached to the 43rd Kegiment N.L He was very 
 old, very deaf and half-blind, and it was probably 
 owing, to these infirmities that he was so staunch but, 
 oh ! so slow. No amount of prodding would induce 
 him to go faster than a steady three-miles-an-hour 
 pace, and that was exasperating when one was in chase 
 of a stricken beast. But again, in the midst of dangers 
 he was immovable. Of the two I think I prefer being 
 on a beast that has speed, even if it does occasion- 
 ally run away. 
 
 We were going along, on another occasion, about 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 77 
 
 a quarter of a mile from the Manass, Matagoorie, our 
 destination, was in sight. About forty] yards ahead 
 of me was a huge rhinoceros, standing behind a very 
 large tree. Its head and neck were invisible, but the 
 shoulder was just exposed, and a shot from one of 
 my two groove rifles knocked it down and it lay 
 struggling on the ground. I fired three more barrels 
 into it, but it got up and very slowly, went away 
 only presenting to me its enormous stern. I told 
 the mahout to urge his beast on, but no punish- 
 ment w r ould induce it to accelerate its pace by 
 one inch. There I was, fifty yards behind, a 
 dense forest a hundred yards ahead, and not a pros- 
 pect of our heading the brute before it got into its 
 stronghold, where I could not follow ! But just then 
 J., who had been loitering behind, came up on a fast 
 elephant, ran alongside the rhinoceros, and killed it. 
 It was an immense beast with a horn thirteen inches 
 in length. I went on to camp, to superintend 
 arrangements for a stay of a day or two, but J. 
 w r ent off to the right, came upon another rhinoceros, 
 put seven balls into it, but lost it. When the mahouts 
 went to bring us in the head of the slain, they came 
 across a tiger eating a marsh deer, but as it was almost 
 dark we could not attempt to shoot Mr. Stripes 
 that evening. The next morning we went to look for 
 J's. rhinoceros. His mahout, new to these jungles, 
 failed to find the tangled brake into which the 
 animal had taken refuge, so after wasting several hours 
 in fruitlessly searching for it, we came upon fresh 
 tracks and followed them up, but up to nine o'clock 
 saw nothing. Shortly afterwards, when passing 
 a strip of long elephant grass, J. caught a sight of a 
 
 
78 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 rhinoceros and fired. It began to spin round and 
 round, and to emit the sounds elephants dread so 
 much, and to our astonishment, from a patch of long 
 grass close at hand, fully a dozen more rhinoceros joined 
 in chorus ! I never heard such a pandemonium in 
 my life ! If the inmates of a lunatic asylum and a 
 dozen menageries had been let loose, and intermingled 
 the row could not have been more deafening ! Not 
 an elephant with us would stir a step forward, the grass 
 was dense and high, and so full of the brutes in a state 
 of frenzy that I did not like to force our mounts 
 forward. After the row ceased, they were willing to 
 enter the cover, but I was afraid of getting them cut. 
 We tried to set the grass on fire, but the dew was still 
 on it, and it would not burn. 
 
 When at breakfast under a tree close by, a mahout, 
 who had been collecting brushwood, ran up, saying 
 that there was a rhinoceros, as big as an elephant, feed- 
 ing in the open close by. We left our meal unfinished, 
 mounted our " koonkies " and went towards the spot 
 indicated. There was a nullah close by, and had we 
 gone on foot along its bed (which for a wonder was 
 free of jungle), we could have come within a few paces 
 of the brute ; but instead of following this obvious 
 course, thinking the animal would take no notice of 
 us, we approached it on our elephants. When we 
 were about sixty yards off, the foe saw us, turned 
 round quickly, rushed down the nullah bank, and 
 though we saluted it with a couple of barrels each, 
 it got clean off. We then returned to our meal. 
 
 Finding afterwards that we could not fire the 
 game's stronghold, we formed line, and pushed our 
 way in very slowly and cautiously. We had not gone 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 79 
 
 fifty yards when a cow rhinoceros, followed by a young 
 one, charged J., whose elephant swerved, but her 
 rider fired two shots and turned his assailant towards 
 me. I also gave her two shots; she then ran about fifty 
 yards and fell dead. Going further in, I found myself 
 in the midst of a whole herd of rhinoceros. There were 
 probably a dozen or more in the grass, and five or six 
 came at me open-mouthed, uttering their diabolical 
 noises, but the old mucknah I was on never moved. 
 I emptied my battery of five double guns and rifles, 
 reloaded, firing first at one and then at another, 
 always selecting the nearest. I knocked over two, 
 but a third did not succumb until I caught her with 
 the last barrel behind the ear. It was an exciting 
 five minutes, and but for the steadiness of my 
 " hathee " he must have come to grief. 
 
 My mahout, before I had reloaded, now wanted 
 to push on after the wounded beasts and I had to 
 threaten him with a broken head before he would 
 desist. I have never seen, before or since, so many 
 rhinoceros collected together, and so pugnacious. The 
 survivors entered a tangled brake and got off till the 
 next day, when the native shikaries picked up three 
 dead and appropriated their flesh and horns, but 
 none of the latter w T ere large. Going back, a three- 
 parts-grown rhinoceros charged and chased J's. 
 elephant for some way and struck it twice, but failed 
 to inflict any but superficial wounds. J. at last 
 dropped it dead, but he himself was a sufferer, being 
 much cut about and bruised from the tossing that he 
 received in the howdah. The next day we crossed the 
 Gatee Nullah, saw a rhinoceros, but it kept at a safe 
 distance. Shortly afterwards we saw another, as it 
 
So Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 entered a tope of trees. We rushed round and met 
 it face to face and killed it at the first discharge ; the 
 beast was large and had a good horn, but the base had 
 got injured, as under the root there were hundreds of 
 maggots. The stench from it was awful. 
 
 The next day we first wounded and lost a rhino- 
 ceros. After that came upon one lying down in a 
 running stream and had no difficulty in bagging it. 
 I then knocked over another rhinoceros, but lost it. 
 Our servants in moving camp also came across two 
 rhinoceros and a wild mucknah elephant. 
 
 April 24th. To-day the heat was awful ; there was 
 not a cloud in the sky. About ten we hit off a trail 
 and my mahout did a very clever bit of tracking. All 
 these rhinoceros feed in circles, so the task of hunting 
 them up to their lair is a tedious one. J. got dis- 
 gusted and took refuge under the only tree near. I 
 went on, and in about half an hour came upon one 
 lying down in a patch of long grass, and as it jumped 
 up I killed it easily. We then went on for a mile or 
 two and came to a heavy belt of jungle, and out of 
 this ran a cow with a calf. We were anxious to catch 
 the little one, but J. unfortunately wounded it and it 
 had to be killed. As the mother's udder was full of 
 milk, our men filled two bottles with it, and said it was 
 very good. I tasted it out of curiosity. It was very 
 like. I should say, to a woman's nourishment in the first 
 stage of suckling watery and sweet. Going towards 
 camp, I saw a rhinoceros lying down at the bottom 
 of a nullah, partially covered over with long grass, 
 and apparently with its feet raised in the air. I 
 thought it was a dead one, and called out, " Here is 
 one of our wounded rhinoceros, dead ! " No sooner 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 81 
 
 had I spoken, than the apparently defunct animal 
 jumped on to his legs and came at me open- 
 mouthed. Fortunately the mucknah swerved 
 and thus escaped being cut. The next instant the 
 rhinoceros was knocked over. On the 27th we killed 
 another. They are far easier to slay than buffaloes, 
 but the elephants fear them more, and are far less 
 steady than when after other game. This was a 
 most successful trip. We killed thirteen rhinoceros, 
 a tiger, a lot of buffalo, a bear, and many deer, 
 besides wounding a gaur and over a dozen more 
 rhinoceros, and other game of all sorts. I caught a 
 young rhino, after slaying its mother, and it required 
 fourteen villagers to bring it into camp. When I saw 
 it the next morning it was mad with rage ; so was 
 securely tethered, yet the little vixen tried to get at 
 everybody who went near. In the course of a few 
 days it quieted down, ate plantains out of the hand 
 of its attendant, and in a week followed the man 
 about. 
 
 THE ASSAMESE. 
 
 Before concluding this chapter I may as well say a 
 few words on the inhabitants of this vast province, 
 which has been in our possession since 1826, but 
 which, a few years ago, was the most backward and 
 least cared-for of our satrapsies in the East. 
 
 The inhabitants consist of Hindoos, mongrel 
 Bengalis, and Cacharies, who, I fancy, are de- 
 scendants of the former conquerors and occupiers 
 of the country, viz., the Burmese. The latter are a 
 jolly drunken set, somewhat like the Burmese in 
 
 
8 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 appearance, and who were not possessed of any 
 caste till very lately. But they have been greatly 
 oppressed by the Hindoo element. The Mozadars and 
 other officials, all Hindoos, impress them as coolies- 
 sparing their own people and bully them in every 
 way. The Hindoos (Assamese), bad as are the Bengalis, 
 are but a poor specimen of them. They are bigoted 
 in religion, have not a grain of pluck, and would 
 sooner lie and perjure themselves, in a case before the 
 courts than speak the truth. Their priesthood are 
 debauched, and live most sensual lives, and think 
 themselves beyond the pale of the law. 
 
 At Kamykiah one of their temples near Gowhaty, 
 the number of dancing girls attached to the pagoda 
 was over four hundred. They are professional pros- 
 titutes to a hundred priests and yet are supposed to be 
 perpetual virgins ! The Assamese have no shame. The 
 girls when young are not bad-looking nor badly made, 
 but inferior in that respect to Indians, or to the 
 Burmese. They may have heard of virtue as an 
 extinct quality but only as such. During one of 
 their feasts and I witnessed one every man, woman 
 and child was drunk ; debauchery was openly carried 
 on ; women and men as stark naked as at the moment 
 they were born, danced and wrestled together, in fact 
 behaving generally as wild beasts. As I said before, 
 gangs of Assamese used to follow me about when I 
 was shooting in the dooars. I gave them every scrap 
 of meat from the rhinoceros I killed, yet if I required a 
 drop of milk I could get none, unless by order of the 
 omnipotent Mozadars, although such supplies as were 
 brought were paid for by me in person even when I 
 wanted to move camp, not an Assamese would be 
 
Rhinoceros Shooting. 83 
 
 obtainable, but the poor Cacharies, often living twenty 
 miles off, would be impressed by force and brought 
 in. They pestered me so by following me about, that 
 on one occasion, when I had wounded a tiger, they, 
 thinking it was a rhinoceros, rushed in, only to be 
 met with the signal of danger, whoof ! whoof ! I don't 
 think I should have been sorry had one or two of 
 them met with a warm reception. I stood by, ready 
 for any emergency, but did not tell the people what 
 the wounded beast was until he charged upon them 
 when I killed him with a shot in the chest. I told 
 them the next time they ran in, if it was a tiger, I 
 would not interfere, and if a few of them were killed 
 and probably eaten, the others would perhaps keep 
 further off and not interfere with my sport ! 
 The Cacharies are far pluckier than the Assamese, 
 and there was a grand old man at Burpettah who 
 was credited with having killed over one hundred 
 tigers during the annual inundations. A sacred 
 temple exists, Hazoo by name, some twenty miles 
 to the south of Gowhaty, on the opposite bank 
 of the river, where Hindoos, Bhuddist and even 
 Mussulmans congregate, the attraction being not 
 the sanctity of the shrine, but the hordes of loose 
 women who live there in villages by themselves not 
 a man being allowed to associate with them in their 
 homes. They are the finest women in the Province, 
 wear a distinct dress, very like that worn by the 
 better class of females in Southern India. They 
 are tall, well proportioned and are common to any 
 native who chooses to pay them for their favours, 
 but one has never been known to extend her com- 
 plaisance to any European, official, or otherwise 
 
 G 2 
 
84 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 although I have known endeavours made to induce 
 them to break their resolution. This is so different 
 from the usage in other parts of India, that it is a 
 marvel. In company with an officer of the police, I 
 pitched my camp near one of their villages. They 
 allowed us to walk about amongst their houses, and 
 converse with them, but here further intimacy 
 terminated. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 ELEPHANT SHOOTING (ASIATIC 1 ). 
 
 THIS may be designated one of the extinct 
 sports of India, for slaying the noble beasts is 
 now forbidden in nearly every portion of our Indian 
 Dependencies, except when an elephant has been 
 killing people, and destroying property in a wholesale 
 manner. Then permission is granted for the 
 obnoxious brute to be destroyed. In my younger 
 days, however, it was a favourite sport, and many a 
 man who could boast of having killed his dozen 
 elephants had never shot a tiger. My great am- 
 bition as a griffin was to kill one of these leviathans. 
 After a severe bout of jungle fever, Dr. R., 
 who was then Civil Surgeon of Rajahmundry, and 
 had been formerly our regimental doctor, recom- 
 mended that I should have a year's leave on sick 
 certificate. I appeared before a medical board, one 
 member of which disliked R., as they had been carry- 
 ing on a paper warfare regarding a disease called 
 beri-beri, in which he had been worsted. Another of 
 the members had formerly been an apothecary and 
 got a commission by some backdoor influence, 
 and he was completely under the thumb of the last 
 
86 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 mentioned. They owned I looked very ill. " Where 
 did I want to go?" " Oh," said I, "as sick 
 leave on account of fever is not allowed to 
 Ootacamund, I want to go to Coimbatore." " What 
 for ? " asked the senior member of the board. " Oh, 
 to shoot elephants," I incautiously replied. The board 
 sent in its report and a recommendation that I should 
 have three months' leave for a voyage and not a 
 year's absence to the Western Coast. This was done 
 to spite not me, but my medical attendant. R. 
 protested, and when the board was asked their reason 
 for curtailing the leave recommended by the man 
 who had nursed me through a dangerous illness, and 
 who knew more of the ins and outs of the case than 
 they could possibly do after a five minutes' examina- 
 tion, replied that " I had stated as my sole reason for 
 wishing to be invalided, was with a view to shoot 
 elephants, and they thought it advisable in my then 
 state, that I should not be permitted to do so." 
 Well, a year or two afterwards our then Commander- 
 in-Chief asked very kindly if he could assist me in 
 any way. I still had elephants on the brain, and 
 begged his Excellency to appoint me to the Sappers 
 and Miners, whose headquarters were permanently at 
 Mercara, a famous locality for elephants. I was duly 
 gazetted, but the whole of the Sappers were on service 
 in Burma, however they were not expected to remain 
 there for more than a year or two, when they would 
 return to Coorg. Anxious to see service and to visit 
 a new country, I hurried over as fast as I could. 
 When with a field force commanded by Colonel Cotton, 
 C.B., who so greatly distinguished himself afterwards 
 during the Mutiny, it was found that I had a fair 
 
Elephant Shooting. 87 
 
 knowledge of surveying and engineering, having been 
 educated at a military school, I was transferred very 
 soon to the Public Works Department, so remained 
 in Burma thirteen years, and have never visited Mercara 
 in my life, and Coimbatore only once. So much for 
 my youthful reminiscences. 
 
 I may here make some remarks on that most useful 
 animal the elephant. 
 
 In wilds far away from cultivation, elephants lead a 
 roaming life and do little or no harm. They consume 
 so much and waste so much more, that no single forest 
 could support them ; hence their roving propensities. 
 In Burma during the rains, they come down, from the 
 sparsely inhabited districts in herds, take up their 
 abode in some adjacent jungle to cultivation, and de- 
 stroy immense quantities of paddy and any other grain 
 they find. After the harvest they retire to their 
 fastnesses amidst the vast forests or into ranges of 
 mountains where they find plenty of sustenance and 
 are seldom molested. 
 
 A female elephant has only one at a birth, and she 
 goes two years in gestation. An elephant's life and 
 that of a man's are of much the same duration and 
 both arrive at maturity at the same time. We have 
 had our centenarians and elephants doubtless have had 
 theirs. We hear tales of their having lived over 150 
 years they say Parr did the same but I believe my- 
 self that at 100 an elephant would be as decrepit as a 
 man of the same age. McMaster, a well-known 
 sportsman and naturalist, who has now joined the 
 majority, writes of these noble beasts : " Those who 
 only think of elephants as they have seen these 
 domestic giants working at any of the innumerable 
 
 
88 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 tasks on which these almost reasoning slaves may be 
 employed, can hardly imagine how puzzling a matter 
 it is to distinguish them amongst the dark shadows 
 and irregular outlines that fill up any portion of a 
 landscape in their forest haunts. I was for some 
 moments, it seemed to me hours, waiting in long grass 
 and reeds within a few feet, not yards, of the head of 
 a fine elephant, without being able to get a satisfac- 
 tory shot at him, or even to see more than an indis- 
 tinct dusky outline of form, or a dark shadow as his 
 trunk was raised aloft, when the mighty beast, a 
 magnificent tusker, suspected that he scented mischief. 
 Having at length made sure that there was something 
 uncanny near him, he uttered a shrill cry and wheeled 
 round on the very spot on which he stood, without 
 exposing any more vulnerable target than his enormous 
 hind quarters, at which it would have been wicked and 
 wanton cruelty to fire, rushed down the hill, followed 
 by his family (eight or ten unwieldy wives and sturdy 
 children) whose progress, as they crashed through 
 the dense underwood of long grass, caused a noise 
 sufficient to startle any one whose nerves were not 
 tightly braced, and which my pen is certainly too weak 
 to describe." General Hamilton (" Velvet foot ") also 
 writes : " On another occasion I was * blown ' at by a 
 wild elephant, who threw her trunk out from behind 
 the jungle lining the narrow path along which we 
 were running to intercept the herd, and blew her nose 
 so suddenly in the chest and face of the leading man, 
 that he fell back right upon me. We had cut this 
 elephant off from its companions, and having a calf 
 to take care of, she had loitered behind. In this case 
 we noticed what I have alluded to, the wonderful and 
 
Elephant Shooting. 89 
 
 extraordinarily quiet manner in which these gigantic 
 animals move through the forest when trying to avoid 
 observation or danger." 
 
 The height of an elephant is almost exactly double 
 the circumference of the fore-foot as it rests upon the 
 ground Asiatic elephants are doubtless less than 
 their African confreres, but there is in the Calcutta 
 museum the skeleton of an Indian elephant a little 
 over eleven feet in height, which therefore must 
 have been very little short of twelve feet high 
 when in the flesh. In 1855 I killed my first elephant 
 but the tale has been told elsewhere, I will not 
 therefore repeat it here. About a year afterwards, 
 I had to go to Mendoon on the Ma'ee, a lovely 
 stream, some forty miles west or south-west of 
 Thayet Myo, our then frontier station. Here I had 
 various sport, but an old Burman, who had accom- 
 panied Ashe of the Artillery into the Arrakan range, 
 when he shot three elephants, asked if I'd like to 
 see some, and if so, he could show me a solitary 
 bull. "Won't a weasel suck a rabbit?" As a 
 matter of course I would. " But how far have we 
 to go ? " I asked, "for I have to be back in a day or 
 two." " If we leave to-day," said the Burman, " there 
 is a teh we can sleep in to-night, and get to the jungle 
 about twelve next day." That meant, I knew, a good 
 twenty miles or more, but I was young and eager. 
 I put a few things together, which a couple of men 
 carried. My Madras boy and his son accompanied 
 me, and about 10 A.M. we started. "When clear 
 of the ancient town of Mendoon, then in ruins, we 
 followed by-paths for an hour, then crossed a stream, 
 which lower down fell into the Ma'ee, and entered a 
 
9O Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 teak forest. There was not much undergrowth, and 
 we followed a track for a couple of hours or more 
 made by elephants during the last rains. Then an 
 ascent was commenced, and I thought it time to 
 refresh the inner man. Calling a halt I made an al 
 fresco meal, giving some food to the Burmese, who, 
 having no caste, will eat with or after a European of 
 the viands he has prepared for himself. After an 
 hour's rest we resumed our journey ; the ascent 
 became worse and worse, and in as good 
 condition as I was, I was forced to rest frequently. 
 The track, made by wild animals, wound round 
 and round hills, and was really as well 
 constructed as if laid out by an engineer, but the 
 Burman guide would take short cuts, which proved 
 very laborious and fatiguing, as they were strewn 
 with debris of all sorts. About 5 P.M. we were, I 
 should say, at an elevation of 1,000 feet. Looking 
 back, to the south-east the Ma'ee was seen wending its 
 course and even at a distance looked lovely ; to the 
 east the mighty Irrawaddi appeared a mere thread ; to 
 the north and west rose the Arrakan mountains, which 
 reach an elevation of some 6,000 feet, and are 
 densely wooded for at least 3,000 to 4,000 feet of 
 their altitude, and we could see mist rising, which 
 indicated that there were valleys between us and the 
 main range. 
 
 After half- an -hour's rest, we resumed our journey,, 
 and after ascending perhaps another 200 to 300 
 feet began to descend, and soon came to some 
 toivnyali clearances made by Karens. In one of 
 these, just at dark, we came to a " teh ", a raised 
 platform fully twenty feet off the ground, with 
 
Elephant Shooting. 91 
 
 space sufficient for one or two human beings to sit 
 on. I would not be at the trouble to mount as my 
 servant could not cook up there, and it would cause 
 a great deal of bother to hand up the eatables, &c. 
 However, I was told that there were man-eaters 
 about, so I ordered the people to collect brushwood, 
 and soon had fires lighted all round. My dinner I 
 enjoyed, washed down with a bottle of that divine 
 nectar, Bass's pale ale. Then, commending myself to 
 the powers above, lay down and slept like a top. 
 There was no disturbance during the night, and we 
 were up and away at dawn. This morning it was a 
 case of ascending and descending. Being the inter- 
 mediary stage between the real mountains and the 
 hills, which are invariably separated by what in India 
 are called " Teelahs," and horrible ground it is to 
 travel over. We took a snack at about 10A.M., but did 
 not reach our destination till close upon 6 P.M., 
 when we halted at the top of a slope fully thirty 
 miles from Mendoon we must have come. Above us 
 rose abruptly the steep sides of the Arrakan mount- 
 ains, and close alongside a rivulet rushed in a small 
 torrent to the plains ; the water was deliciously cool 
 and as clear as if it had been filtered. I am very fond 
 of water for bathing and washing purposes, or for cool- 
 ing stimulants in, but as a beverage, I prefer some- 
 thing stronger. Here our few followers soon cut down 
 branches and rigged up huts. I don't care to sleep on 
 the ground if I can avoid it, so had a raised platform 
 made, as bamboos were plentiful. On this a " razai," 
 or a quilt stuffed or padded with cotton, was placed ; 
 an air pillow gave support to the head, and a light 
 native counterpane formed a covering, for the night 
 
92 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 air was chilly, we being then fully 1,300 to 1,500 
 feet above sea level. Of course here there were no 
 mosquitoes or sand-flies. We were all very quiet, for 
 the shikarie told us elephants and gaur and even 
 "tsine" (wild cattle), wandered about, and often 
 passed the spot on which we were encamped. 
 Only such fires as were requisite to cook our meals 
 were lighted, and all were put out at 8 P.M., and 
 the night passed without disturbance. By 5 A.M. 
 we were up and away. We neither ascended nor 
 descended, but went along the edge of the plateau 
 towards some salt licks, which the shikarie said 
 were favourite places for elephants, gaur, deer, &c. 
 Leaving the plain we entered into a deep forest, 
 the principal trees being buttress trees, from which 
 the people extract a kind of oil or varnish. These 
 monarchs are immense in height and girth, not un- 
 frequently 150 feet without a branch ; the roots form 
 ridges often five feet high near the trunk, and 
 gradually sloping off, disappear fully ten or twelve feet 
 into the ground. Commonly on the lateral branches are 
 huge pendent beehives, many of them six or seven 
 feet long by three feet deep. These the bears are 
 attracted to either by the humming of the bees, or 
 scent of the honey, as they rob them. The Burmese 
 and Karens imitate these sagacious beasts in a way, 
 as they collect a lot of bamboo stakes, drive one in, 
 step on that, drive two more in, get on to one, hold 
 on to the other, and so on to the top. Besides these 
 buttress trees, there are clumps of bamboos scattered 
 about, some of the female plant, which is frequently 
 three feet in circumference, all but hollow, and grows 
 upright to fifty or sixty feet before drooping, and the 
 
Elephant Shooting. 93 
 
 sturdy male bamboos, so much prized as shafts for hog- 
 hunting spears. Other bushes and creepers were also 
 plentifully sprinkled about, and I soon realised that if 
 I wanted to kill an elephant, my work was cut out for 
 me. Only the shikarie and a coolie with some food 
 were my companions. I had bought a two-grooved 
 No. 10 double rifle, two years before, from Colonel 
 Grant Allan, 1 and I was so pleased with it that I had 
 its counterpart made. Thus I had two as perfect 
 weapons for those days, as one could wish to be armed 
 with. A small cannon, single barrel, No. 4 gauge, 
 which I owned, I never had the pluck to fire, so after- 
 wards sold it to Lindsay, for many years in the 
 Mysore Commission. There is a legend of this 
 rifle, which I here give, without vouching for its 
 truth ; but it was told me by a man who would have 
 sooner died than tell a wilful untruth. He and 
 Lindsay came upon a herd of elephants I think in 
 the Bassein district. The elephants were alarmed, and 
 in their haste they rushed towards the sportsmen 
 instead of in the opposite direction ; a general 
 stampede took place, one or two distant shots were 
 made, when the shikarie who was carrying the small 
 cannon, finding three or four elephants overtaking 
 him, fired the weapon haphazard, was knocked 
 over by the recoil, got up, leaving the gun to its fate, 
 and ran for his life. Later on both sportsmen went 
 back to recover the weapon, found it, and two 
 elephants lying dead, which the man swore could 
 only have been killed by his solitary shot ! 
 
 1 Made by the late Joseph Lang for Major Gill of Ellora 
 fame in 1839. I and others used it up to 1878 and it was then 
 as serviceable as a new weapon. 
 
94 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 This was long a standing joke, whether strictly a 
 fact no one can say ; but that two elephants lay dead 
 was undoubtedly true. 
 
 The shikarie carried one rifle, I the other ; the 
 coolie kept at a distance. About seven we came upon 
 the fresh spoor of two elephants ; they had fed along 
 quietly, and we had no difficulty in following them. 
 Those who wish to slay these leviathans in their 
 forest homes, need be sound of wind and limb, for 
 it is not child's play following them, for quietly 
 as they feed along they are ever on the move and 
 get over the ground far faster than one would 
 credit. On this occasion we followed and followed 
 up to 3 P.M. with only half an hour's rest. 
 About four we saw the game, a few yards apart, 
 pulling down and browsing on the tender shoots of 
 the female bamboos. The noise they made dead- 
 ened the sound of our footsteps. I reached a 
 buttress tree which afforded good shelter and was 
 within easy shot. The animals differed greatly. 
 The nearer to me was an old male with very 
 large tusks ; the other was in his prime, very hand- 
 some to look at, in fact it was almost too bad to slay 
 him. What a beauty he would have been for rid- 
 ing purposes ! But there were no means of catch- 
 ing him, and the thirst for slaughter was strong upon 
 me. Bidding the shikarie stand close and hand 
 the spare rifle quickly, I stepped aside, waited until 
 the old one afforded a good temple shot, and then 
 fired. Down he fell. The other one turned round 
 and gave me a front shot. I dropped him dead. 
 I never thought of the first, which I deemed to be 
 as dead as Julius Caesar, but he picked himself 
 
Elephant Shooting. 95 
 
 up and in a moment was all but on me. I seized 
 the spare rifle and fired both barrels, then threw 
 myself under the lee of a buttress tree, and the 
 monster in his headlong charge all but stepped upon 
 me. He ran only a few yards, then right-about 
 faced, and made for me again. I was powerless, 
 but had fortunately crawled from the buttress under 
 which I had taken refuge, to one on the other side of 
 the tree, for the brute was hunting for me by scent ! 
 Hurriedly I poured the powder down my barrels ; the 
 bullets fitted easily, but being sewn up in thin cloth, 
 clung slightly, thus delaying me in getting 
 them home. The beast was too close by half, and 
 the least noise would bring him on me. In peering 
 round I saw that of my last two shots, one had knocked 
 out an eye and the other had paralysed to a certain 
 extent the trunk, and that the blood was pouring 
 from the wound into the sound optic. So I got up 
 noiselessly, and retreated behind another tree some 
 twenty yards off, where the Burmaii joined me. 
 Having loaded both rifles, whilst the old fellow was 
 feeling about for me, I went forward and gave him a 
 right and left again in the temple, but as I fired, the 
 beast threw up his head, and I missed the vital 
 place. This salute caused him to rush towards us, 
 a huge buttress tree caught his fore feet, and down he 
 went a fearful cropper ! I seized my other rifle and 
 gave him the two barrels as he was attempting to 
 rise, but he bore a charmed life. I again retreated, 
 but as soon as I had loaded, I followed him up. Badly 
 wounded as he was, he kept us at a trot, and when 
 we got closer than he liked, he spun round and came 
 for us. I fired eleven more shots, but it was useless ; 
 
96 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 it was getting too dark for accurate shooting, and the 
 brute tossed his head about in such a manner, 
 that to hit the brain, which is but small, was no 
 easy task. When all but night, we had to desist for 
 the time. Where the coolie had gone to in the 
 excitement of the combat we did not know, nor 
 could we find him. It was too late to go to 
 camp ; besides it would have entailed a long march 
 there, and a long trudge back next day, for I was 
 determined to have the tusker. We therefore 
 returned to the one I had killed. The Burman made 
 a meal off some portion of its trunk ; but I could not 
 stomach such food, so, after seeing that sufficient 
 brushwood had been collected to last through the 
 night, I lighted a couple of fires, used the foot of the 
 defunct animal as a pillow, and was soon fast asleep. 
 We took up the trail at daylight, but the stricken brute 
 had wandered off fully ten miles ; still we were not to 
 be denied. During our pursuit, I made a lucky shot 
 at a pea fowl, then "kabobed" its flesh over some 
 embers, and made a fair meal. We did not overtake 
 the veteran all that day, so slept out that night, and 
 on the following day resumed our pursuit. Where the 
 poor brute had lain down we came upon, and noted 
 how much shorter was its stride evidence of increas- 
 ing weakness so with renewed hope we pressed on. 
 The country was pretty open forest, with here and 
 there small patches of elephant grass. We had just 
 passed one of these, when there was a fiendish screech 
 and a bloody form was all but over us. I jumped 
 aside, and as the impetus carried our assailant forward, 
 I fired both barrels into his carcase, close to the 
 shoulder. This reduced him to a walk, and he went 
 
Elephant Shooting. 97 
 
 on with liis trunk pendent and limp with a very 
 woe-begone aspect. I seized the other rifle, ran 
 forward, and as he flopped an ear I gave a shot 
 behind it, and with a stagger he fell forward. Poor 
 old beast ! Thank God, at last dead ! His agony must 
 have been fearful. One eye was shot out, one closed 
 by coagulated blood, and he had received upwards 
 of twenty bullets, yet the gallant brute never 
 uttered a groan ! His tusks were four feet eight 
 inches and four feet six inches respectively, but 
 thick and straight. Measuring the game by the foot 
 test, he was ten feet two inches high. 
 
 But now where were we ? The Burman climbed a 
 tall tree, took a good look all round, and descended, 
 saying if we walked quickly we should get to camp by 
 dark. A sambur luckily crossed our path, which I 
 killed, and as I was deadbeat and very hungry I 
 preferred spending another night in the jungle and 
 having a square meal, to tramping further on an 
 empty stomach. The Burman soon broiled some 
 liver, which we eat, but had to partake of Adam's 
 ale none other being procurable ; then made a tem- 
 porary shelter overhead, slept, and cooked again in 
 the morning. About mid-day we reached camp. 
 The coolie had returned and reported that he had 
 seen me trampled to death by the elephant, so my 
 boy had gone to where the encounter had taken 
 place to pick up the pieces. He saw sufficient to 
 persuade him that we were not dead, but in chase 
 of the elephant, so he returned to camp and wisely 
 stuck to it, as he felt sure we should return there. 
 After a day's rest I took all hands, and as decom- 
 position had set in, we had no difficulty in drawing 
 
 
98 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the tusks, and eventually got back to Mendoon four 
 days later than I had intended, but by going down 
 the Ma'ee in a Burmese boat, I eventually got back 
 to Prome only a day after I was due. 
 
 On another occasion I was in the Yomahs. 
 During the night there was a great commotion. 
 I jumped out of bed, seized my rifle and rushed 
 out. The camp was astir, the natives running 
 towards where our elephants were picketed. I found 
 that a wild elephant had got amongst our tame ones, 
 and had maltreated -one of the females, but had been 
 driven off. I ordered fires to be lit, and told the 
 mahouts to be alert and call me if he returned. I 
 went back to my tent, for the air was chilly and the 
 mosquitoes troublesome. All through the night there 
 were disturbances, and I was aroused several times, 
 but could not get a shot. Now if a male elephant is 
 must, he very often seriously injures the females 
 that refuse his caresses. My beasts were far too 
 valuable to be permitted to be knocked about. As 
 my "jemadar " informed me that the intruder, a huge 
 mucknah, was not far off, directly I had finished my 
 chota hazarie, I proposed we should catch him ; but 
 as the head man, an old elephant trapper, said the 
 ground was not favourable and the beast was in the 
 worst stage of must, I determined he should die. 
 We had not far to go. He stood in a hollow, pulp- 
 ing and eating wild plantains. I could see the 
 rheum oozing down his face from the gland, which 
 exudes an offensive smelling oily substance when the 
 male elephant has sexual desires. The wind then was 
 not favourable and very faint, although it generally 
 blows half a gale during the night. Followed by 
 
Elephant Shooting. 99 
 
 one man carrying an extra rifle, I made a detour, 
 got on to a ledge of rocks above the amorous 
 brute and well within twenty yards. He had 
 heard us, although he pretended to be unconscious 
 of our presence, for every now and then a furtive 
 glance was cast in our direction. Yet he did not 
 attempt to get away, as he could easily have 
 done, for there was a narrow and densely-wooded 
 gorge close by him. Vicious he looked. I could not 
 get nearer without leaving my coign of vantage, 
 although the distance was longer than I cared for. 
 But my rifles were accurate loaded with heavy 
 charges and hardened bullets, ten to the pound. 
 Now ordinary aiming alone will not do in elephant 
 shooting ; you must get the requisite angle ; without 
 it, it is almost useless to fire. Every now and then I 
 could see the point at the back of the ear which is 
 generally fatal if hit ; but he flopped his ears back- 
 wards and forwards, raised his trunk, and looked as 
 solid as a rock. Then he would recommence to 
 smash the stalks of the plantains across his foot, and 
 when they became pulp to thrust them down his 
 capacious throat. He showed his contempt for us 
 in every way he could. I raised the rifle, waited for 
 the ears to be moved forward, and as soon as the back 
 was visible, fired. I had put in too much powder; 
 the recoil was very unpleasant, and what was worse, I 
 failed to hit the mark I had aimed at, and only in- 
 flicted a painful wound. He spun round, tore up 
 the ground with his fore feet, tossed his huge trunk 
 about like the arms of a windmill, and came at me 
 like a demon. To fire down at the front head shot 
 was useless, nor could he well get at me, for the ledge 
 
 H 2 
 
ioo Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 I was standing on was somewhat hollowed out under- 
 neath and fully twelve feet in perpendicular height 
 off the ground. If he turned to either side to get at 
 our flanks he would expose the shoulder shot or the 
 temple one, but the mad brute came straight on. He 
 looked like a fiend. Yet there I stood, a puny 
 creature compared to him, perfectly at my ease, for 
 I knew he could not touch me and I could punish 
 him terribly. I gave him the left barrel when he was 
 about twelve paces off, but it did not stop him. I 
 coolly proceeded to load, putting in less powder this 
 time, taking care to stand back out of reach of my 
 antagonist's proboscis. When he got to the ledge 
 and could find no way up it, his rage was awful. He 
 tore now at the solid rock, he shrieked, he tossed up 
 the ground, and then, seizing a stout sapling, he half 
 drew himself up and might almost have succeeded had 
 not his weight torn it from its frail hold in the ground, 
 and over he and the tree went together ! I could not 
 see him for some time for the dust. Again I was 
 ready for him. He picked himself up and finding he 
 could not reach me in front rushed along parallel, 
 seeking some declivity less inaccessible. That could 
 not be allowed, so I planted two bullets behind the 
 shoulder ; but those were shots I was not accustomed 
 to, as they are seldom used in India. I could not have 
 hit my foe in a vital spot, for he continued his career. 
 Although the elephant could not ascend the ledge, it 
 was easy for me to let myself down, and in a few 
 minutes we had changed places. When he found 
 he was baffled again, he became madder than ever, 
 and I do believe he would have thrown himself over 
 the rock to get at me, when I fired my other rifle, 
 
Treating Elephants. 101 
 
 heavily loaded, into his chest. Only five or six paces 
 separated us. The blood poured from his trunk, the 
 fight was taken out of him, and he slowly retreated. 
 Carefully reloading I crept round and got on to his 
 track ; he had not gone far. Eesting against a huge 
 teak tree he stood. I went round to another from 
 which I could obtain the temple shot and dropped 
 him dead. 
 
 Having related or given instances of slaying these 
 monsters, I will now make a few remarks as to their 
 care and welfare, for every one interested in Indian 
 sport, especially in the vast grassy plains of Burma 
 and Assam, is dependent on the services of these 
 animals for his success. Nothing can be done without 
 them. If you are purchasing an elephant for sporting 
 purposes, choose one that has been a koonkie, that 
 is, one which has been employed in running down 
 other elephants. You can distinguish such at once by 
 the large scar on the top of the rump near the tail, 
 which, when the animal was hunted, had been inflicted 
 on it and kept open as a means of accelerating its 
 speed ; for " one " of the two men, who mount an 
 elephant on a chase, sits behind and belabours this 
 sore with an iron ball, which he swings about by an 
 attached rope. These koonkies are more to be trusted 
 than other animals of their kind ; they are used to 
 seeing every kind of beast, move more smoothly, and 
 are less likely to be demoralised than those that have 
 never been used in the chase. Don't choose a leggy 
 brute. A female koonkie with a straight back and 
 immense girth, even if she be but seven and a half to 
 eight feet high, is better than a male a foot higher. 
 
 There is as much rascality in selling an elephant in 
 
iO2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 India as there is in selling a horse in England. A 
 vicious elephant is drugged, and when perfectly docile 
 through the effects of bhang, is parted with. Ginger 
 and even arrack is given to make a sleepy, inert beast 
 look spry. Every trick known to a clever mahout i& 
 resorted to. A brute that never carries flesh when 
 worked, and can stand no fatigue is fed up with 
 chapatties and sugar-cane, on which he speedily gets 
 fat, but gets back to his normal condition when 
 employed or worked. Elephants are seldom vicious. 
 I have only known one or two. Those born of tame 
 mothers are oftener so than others. They lose their 
 dread of man, fear all wild beasts, as they are not 
 accustomed to seeing them, and so are generally 
 useless for sport. 
 
 Elephants are subject to many diseases ; one 
 called " zurbad " is incurable. It commences with 
 dropsical swellings under the neck and extends down 
 along the belly. An animal may get over the first 
 attack. If so, get rid of it at any sacrifice, for the 
 disease is sure to return and is always fatal in the long 
 run. If an elephant commences to eat earth, stop 
 his grain rations. In a few days he will pass quan- 
 tities of bots, and then be quite well again. They 
 are also very subject to epidemics ; if such break out, 
 they die like rotten sheep. The only resource then 
 is to scatter them as far apart as possible arid let 
 them forage for themselves ; in bheels for choice, as 
 they there find a succulent grass, growing in water, 
 which is very nutritive and acts as an alterative. 
 Most mahouts can treat common ailments that an 
 elephant is heir to, so it is not wise to interfere with 
 them and their charges too much. Elephants utter 
 
Treatment of Elephants. 103 
 
 peculiar sounds to denote various meanings. A whist- 
 ling noise produced by the trunk indicates satisfaction ; 
 when they trumpet or utter a hoarse scream, it is a 
 sign of rage ; a noise made by the mouth like " pr-rut,. 
 pr-rut," is a sign of alarm, so is the striking of the 
 trunk on the ground, accompanied by a pitiful cry ; 
 whilst a noise like " urmp, urmp " denotes impatience 
 or dissatisfaction. Elephants are always swaying to 
 and fro ; the ears and tail are on the move brushing 
 off the flies, and the trunk is in incessant use, the legs 
 are constantly rubbing one against the other, but if 
 the animal is suspicious it becomes as rigid as if cut 
 out of rock, with its trunk well raised and ears cocked 
 forward. Thick as is the skin of an elephant, no 
 animal suffers more from flies and even mosquitoes. 
 Thus directly it has been washed, skin made as glossy 
 as glass, anointed and decorated, no sooner is it 
 tethered than it proceeds to cast heaps of dust and 
 dirt over itself and in a few minutes is as dusty as a 
 miller. Elephants snore a good deal when asleep. I 
 have often seen them resting the head on a foot, using 
 it in lieu of a pillow. They are very human-like in 
 many of their ways. They use a piece of wood as a 
 toothpick ; they will plug a wound with clay ; they 
 scratch themselves with the tip of their trunk, and 
 if they can't reach the part irritated they take up a 
 small branch and use it as a fan. 
 
 Saunderson derides the story of an elephant lifting 
 the wheel of a heavy gun with its trunk, and says it 
 is impossible, yet a brother officer of mine was present 
 and saw it done. As a rule they will not face fire, 
 but there are exceptions, for one elephant belonging 
 to the battery in Deebrooghur would assist in putting 
 
IO4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 a fire out, and she would perform what I have never 
 known any other elephant do, and that was, after a 
 buffalo's throat had been cut, except the vertebrae, 
 when ordered to do so, she would place a ponderous 
 foot on the neck, twist her trunk round the horns, 
 wrench the head off, and hand it up to the mahout. 
 I had one elephant that did not care two pins for 
 a tiger or buffalo, but if she saw a pony or horse 
 cantering towards her, she would almost go into a 
 fit with fear and run for her life. 
 
 See your elephants fed in front of you every day. 
 The rice should be wrapped up in balls of plantain 
 stems, which are always procurable, because after a tree 
 has borne fruit once, it is of no further use, and the 
 people do not object to its being cut down. The 
 usual allowance for a shooting elephant is a seer for 
 every foot of its height. Whilst you are out shooting, 
 the second attendant of the elephant should cut down or 
 otherwise collect its green food, which either some of 
 the spare animals can bring in, or the shooting ele- 
 phants themselves after the howdah has been removed. 
 Before starting for a day's shooting, see that your 
 howdah is tightly and straightly put on ; if it is 
 crooked in the slightest degree have it taken off and 
 re-adjusted, for it is better to have it done properly 
 in camp where you have men to assist, than to have 
 to do it in the jungle where you have none ; and it is 
 impossible to shoot out of an improperly placed howdah 
 with any degree of comfort or any certainty. A howdah 
 should be as light as possible consistent with strength. 
 Double howdahs, that is for holding two men one 
 in front and an attendant behind are in my opinion 
 abominations, and now that breechloaders are uni- 
 
Elephant Fittings. 105 
 
 versally used, not required. The only use of an 
 attendant was to load your guns ; that you can do for 
 yourself now. Double howdahs are far heavier than 
 single ones, and when a tiger, buffalo, or rhinoceros 
 is at the heels of your animal, how are you to turn 
 round and fire over its back, if you have a lumbering 
 man behind you ? Many a time have I saved my 
 elephant being cut by being able to turn round and 
 fire instantaneously, which I could not have done had 
 I had a man behind me. The howdah should rest on 
 either side of the pad, the cross portion being hollowed 
 out to prevent its pressing on the spine and so 
 causing a sore back. The whole length of the two sides 
 should rest, and the weight be distributed equally on 
 either side of the spine longitudinally, the bars 
 resting on the pad, which should be made to fit each 
 elephant, that is, each elephant must have a pad 
 made expressly for it. As a coat will not fit any man, 
 neither will a pad fit every beast that it is placed 
 upon. It should be stuffed with pith, which can be 
 collected in almost every bheel; under the pad there 
 should be a well -padded guddelah, and another 
 over the pad to prevent the howdah slipping. The 
 howdah is fastened on with ropes having belly, 
 neck, and tail bands of stout leather, well greased 
 and kept soft to prevent chafing. Some, to avoid 
 the extra weight, stand on the pad, but if you 
 do, you feel the motion of the animal far more 
 than you will if you stand on a wooden floor 
 which is clear of the pad. Every howdah has two 
 longitudinal iron sloping bars, which connect the front 
 with the back as a means of strengthening the whole. 
 If to them you sew strips of stout waterproof cloth, 
 
io6 Incidents of Foreign F*ield Sport. 
 
 which you can at pleasure throw over your guns, in 
 case of rain, you will the better preserve your wea- 
 pons. Have a few bullets sewn on the lower portion, 
 as they prevent the flaps being blown off the guns. 
 The front of the howdah should not be too high and 
 should be made for the individual who is going to 
 use it. A howdah suitable for a man of six feet two 
 inches would be very inconvenient and uncomfort- 
 able for a man five feet eight inches, and vice versa. 
 When standing up, the elbows should just clear the 
 front bar. For comfort and good shooting a great 
 deal depends on the height of the seat from the floor 
 of the howdah ; it should be sufficiently high to fit 
 inside the bend of the knee, neither more nor less. 
 If less, if the elephant jolts forward suddenly, you 
 are apt to go backwards out of the howdah, and if 
 higher, the edge of the seat rubs against the back of 
 the thighs and causes a sore, and it is apt to throw 
 one forward, whereas if the edge of the seat catches 
 you fairly in the bend of the knee, your body sways 
 to and fro and you feel as if you had a grip, which 
 is not otherwise the case. Four guns for dangerous 
 shooting are requisite ; on either side of the seat, 
 racks are placed of the exact size of the stocks for two 
 guns, and the closer everything fits, and the less 
 rattling you have, the better are your chances of 
 sport. The front bar on which the barrels rest should 
 be of wood, with notches cut into it, lined with felt 
 to fit the gun-barrels, or the browning will soon be 
 worn away. In front, attached to the wooden bar, 
 should be a long box for holding cartridges ; this 
 should also be lined with felt. Have all your rifles or 
 guns of the same bore, and for which the same sized 
 
Elephant Fittings. 107 
 
 cartridges will do ; in a scrimmage you have not time 
 to pick and choose the shells, but have to take what 
 you can lay hands upon. 
 
 Under the seat on which you sit you can have a 
 compartment in which to carry food, etc., but the 
 less you yourself take the better. Have no rattling. 
 
 In the jungles of Assam and Burma the denizens 
 are used to wild elephants, and care very little for 
 the noise those animals make when crashing their 
 way through the dense long grass, but if in addition 
 they hear the rattling of plates or bottles they smell 
 a rat and are off long before you can get within shot. 
 
 Take a light zephyr waterproof coat with you to 
 put on if a storm comes up. If you have to travel 
 long distances over plains where there is little or 
 no game, and a fierce sun overhead, buy a common 
 native umbrella such as is used on occasions of 
 ceremony ; they have long handles to enable them 
 to be held over the heads of the swells by their re- 
 tainers. Pierce two holes in each side of your seat, 
 and corresponding holes in the floor of the howdah ; 
 into these insert the handle and you will have 
 ample shade. When you wish to resume shooting, 
 you have only to take the umbrella down, fold it up, 
 invert it, placing the top downwards against the 
 bottom of the front of your howdah ; the handle will 
 stick out behind and it will not be in the way in the 
 least. Never tether your elephants for more than a 
 day or two in the same place. Standing on their own 
 excreta softens or rots the sole of the foot, which, 
 though spongy, ought at the same time to be as hard 
 as ivory. Avoid giving an elephant a sore back, not 
 only for your own sake, because you cannot then use 
 
io8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 him, but because once an elephant has had his back 
 cut open to let out the pus, he will never be as staunch 
 after as before. 
 
 Mahouts are the best abused servants in India, not 
 altogether undeservedly, but I think due allowance 
 should be made for all they go through in a day's 
 work. They are very apt, unless well looked after, to 
 allow an elephant to forage for himself, rather than be 
 at the trouble of bringing to camp his charah ; but 
 this must be insisted upon. If let loose, the poor 
 beast will go in search of food. He does not know the 
 difference between meum and tuum ; he will either get 
 no food or wander miles away, or if there be a village 
 anywhere near, he will destroy property for which you 
 will have to pay fourfold its value. Do not keep a 
 mahout you cannot trust. I think more can be done 
 by judicious kindness than by bullying, nagging, or 
 harsh treatment. Treat natives as you would children, 
 with a judicious mixture of kindness and firmness, but 
 if a man presumes or attempts to be impertinent, 
 make an example of him on the spot. There are 
 different varieties of elephants. An experienced 
 mahout will tell you by merely looking at an animal 
 from what country he comes. 
 
 Of all I have had or seen, I think the Shan tuskers 
 were the handsomest. The Burmese are somewhat 
 smaller, many rather weedy, and very many of them 
 are mucknahs, or tuskless. The Assamese elephants 
 are large and handsome, and as " shikaries," second to 
 none. It is well known that the Cingalese elephants 
 are almost all of them tuskless, a tusker being a prize 
 indeed in that country. It is said that they and the 
 elephants of Sumatra are similar, and have a rib less 
 
Varieties of Elephants. 109 
 
 than the other varieties, but how true that may be I 
 cannot say. The mucknahs, called by the Burmese 
 " hine," have the head longer and narrower, the temple 
 very much depressed, the trunk longer and very pon- 
 derous, possessing immense strength, as if to compensate 
 the beast for being minus the formidable tusks of its 
 near relative the " goondas " (tuskers). The mucknah 
 is not, however, altogether tuskless, as it has short 
 ones somewhat like those of a walrus, growing down- 
 wards ; these are never more than eighteen inches 
 long, but by jobbing down, they can inflict very nasty 
 wounds with them. Its eyes are small and sleepy- 
 looking with a generally morose appearance, and even 
 when quite young it has an old look, as we often notice 
 in children the progeny of an old man. In size they 
 are often taller and more massive than the tuskers. 
 The largest elephants I have seen, whether wild or 
 tame, have been mucknahs. 
 
 The two varieties generally herd apart, but no doubt 
 a Lothario of the one may seduce the affections of a 
 female of the other variety, and this causes, I believe, 
 the production of many elephants of huge size to have 
 but very moderate tusks. 
 
 If nature has not given intellect to these animals, 
 it has given them an instinct next thing to it. 
 One has only to hunt them in their wilds to learn 
 how wonderfully Providence has taught them to 
 choose the most favourable ground, whether for feed- 
 ing or encamping, and to resort to jungles where their 
 ponderous bodies so resemble rocks or dark foliage 
 that it is difficult to distinguish them from surround- 
 ing objects, while their feet are so constructed that 
 they can not only tramp over any ground, be it 
 
i TO Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 hard or soft, thorny or smooth, without causing a 
 sound. They prefer forests by day, and open ground 
 at night. Huge as are these beasts, none are easier to 
 kill, if the hunter knows the right spot to aim at and 
 the right angle to fire. There are five vulnerable 
 places in an elephant. First, the bump between the 
 eyes, which should be fired at from the front, low 
 down and pointing upwards ; the best way, of 
 getting this shot is to kneel when firing. Secondly, 
 the temple shot, exactly in the centre between the 
 corner of the eye and top of ear. This shot should be 
 fired from either the right or left half face ; then from 
 the front, slightly upwards and backwards. Of all 
 the shots this is the easiest and most fatal and safest 
 for the hunter, because if the shot does not prove fatal 
 and the beast rushes forward, as it is apt to do when 
 wounded, the hunter will be out of the line of flight 
 and run less risk of being trampled upon, than when 
 firing the front shot. Thirdly, just behind the ear a 
 shot one seldom gets. Fourthly, from a height down- 
 ward in a forward direction, hitting the junction of the 
 spine and head. Fifthly, behind the shoulder ; this is 
 seldom taken by the European shikaries in India, but 
 natives often avail themselves of it, and I have seen 
 several Goliaths thus slain, notably by a son of the 
 Zemindar of Luckeepore. In Africa it is the favourite 
 shot, as it is believed the African variety cannot be 
 killed by the head shots, but Bailey, who was with me 
 on the Congo, killed over twenty elephants and had six 
 down at one time, all with the front and side head 
 shots. 
 
 I was cruel enough once to try and kill 
 elephants off elephants. I got amongst a herd of 
 
Shooting Elephants off Elephants. 1 1 1 
 
 fully three hundred or more. I wounded five or six to 
 death, as we recovered their bodies afterwards, but I 
 only bagged one at the time and that was a three - 
 parts grown male. A female had been charging me 
 over and over again, my elephants were demoralized 
 from the shrieks and cries of the wild ones, who 
 wounded to death and unable to fight or run away, 
 still huddled together, and groaned and trumpeted 
 most awfully. On her last charge as I fired a male ran 
 in between us and received the ball in the hip joint and 
 fell partially paralysed, yet the plucky brute came at 
 me on his knees, and when quite close, he lifted up his 
 head to take a look at me. I seized the favourable 
 moment and put a ball into his brain. I never fired 
 at an elephant off an elephant again, though I have 
 often been close to them. It is disgustingly cruel to 
 do so, as the brain cannot be reached when firing 
 off a pad or howdah. I have something to say 
 of running down elephants, catching them in pitfalls 
 and in keddahs, as I have had experience of all 
 three modes. The first is as exciting and far more 
 dangerous than even pig- sticking. 
 
 Noosing and Running Down Elephants. I was 
 under the impression nothing could exceed in excite- 
 ment hog-hunting, but I am not sure that the above 
 is not almost as much so and far more dangerous, 
 whilst as far as bodily fatigue goes, noosing elephants 
 beats anything I have ever tried. I only went out 
 twice, and after each hunt I could barely move a limb 
 for a week. As for my arms, they had been wrenched 
 almost out of their sockets, by holding on and being 
 tossed about, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the 
 
1 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 other, at times thrown backwards and then forwards ; 
 in fact, oftener off the elephant's back than on it. This 
 is not the experience of the native shikaries trained to 
 the sport, I believe they could stick to the point of 
 a needle if it were tossed to and fro on the " w r aters 
 wild," or carried here and there in a whirlwind. It 
 must take years to learn to sit barebacked on an 
 elephant going at full speed across country. One 
 moment almost pitching on its forehead, over some 
 hidden trunk of a fallen tree, and the next the hind- 
 quarters perhaps, falling into and sinking into some 
 pitfall ! I will first describe the modus operandi. The 
 best caste female elephants are trained exclusively for 
 this work almost as soon as caught, are carefully fed 
 on grain to give them wind, and only the fastest are 
 retained as koonkies ; the others assist. Females are 
 used exclusively for running down, but a good tusker 
 or two are employed to act as " chuckers-out," if 
 their services are required. The koonkies, when 
 thoroughly trained, are thus equipped for a hunt : A 
 stout rope is passed twice round their body, like a girth, 
 then under the neck and tail like a breastplate and 
 crupper, and securely fastened close to the withers for 
 the sling to be tied to. The mahout who guides the 
 elephant and throws the noose must be a plucky fellow, 
 specially trained to the work, and of course he must 
 be at home on the beast's bare back. He has a man 
 to assist, who has also been trained, and on whom he 
 can depend, and whose business it is to keep the 
 koonkie at full speed by striking it on a " raw," made 
 on purpose near the root of the tail, and he has also 
 to assist directly the lasso has been thrown and the 
 wild elephant noosed. On falling in with a herd, the 
 
Capturing Elephants. 1 1 3 
 
 mahout singles out one, generally a good-looking 
 three-parts grown tusker, as they fetch the largest 
 prices when broken, but if no young male is present 
 then a good female is selected. Occasionally a full- 
 grown tusker or even a mucknah is snared, but they 
 give a great deal of trouble to catch, and to rear after- 
 wards, as very many, from their stubborn resistance, 
 get so badly cut by the rope forming the noose, that 
 mortification sets in and destroys them. The large 
 merchants who send out these parties, do not 
 encourage the capture of any but half or three- 
 quarters grown calves, but occasionally when they 
 obtain a prize in the shape of a high caste male, they 
 forgive the transgressors, yet if their time has been 
 wasted in catching useless animals, all the men engaged 
 in the hunting operations are heavily fined. The 
 mahout on his koonkie rushes at full speed after the 
 brute selected, endeavours to separate it from the herd, 
 and then for half an hour or more it is a case of devil 
 take the hindmost ! The plain where the hunt takes 
 place is covered with longish grass with scattered 
 trees, and its inequalities cannot be seen. One 
 moment you think the elephant and its riders must 
 go heels over head, the next that all must fall 
 backwards. Whatever the dangers, there must be no 
 diminution of speed, whether you break your neck 
 or dislocate that of your steed. Full pelt you must go 
 and bring your quarry to a standstill before it can 
 get second wind, and the superior training and con- 
 dition of your elephant enables you to do this in 
 half or three quarters of an hour, perhaps longer if 
 you meet a "Deerfoot," But what a time that is ! 
 Unless your arms are well trained and muscular, and 
 
 I 
 
 
H4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 you hold on with the tenacity of a bulldog, you 
 will be soon thrown off, and if you survived that, 
 you will see little of the chase and its results. As 
 soon as the wild elephant is done up and stops, the koon- 
 kie ranges alongside, and the mahout, who is invariably 
 standing up, holding on to a small rope fastened to the 
 girth for that purpose, throws the noose over its head. 
 The wild one, feeling the rope dangling about its face, 
 curls up its trunk, apparently in the hope of getting 
 rid of it, but in so doing it really assists in its own 
 capture, as the knot then slips under the neck and is 
 drawn tight. The koonkie now plants herself as 
 firmly as possible, leaning her whole weight to the side 
 opposite the secured brute, with one foot advanced to 
 meet the struggles of the captured beast, who, having 
 recovered a little breath and finding itself .entangled, 
 rushes off with great violence, dragging the koonkie 
 after it ; but the noose tightens, the animal gets half 
 suffocated and has to pull up ; another koonkie then 
 rushes along the other side, a second noose is thrown, 
 the animal is safe. The assistants then jump off and 
 tether the feet of their prize, which they do in a few 
 minutes, being from long practice most expert. The 
 mahouts, notably the one who had thrown the first 
 noose, have now the dangerous task of loosening the 
 slip-knots and of fastening thick ropes round the necks 
 of their victims, but the koonkies and men are so 
 well trained and so expert that but few accidents 
 occur. Two or three other tame elephants now close 
 up and lavish attentions on the half-strangled captive, 
 while the mahout is attaching a small rope, which he 
 carries for that purpose, to one end of the noose so as to 
 loosen it, which is often a matter of difficulty, for the 
 
Capturing Elephants. 115 
 
 ropes cut deep into the flesh and cannot easily be ex- 
 tricated. Directly this has been accomplished, the 
 prisoner is placed between two tame elephants, males 
 and tuskers, if it shows signs of fighting ; but 
 generally directly a wild elephant finds itself a 
 captive, it resigns itself to its fate, and goes quietly 
 to the place where it is temporarily tethered with other 
 confreres, whence it is moved in a few days to a per- 
 manent camp, where it is broken in and made fit for 
 work in six months. When a wild elephant is very 
 obstreperous and proves too strong, the rope attached 
 to the noose is cut and it is allowed to escape ; but 
 this seldom happens, and when it does, oftener than 
 not mortification sets in and the beast is afterwards 
 found dead. Now and then, but very rarely, a koonkie 
 is overthrown and her riders killed in these encounters. 
 This mode of hunting has now been forbidden, as so 
 many of those so caught died, that the Government 
 forbade it, still it is carried on all the same on the 
 strict q.t., but only in remote and far-away provinces. 
 The first time I was present at such a hunt was 
 near Tikri Killah, not far from Bengali-hat. My wife 
 was in camp with me. Off a quiet pad elephant, 
 she looked on for a while from a distance, but when 
 she saw us careering full speed over the plain, covered 
 with long grass and noted for being cut up with 
 watercourses and other obstructions, she thought I 
 was insane, and went home fully expecting to find 
 herself a widow before night ! That was some twenty- 
 five years ago ! I knew the Mahajun (banker) 
 who owned the koonkies, having met him during one 
 of my inspections not far from Goalparah, when 1 
 took him out shooting on the churs where he actually 
 
 I 2 
 
1 1 6 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 killed a tiger and had shown him some other civilities 
 and treated him with consideration, for which he was 
 duly grateful. Most of his men therefore knew me> 
 and when I proposed to be present at a hunt they 
 gladly consented. I had three koonkies, one of them 
 well known, but they were not in training, so they 
 merely joined in the hunt to help if required. 
 I was seated on the fastest koonkie, which carried 
 of course the most expert mahout and nooser. It 
 was easy work whilst she went at a walk looking for 
 a herd. The first we saw did not contain any beast the 
 mahout fancied, so we let it alone and went on 
 ahead, but presently we espied a three-parts-grown 
 tusker quite alone. We had four koonkies and eight 
 other elephants out besides my three koonkies, and four 
 pad elephants. We had separated of course, two 
 elephants being deemed enough to be together, for 
 it was not anticipated that any very large ones would 
 be seen, or if we came across any, there was no need 
 for us to molest them, and the ground we were to 
 go over was very extensive. It was principally a 
 plain which extended to the foot of the G-arrow Hills, 
 but in it there were clumps of trees in which elephants 
 took shelter during the heat of the day. Many 
 herds had been " marked " down a day or two before. 
 The wild mangoes were getting ripe, and there were 
 extensive tracts of the tara or wild cardamom, both 
 of which elephants are very partial to. 
 
 As the two jockeys lay down flat, I did so too 
 to the best of my ability. The koonkie, left to her- 
 self, moved along slowly, feeding the while, and the 
 young male showed no signs of distrust until we 
 were quite close, in fact I thought at one time that 
 
Capturing Elephants. 1 1 7 
 
 we should have got alongside and secured it without 
 any chase whatever. The mahout was coiling 
 his lasso, preparatory to casting it, when the wild one 
 pricked up his ears. The mahout jumped up, threw 
 the noose, but he was a second too late. It struck the 
 elephant's head but failed to encircle it. Off he went, 
 and we only about a length behind, but a little on one 
 side, to the left. We had met with our match in 
 speed. For quite half a mile we did not gain an 
 inch. The ground was very uneven and I was tossed 
 about everywhere. I had in my youth been accus- 
 tomed to gymnastics of all sorts, and had been rather 
 a proficient, but during the chase it was like practising 
 on the parallel bars or horizontal pole. I clung on by 
 my eyelids, my hands were clutched and held on like 
 a vice to the top of the girth, and I wished I had had the 
 feet of a gorilla to hold on by them too ! But I may 
 say that for a quarter of an hour, I was never for two 
 minutes at a time on the elephant's back. I would 
 have cried " Hold, enough," but could not speak. The 
 man behind me belaboured the sore and kept the 
 koonkie going as fast as she could lay legs to the 
 ground. Several times she came down on her head, 
 and I almost precipitated the mahout ahead of me 
 off her back, but he held on like grim death. I never 
 let go either, but I never passed such a quatre d'heure 
 in my life. Fortunately I was fairly strong in those 
 days, as hard as nails, in good condition, and pretty 
 game, but I suffered terrible agonies. My arms 
 were all but dislocated out of their sockets, and 
 1 cannot say how thankful I was when the chase took 
 us across ground which had been cultivated but last 
 year, and had not lapsed into tangled jungle, when 
 
1 1 8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 ,' - 
 
 our motion became easier ! But it was fully ten 
 minutes more before our quarry was brought to a 
 stand. We ranged alongside, the noose was thrown. 
 We all required breathing time, the chased as well as 
 the chasers. No other koonkie was near us the pace 
 had been too fast so the noose was not at once 
 tightened, to allow our attendant animal to overtake 
 us. There we were, " cheek by jowl," " all a-puffing 
 and a-blowing," for a couple of minutes. Our attend- 
 ant beast was approaching, so the mahout secured 
 the noose. The male started off. He was nearly as 
 large as our koonkie, but not so massive, yet he 
 dragged us fully a hundred yards, until, becoming 
 suffocated, he desisted. He was then secured between 
 two elephants and removed. Fortunately the rope 
 had not cut very deep into his flesh. He was about 
 fifteen years old, and a year afterwards he was sold at 
 the great fair in Bengal Hurdwa for Ks.2000. 
 That was the best catch of the trip. I was glad to 
 jump off and rest a bit, and to be assured that no 
 portion of my body was out of place. But in half an 
 hour we saw two sets of koonkies in full chase of 
 seven wild elephants coming towards us. Mount was 
 the word, and off we went again to intercept the herd, 
 which appeared to have the legs of the tame ones. 
 This time, for my delectation I think, the mahout 
 singled out a mucknah fully nine feet high and any- 
 thing but young, and not the sort of beast his 
 employer would have thanked him for. As I was only 
 a spectator I said nothing. We went through the 
 same torture, but the male did not run long ; he 
 waited until we were all but alongside and then 
 charged. This had been foreseen so the koonkie 
 
Capturing Elephants. 1 1 9 
 
 avoided it easily, but as the wild one scraped past us, 
 
 the mahout threw his noose and snared him cleverly, 
 
 but our elephant was not prepared, so got dragged 
 
 sideways most ignominiously and all but overthrown. 
 
 Our man was on the point of cutting the rope which 
 
 held us together, when a large tusker was brought up 
 
 diagonally and charged the mucknah, striking him 
 
 obliquely. He all but went down, but not quite. The 
 
 tame beast stepped back a pace or two and was in the 
 
 act of repeating the dose when the mucknah met him 
 
 half-way and they crashed so violently together, head 
 
 to head that both were driven back. More tame 
 
 elephants arrived on the scene, and as they all 
 
 closed in 011 the wild one, he could not resist his 
 
 fate, so was captured, but the injuries he received 
 
 were so great, especially from the rope of the noose 
 
 which had cut into the flesh to a depth of three or 
 
 four inches, that before a week was out, mortification 
 
 set in and he died. We caught one more that day, 
 
 a small tusker about ten years old. One of his female 
 
 relatives gave us a great deal of trouble, frequently 
 
 charging, so that at one time we thought of letting the 
 
 youngster loose for a while and securing her, but the 
 
 mahout said she was not worth the catching, so we 
 
 let a couple of elephants at her and drove her off, then 
 
 secured the little one. I had had enough of sport by 
 
 that time, so got on to one of my own pad elephants 
 
 and went back to camp, and for the next week I was 
 
 .hoi's de combat ! 
 
 Eight were caught in two days. Of these, two 
 were strangled outright and two so severely cut that 
 they died. I had one other hunt in the dooars, and 
 having practised for about a week previously I was 
 
1 20 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 more accustomed to sitting on the bare back of an 
 elephant. We on that occasion caught nineteen in 
 three days, but with the exception of one koonkie 
 which fell over a fallen tree, and another elephant 
 not a hunter which fell into a pit-fall both were 
 somewhat damaged and laid up we met with no 
 particular adventures. One of these hunts is very 
 much like another, but while it lasts it is indeed 
 exciting. 
 
 CAPTURING ELEPHANTS IN A KEDDAH. 
 
 The late Mr. Sanderson has been greatly lauded 
 for the very successful captures he made whilst in 
 charge of the Government keddah. That he was a first- 
 rate man is undoubted he was unquestionably the 
 right man in the right place but it must be remem- 
 bered that he took charge of a thoroughly organised 
 department, and some portion of his success should be 
 accredited to the former incumbent, the late Mr. Nuttall, 
 with whom I hunted on two occasions. Mr. Sander- 
 son's success was due not only to the excellent training 
 of the elephants, their mahouts and superintendents, 
 and his own energy, but also to the fact that, the old 
 hunting grounds having been depleted in a great 
 measure, he opened out fresh grounds, and in com- 
 mencing operations in the Garrow Hills, it may be 
 said he " struck oil." There are two descriptions of 
 keddahs in use : one is merely a ditch about nine feet 
 broad at top, only a foot broad at bottom, and about six 
 feet deep ; the other a combination, a stockade with 
 or without a ditch. The latter is the commonest, for 
 most keddahs are constructed in forests where timber 
 
Capturing Elephants in a Keddah. 1 2 j 
 
 is plentiful ; but in parts of Assam, in the vast plains, 
 sometimes only the former is used, though the opera- 
 tions are much the same. A narrow entrance is left, 
 to be closed either by a portcullis or abattis, which is 
 placed at the entrance after the herd has been driven 
 in. From the narrow entrance two deep ditches or two 
 strong fences are made in a A shape and are carried to 
 a considerable distance. If the herd once gets within 
 this angle, and the beaters act together it is not 
 difficult to drive the elephants within the enclosure. 
 Every means to frighten the herd and drive it forward 
 are resorted to ; guns are fired, huge bonfires lighted, 
 tomtoms beaten, cholera horns blown, and amidst the 
 yelling of the beaters, the trumpeting of the bulls, the 
 bellowing of the cows repeated by the tame elephants 
 used as beaters an uproar is created sufficient to 
 awaken the dead. Amid this overwhelming din of 
 conflicting tumults, a final exertion is made, and the 
 whole or the greater part of the herd is impelled head- 
 long into the stockade or keddah, and the entrance 
 is closed, while the wild animals, seeking in vain an 
 exit and finding themselves entrapped, set to work 
 and create a row to which that previous was as no- 
 thing. Great endeavour is made by the wild herd 
 to pull down the sides of the stockade and to trample 
 down the ditch, but every place is guarded and they 
 are everywhere repulsed either with sharp spears being 
 thrust into their faces or confronted with blazing 
 torches. The scene is grand and animating, and con- 
 tinues without intermission for hours. The wild 
 animals finding escape impossible, abandon hope and 
 resign themselves to their fate. Sometimes they are 
 left alone for a day or two, or if few in numbers, a 
 
122 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 party of picked koonkies used to the work and their 
 attendants, usually as naked as on the day they 
 were born, enter the keddah, and get a captive 
 between two of them. Their legs are in a minute 
 or two fettered, ropes thick as many a hawser thrown 
 round their necks, and they are removed one by one 
 between two powerful elephants, to a suitable locality, 
 where fodder and water is plentiful, and it is almost 
 incredible how soon they become docile. 
 
 CATCHING ELEPHANTS IN PITFALLS. 
 
 This has been forbidden throughout our possessions 
 in the East, as it led to the death of so many beasts. 
 Men engaged in this operation note the way elephants 
 go to their feeding grounds and back, dig pitfalls 
 about nine feet deep just narrow enough to contain 
 the body of the elephant and no more cover them up 
 with boughs, bamboos, &c., scatter leaves and grass 
 and fresh elephant dung over the surface, dig other 
 pitfalls at right angles and along other paths, till 
 there is a regular network of them. I once went 
 with a party and was present when three fine animals 
 were caught and not seriously injured. They (the 
 men) lay in wait, and when the elephants entered the 
 path and were only a few yards from the first pit, 
 they created such a din, firing guns and rockets, 
 lighting fires, beating tom-toms and rushing with 
 lighted torches towards the affrighted herd that a 
 rush forward naturally took place. The leader, a fine 
 female, fell into the first pit, the others scattered here 
 and there ; but there were perils in every path. The 
 noise made was awful, and I only wonder that more 
 
Catching Elephants in Pitfalls. 123 
 
 animals were not entombed, for in the panic they 
 took any path, and all others but those leading to 
 the pits were blocked. Thus it seemed that every 
 snare would hold its victim, but fortunately for the 
 herd they only lost three of their leaders, two females 
 and one male, but this repaid the hunters well, for 
 they represented at least Ks.4,500 to be divided 
 between some fifteen men not bad for one night's 
 work. 
 
 In Upper Burma, close to the city of Umrapoorah 
 the former capital, they had two inclosures close to 
 the walls in which they used to catch wild elephants. 
 One was thus caught while I was there in 1856. 
 AV ell-trained cow elephants were let loose. These 
 wandered into the jungles, allowed the males to make 
 love to them, and then Delilah-like betrayed them 
 by enticing their admirers within the enclosure. I 
 was told as many as twenty valuable males had thus 
 been caught in one year. It cost nothing, for the 
 females were let loose in the slack season, when not 
 required for timber operations, and in almost every 
 case they became pregnant, and brought forth in due 
 time. But our Government has never succeeded in 
 breeding elephants, nor was their mode of copulation 
 known to us till lately. But in Siam, they do much as 
 the Burmese, and when a female is inclined for the 
 male, she is let loose, is duly covered, and generally 
 returns back to her Pheel-Khana. Occasionally one is 
 lost, but in Siam elephants are plentiful, and one more 
 or less does not matter. But I think it is cheaper and 
 better in the long run to catch the adult animals than 
 to breed them, though the Keddah Department is a 
 very considerable cost to the Government of India, 
 
1 24 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Once, whilst lying in wait for a wounded tiger, our 
 shikaries were unexpectedly charged by an elephant 
 and had to run for their lives, fortunately the angle 
 was not favourable, so we did not fire and lucky it 
 was for us that we did not, for it turned out to be a 
 run-away elephant belonging to the Gairapore rajah 
 on which he placed a great value. He, with the aid 
 of our elephants, next day recaptured it, but it was 
 in a state of must and had to be tied up away from 
 all the others, with the exception of a female on each 
 side, who soothed him during his violent fits. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDIAN BUFFALO SHOOTING. 
 
 I LOOK upon this animal, if not as the most 
 dangerous, certainly as one of the most formidable of 
 thejfenE natures. They are not only very savage, but 
 very treacherous, and most difficult to kill. A 
 solitary bull is invariably morose. He will lie in wait 
 in a dense patch of grass and attack anything that 
 comes in his way. He is if anything worse than a 
 rogue elephant. Baldwin, of the Bengal 39th, author 
 of Large and Small Game of Bengal, was attacked 
 by a wild bull buffalo, whilst out small game shooting, 
 near Loqua-Ghat, and all but killed. Just a year 
 afterwards, whilst out with Sir Charles Reid, I was 
 charged by a bull, in almost the same locality, and 
 that without any provocation. We were on elephants 
 and were well armed, and he paid for his temerity 
 with his life. He looked a fiend incarnate as he 
 charged out at me, as I was passing by a patch of 
 long grass in which he was hiding. Neither the 
 Assamese nor the Burmese keep any entire bulls, but 
 trust to the wild ones to keep up the breed. There 
 is therefore but little difference, if any, in size and 
 ferocity between the so-called wild and tame cattle. 
 
126 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 During the breeding season wild bulls take possession 
 of the tame cows, feeding with them during the day, 
 and retiring with them towards w r here the} 7 are 
 picketed during the night, and he often becomes a 
 nuisance, loses his fear of man, and will not allow the 
 gwalas to approach the cows. Oftentimes he attacks 
 and occasionally kills some of the people. After he 
 has done the needful he is doomed to death. The 
 villagers attempt to hamstring him when he is en- 
 grossed by the females, or they dig pitfalls, or 
 drop a heavily-weighted dart from a height on to 
 his back, or employ someone to shoot him. I 
 have frequently shot them at the request of the 
 people. I had then often to kill them on foot, and 
 it is very ticklish work meeting this formidable 
 beast on equal terms and on level ground. The tame 
 cattle are not to be trusted either. They dislike 
 Europeans, and I have had many a narrow squeak from 
 them, as they have frequently chased me when I have 
 been snipe shooting and not expecting hostilities. 
 
 Dr. Mason has stated that he believed the wild 
 buffaloes to be descended from tame ones run wild, but 
 I believe the very contrary is the case. The Assamese, 
 in strong nets, made expressly for the purpose, catch 
 not only wild calves, but often full-grown and half- 
 grown cows and bulls. The latter they kill, and sell 
 the meat to the Cacharies ; the former they tame and 
 incorporate with their herds. The Burmese buffaloes 
 have very heavy horns, much curved as a rule, but 
 the long-horned variety is also frequently met with. 
 The largest head I have heard of was one I gave the 
 Earl of Mayo, when he was Viceroy of India, The 
 horns round the curve from tip to tip measured 
 
Indian Buffalo Shooting. \ 2 7 
 
 thirteen feet eight inches, whilst straight across the 
 tips the distance was six feet six inches. Immense 
 as were these horns, I am not sure whether I did 
 not see a pair fully their equal in Burma. Near 
 T'seben, a favourite spot of mine for snipe, there 
 was an albino cow in a herd. When she threw back 
 her head, elevating the nostrils, each horn lay along 
 the back and reached almost to the root of the tail. 
 They must each have been nearer seven feet than 
 six if not even more. I coveted those horns. The 
 price of an ordinary buffalo in Burma in those days 
 was Bs.50, but the owner, seeing how anxious I was 
 to secure his cow, would not take less than Rs.200, 
 which I declined to give him. Although buffaloes 
 inhabit remote and swampy localities, they at times 
 do a great deal of damage to cultivation, as they are 
 fearless and often refuse to be driven off. In the 
 wild state, they wander about the same jungles, and 
 herd in company with elephants and rhinoceros. A 
 Burmese elephant, often a timid creature with most 
 wild animals, cares little for a buffalo, as he is so used 
 to the tame cattle, and fails to see any difference 
 between those that are denizens of the jungles, and 
 those that are kept for domestic purposes. The 
 buffalo's forehead is narrow and convex, horns black, 
 colour blackish slate, hair scant. There are occasional 
 albinos, both tame and wild. In size they are almost 
 the same as a rhinoceros. I measured a large bull 
 as he lay dead twelve feet to the root of the tail 
 from the tip of the nose ; tail, two and a half feet ; 
 height, six feet two inches ! The thickest horns I 
 ever got were from the very first buffalo I killed in 
 Burma ; they were not long, but each horn measured 
 
128 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 round the greatest circumference, twenty-seven and 
 twenty-six and a-half inches respectively. 
 
 These brutes have given me more trouble to kill 
 than any other animal, and the fights I have had 
 with them have been innumerable. After the first 
 year in Assam, during which I killed twenty- two or 
 twenty-three, I kept no account. I seldom fired at 
 them unless they disputed the right of way, or came 
 across a bull with exceptional horns, or to use the 
 carcase as bait for tigers. Although my elephants 
 have been struck several times, only one was seriously 
 wounded, and she could not then be worked for fully 
 four months. On one occasion a friend and I were 
 charged by a whole herd of these irritable brutes, a 
 most unusual proceeding such a thing never having 
 since occurred to me. But on that occasion we had 
 formed line, M. on the right and I on the left, and were 
 in search of a stag marsh deer which I had wounded. 
 We did not know the buffaloes were there. A rush 
 occurred, the lon^ grass was borne down and five of 
 those animals dashed down upon us. So sudden and 
 unexpected was the assault, that they were upon us 
 before we could even fire. The bull made for M., 
 whose elephant behaved splendidly, received the brute 
 on his one tusk, and threw it off as easily as a dog 
 would a rat, and M. killed him before he could 
 recover his legs. The others, after sending the 
 beating elephants flying, came for me. I emptied my 
 battery of four heavy rifles into them, but so 
 persistent were they that they chased my elephant 
 some way, and she only escaped being wounded by 
 her superior speed. She was one of the fastest of her 
 race that I ever rode. But the bovines did not escape 
 
Indian Biiffalo Shooting. 129 
 
 without punishment, for we picked up next day two 
 dead, which with M.'s made three out of the five. 
 The others doubtless had received mementoes of the 
 event from my weapons, which they (i.e., the buffaloes) 
 were not likely soon to forget. 
 
 Once, with Frank B., I was shooting at Myung, 
 and he wounded a bull, which only ran a short 
 distance, and then pulled up in a small patch of 
 long grass. His elephant would not advance, and 
 he called out to me to beat round and take the 
 enemy in the rear, this I proceeded to do. I got 
 near enough to see a dusky form, and was about to 
 fire, when the brute rushed not at me, but at my 
 companion, whose elephant turned tail, and went off 
 full score ! While holding on to the howdah with 
 one hand, for he was not used to riding runaway 
 animals, Frank endeavoured to shoot with the 
 other, but failed completely to stop his antagonist, 
 who, rushing in with unusual velocity, gave the 
 elephant a prod behind which impelled her several 
 yards forward, and caused her to bellow " blue 
 murder." The assailant followed up his success and 
 again closed, giving the pursued two more nasty 
 prods. All this time I had urged " Lutchmee " on at 
 her fastest speed, for the elephant and bovine were 
 closely struggling, the latter inflicting all the 
 punishment, the former not attempting to defend 
 herself. When I arrived alongside, I opened fire. 
 The infuriated bull then turned on me and struck my 
 elephant with his whole force close to the fore leg, 
 but fortunately the horns passed on either side 
 of my " hattie," so firing down I broke the brute's 
 spine, and he rolled over, but was by no means dead. 
 
 K 
 
j 30 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 for though unable to get up, his rage was magni- 
 ficent ; he bellowed, he tossed his head and fore- 
 quarters about, unsubdued hatred darting out of his 
 eyes. To hit a vital spot was not easy, as his 
 movements were so rapid, and it took three shots 
 before I had administered a quietus. Frank was too 
 much done up to assist me. When all was over, we 
 got down to examine the damage. My companion's 
 elephant had five severe stabs, mine had escaped 
 with only the blow of the forehead, but the part so 
 struck swelled up, and she was somewhat lame for a 
 day or two. 
 
 For a longtime there was a "rogue" buffalo which 
 was the terror of a large village not far from Myung. 
 He was very often to be seen out in the open. There 
 was no getting at him on an elephant, as he had been 
 frequently hunted before. Once or twice, when coming 
 back on foot from shooting small game, with only a 
 shot gun in my hand, he had threatened to charge, 
 so the next time I was out in that direction, I made 
 inquiries, and finding that he was still there, C., of the 
 Artillery, and I determined to rid the country of this 
 dangerous brute. We took a couple of gun-bearers, 
 each carrying a heavy rifle, and whilst C. advanced 
 from the side of the village, I remained some way off, 
 behind a clump of long grass, as there was very little 
 cover in the whole plain. We both knew the way 
 the bull retired if he decided on retreating, but we 
 fully anticipated that he would show fight. I very 
 easily secured my position which I did by a cir- 
 cuitous route, so as not to be seen by the enemy. 
 There the buffalo stood, like a statue, almost equi- 
 distant between my post and the village. On my 
 
Indian Buffalo Shooting. 131 
 
 hoisting a handkerchief on a long rod, C., in company 
 of about fifty Assamese, advanced. The object was to 
 drive the beast past me, and not to attack him, if it 
 could be avoided, in the open. I could soon see that 
 C. was ready to open fire, as the brute would not 
 budge an inch ; on the contrary stood facing the 
 crowd, shaking his head and horns and pawing the 
 ground with his fore feet. These demonstrations 
 were too much for the cowardly Assamese, for they 
 began to loiter, then to get together, and finally 
 halted. While the enemy's attention was riveted on 
 the concourse of people in front of him, I thought I 
 would steal a march upon him and take him from the 
 rear and flank so leaving my cover, I quickly advanced, 
 bidding my gun-bearer to keep close. I do not think 
 that the animal was aware of my approach until I 
 was within fifty yards of him and then, spinning 
 round, he charged at once, thinking, I suppose, that 
 two men were less formidable than half a hundred. 
 As he turned, C., who was only about forty yards off, 
 gave him two shots, well placed but a little too far 
 back to be mortal ; nevertheless they caused him to 
 stumble. I now fired at his chest ; his head was 
 down when I pulled the trigger. My first shot 
 caught him on the top of the nostril and went 
 through both jaws, my second taking him in the 
 breast. I had just time to seize my spare weapon 
 when a pair of formidable horns were all but around 
 me. The fiendish eyes glared with intense hate ; the 
 damaged muzzle and the pouring blood gave him a 
 diabolical look, and as he lowered his head with a 
 view of tossing me I gave him a shot in the head and, 
 springing aside, just escaped a vicious prod he made 
 
 K 2 
 
132 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 at me. As the brute passed me I fired into his 
 shoulder and took to my heels towards C., who was 
 hurrying up to my assistance. My man had thrown 
 himself down, and the buffalo, all but Winded by the 
 blood which poured down his face, and smarting from 
 his wounds, did not perceive him, but went clean over 
 his prostrate form, staggering and all but falling. 
 As I ran, I reloaded, and was still some twenty yards 
 from C. when the plucky buffalo pulled up, turned 
 round, and without hesitation rushed towards us. As 
 soon as I was reloaded I pulled up. C. came on so 
 that we were now about fifteen yards apart. Both 
 reserved our fire until the buffalo (who seemed 
 puzzled as to whom he should close with) singled me 
 out, but changing his mind made for C., who stood 
 his ground bravely. He had his second gun by him, 
 whilst I had but one. We lost no time, but gave 
 the beast three barrels C. two and I one but the 
 brute bore a charmed life. With my left barrel I 
 again fired and broke one of his legs, when he came 
 down very heavily, but picking himself up and then 
 seeing the Assamese running across the plain, went 
 for them on three legs. C. now gave him two more 
 shots. I. reloaded, and as it was evident the natives 
 ran faster than the wounded animal, and that they 
 incurred little danger, both of us, with our gun- 
 bearers for mine had rejoined me by this time made 
 for a cattle-shed which lay in the direction that the 
 people were retreating, for by proceeding towards it 
 direct (the mob had taken a circuitous route, 
 followed by the buffalo), we got there before them. 
 However, they continued their flight, so now we were 
 between them and their pursuer. Two more body 
 
Indian Buffalo Spearing. 133 
 
 shots and one in the neck sufficed ; the beast however 
 was not dead, but lay down. There is no trusting 
 to one of these treacherous brutes, even in articulo 
 mortis, for by a dying effort they have been known 
 to jump up and kill their foe, dropping dead the 
 next instant ! Thus we advanced carefully. When 
 within ten yards, I got a clear view of the back of his 
 head and fired. There was a quiver, the head fell 
 forward, the body turned over on its side, the out- 
 stretched legs idly beat the air, and a moment after 
 all was over. The terror of the neighbourhood had 
 at last joined the majority. We were disappointed in 
 his horns, as they measured barely eleven feet from 
 tip to tip, although in life they looked immense, 
 and we thought we had scored a record. Simson, 
 who probably has killed more boars off horseback 
 than anybody else in India, with perhaps the 
 exception of the late Col. Nightingale, has, in his 
 charming book of Sport in Eastern Bengal, vividly 
 described riding down and shooting buffaloes off 
 horseback, which, considering the nature of the ground 
 which had to be traversed, and the tenacity of life 
 possessed by these formidable and ferocious beasts, 
 was unquestionably most dangerous work. Yet some 
 fifty years ago, spearing buffaloes off horseback was 
 a favourite pastime. 
 
 The late Dr. Chalmers gave a grand description of 
 such a hunt, in one of the old Indian sporting 
 reviews. I unfortunately have not got it by me, but 
 I remember that, after spearing a bull buffalo twice, 
 the gallant medico's horse stumbled and fell just as 
 the foe was charging. The bull tossed its assailant, 
 inflicting many wounds on him, and would doubtless 
 
134 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 have killed him outright, had it not been for a bull 
 mastiff which was out with his master and came to 
 the rescue, attacking the infuriated buffalo and in 
 other ways diverting his attention from the insensible 
 doctor. Fortunately Chalmers's syce had seen the 
 occurrence. He hurried into the station and gave 
 intelligence of his employer's death as he supposed. 
 Some half-a-dozen Europeans officers, civilians and 
 indigo planters were on their horses in a few 
 moments and galloped off to the scene of action, 
 where they found the bull and dog still fighting, 
 and the disabled sportsman lying in a pool of blood. 
 The dangerous brute happily was soon dispatched 
 and Chalmers was carried home and eventually 
 recovered to tell the tale of his miraculous escape. 
 When once near Nowgong the people asked me 
 to kill a bull for them, as he had taken possession 
 of a herd of cows, and wouldn't allow them to come 
 home at night. So accompanied by one man I 
 walked out about three miles to a marshy plain 
 where the bull was pointed out to me. I had 
 ordered my elephant to follow. She had been taken 
 out to bring her " charah " in, for I did not propose 
 going out hunting that day, having some work to 
 attend to, as well as expecting some native con- 
 tractors to be at my tent about 11 a.m. Seeing no 
 signs of my " hattie," and a convenient white ant- 
 hill within easy shot of the buffalo, bidding my man 
 climb a small tree and not to descend unless I told 
 him, I crawled up until I got behind the hillock. 
 Using its crest as a support, I fired two shots, and 
 the bull fell down apparently dead. As I was loading 
 I heard hasty steps coming towards me. It was the 
 
Indian Buffalo Shooting. 135 
 
 native, who, thinking his enemy killed, was hurrying 
 up to insult and vilify the slain. I bid the man not 
 to move, but he replied " Murgya" (He is dead), and 
 ran forward. He got close up to the beast and* com- 
 menced to spit upon it, when up jumped the bull, and 
 before I could fire he had rolled over the native, and, 
 kneeling down, he began pounding the man into the 
 soft ground so as to almost bury him, and then 
 fell dead. I went back and related what had 
 occurred. The body was recovered and taken to the 
 Assistant Commissioner, before whom a complaint was 
 lodged that I had caused the man's death and heavy 
 damages were demanded. After my explanation I 
 never heard anything more of the matter, so I presume 
 the case was dismissed. 
 
 GAUR, FAMILIARLY CALLED BISON SHOOTING. 
 
 The gaur is a noble animal to look at. It is 
 widely distributed throughout our Eastern posses- 
 sions, but has been extinct in Ceylon for a consider- 
 able time I may say. beyond the memory of man. 
 It is found in Travancore, in all the Western Ghauts, 
 in most of the hilly ranges in Southern, Eastern and 
 Central India, and in Assam, but nowhere does it 
 grow to the size it does in Burma, unless it be in the 
 Mishmi Hills, from whence I have had brought down 
 some very fine heads. There is only one species of 
 the Bos gaur us or Gaveus gaurus, but two distinct 
 varieties, which may be due to climatic causes, to 
 superabundance of food, or diversity of external 
 influences ; but there is no doubt that the two 
 varieties exist, and a comparison of the skulls in the 
 
136 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 museum in Calcutta places the matter beyond a 
 doubt. The Indian variety is about nine and a half 
 or ten feet long from the nose to tip of the tail ; the 
 tail thirty-four inches long ; the skull is massive, the 
 frontals large, deeply concave, surmounted by a large 
 semi-cylindric crest rising above the base of the 
 horns. There arc thirteen pairs of ribs. The head is 
 square, proportionately shorter than in the ox, and 
 the bony frontal ridge is five inches above the frontal 
 plane. The muzzle is large and full, and the eyes 
 small, with a full pupil of a pale blue colour. The 
 whole of the head in front of the eyes is covered with 
 a coat of close short hair of a light grayish-brown 
 colour, which below the eyes is darker, approaching 
 almost to black. The muzzle is grayish, and the hair 
 thick and short. The ears are broad and fan- shaped, 
 and the neck, which is sunk between the head and 
 back, is short, thick and heavy. Behind the neck, and 
 immediately above the shoulder, rises a fleshy gibbosity, 
 or hump, of the same height as the dorsal ridge. The 
 ridge rises gradually as it goes backwards, and 
 terminates about the middle of the back. The chest 
 is broad, the shoulder deep and muscular, and the 
 forelegs short, with the joints very short and strong, 
 and the arm exceedingly large and muscular. The 
 hair on the neck and breast is longer than on the 
 body ; and the skin of the throat is somewhat loose, 
 giving the appearance of a slight dewlap. The fore- 
 legs have a rufus tint behind, and laterally above 
 the white, the hindquarters are lighter and lower 
 than the fore, falling suddenly from the termination 
 of the dorsal ridge. The skin on the neck, shoulders 
 and thighs is very thick, about two inches, the 
 
Description of Gaur. 137 
 
 horns, pale greenish with black tips curving outwards, 
 upwards, and slightly backwards, and finally inwards. 
 General colour, dark chestnut brown, or coffee brown ; 
 legs, from knee downwards, a dirty white. The above 
 description is from Jerdon, and is very exact as 
 applied to the Indian gaur. The Burmese differ in 
 the following respects : The head is longer ; the nose 
 arched like a ram's (some of the Indian ones have this 
 too, but in a less degree) ; the dorsal ridge is more 
 prominent and extends much further backwards, to 
 within a short span of the loin or hip-joint. Whereas 
 in India a bull of nineteen hands is considered very large, 
 cows in Burma have been killed at that height, and 
 an old bull is often twenty- one hands and more. 
 The cows in India differ from the bulls in having 
 slighter and more graceful heads, while those in 
 Burma have longer heads with the noses more arched 
 than the bulls. The necks are slighter, there is no 
 hump, and the points of the horns do not turn 
 towards each other at the tips, but bend slightly 
 backward and are much smaller. The legs too, are of 
 a purer white. Whilst in the Indian cows the bony 
 frontal ridge is scarcely perceptible, it is most promi- 
 nent in the Burmese ones. All gaur have very 
 small feet for their size, not much bigger than those 
 of a large sambur. The old bulls have the bases of 
 the horns much truncated with rough ridges, and each 
 ridge, the " shikaries " assert, represents a year of its 
 life, after six years of age, before which they are not 
 apparent. If correct in this, I have shot gaur over 
 thirty years of age. The skin of an old specimen 
 exudes an oily substance, slightly offensive. Never 
 sit on a dead one, for this substance will cause a stain 
 
138 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 which is ineradicable. These animals browse on the 
 young shoots of the bamboo, and graze on such grasses 
 as they can find, but come down to the plains after 
 the annual fires for the sake of the new growth. 
 During the heat of the day, they retire to the deep 
 forests, or if the gad flies are very troublesome, 
 they force their way into some heavy grass and lie in 
 it, to avoid their tormentors. The wind being favour- 
 able, they are not difficult to approach on an elephant, 
 because they are so accustomed to seeing and hearing 
 the wild ones moving about them in the jungles which 
 are their joint homes. I never saw one charge an 
 elephant, but have heard of its doing so when wounded 
 and hard pressed, but many sportsmen when following 
 them on foot have been killed ; and occasionally 
 they " run amuck." I will here relate an instance. 
 By some accident, I fancy, the beasts had mis- 
 calculated the distance from one forest to another 
 where they were bound, for at daybreak they found 
 themselves close to an Assamese village, and the 
 villagers, as is their custom for purposes of nature, 
 were scattered about the plains, so the gaurs " ran 
 amuck," probably more in fright than with any other 
 intent, killed several people, and one man (who was 
 then alive in the Goalparah dispensary) escaped 
 with scarcely a whole bone in his body. That they 
 do miscalculate distances and localities is proved by the 
 fact of a wandering gaur having taken up his posi- 
 tion in some jungle at the foot of Goalparah Hill, 
 around which were numerous villages and houses, at 
 least twenty miles from his usual habitat ! He was 
 there killed by a police officer, to the wonder of the 
 inhabitants, who had never seen such an animal. 
 
Gaur Shooting'. 139 
 
 Although difficult to kill, a shot placed behind or in 
 the centre of the shoulder, or a raking shot forward 
 will account for them. When alarmed their enormous 
 strength enables them to crash through bamboo and 
 tree jungle as if they were but reeds. Often when 
 disturbed suddenly, they will gallop forward for about 
 fifty yards, then pull up and turn round, staring at 
 the intruder. Several times I have admired these 
 noble beasts when I have come across a herd com- 
 posed of stupendous bulls, graceful cows, and pretty 
 calves, peacefully grazing on the short crisp grass. 
 If alarmed they often snort and sometimes stamp, 
 after the manner of deer, with their fore foot, to 
 intimidate the intruder, I fancy. The marrow bones 
 and tongue of a gaur are a bonne bouche to the 
 greatest of gourmets. I am told the flesh is very 
 good, especially the so-called hump. On either side 
 of the dorsal ridge above the shoulder, the flesh 
 lies in three longitudinal layers, easily removed one 
 from the other, the centre part being considered 
 the tit-bit, the tail makes excellent soup, and the 
 hide is valuable, for when cured it is grand soling fox- 
 hunting boots. The very old gaurs when driven by 
 younger bulls from the herds, become morose, and 
 are by far the best for shooting, as they carry the 
 largest heads, but they are not easy to find, selecting 
 isolated and remote localities to reside in. All the 
 gaurs, wild cattle, buffalo and deer tribe, and it is said 
 even the felidce, are very fond of a species of white 
 clay impregnated with natron, and wherever this is 
 found other conditions also being favourable there 
 will be found the gaur. These animals are not found 
 in the Himalayas. There the bungaur or wild yak 
 
140 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 takes their place. But in Chittagong, the gaur, the 
 gayal and the tsine (wild cattle) are found not far 
 from one another inhabiting the same hills and 
 forests. Assam is never free from the cattle disease, 
 and this at times extends to the wild cattle, who 
 when stricken go down to the Wheels where they die 
 in hundreds. The Assamese call the gaur and gayal 
 mithun if pressed, they call the larger animal (the 
 gaur) the asseel mithun (or true mithun), and the 
 other mithun only. This led the late Mr. Sanderson, 
 a careful observer, to assert that the gayal was not 
 found in a wild state, for the mithun shot by him 
 were undoubtedly true gaur. The gaur has not been 
 known to interbreed with domestic cattle, whilst 
 hybrids between the gayal and the zebu are very 
 common. 
 
 I shot a great many gaur in Burma, a few in 
 Assam, and many in India. The late Mr. Blyth, the 
 best naturalist of his day, wrote to me that T must 
 be mistaken in declaring that the gaur was to be found 
 in Burma, as he thought its place there was taken by 
 the gayal, but some heads which I sent him, and some 
 he procured himself when on a visit to the province, 
 induced him to write that, not only was he mistaken 
 in asserting that this noble wild bull did riot exist, 
 but that on the contrary, the Burmese variety was 
 much finer than the Indian. The first pyoung 
 (Burmese for gaur) I saw killed in Burma, was when 
 I was out with the late Brigadier Glencairn Campbell, 
 Major Lloyd, and Liardet. The first-named killed 
 it, but the second claimed it, as having first hit it. 
 We saw many more that trip, but got no other then. 
 The next year I was out and shot several three in 
 
Gaur Shooting. 141 
 
 one day. I saw on that occasion about a dozen. 
 Every succeeding year Lloyd and myself killed many. 
 On one trip it was a hot sultry day, and I had not 
 had much luck up to 11 A.M. I came to the edge 
 of a dry nullah. On the opposite bank stood a bull 
 gaur facing me, looking as if much amazed. We were 
 only about ten paces apart : I took a careful aim for 
 the centre of the forehead and fired, but the beast 
 turned round, and as he ran past I gave him the second 
 barrel behind the shoulder, and killed. On examining 
 the slain, we could only find one shot, the fatal one, 
 and the shikarie declared my first was a miss. I 
 could not credit it. What ! Miss the broad forehead 
 at ten paces ? Yet where was the wound ? Ap- 
 parently nowhere. When the man opened the 
 mouth to extract the tongue, we discovered that the 
 ball had entered one nostril the head was thrown up 
 as I pulled the trigger and cut the palate all along, 
 and had imbedded itself in the immense muscles of 
 the neck. Many years after I was again on " Bison 
 Hill," up the Godavery. All these hills have a peculiar 
 formation, being flat on the top, abut on the river, 
 and then go inland fifteen or twenty miles. (Hills 
 very similar in formation and appearance exist on 
 the Niger ; also in South Africa.) These are separated 
 by well-wooded declivities that slope down to a water- 
 course, from whence they ascend and join the next 
 range. These are full of game of all sorts, gaur 
 especially being very plentiful. In 1851, Cotton of 
 the Civil Service, Dansey of our 30th, and I ascended 
 the range and christened it " Bison Hill," bison 
 being a misnomer in common use amongst Indian 
 sportsmen for this grand beast. Generally on these 
 
142 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 hills I have been very lucky, but on that occasion we 
 could not find a bull worth shooting although we 
 saw scores. In searching several dales and secluded 
 valleys, where a solitaire would be likely to take 
 up his quarters, we came across an old woodcutter. 
 He had been a fine man in his time, but he was 
 seventy if he was a day. He had lived in these wilds 
 all his life, and earned his livelihood by collecting- 
 firewood, the blossoms of the mhowa tree and 
 honey. He knew every inch of the country. We 
 asked him if he had seen gaur. " Gaur," said he, 
 "why they are as plentiful on these hills as flies in 
 the village." " Yes, we know that," said I, " but we 
 want a solitary bull one that lives by himself." 
 " Why, there is one not half a mile from here," replied 
 the veteran. " I saw him, not half an hour ago. Come, 
 I'll show him to you. I have known him for the 
 last forty years. He lost a part of one ear when a 
 calf, and for the last twenty years he has lived alone, 
 and retires to the thick cover during the heat of the 
 day. I see him nearly every day." 
 
 We followed the old man. He took us over the brow 
 of the hill we were on, and descended into a hollow 
 between two hills. It was narrower than usual ; the 
 sides steeper, and in the centre was an almost dry 
 watercourse. The nullah sides were well wooded, 
 affording a grateful shade ; clumps of bamboos also 
 were here and there scattered about, while in the bed 
 of the nullah, small pools of water existed. The 
 place was well chosen, for the gaur had all he required 
 close at hand. We went along for about half a mile, 
 the woodcutter leading, when suddenly he pulled up 
 and stretched out a long bony, but still muscular, 
 
Gaur Shooting. 143 
 
 arm, pointed half-way up the hill side. Looking in 
 that direction, I saw a splendid old bull. His horns 
 were somewhat worn at the tips, but still long and 
 massive. He stood side on, but looking at us, or at 
 his old acquaintance who had betrayed him. The 
 shot was an easy one. As I fired, the bull rolled over 
 and over. The old native ran forward for what 
 purpose it is impossible to say for he was a Hindoo 
 to whom the animal and all its kind are sacred, and 
 he would have died rather than have touched it. 
 But familiarity, it is said, breeds contempt. The old 
 fellow had seen these animals probably for over sixty 
 years ; he had never hurt them or they him, and it 
 could only have been mere bravado on his part, but 
 whether or no, it cost him dear, for as the bull reached 
 the bed of the watercourse, he sprang up and the 
 old man was only a pace from him, when, lowering his 
 head with a bellow which I have scarcely got out of 
 my ears even to this day, so horrible did it sound, he 
 rushed at the woodcutter and ran past us with the 
 man apparently impaled on his horns. I dropped the 
 bull in his tracks stone dead, but our ancient guide 
 was dead too. The horn had not penetrated the 
 victim it was too blunt in fact to do that but the 
 blow must have struck just over the heart. The 
 loin cloth had become entangled on the horns, and thus 
 the man was carried past as described. We bore the 
 body to my camp, sent word to Lingum Eeddy, the 
 head man, but no one claimed relationship with the 
 defunct, so my people prepared a pyre and cremated 
 the body. The head of the gaur when brought in 
 was minus half an ear, and the ridges at the base of 
 the horn just numbered thirty- two, and if the native 
 
144 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 theory is true, the gaur must have been fully as old as 
 reported by the man who betrayed him and suffered 
 death in consequence. I have only known one other 
 gaur charge. None of the others and I slew a great 
 many ever showed fight. 
 
 THE GAYAL : BOS FRONTALIS. 
 
 These wild kine are plentiful in parts of the 
 Chittagong Hills, extend into the interior to 
 Munnipore, in a few localities in the northern and 
 eastern parts of Assam, and probably are found 
 extending north and east to the borders of China. 
 They are numerous along the spurs of the Bhootan 
 Hills, amongst the Dufflas, Tipperah, Looshais, and in 
 the wild districts which skirt Chittagong. It is 
 domesticated extensively and easily. Very many of 
 the young wild cattle are caught in nets and are 
 tamed, the great attraction being huge lumps of rock 
 salt, which have an extraordinary fascination for them. 
 This lure is placed near where they assemble every 
 evening. When domesticated, they are let loose at 
 daylight to browse in the adjoining forests, and are 
 recalled by the tinkling of bells or the striking of gongs. 
 The forehead of the gayal is not concave like a gaur's, 
 but quite straight and destitute of the semi-cylindrical 
 crests. The horns grow straight out and then curve 
 very slightly upwards, and in the old bulls only are 
 very slightly truncated. The forehead is broad and, 
 like the gaur's, covered with lightish-coloured hair. 
 It browses more than Bos gaurus, and unlike it, has a 
 small but distinct dewlap. The dorsal ridge is promi- 
 nent, but not so much as in the larger animal, but at 
 
The Gayal. 145 
 
 a distance one might easily be mistaken for the other, 
 for the colouration is the same. They frequent similar 
 ground, and are probably cousins several times removed. 
 It is said that they, the gayal, have been seen in the 
 north grazing not far from the wild yak. I have seen 
 very many of these cattle wild, tame thoroughbreds, 
 and tame hybrids although I never shot but two, 
 and that was upon the only time I followed them 
 up. The bull was almost the exact counterpart of the 
 one in the Zoo, which is as fine an animal of its kind as 
 can be found. Hybrids between these wild cattle and 
 zebus or Indian tame cattle have run wild, and are 
 fairly plentiful in the lower ranges of the Bhootan 
 Hills. As the two I killed fell to double shots right 
 and left, there is no tale of adventure to tell. Many 
 that have died of the murrain I have seen on the 
 borders of Assam. 
 
 THE TSINE (BOS SONDAICUS). 
 
 These wild cattle extend from the hill tracts of 
 Chittagong downwards, and are found in Java, 
 Sumatra, Borneo and the Celebes. It is a wary 
 animal, grazes in the open quins or plains, and is not 
 easy to approach. Although a sacred animal according 
 to their religion, the Burmese shikaries, who are 
 looked upon as damned by their co-religionists, 
 because they take life, sit up in trees and pot these 
 kine as they pass by, and sell the jerked meat to the 
 villagers, who do not hesitate to buy it. These are 
 true cattle, very handsome, of a deep red (the very 
 old bulls get almost black in their second childhood), 
 with white rings round the eyes, white under the 
 
 L 
 
146 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 belly and under the tail, along the buttocks, and ti 
 lighter red about the legs below the knee, almost 
 approaching to dirty white stockings. A very slight 
 hump, which is lost in the ridge, together with a very 
 slight dewlap, not always apparent, is also character- 
 istic of them. The head is very like that of a wild stag, 
 the facial angle being quite straight, altogether unlike 
 the formation of the gaur, or even of the gayal. I 
 have seen herds of them, but only came across them 
 on two hunting trips once with Charlie Hill, gover- 
 nor of H.M.'s Prison, Manchester, when we killed a 
 fine bull ; and once, some years afterwards, in an open 
 space in the Yomahs, I tracked a herd. It retired to 
 a grove of trees, which formed as it were an oasis in 
 the vast plain ; their spoor, with droppings, was fresh, 
 but to get at them during daylight seemed impossible. 
 I talked the matter over with Shoay Jah and Moung 
 Kyang, the two shikaries, and we decided to start 
 by moonlight at 3 A.M., lie in ambush in the 
 tope of trees, and try and get a shot at daybreak. 
 There were a lot of tigers about. I had shot two the 
 day before, after a good scrimmage, and it is far from 
 pleasant to walk through tigerish grass at any time, 
 particularly by night. But such things have to be 
 done if you are to be successful in circumventing a 
 wary beast like the tsine. Accordingly we were up 
 and away by the time arranged. When we reached 
 our destination we were soaking wet, or rather I was, 
 for my attendants were not encumbered with much 
 clothing, so we sat shivering, longing for the sun to 
 rise. When it did appear above the horizon, we were 
 not benefited much, for we had to lie in thick brush- 
 wood, which could not have been more wet had it 
 
Wild Cattle Shooting. 147 
 
 poured with rain for the previous twenty-four hours. 
 Six, seven, eight, and nine o'clock passed. My teeth 
 were chattering with the cold, and yet not a sign of 
 Bos sondaicus. I was so cramped I doubted whether 
 I could lift an arm to take aim if the occasion arose 
 to do so. A lot of thamin or brow antlered deer 
 were grazing about, and I could have had easy shots 
 at several fine stags. The shikaries suffered more 
 than I did, for with the exception of the cloth they 
 wind round their loins and pass between their legs, 
 they were cloth eless, but these people are far more 
 patient than w r e are. " Wait, sir," they said, " the 
 cattle are sure to come. To-day is a cool day, very 
 cloudy, and they have stayed browsing later than 
 usual." I was sick of waiting, but still, after what I 
 had undergone, I determined to endure the ordeal for 
 another hour. Half that time had hardly passed 
 away when we heard the distant low of a cow. 
 Soon several, accompanied by calves, appeared on the 
 scene, but the beasts seemed in no hurry to take 
 their siesta, so fed along leisurely. Two good bulls 
 then approached from separate quarters, each accom- 
 panied by his harem of six or seven wives. It was 
 not the rutting season ; thus they all seemed on friendly 
 terms. About ten o'clock, when the sun began to 
 shine fiercely, several cows went into the tope at 
 the nethermost end, but as there was no wind we were 
 pretty safe from detection. The bulls now fed closer 
 and closer, and at a quarter to eleven w r ere within shot. 
 I killed the nearest. The belted bullet (for I still stuck 
 to my two muzzle-loaders, though I had two other 
 breechloaders) struck it behind the shoulder, passed 
 on and broke the leg of a cow standing near. I also 
 
 L 2 
 
148 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 wounded the other bull, but off he and the cows 
 scampered into the open. Those that had entered 
 the tope now ran past me, but not very fast, seeming 
 to be bewildered with the sudden stampede and 
 reports of firearms, which probably they then heard 
 for the first time. I killed a nice fat three-parts- 
 grown heifer. Bidding the men to cover the slain 
 over with grass to keep them safe from vultures, I 
 first stretched my limbs, then eat a hard-boiled egg or 
 two, had a swig of ginger- wine, and then took up the 
 spoor of the wounded bull, and found that the cow 
 with the broken leg had followed him. Upon her I 
 came before long. She was inclined to be savage, but 
 I had no difficulty in dropping her, covering her up 
 too, we followed the bull. He had gone steadily 
 along until he came to a running stream with high 
 muddy banks. There his heart seemed to have 
 failed him, for after a faint attempt to go down the 
 abrupt side he continued along the bank, doubtless 
 looking for a ford. The grass was not very heavy, so 
 I could see a fair way ahead, made sure that he was 
 in front, and did not look out as I ought to have done. 
 On the right, I came to a place where the bank was 
 fully ten feet high. Here the water was deep, a 
 fallen tree lay alongside the path. I had got to about 
 the middle of the trunk and was half inclined to sit 
 down, as the shikaries were some distance behind, 
 when there was a rush from my right and a fierce 
 head and pair of horns were all but on me. I 
 instantly threw myself backwards over the tree, 
 holding on, luckily, with one hand to a branch, so that 
 although I was over the bank, I still had a grip and 
 did not fall into the water ; but the impetus of the 
 
Wild Cattle Shooting. 149 
 
 bull carried him clean over me, and lie fell with an 
 awful splash into the pool. This must have knocked 
 the wind out of him, for he lay in the water half- 
 submerged. I drew myself on to terrajfirma, seized my 
 rifle, pulled both triggers, but the only result was snap, 
 snap the caps had fallen off ! I screamed to Moung 
 Shoay Jah, and he came up with another weapon. 
 By this time the bull had recovered his breath and 
 legs, but it was not for long, for instantly afterwards 
 I rolled him over dead. Once afterwards these cattle, 
 with calves, rushed past me. When I saw them first 
 they were grazing some way off. Soon after there 
 was a stampede, with some active beast prancing 
 about on their backs, while to judge by the violent 
 cow-kicking that went on, another assailant was at 
 their heels. A family of leopards were driving off 
 the herd, doubtless in the hopes of making a meal off 
 one of the little ones, but I interfered, slew one and 
 the rest decamped. 
 
 TIGERS, GAUR AND LEOPARDS. 1 
 
 In the good old days, before we annexed Upper 
 Burma (which ought to have been in 1852), Tongho, 
 our frontier station, was a quiet place, and officers had 
 no difficulty in obtaining leave ; but since the last 
 war, we have changed all that. The garrison has 
 been reduced, and no one knows what a day may 
 bring forth in the way of requisition for men and 
 officers to chase dacoits and catch only fever ! I had 
 
 1 This happened to a near relative of mine, and is told in his 
 own words. 
 
1 50 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 applied several times for temporary leave, as I was 
 anxious to try some jungles where B. some years before 
 had been very successful. It was no use going south 
 I could no longer get the use of the elephants and 
 since the construction of the railway, big game had 
 gone further inland ; moreover the old shikaries were 
 dead. But near Lepangyoung, after the forest fires and 
 before the monsoon sets in, game can occasionally be 
 seen and got at. A local shikarie of that district, 
 Shoay-Boh, whom I knew and met casually in the 
 market, told me that, owing to the disarmament of 
 the people since the disturbances, no one but himself 
 possessed a gun within twenty miles round Lepang- 
 young, and that game was just then very plentiful, 
 and the jungles in a nice state for stalking or beating. 
 It was early in May. and as the man was returning 
 home next day, I hurried off on the impulse of the 
 moment to my commanding officer, who was also the 
 commandant of the station, to solicit three days' leave 
 from the following Monday. That was on Friday ; I 
 was not on duty on Saturday ; I had not to attend 
 church parade on Sunday ; so I calculated that if I 
 was successful in my application I could " sniggle " 
 those two days as well. After humming and hawing 
 a bit, the leave was granted. I hurried off to a 
 Madras contractor, who had some carts, and now and 
 then let them out on hire, but he charged Es.2 
 a day besides the keep of the cattle, and in case of 
 an accident to either cart or bullock I was to make 
 good the loss. It did not take me long to get my 
 goods and chattels into the cart, and to dispatch it with 
 the servants and orderly to Tseben. with orders to go 
 on at daybreak to Lepangyoung and to put up in 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 151 
 
 a " zyat." near a nullah, about a mile beyond 
 the village. There were rest houses in Lepang- 
 young, but I prefer being a little way out, for in a 
 crowded village one has no peace. The young children, 
 and girls especially, are so fond of staring at one. 
 Telling Shoay-Boh that I had obtained leave and was 
 starting my kit in a bullock- cart, and that if he wished 
 it, he could put his things into it and accompany me, 
 I gave him a few rupees as a douceur, and he went 
 off to collect his traps. When I saw the miscellaneous 
 articles he brought I was appalled. They would require 
 a cart for themselves, but wishing to conciliate the 
 man, I bade my boy hurry off and get another, which he 
 did, and between them all they managed to fill the two 
 pretty completely. I was glad they were to go on ahead, 
 for the effluvia from the gnapee (of which the Burman 
 was taking back a large supply, not only for his own 
 home consumption, but also I suspect for sale) was 
 most sickening. I sent on a syce and an extra pony 
 too, as I intended to ride out very early and get some 
 sport on the Saturday. I had often shot snipe at 
 Tseben, and had once gone to Lepangyoung in the 
 cold season, but had failed to get anything but jungle 
 fowl and a few yit (pheasants). So by 5 A.M. I 
 was up and away. The country is dead flat ; there 
 is no regular road, only native pathways, which 
 formerly had been much cut up by commissariat- 
 elephants and cattle. Eiding fast therefore was out of 
 the question, but these ponies can amble over ground 
 where a less sure-footed animal would come to grief. 
 In two hours I had reached Tseben. The road was 
 fair beyond, and by nine I was at the zyat, where my 
 boy had a cold collation ready for me. Shoay-Boh told 
 
1 5 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 me he had sent on fifteen beaters, all he could get, to 
 some low-lying hills, cut up with innumerable water- 
 courses (just then quite dry), where there were sam- 
 bur, ghee (barking deer), and perhaps a panther or 
 maybe a tiger. Meat was scarce. Shoay-Boh had 
 been absent some days and had been unable to pro- 
 cure venison for sale, so the people had been living 
 on rotten fish and would welcome flesh of any sort. 
 A Burman will eat anything from an elephant to a 
 snail. So it was all fish, like Paddy Myles that, 
 came into his net, so he had on my behalf promised 
 the beaters and villagers that any game I shot would 
 be given to them, if they conducted matters properly, 
 and that in addition I would give each man eight 
 annas, with which he could purchase gnapee, which he, 
 Shoay-Boh, had brought out ! My orderly had gone 
 on with the beaters, taking with him a pet, double- 
 rifle and a 12 smooth-bore. By 10 A.M. I was en route 
 again, and got to the rendezvous by 11 A.M. After 
 reconnoitring the country, and confabs between the 
 shikarie, myself and beaters, it was decided to beat a 
 long ridge, with a nullah running almost parallel 
 along its base. The men took a detour so as to get 
 well to the windward, and were to beat towards me. 
 The grass was only about three feet high, and of a 
 kind which deer dearly love. I took up my position 
 on the bank of the nullah, which was pretty free of 
 jungle, with the exception of one bush, under which 
 I ensconced myself. The bottom of the watercourse 
 was about seven feet below me ; the bank on my 
 side almost perpendicular. I could see fifty yards up 
 it and about thirty yards below. There were only 
 a few bushes and boulders scattered about, which 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 153 
 
 would not greatly interfere with the shooting of any 
 animals presenting themselves. I am very unlucky 
 as a rule in this mode of sport, and am not therefore 
 partial to it ; but the day was too advanced for 
 stalking, so I accepted the position and hoped for the 
 best. The Burmese, when you can induce them to 
 beat for game, if left to themselves, go very quietly 
 to work, use no tom-toms, or other discordant instru- 
 ments which are probably necessary for driving out 
 feline, but do more harm than good when beating 
 for deer or inoffensive game, the deafening noise 
 being heard for miles around, and at the first sound of 
 the drum the game is on the move and is seldom 
 seen. But when armed with split bamboos, and 
 moving along in a row, extending about two yards 
 apart, and giving a tree or a bush a tap now and then, 
 the noise is just sufficient to send a beast on ahead, 
 and does not frighten it out of its seven senses and make 
 it go here, there and everywhere. Along the ridge, 
 where there were a few trees, three men had been 
 placed as stops and the other twelve, few enough in 
 all conscience, forced their way through the grass and 
 jungle. The beat commenced fully half a mile from 
 me, and very soon after pea fowl, jungle fowl and an 
 occasional yit moved along the bed of the nullah. 
 Had I not been looking out for something in the way 
 of deer, I might have made a pretty bag of these 
 beautiful birds, but of course I allowed them to go by 
 " scot free," and they were happily unconscious of the 
 danger they ran. In a quarter of an hour after the 
 beat commenced only feather bipeds were seen, but 
 presently one of the stops indicated that something is 
 coming this way. His tap-tap was succeeded by that 
 
154 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 of the next, then by the last, and I see hurrying to- 
 wards me a brocket ! Meat is badly wanted, and I 
 half make up my mind to kill while I may ; but the 
 first man again taps, and I resolve to wait and see 
 whether something better will not turn up, and allow 
 the deer to pass unhurt. So I bide my time. After 
 the first stop taps, none of the others repeated it, 
 and I feared the quarry, whatever it might be, had 
 escaped. I was just before in a fever heat of excite- 
 ment ; now I was just as depressed. When peering 
 intently into the jungle beyond the nullah not 
 into the watercourse itself seeing nothing in that 
 direction, I turned my eyes up stream and there, 
 standing in the bed of the nullah, was a noble stag 
 a veritable jungle wallah worthy almost of the 
 Neilgherries, and not one of those miserable sapt x 
 which are so numerous in the plains of Burma. He 
 was gazing intently down the nullah, but not at me, 
 and so was more probably listening to the beaters 
 quietly advancing. I covered him dead, and I think 
 I could have killed him as he stood, but curiosity 
 overcame my thirst for blood, and I waited to see 
 what would happen. For fully five minutes he stood 
 still, and then, as the beaters approached nearer, he 
 threw up his head, gave a stamp or two with his feet, 
 and trotted in my direction. 
 
 I then noticed that he was not alone, but had his 
 harem of five hinds with him. As he came abreast 
 of me I bowled him over. The report of the rifle 
 startled the ladies and they rushed here and there 
 utterly at a loss what to do, and doubtless wondering 
 what had killed their lord and master. I had ample 
 1 Burmese for Sambur. 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 155 
 
 time to reload, and firing right and left, I brought 
 down two. I did not think that I should see any- 
 thing more and was about to descend to examine the 
 fallen, when I heard a stop give a vigorous tap- 
 tap. I reloaded and crouched down in my former 
 position, with my heart beating with excitement, but 
 nothing became visible. Again a stop indicated that 
 game was afoot, and now the beaters were fast closing 
 in, anxious to ascertain, no doubt, the results of my 
 shots. As I could see nothing, and the third stop had 
 given no intimation of anything being about, I thought 
 it a false alarm, and was off my guard, and before I 
 well knew what had happened a very large tiger 
 sprang into the nullah almost opposite me, and 
 bounded up the bank, his head and face being about 
 five paces from me, he clinging to the surface above 
 by his fore feet and scrambling up with his hind. I 
 instinctively fired and the tiger fell backward. As I 
 jumped up I just caught sight of a brindled mass dis- 
 appearing, and took a snap shot, which the brute 
 acknowledged by a deep growl, so I knew that if I 
 had missed the first shot, I had hit with the second, 
 but as the right barrel was discharged within ten or 
 twelve feet, I could scarcely credit having missed it, 
 so I instantly followed on its trail. I approached 
 very cautiously the place where " Master Stripes " had 
 disappeared. The bushes were sprinkled plentifully 
 with blood ; so telling my orderly to follow closely 
 with the smooth bore, into which I put a couple of 
 cartridges, loaded with eight buckshot each, I advanced 
 very slowly, as a wounded tiger is not to be played 
 with. I would take a step, then pause to listen for 
 a sound. The jungle was not high, but dense, and 
 
156 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 to move at all I liad to push my way through- 
 ticklish work when you don't know how close such a 
 treacherous animal is in front. But in the excite- 
 ment of the moment, one does not pause to calculate 
 pros and cons., but does all he knows to recover the 
 quarry. None of the Burmese had folio wed me. I soon 
 lost all sounds of their voices or beating, and I went 
 on. Every now and then, as a peacock or jungle 
 fowl would get up with a whirr, my heart would be in 
 my mouth, and the gun at the shoulder, thinking it 
 was the tiger springing upon me. But on I went, 
 following the trail and getting well smeared with the 
 blood, for the bushes on both sides of the trail were 
 covered with it. 
 
 After going along the right bank for about a mile, 
 the feline had descended into the nullah by a sloping 
 pathway, caused doubtless by wild animals going to 
 and fro. Now I was safer, as I could see some little 
 distance ahead and around me. It was past 3 P.M. 
 For over an hour I had tracked the tiger, the blood 
 getting less and less, and the country worse, for the 
 nullah narrowed and was more full of boulders and 
 thick thorny bushes. At last I lost all traces ; and 
 there was not very much daylight left ; but I did not 
 like to desist, as I had seen frothy blood on some bushes 
 but a little way past, which is a sure sign of a shot 
 through the lungs, which in the long run always 
 proves fatal. Up to five I continued my search, and 
 as I only knew the way back to the village from the 
 point I had started from, I had thus to retrace my 
 steps by the way I had advanced. When I returned 
 to the place where the blood trail had ceased, I 
 thought I would make one more effort to find the 
 
Tigers, Ga^lr and Leopards. 157 
 
 dead or wounded, so telling the orderly who by the 
 
 way was of the plucky Mahratta race to go to my 
 
 right, we separated with the hope of finding the lost 
 
 trail and had not done so ten minutes, when the 
 
 sepoy shouted. Hurrying up to him I found him 
 
 standing by the carcase of a tigress, stone dead, lying 
 
 jammed between two rocks. In her final death agony 
 
 she had sprung up and fallen where the carcase was 
 
 discovered. I was delighted, as may well be imagined. 
 
 But there was no time to be lost, for immediately 
 
 the sun would be down, and there is no twilight 
 
 in the East. So with the help of my follower, I 
 
 soon collected a quantity of thorny bushes, grass, 
 
 &c., and covered the prize over for there was just 
 
 the chance of finding the body untouched in the 
 
 morning, as in Burma there are very few jackals, 
 
 and no hyaenas. My return was much quicker than 
 
 my advance had been, so I got back to the path 
 
 leading to Lepangyoung at dark. Everything was 
 
 quiet. There were no signs of the deer I had shot, 
 
 which I presumed had been removed by Shoay-Boh. 
 
 Walking as rapidly as I could, without getting off 
 
 the narrow path, I reached the zyat a little before 
 
 eight, and was delighted to find there not only the 
 
 three sambur, but a royal tiger. Shoay-Boh soon 
 
 appeared, and informed me the feline had fallen 
 
 dead. The express bullet had entered under its jaw 
 
 and gone out at the back of the head. So I actually 
 
 killed on this occasion five animals in as many shots. 
 
 I pitched into the shikarie for not having followed 
 
 me or sent some one after me, but he truly said 
 
 as there was no one present of his party when I 
 
 went off, they did not know which way I had gone, 
 
158 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 nor that I had hit another tiger. Before retiring 
 to rest I had the tiger carefully flayed. It was a 
 large one, measuring nine feet eight inches, and very 
 bulky. My boy had had bamboo pegs prepared, 
 so by 11 P.M. we had the skin well stretched and 
 warm wooden ashes rubbed into the inner surface ; 
 and by midnight I was fast asleep, dreaming of 
 various hunts and narrow escapes, when I was 
 rudely startled with the cry of, " Coffee, sar." I 
 was soon up, and after a bath I dressed quickly, and 
 collecting about a dozen men, hurried oft* to fetch 
 the tigress. Although it was our day of rest, I took 
 my shot gun with me. The jungle fowl were pretty 
 abundant, but most difficult to put up, but a village 
 dog assisted me greatly, but woe betide the bird if 
 he got at it before one of us could pick it up, for 
 the brute would devour it in a moment. However, I 
 got seven jungle fowl and one " Yit " before reaching 
 the dead tigress, which we found untouched, and 
 with her returned in triumph. 1 did nothing more 
 that day than superintend the pegging-out of the 
 skin and the preparation of the two skulls. The last 
 is a very simple matter. I put the heads into a 
 large earthenware pot, and boil them until the flesh 
 peels off; they are then sweet and clean and as 
 white as driven snow. Then I tie them round with 
 twine, sew them up in bags, when they are ready 
 to be sent home to be set up. 
 
 During the day I had a long confab with Shoay- 
 Boh, and it was decided that he and I should start 
 for some salt-licks, in a north-easterly direction, 
 two or three hours before daybreak, so as to get 
 there before sunrise. He said that there were 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leoparas. 159 
 
 " pyoung " T about and that one was a monster 
 leading a solitary life. About 3 A.M. we got 
 away and walked steadily for three hours, as the 
 greater part of the route lay through forests con- 
 sisting of teak, sal, and other trees and bamboos, 
 so there was not much undergrowth. We reached 
 the neighbourhood of our destination soon after 
 daybreak, and I closely followed the guide, stepping 
 into his footmarks so as to make as little noise as 
 possible, for though the solitaire might be fear- 
 less, he might be from home, and all game are ever 
 on the qui vive, and disappear at the slightest 
 noise. As objects became more visible, we saw the 
 slots of gaur and sambur all goinof in one direction 
 that of the licks ; but as it was down wind it was no 
 use following their trail, so we hurried on, making a 
 long detour so as to approach them from the opposite 
 side. It was fully 7 A.M. before we ventured to 
 make for the depression where the white earth im- 
 pregnated with sodium is found. The ground became 
 uneven, the jungle more dense, and we moved along 
 with greater caution. In front there was a heavy 
 fringe of bamboo, extending to a considerable distance 
 north and south. We approached it from the east, 
 so as to have the wind in our faces. The belt was 
 nearly half a mile broad, and in one part the bamboos 
 had flowered but were dead, yet the remainder were 
 most luxuriant and on the point of blossoming, but 
 would also pass away before six months were over, for 
 all bamboos die after flowering. But it is not often one 
 sees this plant in the latter stage. I have only seen it 
 in flower three or four times during nearly forty years' 
 
 1 Gaur. 
 
160 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 wanderings. When seeding, the bamboo is lovely ; 
 the flowers hang down in clusters, and in times of 
 scarcity the poor people, if they can only find the 
 bamboo in seed, collect it and use it in lieu of rice, 
 and I am told it is almost as nutritious. The grain 
 that falls germinates, and the bamboo forest that 
 succeeds the defunct one is ten times as dense and 
 extensive as the one which existed before. When 
 the bamboos die, the canes fall, get interlaced, and 
 render the forest inpenetrable, which is perhaps a 
 provision of Nature to allow the fallen seed to 
 spring up in safety untrodden and undevoured, for 
 all ruminants graze on it if they can obtain it in its 
 immature state. The outlying ones suffer greatly on 
 this account, although a few survive, but the main 
 crop, protected by their dead ancestors, live, and in a 
 couple of years the fallen ones have rotted away and 
 the new, now graceful successors, take their place. I 
 know of no sight more lovely than a forest of young 
 bamboos, of which there are many varieties all 
 equally beautiful. 
 
 Owing to the dead forest, we did not hit off the 
 best of the licks, although there was a path to them, 
 for it was still dark, so we had to get to the nullah 
 by circuitous routes, and did not reach it till nine. 
 By this time it was getting unpleasantly hot, and 
 the game would be retiring to its strongholds in im- 
 penetrable jungles, so we went steadily along the 
 best way we could. We disturbed a doe sambur or 
 two, who with a bell, would rush away, but as I had 
 plenty of meat in camp I would not fire at them. 
 However, no pyoung (gaur) were visible. Marks 
 there were in plenty, but the beasts themselves were 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 161 
 
 in hiding, or we were too late on the scene. I told 
 the shikarie I did not want an ordinary gaur, but 
 the monster. He said the leviathan was usually about 
 here, and that although he kept to himself, he was as 
 fond of a salt lick as his brothers, sisters, cousins and 
 aunts. At midday we halted in a comfortable shady 
 place on the sloping bank of a stream and partook of 
 our breakfast, with a drop of the " craythur." Know- 
 ing it is no use looking for game in the heat of the day, 
 I took a nap. When I awoke, Shoay-Boh was no more 
 to be seen, and as I should be lost in these solitudes 
 if I ventured to roam about alone, I waited where I 
 was, reading an old newspaper. It was past four, 
 and I was beginning to think something must have 
 happened to the shikarie, when he returned and 
 beckoned to me to follow him. Without a word, off I 
 went, armed with my pet '577, loaded with 6|- drachms 
 of powder and a solid conical in each barrel. After 
 going a mile we crossed over the nullah and made for 
 some hilly-looking ground, where, were it not for the 
 wild beast paths, we could not have progressed at 
 all, for the jungle was so dense and so matted with 
 vines and creepers ; but in about half an hour we 
 got into more open country with bamboo-like grass 
 growing on the sides of the hills. As we walked 
 along Shoay-Boh told me that, finding I was asleep, 
 he had searched about for the slots of the big bull, 
 had found them, and followed him to a knoll not far 
 distant. He had not actually seen the monster, but 
 had heard either its breathing or snoring. The 
 brute's retreat was in such a dense thicket that to get 
 a shot at it it was necessary to climb a tree, and my 
 guide had prepared a bamboo ladder for the purpose. 
 
 M 
 
1 62 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Shoay-Boli quickly climbed up first, but gave a 
 despondent look down, for the bull had gone. That 
 was a disappointment indeed, yet he could not have 
 gone far. After a brief search we got on his tracks, 
 and they led fortunately in the direction of Lepang- 
 young. There was but little wind and that was in 
 our favour. We pursued quickly, for we had not 
 much time to waste, and on turning an abrupt corner 
 where there was luckily a banyan tree, with numerous 
 pendant roots, the bull charged us so suddenly that I 
 had not time to raise the rifle to my shoulder, and as 
 the shikarie sprang on one side I fired both barrels 
 from the hip and then jumped amongst the roots. 
 The bull went but a few yards, then Shoay-Boli fired 
 at him with both barrels of my gun, but the monster 
 never swerved. I had by this time reloaded and gave 
 him both barrels at a distance of less than ten feet. 
 He could not squeeze his body between the roots to 
 get at me, so before he had either advanced or re- 
 treated a yard I had reloaded and fired two more 
 shots. My foe then retired very groggily into the 
 jungle. He was certainly a monster. A bull of his 
 age in India would have had the tips of the horns 
 worn away, but his were perfect, though he had seen 
 probably nearer thirty years of age than twenty, and 
 such trophies are rare and therefore to be desired, so 
 we took up the trail the Burman most unwillingly 
 for which I do not blame him. Before we had gone 
 half a mile, the bull had turned, and was going away 
 from, instead of towards, our camp, so as there was 
 barely an hour of daylight left we postponed further 
 pursuit until the morrow. We had a dreadful trudge 
 home, and it was fully nine before we got to the 
 
Tigers, Gaur and Leopards. 163 
 
 zyat, still four o'clock next morning saw me leaving 
 my tent for another hard day's work, this time 
 buoyed up by the hopes of getting the prize. We 
 took a short cut, so reached the spot where we had 
 parted with our quarry last night soon after daybreak, 
 and we had not advanced a mile, when we heard 
 growling and snarling, so guessed that the gaur was 
 the bone of contention between two felines. Where 
 this scene was being enacted we crept up inch by 
 inch on all fours. Coming out of daylight into the 
 obscurity of this dense thicket, it was some time 
 before we could distinguish objects around us ; at 
 last on my left front I saw an immense dark mass, 
 with two leopards snarling at one another, ready to 
 do battle for the carcase, although the flesh before 
 them would have sufficed to feed a dozen of their race 
 for a week ! Kaising my body, till I was on my 
 knees, I took a shot at the nearest, but just as I fired, 
 he sprang forward and I in consequence made a clean 
 miss, but as the two closed I fired again and I 
 believe the solid conical passed through both, for 
 they separated at once and went off. The gaur was 
 stone dead, and I tried to follow the leopards, but 
 there was very little blood and as they had gone 
 in opposite directions, I left them for the time being, 
 intending to look them up later on. The shikarie 
 went for men to cut off the head of the gaur, and to 
 bring home the meat which to them would be a 
 godsend. The giant bull was fully twenty-one hands 
 high, and the greatest breadth of his horns from bend 
 to bend was fifty-seven and a half inches. At 2 P.M., 
 Shoay-Boh, with some twenty followers, turned up, 
 and, to my great disgust, with them a mounted 
 
 M 2 
 
164 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 orderly bearing an official letter from the station staff 
 officer, saying I must return at once, to take command 
 of a detachment starting next morning for Karennee, 
 some troubles having been reported from that quarter. 
 My boy had been told the news, so had sent on 
 one pony to Tseben and the other for me to ride. 
 Of course I abused my luck, and anathematised the 
 Karens and the civil authorities generally, who more 
 frequently than not made mountains out of mole- 
 hills, and find mares' nests where none exist ; still, 
 there was no help for it, and go I must, so telling 
 Shoay-Boh to try and retrieve the leopards and to 
 send the gaur's head to Tongho, I went across country 
 under the guidance of a Burman, reaching Tseben, at 
 2 P.M. and Tongho that evening. On my return, after 
 six weeks' wandering in Karennee (the whole report of 
 an outbreak was false), Shoay-Boh told me he had come 
 across part of the skeleton of a leopard, not very far 
 from where I had seen the two, but whether it was 
 the remains of one of those I fired at or not, I 
 could not say. My luck on that trip was certainly 
 nnexceptionally great. 
 
 AFRICAN WILD CATTLE SHOOTING. 
 
 On arriving at Bonny en route to the Congo, an 
 emergent letter from an officer recruiting Haussas 
 up the Niger was handed to me. It was to the effect 
 that he had not sufficient officers to assist him ; and 
 that unless some more joined him, the whole thing 
 would be a failure, and all the money expended by 
 the Association lost. Now I was far senior to the 
 individual in question, but putting my dignity in my 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 165 
 
 pocket I did about the most unwise act of my life, 
 and wrote to the Committee in Brussels, enclosing a 
 copy of L.'s letter, and also to General G. (then 
 Administrator on the Congo) in similar terms, and as 
 a French vessel was to start the next day, and the 
 captain very kindly offered me a passage, I embarked. 
 The craft was slow, full of cockroaches so full that 
 to go to sleep below was impossible and the so-called 
 pilot, a West Indian nigger, knew nothing of the 
 channels, so we grounded frequently, and instead of 
 being five days at the most to Lakoja, we were nine, 
 and I had the pleasure of seeing the fine passenger 
 vessel of the Niger Company, which started four days 
 after us, and for which I in my eagerness would not 
 wait, pass us. I slept on my trestle cot on deck ; we 
 had constant showers and I was more or less wet the 
 whole way. What I should have done for food even, I 
 do not know, had I not fortunately had some of Barrie's 
 Madras currie-paste with me. This condiment would 
 cause even an old shoe to become somewhat less 
 indigestible than it otherwise would be. They had a 
 few chickens and rice on board, and I soon taught the 
 man who did duty for a cook to prepare me some- 
 thing more palatable than eternal preserved meats, 
 not too fresh of their kind. As we anchored, I saw a 
 launch with the steam up ; I hastened on board to 
 find that she was about to start for Bida in half an 
 hour, so I hurried back, got my impedimenta and three 
 pointers on board, and off we went. The scenery in 
 the Lower Niger is decidedly flat, but as you ascend 
 the banks are clothed with the richest verdure, 
 and splendid vegetation lines the shore. Of animal 
 life you see very little ; egrets and storks are about 
 
1 66 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 all. Habitations are conspicuous by their absence, 
 although occasionally you pass a teh a high plat- 
 form on four uprights, on which a nigger sits fishing. 
 The population were then hostile, and several shots 
 were fired at us from the dense bush as we steamed 
 along. Shortly after, some of H.M.'s gunboats had 
 to go up this river and bombard a couple of the prin- 
 cipal towns. When about three or four hundred miles 
 from the sea, the nature of the country changes and 
 high land becomes discerned. Flat- top hills also abut 
 on the river, go some ten or fifteen miles inland, then 
 take a sweep and return again to the water, some- 
 what in shape like a horseshoe. They are all exactly 
 similar ; the sides are heavily wooded ; the table-land 
 has clumps of trees here and there, with long grass 
 prevailing. These look as if they had been artificially 
 constructed by some one whose idea of a hill had been 
 derived from German toys made for children. They 
 reminded me of the flat-topped hills on the Godavery, 
 but whilst the latter was the resort of many gaur, the 
 former were the habitat of the buffalo of this part 
 of Africa, which differs in shape entirely from its 
 brother further south, but is equally savage and 
 partakes much of the habits of wild cattle. To re- 
 sume my narrative. After steaming an hour up the 
 Niger, leaving the Binnue to our right, we entered a 
 narrow and winding creek, and went up it at a great 
 pace. We saw a few crocodiles. Some were monsters, 
 but the greater part were from twelve feet down to a 
 few inches. I could see no difference between them 
 and the Indian " mugger." We should have arrived at 
 our destination nine miles from Bida the same 
 evening, but did not, so I had to sleep in this vile 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 167 
 
 creek, and be devoured all night by mosquitoes, and, 
 what is far worse, sandflies ; but all things have an 
 end, and we reached our landing place the following 
 midday. The overseer (a West Indian, with rather a 
 pretty wife, more like an Indian than an African) in 
 charge put me up, and sent off a letter for me to the 
 recruiting officer, requesting him to send down a pony 
 and porters. Money is useless in this part of the 
 world ; everything is done by barter, the chief thing 
 in demand being salt. This is sewn up in sacks of 
 100 Ibs., and at times 120 Ibs, and as the men will do 
 nothing, the carriers are women, both young and old. 
 Everything they carry on their heads, and once a load 
 is placed on a female, her head seems to sink between 
 her shoulders, and she has to toil nine or ten miles 
 before she can rest, or be relieved, for as every one is 
 similarly loaded they cannot assist each other, as no 
 single person could lift such a load off and replace it. 
 I did pity the poor creatures, but there was no help 
 for it. 
 
 About ten next day the pony and porters arrived, 
 and I started for the large town of Bida, 1 the residence 
 of the principal chief in that part of Africa south of 
 Sacota ; but as I did not know the way to it I had to 
 go at a walk, as the beast I bestrode wanted to say 
 its prayers every few minutes ; such a broken-down 
 " yahoo " I never saw in all my life. I got to Bida 
 about 2 P.M., and received a friendly reception from 
 L., the recruiting officer; B., his adjutant; K., a 
 Swede ; P., and a medica] officer. 
 
 The houses are circular in shape, with conical, 
 extinguisher-like roofs, and are surrounded by walls 
 
 1 Capital of the Nupe Country. 
 
1 68 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 about four feet high, made of mud, which when 
 dry is as hard as stone. 1 Bida proper is about one- 
 and-a-half miles square, rudely fortified, with but 
 four gateways, one in each face. It is densely popu- 
 lated. A small stream runs through it, the only water 
 the people have for drinking ; yet so filthy are the 
 population in their habits that they use the banks for 
 purposes of nature and lave their persons in it ! It is 
 disgusting to approach the stream ; you have to pick 
 your way to avoid the ordure scattered about, and 
 the stench is dreadful. If a pony, a dog, cat, or 
 other beast die, it is left to rot, and were it not 
 for the vultures, no one could exist in the place, for it 
 is worse than the interior of the Parsee towers near 
 Bombay. 
 
 We had no liquor. Milk we could not obtain, 
 and although about a mile from our dwelling a 
 market was held daily, none of my comrades had 
 visited it, so left the catering to a Lagos nigger, 
 who did not give us the best of fare. I volunteered 
 to take that duty in hand, so I went to the market 
 the next morning. The walk there was enough 
 to give one the cholera, so I could account for 
 the other Europeans not having performed it, for the 
 filth all round was abominable, with crowds washing 
 in the stream, and that the only water in the place. 
 This river wound so about that I had to wade it 
 three or four times before reaching the market. 
 
 The people in this part of Africa have a very large 
 dash of Arab blood in their veins and are strict 
 Mussulmans. I found dozens of zebu cattle for 
 
 1 When a person dies in Bida, he is buried underneath the floor 
 of his house, and the household continue to live in it, all the same. 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 169 
 
 sale the humped oxen of India drawn up in line, 
 and all you had to do was to select one. Your choice 
 being made, it was felled at once and its throat cat, 
 and before life was extinct it was half flayed ! The 
 price was a trifle so many yards of cloth for so much 
 meat ; I forget now how much it was. I chose two 
 fine humps, had them properly taken off, took two 
 tongues, marrow-bones and a fine sirloin a load 
 which the Lagos man objected to carry, so girls were 
 pressed into my service. I also found an abundance 
 of bringals (egg-plant), eggs, fowls, large Muscovy 
 ducks, plantains, ripe and unripe, chilies and other 
 tropical vegetables. As for fruit, there were quantities 
 of mangoes and guavas, and very fine they were of 
 their kind. I went back in triumph, for my friends 
 had been starving almost, subsisting on tinned 
 meats in the midst of plenty. The only drawback 
 was that the weather was too hot for keeping meat, 
 and w T e had no vessels large enough for salting 
 purposes. None of the others had ever tasted a hump, 
 although L. had been in the army, but his experience 
 did not extend to luxurious India. He knew South 
 Africa well, and it was he who first conveyed the 
 news of the disaster at Islandwalla to Lord Chelmsford. 
 I had brought a couple of dozen of Madeira wine with 
 me. This did not last long amongst so many, and 
 when expended we had to fall back upon the not 
 over-wholesome waters of the stream. L. had un- 
 limited command of money, and authority to provide 
 what was requisite for the welfare of the Europeans, 
 but he seemed dazed, and had never been the same 
 man I was told, after the gruesome sight of the 
 Zulu carnage. The recruiting was a farce. Any one 
 
1 70 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 calling himself a Houssa, whether sound, maimed or 
 halt, was enlisted, a "fez" given him, and several 
 yards of cloth ; he was then enrolled and had to report 
 himself once or twice a week. In this way we had 
 several hundred men on our books, but when it came 
 to their being ordered to be in readiness to march, 
 nearly every man Jack bolted. I had ventured to 
 differ from L. in his mode of recruiting (which gave 
 dire offence), but I did not like to say much, as he had 
 never risen to a grade higher than that of a lieutenant, 
 for I had placed myself in a false position. The 
 deadly nature of the country and the exposure I had 
 undergone coming up told on my constitution, which 
 I had thought impervious to malaria, but in a week I 
 was down with the dread African fever, and all my 
 comrades suffered more or less from the same com- 
 plaint. 
 
 I had an interview, first with the Prime Minister 
 (very wily, like our G.O.M.) and afterwards with 
 the chief. Every matter we named was acquiesced 
 in verbally, but never fulfilled. I got permission 
 to go out shooting, and the doctor accompanied me 
 to a place about seventeen miles distant, where we 
 shot a few guinea fowls and partridge, but nothing- 
 larger w T as to be seen. Every village we saw is so 
 built that the outer walls form a defence, as they are 
 subject to constant raids by the heathen populace, as 
 distinguished from the orthodox Mussulmans, who 
 however are not backward in reprisals, so the people, 
 it may be said, live in a perpetual state of feud, 
 anarchy, and war. Cannibals too abound. 
 
 The laws of Bida are very stringent. If a man, 
 woman, or child steals a goat or a sheep, or in fact 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 171 
 
 anything, he, she or the brat is decapitated, the head 
 hung on a pole, and the body and the object stolen 
 placed in a conspicuous part of the market. When 
 more than one execution has taken place, word is sent 
 to the cannibals, and they come in and carry off the 
 dead, to the disgust of the vultures who had assembled 
 on the top of the roofs of the sheds, waiting for the 
 surging mass of people to disappear before pouncing 
 down on the corpses. We heard of these cannibals, 
 and L. asked the Premier to send some for us to see, 
 so one day three were ushered in. They wore a kilt 
 of grass and were armed with spears, and looked a 
 sleek, well-grown race, and far from repulsive. I saw 
 a female afterwards in the market-place, and she was 
 rather comely for an African. Well, our visitors were 
 told to sit down and we discoursed with them by 
 means of an interpreter, but we learnt very little of 
 their modus Vivendi. One of them drew something 
 from his packet and began to nibble it. Our horror 
 may be imagined when we found it to be the charred 
 remains of a human hand ; so they were quickly 
 ejected, but although they pretended, they did not 
 know they had done anything outre, I feel convinced 
 it was an act of bravado. After a six weeks' pros- 
 tration more or less from fever, I was asked to go to 
 Lakoja, to receive recruits there, and out of the 
 hundreds on our books, we by force obtained only 
 twenty-three, for all the others had disappeared, and 
 this was the result of an expenditure computed at 
 10,000 ! We eventually got the twenty-three to the 
 Congo, where meeting others of their race from Lagos 
 and the Gold Coast, they became reconciled to their 
 fate, and did good service. 
 
172 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Lakoja is the most desirable place I know on the 
 Niger. It is situated on the right bank on an eminence, 
 and at the junction of the Binnue with the main river. 
 The best site is occupied by the missionaries of course. 
 Everywhere in heathen lands I have found these men 
 better housed and better cared for than even Govern- 
 ment servants. At the head of the Mission was 
 Archdeacon Johnson, a coloured gentleman, who had 
 not only received a good education in England, but 
 had travelled considerably, and lived in the Holy Land 
 for two years to study Arabic. He was one of 
 nature's gentlemen. Bishop Crowther lived on the 
 opposite bank. He was then old and somewhat infirm, 
 and his sons were as much trouble to him as Lot's 
 daughters had been to that patriarch. There was 
 also a European medical officer attached to the 
 Mission. With these exceptions, the others were full- 
 blooded Africans of a very low type. 
 
 Now the history of this place is peculiar. Very 
 many years ago it had been ceded to Great Britain 
 by the then chief of that part of Africa. We had vice- 
 consuls there, but about the last of them was given 
 to intemperate habits, rode about stark naked on a 
 pony, prodding a man here and a woman there with 
 a spear. Misgoverned as it had been, and misre- 
 presented for some years, it was still deemed British 
 territory, and the King of Bida had never ventured 
 to put a foot thereon, though his armies skirted it 
 every year to carry war into the interior among 
 the heathen. Nearly every man and woman spoke 
 English. They liked us, and w y e got on well with 
 them. The Arab element much predominated, so 
 there was very little of the true African to be seen 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 173 
 
 in either the complexions or features of the residents. 
 The young girls were decidedly well made and comely, 
 and not remarkable for virtue. They had a curious 
 custom. When moving about amongst their own 
 people their bosoms were covered by the dress they 
 wore, something like the " loonghie " of the Burmese, 
 but when calling upon a European, directly they were 
 inside the compound and the gate closed, they would 
 turn down the upper portion of their dress, fasten it 
 round the waist, and leave the full bust exposed ; and 
 most of them were remarkably well made and deve- 
 loped. How unlike is this to their sisters further 
 south, who tie strings round the chest to break the 
 cords of the breasts to cause them to fall, drooping 
 breasts, even in an unmarried girl, being de rigueur, 
 the prevailing fashion. These three-parts Arab girls 
 of Lakoja, glory in busts which in form rival those 
 of the finest Greek statuary. 
 
 In Lakoja there were two famous hunters. One 
 was getting old and had lost the enthusiasm of his 
 youth, but the other, a fine tall man, more like a 
 " Beloochie " than an African (he was in fact three - 
 parts Arab), had been taken to England by Dr. Barth, 
 the great traveller, and there educated, so he under- 
 stood English perfectly. He was a crack shot, and a 
 most courageous man. I fear some two or three 
 years after I left he revolted against the Niger 
 Company, and was the cause I have heard of the 
 deaths of two British officers in their employ ; but 
 when I was on the Niger no man could have been 
 more friendly than he to us. I may be mistaken 
 when I say I think it was he who revolted, as very 
 many Mussulmans bear the same name ; but if he did, 
 
1 74 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 he was just the man to prove himself a formidable 
 opponent, for he had great influence with the people. 
 Both he and the older shikarie declared that the 
 unicorn still existed in Bornu and adjacent states 
 en route to Lake Chad, but they differed as to the 
 name it went by. The younger man said, when he 
 served as a soldier with the forces of the Sultan of 
 Bornu, he had seen one killed, and he called it by a 
 name I have forgotten ; but the elder man said that 
 was the native name of the oryx, and not of the 
 unicorn. Although they differed in particulars, they 
 insisted that such an animal was still to be found. I 
 had many a talk with both men. The elder said it 
 was not the season for hunting, as the grass had not 
 been burnt. The younger agreed with him, but said 
 if I liked to ascend the high hill which dominates 
 and towers above Lakoja, he would show me some 
 antelope and buffalo. I had not shaken off the fever, 
 but as I knew my stay in this part of the world 
 would not be protracted, I fixed an early date for our 
 excursion ; and two days afterwards I got up at 4 A.M. 
 It was a bright, moonlight night, and reaching Bud- 
 drodeen's house at 4.30, we started to climb the hill 
 by a steep, narrow path, by 5 A.M. I was as weak 
 as a half-starved rat, but having once made up my 
 mind I persevered. It took us two hours' real hard 
 work to reach the flat surface at the top, and I had a 
 bad fall on the way, barking the whole of the skin off 
 the knuckles of my right hand, which held a heavy 
 rifle, from a loose stone under foot, at a precipitous 
 bend, giving way, so that in saving my weapon my 
 person suffered. I was dead beat when we got to the 
 end of our climb, but a halt and a drink of water which 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 175 
 
 I carried, somewhat revived me. The surface seemed 
 composed of laterite, and in it were depressions where 
 water had existed, but which were now perfectly dry. 
 In the earth which lay over the laterite, there were 
 numerous marks of buffalo and deer hoofs ; but the 
 animals, owing to the want of water, were not there. 
 Guinea-fowl were in thousands, but there was no 
 getting them, for they flew into trees which grew on 
 a projection, like the berm of a road, about fifty feet 
 below the hill top, which was scarped similar to 
 those on the Godavery. I could have potted many 
 there, but it would have been useless slaughter, for 
 they could not be retrieved, as there was no getting 
 down to where they would have fallen. Once in the 
 trees, these birds showed no signs of fear, and would 
 let me get within easy shot, but on terra Jirma they 
 maintained a distance of fully one hundred yards be- 
 tween us. We walked about the level surface, peering 
 into patches of long grass, but beyond a small ante- 
 lope or two, not worth firing at, we saw nothing. 
 Looking to the west and north-west, the country 
 was lovely ; beautifully wooded and undulating, with 
 a stream meandering through it. Buddrodeen said, 
 " Later on, it would be full of elephants and deer/' 
 and that he had shot many there. Ultimately we 
 made towards the south. There was a sloping 
 shoulder in that direction which led us inland to a 
 very marshy tract, but to get to it we had to cross 
 a river, which I did on my comrade's back. After 
 this escapade, we entered a savannah, and soon hit off 
 the track of a large herd of wild cattle, for they more 
 resembled them than buffaloes. The game had fed as 
 they walked along, leaving a very distinct spoor, and 
 
176 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 had even lain down in pools of muddy water. As we 
 advanced, the country became denser and the foliage 
 thicker, and eventually we traced them into a thorn 
 thicket where one could not see a yard ahead, so we 
 had almost to grope along by touch. We here separated, 
 but kept not far apart, for I took up the trail of one 
 portion of the herd, and he of the other. My com- 
 panion advanced much faster than I did, and in about 
 a quarter of an hour I heard two shots fired, right 
 and left, followed by a crashing through the thicket, 
 and not fifteen paces from me rushed past the whole 
 herd, at least so I thought. A grand old bull, in 
 colour resembling a gaur, brought up the rear. I 
 gave him two shots behind the shoulder, and then 
 hearing Buddrodeen's voice calling, I hurriedly re- 
 loaded, and went in the direction I supposed him to 
 be. I advanced very slowly and soon discovered my 
 guide lying along a bough, and with his hand irri- 
 tating a bull that had treed him. He was as cool as 
 a cucumber, although only just out of reach of the 
 enemy; still, by stooping forward, he could tickle, as 
 it were, the animal's head, when thrown upwards in 
 the vain attempt of getting at him. I had to circle 
 round, as only the hindquarters of the game was 
 towards me, and this was not an easy task, as I had 
 no wish to bring down on me the infuriated animal. 
 So it took me several minutes to get into position for 
 a broadside shot. The shikarie saw me, and irritated 
 the bull more and more, even taking off his turban 
 and flaunting it in his pursuer's face, so as to draw off 
 his attention from my approach. At last I could see 
 the shoulder, but there was no screen near to ward off 
 an attack if the bull charged ; so I pushed on further 
 
African Buffalo Shooting. 177 
 
 till I got behind a good sized tree, and then gave 
 him a shot. It told, but was a little high. In an 
 instant after, the foe wheeled round and went for the 
 smoke. His head could not have been more than 
 a couple of yards off when I gave him another bullet 
 and brought him down on his knees, and before he 
 could recover, I had reloaded ; my attendant had also 
 leaped from his coign of vantage, and was advancing, 
 rifle in hand (he had had to drop it to jump into the 
 tree), but the bull was up in a second, and catching 
 sight of me, rushed for me full pelt, but I stepped 
 behind the tree which he struck with his full force. 
 Simultaneously there was a report, for I fired, almost 
 touching the animal on his shoulder at a point close 
 to the chest. Buddrodeen also shot, his first ball 
 going into my tree unpleasantly close to my head, 
 but the second broke the beast's spine and over rolled 
 our quarry, and was " hal-lal-ed " in a jiffey. My 
 companion now asked me what I had fired at. I 
 told him. " We will follow him up," he said, and off 
 we went for the track. On it there was plenty of 
 blood and froth scattered about. Further search 
 disclosed the body, but close by, sniffing at the 
 blood, was the whole herd. They were not of a 
 uniform colour, like most wild cattle, for there was 
 an albino and a piebald amongst them, both cows. I 
 told Buddrodeen that I coveted their skins. " Very 
 good," said he ; " you take one and I'll take the 
 other." As they were facing us, their noses in the 
 air, snorting and pawing the ground, we expected 
 them upon us any moment, so lost no time in 
 planting steel-tipped conicals in their chests. Mine 
 fell at once : the other attempted to advance, but a 
 
 N 
 
178 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 second shot laid her low. The herd now thought 
 discretion the better part of valour, wheeled round 
 and went through the heavy vines and creepers as if 
 they were so much pack-thread. My Arab friend was 
 for following up the herd, but I had had enough ; so 
 we retraced our way to the steep path by which we 
 had come. The descent was worse, if anything, than 
 the ascent, and when I got back to the bungalow, I 
 could scarcely move from fatigue. Yet my associate 
 was as lively as a cricket. After a cup of coffee he 
 departed to bring in the slain. That was my only 
 hunt there, for I was laid up again with fever and 
 unable to leave my room for many a day. These 
 buffaloes are the Bos Bracliyceros of naturalists, and 
 extend north of " Mossamades " along the Coast, up 
 the Niger and into the interior to the Lake regions. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 HOG-HUNTING, COMMONLY CALLED PIG-STICKING. 
 
 THIS is probably the finest sport the world can 
 afford. It differs from our national amusement, fox- 
 hunting, in many respects. Doubtless both have 
 their advocates. But the generality of fox-hunters 
 have never had a chance of following " the boar, the 
 mighty boar," spear in hand, over such breakneck 
 ground as these porcines generally take across in India. 
 But on the other hand very many " pig-stickers " have 
 hunted at home, and I do not think that any of 
 these would hesitate to pronounce in favour of the 
 Indian sport, to running down a puny fox with some 
 fifteen or twenty couples of hounds, even if the 
 chase should take them over an enclosed country 
 such as is principally met with in English and Irish 
 counties. In India there are very few big jumps ; an 
 occasional nullah has to be negotiated, but oftener 
 than not it is too broad to clear, and the horse has to 
 go in and out, very often a most dangerous proceed- 
 ing, as the drops are deep and the landing is probably 
 on a slate bed. To overtake a boar, even when he 
 has not had a long start, a horse has to be pushed to 
 the utmost. The riding must be reckless and generally 
 
 N 2 
 
1 80 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 over difficult land, ground which in cold blood you 
 would prefer to walk across on your own legs, than trust 
 to your horse's. Again, there is the rivalry for first 
 spear, when a wounded boar becomes a foe worthy of 
 any man. I know no pluckier brute, nor one who dies 
 so game, for he utters no sound of pain and gives up 
 the ghost with his face to his enemy. " A firm hand 
 and eagle eye, must he possess who would aspire to 
 see the wild boar die." 
 
 My first experience of this glorious sport was in 
 this wise. I was en route to Condapilly to relieve an 
 officer of another regiment, who I may say, par 
 parenthese, had one of the prettiest women in India 
 for a wife. Whilst at Rajahmundry, Tom Prendergast 
 asked me to join a pig-sticking party ; my detachment 
 could go on and I overtake it before it could get to 
 its destination. This I gladly accepted. I had a 
 chestnut, christened " the man-eater," and a very high- 
 caste gray Arab, as fleet as the wind, but so excitable 
 that in the hunting-field you could do nothing with 
 him, as he generally threw up his head and ran away. 
 I also possessed a golden bay with black points, a 
 Gulf Arab. How I became the owner of a part of 
 my stud was in this way. Whilst at Secunderabad 
 I received much kindness from officers who had known 
 my grandparents, my father and mother, and myself 
 as a baby. One of them, who commanded a regiment 
 of irregular cavalry, asked me if I'd like a good horse 
 or two, as he was sending down Nightingale to 
 purchase a lot of remounts for the regiment, and that 
 buying such a lot at a time, he got them all round 
 on an average of Es. 400 each. I told him I would 
 like a couple, but that I had only Rs. 500, but would 
 
Hog-hunting. 1 8 1 
 
 borrow the balance from Bunselol, the So wear. 
 " You will do nothing of the kind," replied the old 
 gentleman. " I received much kindness from the 
 general, your grandfather, in the Mahratta war, and 
 when he commanded the Hyderabad contingent, and 
 it would be odd if I could not lend you the money 
 myself, in preference to your having to borrow it 
 from that harpy. When you are rich you can repay it, 
 but if you never do I shall not feel it." In good 
 time two horses were sent to me. One won some 
 petty races, and I sold him for Es. 1,000, repaid my 
 benefactor, and kept the other, which I might have 
 sold over and over again for nearly double what I 
 had paid for him. At the time of the meeting, 
 however, he was lame, for I had, like a fool, chased a 
 wolf on him through prickly jungle, and the con- 
 sequence was that he had to be laid up, and his fet- 
 locks well poulticed. Prendergast always had about a 
 dozen nags, all Cape horses, with the exception of 
 one, an immense English hunter. They were weight- 
 carriers, for their master stood six feet four in his 
 stockings and was an immensely powerful man and 
 one of the best bruisers of his day. 
 
 We met at daylight near two conical hills about 
 eight miles from Eajahmundry. All were the guests 
 of the Collector, and were regaled right royally. I 
 may here say, these two hills, rising abruptly from a 
 plain, went by the name of the " Bubbies." We had 
 several ladies in camp who came to look on, and 
 for whom machans had been built. We had the judge 
 and sub-judge of Rajahmundry, C., W.A., of a 
 firm of bankers in Calcutta, Madras and elsewhere ; 
 a ship captain, T., a most eccentric individual, but 
 
1 82 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 a right good fellow ; C., S., and B., of my own corps, 
 and a few others, about a dozen riders in all. I was 
 stationed with B. in a dry watercourse. The beat 
 had not commenced very long when there was a 
 whoof-whoof, and a boar most unexpectedly broke 
 cover near by. Our horses, unaccustomed to the 
 sport, spun round on their heels. I was on the 
 chestnut, and cramming in the persuaders, I got off on 
 good terms with the hog, a very old fellow with 
 splendid tusks. I could hear the clattering of horses' 
 hoofs after me, so pressed mine to the utmost, thinking 
 to distinguish myself and take first spear, for certainly 
 I had a good chance. My mount though vicious was 
 fast and a good fencer. No one near me and the pig 
 not fifty yards ahead, so I raced along and was 
 rapidly coming to close quarters, when the boar 
 "jinked," and as he did so I endeavoured to spear 
 him over the bridle arm, but the next moment I was 
 floundering over the horse's tail and lit on my head, 
 when I saw more stars than the firmament can show, 
 and this almost opposite the machan on which were 
 stationed several ladies. I was half stunned, and 
 staggered about in attempting to get on my feet and 
 catch my horse. C. passed me and, bidding me pick 
 up the pieces, disappeared. By the time I recovered 
 my nag the boar was dead. C. missed the first 
 spear as the boar turned in the bushes and charged, 
 though still uninjured. The sub-judge then speared 
 him, and C., an old pig-sticker, finished him off. 
 I think he was, if not the biggest, one of the 
 biggest boars I ever saw. His height was thirty- 
 eight inches and his ivories were splendid. We 
 then beat the " Bubbles " and a sounder rushed off. 
 
Hog- hunting. 183 
 
 Prendergast had begged of me not to ride the gray, 
 and I could have had any of his, but I was 
 obstinate. The ground was the very worst of cotton 
 soils, with baubul bushes growing here and there ; 
 the river was about half a mile off. Alone on the 
 right, and seeing the direction the riders were taking, 
 I cut straight across, and got to the bed of the 
 stream, there a mass of sand. The horse being alone 
 did very well, and as the boar was bounding over the 
 " deep going " a few hundred yards away, and I did 
 not care if the horse bolted here or not, for he 
 would soon be brought up, it was such "ploughing" 
 I let him out. C., S., and I were all pretty close, so 
 we rode the hog through the long grass of one 
 lunkah (island) towards another. There was no water, 
 but depressions pointed where the channels had 
 existed. 
 
 The grass on the second island was very high, and 
 in it we lost sight of the boar. Beyond, all was open. 
 He had not gone that way, but he could not be 
 found anywhere. In the meanwhile Prendergast and 
 the others killed three, one proving a barren sow. 
 We had syces following us with extra spears. Sud- 
 denly they separated, yelling out, " Pundaloo ! 
 pundaloo!" (pig! pig')- The boar had doubled back. 
 Being the lightest weight and on the fastest horse, I 
 again led the way ; but the boar had a good start, 
 reached the river-bank, and scrambled up its almost 
 perpendicular side. To follow on horseback was im- 
 possible, so I galloped along looking for an incline less 
 steep, and at last saw a narrow track, made probably 
 by goats. It was steep and the soil very crumbly, 
 but I wanted the spear, so I rammed my horse, now 
 
1 84 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 pretty well blown, at it, and he scrambled up, nearly 
 falling backwards several times. But there is a little 
 angel aloft who looks after Griffs as well as sailors. 
 By constant spurring I at last reached the top, to find 
 C. and S. far ahead, close to the pig, and riding- 
 parallel to the river. The baubul bushes safely past, 
 I was still some distance behind, but the boar doubled 
 back and threw out C. and S., so I cut him off, and 
 was once more not above twenty paces behind the 
 game. All this time we were going full pelt over the 
 most abominable cotton soil, and the pig thinking 
 that he had more than enough of being chased, turned 
 suddenly and came at me, when I disgracefully missed 
 him, and nearly unhorsed myself by driving the blade 
 of my spear into the ground. The boar was now facing 
 away from the east, where he had before been heading. 
 C. and S. were coming up sideways, I was imme- 
 diately behind the beast ; in front there was a belt of 
 jungle. My horse, hearing the others, got, for the 
 first time, out of hand, and was fairly away with me. 
 Thinking it was all plain sailing, I did not mind. The 
 hog took the fringe of bushes at a bound, and my 
 horse flew over them, only to topple down at least 
 fifteen feet. Fortunately just there there was a deep^ 
 pool of water, and into this we plunged. I must have 
 cut a complete somersault, and then parted with my 
 nag. Many parts of this river, especially where there 
 is water, are very treacherous with quicksands, so I 
 swam to the bank, where the soil was firm, in prefer- 
 ence to landing on the lower side. My horse, after 
 lying still a moment, scrambled out ; he was trembling 
 all over, but uninjured. The boar was now nowhere 
 to be seen ; he had certainly not fallen over the bank, 
 
Hog-hunting 185 
 
 so must have doubled, and keeping close under the 
 lee of the bushes, got away, for neither C. nor S. saw 
 him again. " He lived to fight another day." 
 
 It was too hot to go on, so we made for the tents, I 
 leading my horse. S. had got an awful cropper by 
 his horse coming down ; result : the loss of a tooth. 
 During breakfast Prendergast pitched into me for 
 having ridden my gray. " It would make an admir- 
 able charger," he said, " or do for a park hack, but 
 for hunting it was far too excitable, and so dangerous." 
 I may here say I sold him soon afterwards to the 
 adjutant of a regiment of native infantry. In the 
 afternoon P. put me on his English horse. I felt 
 like a fly on an elephant. We saw pig, but I was no- 
 where. I did not admire this immense steed. That 
 evening, after a good dinner, we all retired early to 
 rest, and were awakened at 4.30 A.M. This time we 
 went up the river several miles, and beat the different 
 small islands. I was on my chestnut. Eiding along 
 quickly through a piece of long grass, just ahead of 
 me I saw a three-parts-grown boar, listening intently 
 to the noise made by the beaters. He had either not 
 heard me, or if he had, he did not seem to care, 
 sp, driving in the spurs, I was instantly almost on the 
 top of him. This time I held the spear straight, and 
 drew not only first blood, but killed, before any of 
 the others came up. That day four boars were killed, 
 and I fleshed my spear in one, and repelled two 
 charges creditably ; so at least Prendergast said. 
 Thus I was at last fairly entered to this glorious sport. 
 
 The next day we beat a further and isolated hill. 
 I was riding a boar as fast as my horse could lay feet 
 to the ground, when down he went on his head, and 
 
1 86 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 sent me spinning along the hard but crumbly soil, on 
 which I lay stunned. The horse scampered off across 
 country and was not recovered for three days, with 
 my saddle and bridle (which were nearly new) ruined. 
 W. A. picked me up, put me under a bush, and went 
 on. I came to in good time, and got back to the 
 tents, and a pretty object I was. The right side of 
 my face was peeled as if it had been flayed, the skin 
 of my eyelids even was gone ; my eyes were bunged 
 up, my nose swollen to double its size. The sores 
 thus caused were full of gritty earth. I did what I 
 could to wash my injuries clean, and Prendergast 
 tied a cloth soaked in salad oil over all. But, alas ! I 
 had to ride on the next day to overtake my detach- 
 ment, the Collector kindly posting horses for me as 
 far as Ellore ; but by the time I got to Condapilly 
 proud flesh had formed, and I was the most disgusting- 
 looking object possible to contemplate. How ashamed 
 I was to meet D. and his wife in such a state I need 
 not say, but there was no help for it. So much for 
 my first essay in hog- sticking. 
 
 While at Condapilly, the Nugied Eajah sent word 
 to me that he was going to have a beat, and would be 
 glad if I would join him. I had visited him before, 
 and knew the country, so sent on two horses for I had 
 bought another by this time from G., the civilian, a 
 splendid Arab and a well-known pig- sticker, in place 
 of the one I had sold. Four or five other Europeans 
 were to be present, but when I got there they had not 
 arrived. So the Kajah proposed to beat an outlying 
 hill. My host was going to shoot pig, and in ridable 
 ground ! Awful ! I begged him not to, but he 
 under various pretences preferred the gun to the 
 
Hog-hunting. 187 
 
 spear, yet I stuck to the last-named weapon. In the 
 first beat several boars broke. I took after one, but 
 a huge mongrel dog greatly impeded the hog's move- 
 ments by snapping at his tail, so I soon overtook the 
 boar, and now that I had learned the knack, which is 
 not to thrust, but to allow the impetus of your horse 
 to drive in your spear, I soon drew blood, passed on, 
 and turned. The boar was quite ready to meet me 
 half way, and charged. I was on my best horse, the 
 last purchase. He quickened his stride, and the spear 
 enteredatthe game's chest and the point protruded near 
 the tail. The beast was completely spitted, and as I 
 could not draw the weapon, let it go, yet the pig all 
 but cut my horse. The next moment the game brute 
 ran forward a few yards, then fell heavily forward, 
 breaking my fine spear-shaf fc in two. 
 
 In the evening the Eajah had a nautch for my 
 especial benefit, but I found out that the troupe con- 
 sisted, not of girls, but of BOYS ! I did not consider 
 it much of a compliment, for there was no lack of 
 damsels in the country. The next day K., W., and 
 S., of the Engineers, turned up. I persuaded S. 
 to ride, and mounted him on my second best nag, 
 but the others would shoot, not spear. The pig were 
 unusually plentiful. I do not know that I have ever 
 seen them so numerous elsewhere, except, perhaps in 
 the churs of the Brahmapootra. When the first 
 sounder broke, a volley greeted us, and numerous 
 bullets whistled past our ears ! The hogs took across 
 an enclosed country very unusual for India we 
 after them. The fences were stiff, but our horses 
 cleared them in fine style, and that one chase, as far 
 as jumping went, was as good as a hunt in England. 
 
1 88 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Unfortunately, as I singled out the boar of the sounder, 
 and S. took after another, there was no rivalry and 
 no fight for first spear, but both killed after sharp 
 encounters. We then shifted to another patch of 
 long grass. This was full of hogs, yet they would not 
 break, but by driving them in the contrary direction, 
 we got a few to face the open. I had the legs of S., 
 but he took a spear from me cleverly, by waiting by 
 my quarter, and on a pig "jinking," he drove in his 
 persuaders and met him with a thrust through the 
 shoulder. I had four hard runs that day. 
 
 In the evening the Rajah invited us to go to 
 another nautch. Not if we knew it unless the 
 performers were of the right sex, and of that we 
 wanted ocular demonstration. So six of the 
 youngest and best-looking girls were sent over for 
 our inspection. I recognised three at once as old 
 acquaintances from Condapilly ; the others were 
 known to be residents of Bezwada. Having given 
 each of them a douceur, we attended the nautch ; but 
 a native dance is very stupid, for it is the same thing 
 over and over again, so is monotonous to a degree, 
 and were it not that the so-called dancers (a better 
 term would be extortionists) are generally good-looking 
 and remarkably well made, I don't think many men 
 would care to see the performance more than once. 
 When these girls are ornamented and dressed up to 
 within an inch of their lives, they look well, but the 
 songs they chant are shrill and ear-splitting. Of course 
 they pretend to be very modest, almost as much so as 
 Clementina Clemens, the Yankee girl, who would not 
 walk in the garden because potatoes had eyes, and she 
 did not wear drawers ! 
 
Hog- hunting. 189 
 
 On one occasion, I was riding across the Kistnah, 
 before the anicut or dam had been constructed. It was 
 just dawn. I saw an old boar feeding, and laid into him. 
 I got out of the river bed, for there quicksands were 
 more plentiful than firm ground. When on the bank 
 I saw that I had not more than a clear mile before 
 me, so if I wished to possess myself of the ivories, I 
 must go the pace. My horse went like the wind, for 
 he delighted in a hunt, but fast as we went, the boar 
 went as fast ; thus, unless I brought him to bay within 
 the next few hundred yards or so, he would be 
 lost. A boar appears to be proud of his " credentials," 
 and carries them in a prominent position in the rear, 
 so a prick there generally suffices to put his dander 
 up, and then he thinks more of fighting than of 
 running aw r ay. My horse seemed to realise the 
 position as well as I did, for I never knew him to go so 
 fast. The jungle was not more than a hundred yards off. 
 Piggy grunted and tossed his tail about, thinking no 
 doubt he would be safe in a few moments ; but my 
 mount bounded forward, I held the spear by the 
 very end of the shaft, and stooping well forward, 
 almost lying on my horse's neck, I managed to prick 
 him in the part I have indicated. Although he was 
 then within ten yards of shelter, he spun round, and 
 I had great difficulty in avoiding a collision, but my 
 horse jumped clean over him and from being the 
 chaser I became the chased. I led the angry beast on, 
 for the further we got away from the jungle the 
 worse it would be for him. He chased me more than 
 150 yards and then, pretty well blown, he pulled up, 
 champing his tusks, and looking a very demon. I 
 galloped round and got between him and his refuge, 
 
1 90 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 he eying me all the time, but only turned round OD 
 a pivot, so as ever to present his front. When I had 
 a clear thirty yards run, I gave the horse the 
 reins he required no spurs and as I charged, the 
 .boar, with every bristle in his mane on end and with 
 many a savage grunt, came at me with a series of 
 ludicrous bounds. I could scarcely help laughing, but 
 as I had no second spear, my syce being nowhere in 
 sight, I had to be cautious, so aimed at the point of 
 the shoulder. The weapon went in and through him, 
 coming out a good foot on the right side. I was 
 forced to let the spear go ; the plucky brute missing a 
 savage prod he made at my horse, and then for the 
 second time chased me, trussed like a fowl ! I just 
 then caught sight of my horsekeeper, and galloped off 
 to him. The boar had stopped his pursuit and was 
 attempting to draw the spear with his teeth. While 
 so engaged I got hold of the spare weapon and 
 renewed the fight. It was not easy to close, for the 
 shaft that transfixed him swayed to and fro, one end 
 being leaded and the other as sharp as a razor. But 
 the difficulty was further increased as the boar was 
 still full of fight, and invariably rushed to meet me. 
 For some time I could do little more than prod him, 
 but not liking so one-sided a game, the foe managed to 
 rush in. My mount rose to spring over him, the hori- 
 zontal spear-shaft caught him in the fore feet, and he 
 went an awful cropper. I fell clear but still held on to 
 my new weapon. The horse I was afraid was injured 
 as he did not rise at once. I was considerably shaken, 
 still quite calm, so seeing the boar bearing down on 
 my prostrate nag I interposed, and received him on 
 the point. Exhausted as was the hog, he drove me 
 
Hog- hunting. 1 9 1 
 
 back several paces, but I quickly withdrew the blade 
 and stabbed him several times. Although all but liors 
 de combat, the plucky brute made a feint at me, then 
 sprang aside, and went for the horse's quarter. I 
 gave him a good dig in the ribs as he did so, but he 
 just managed to reach my noble quadruped and to 
 inflict, I am thankful to say, but a superficial cut, the 
 marks of which, however, he bore to his dying day. 
 This rough treatment invigorated the horse, who at 
 once sprang up and saluted the boar with both heels, 
 sending the foe a perfect somersault. In a moment 
 after I was on to him, and drove my blade from the 
 back of the head into the spine, and then the grizzly 
 boar laid down his life. 
 
 Get only the best blades for spears. There was no 
 one formerly who could compete with Arnachillum of 
 Salem in their manufacture, but he is dead and his 
 sons do not carry on his business, preferring to fight 
 for (and will eventually lose in law expenses) the 
 wealth the old man had amassed. I was assured that 
 in the workshop at Dawlaishwarum, the Government 
 armourers could turn out weapons equal to, if not 
 superior, to the Salem ones. I had half-a-dozen made 
 for me. The first hog I speared with one of them, 
 fortunately broke the beast's back. Withdrawing the 
 weapon, I endeavoured in vain to drive it in again. 
 No wonder that it would not penetrate the point had 
 curled up ! So C. of my regiment had to come to 
 the rescue and kill the boar for me. 
 
 Leaving Condapilly at five in the evening, I arrived 
 at Masulipatam by seven next morning. I put up 
 with a friend who was to be one of our party, and 
 became an honorary member of his mess, so enjoyed 
 
192 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 immensely my two days' stay in Bunda, for I had 
 been on solitary outpost work for more than six 
 months, during which I had not seen a European to 
 speak to. Tents and camp equipage were sent on 
 before us, and we followed a couple of days later. 
 Our party consisted of eight. I shall call them A., 
 B., C., D., E., F., G., and H. To reach our destina- 
 tion we had to ride out about eight or nine miles, 
 then to cross over a tidal stream by means of ferry- 
 boats, thence by a fair unmetalled road to Umsul- 
 davy. Our tents were pitched in a grove of mango 
 trees, and as soon as our ablutions were completed 
 we were told that dinner was ready. After that meal 
 succeeded grog, and a few songs and anecdotes of 
 sport. Our captain, D., then tells off the various 
 riders, and what time we are to mount our nags, to 
 the call of " boot and saddle," after which we retire 
 to our tents, two of us being in each. Soon all are 
 asleep, and unconscious until we are awakened, after, as 
 it appears to us, but a very brief repose, by the repeated 
 cries of our dressing boy " Sar, sar, tea is ready." 
 To " shake off dull sloth and early rise " is no hard- 
 ship to old Indians. We take our cup of tea, choco- 
 late, or cocoa, as it pleases us, pour some half a dozen 
 chatties (pots) of cold water over our heads, and feel 
 like giants refreshed, then don our hunting costume, 
 none of the best or newest, as it has seen much 
 service and meet at the mess tent. No time is lost ; 
 the syces (grooms) are waiting with our horses and 
 various spears, principally made by that prince 
 of cutlers, old Arnachillum of Salem. Girths are 
 tightened, spurs adjusted, and we mount, speculating 
 on the sport we shall come across during the day. 
 
Hog- hunting. 193 
 
 Our captain, D., leads the way ; with him are E., F., 
 Gr. ; they are to precede us by half an hour and to 
 endeavour to cut off " sounders" of pigs returning to 
 their day retreat, from their feeding grounds on the 
 sea-shore, which are either in the wild indigo or in 
 long grass, to be found in the deserted beds of dry, 
 unused tanks. We, on the other hand, are to try and 
 cut off such swine as have been inland after grain, 
 and would return for their siesta to divers swamps 
 in the vicinity. Our party is unlucky, we see 
 nothing ; but D. and his comrades come across a 
 sounder, lay on, although it is still so dark that hard 
 riding is dangerous, and after a short spurt two boars 
 are numbered amidst the slain. They remain about a 
 mile to our left, we near the bund of a tank, into 
 which we send some fifty coolies to beat or drive out 
 the game. Our porcine friends have not settled down 
 in their miry beds, so at the first sound of torn toms, 
 cholera horns, and other discordant noises, six or 
 seven pigs break, and we are saluted with a cry 
 of " Pundaloo ! " (pigs), and see some dark objects 
 scampering over the plain. 
 
 I had made the great mistake of keeping my best 
 horse rather too fresh, and although he bounded off 
 with the lead and maintained it easily until I had 
 separated the boar from the sounder, his eagerness 
 was such that he kept over-shooting the mark as the 
 hog "jinked" either to the right or left. This 
 enabled C., who was mounted on a strong, steady, 
 but somewhat slow Cape horse, to keep up with me. 
 A. and B. left us after the rest of the sounder. Had 
 the boar gone straight away I would have killed him 
 long before C. could have got near me ; but the un- 
 
 o 
 
194 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 clean animal, finding my Arab too fast for him, ran 
 in circles, and this enabled C. to cut off corners. For 
 a good quarter of an hour both were pressing for 
 the first spear, neither having any advantage. We 
 were riding in grass about three feet high, with 
 clumps somewhat higher here and there ; in one of 
 these I lost sight of the boar. " Where has he gone 
 to ? " I cried, as, twisting at the bridle with both hands, 
 I brought my horse round. C. did not say a word 
 until he was some lengths ahead, when, exclaiming 
 " Here he is," prodded downwards. I was alongside 
 in a moment and thrust my spear well into the boar's 
 back, who was playing 'possum in the long grass. This 
 started the beast, with me after him. My comrade, 
 owing to a gun accident many years before, had lost a 
 couple of fingers off his right hand, and could not 
 grasp the spear firmly ; thus it slipped out of his 
 hand and he had to dismount to recover it ; so I was 
 alone. The boar did not run far, but spun round 
 suddenly and charged direct, gnashing his teeth and 
 uttering a short "whoof, whoof;" he was a large 
 animal, and, with every bristle on end, looked a 
 monster; "his dander was riz." I kept the spear 
 steadily pointed at the boar's chest, and we met with 
 such force that I was carried from my seat on to the 
 croup of the horse, and should have been "spilt " had 
 not the tough bamboo shaft splintered into pieces. 
 At length I seized the tree of the saddle, and as the 
 horse pulled up of his own accord I scrambled back 
 into the pigskin. The boar, after running forward a 
 few yards, fell heavily forward dead, for my weapon 
 had passed through his heart. Dismounting, I admired 
 his proportions, and as he had but two wounds, both 
 
Hog-hunting. 195 
 
 inflicted by myself, lie was mine. My companion, in 
 his anxiety to get the first spear, had missed, and 
 driven his blade well into the ground, where he found 
 it. A syce running up with fresh spears, I was soon 
 astride again, and had ridden but a few yards when 
 another boar got up. I went for him, but a nasty 
 marsh was close at hand, and in a few seconds I was 
 floundering in the mire and had to give up the chase, 
 whilst the boar, with a series of bounds, got through 
 the difficulty and escaped. Rej oining C. , we rode back 
 and found that A. and B. were still following their 
 game, which, though severely wounded, doubled back 
 and received a spear from us both ; but these we could 
 not withdraw, so waited for fresh ones. A. and B. 
 then delivered theirs, and they, too, remained in the 
 boar ! What a plucky brute a wild pig is, to be sure. 
 Here was this poor animal charging us all round, look- 
 ing like a monstrous porcupine, with the four spears 
 standing upright in his body ! Soon we were armed 
 again, but to get within spearing distance was the 
 difficulty, for with every bound our foe gave and he 
 was not indolent the shafts spun about like the arms 
 of a windmill, and, as they were heavily leaded they 
 could inflict severe blows, so we were some time 
 dodging him and them. But at last spear after spear 
 was driven home, and our gallant antagonist gave up 
 the ghost without once uttering either a groan or a 
 cry of pain. Thus dies the wild boar ever silent to 
 the bitter end, and almost invariably with his face to 
 the foe. 
 
 D., K, F., and G. now rode up. They had killed 
 four boars, and, as our horses were blown, we rode 
 quietly to a tope about a mile off, where our breakfast 
 
 o 2 
 
196 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 was laid out. Every requisite that could be desired 
 we had. Tables and chairs were placed under the 
 shade of some mango trees, on which the fruit was 
 already ripening ; to their branches were suspended 
 many bottles enveloped in thick jackets, which were 
 kept constantly wet to cool their welcome contents, 
 consisting of beer, claret, sauterne, and hock. On 
 the table were all the delicacies of the season, whilst, 
 from the extemporised cooking-places, odours of 
 various stews, curries, and other compounds, which 
 only the natives of India, and especially Madrassies, 
 know how to concoct, gratefully assailed our nostrils. 
 A little distance off were ranged numerous chatties, 
 or earthenware pots, full of cool water, and soon we 
 were stripped and pouring their contents over our 
 heads. Our ablutions being over, and the head 
 servant reporting " Hazarie tyar hie " (Breakfast is 
 ready), we fell to, with the proverbial hunter's 
 appetite, and whilst satisfying the wants of nature, 
 fought our battles over again. Our meal finished, 
 we indulged in the fragrant weed, and while some 
 read, others lolled on the soft turf under the grateful 
 shade and courted Somnus ; for we knew that the 
 porcine tribe object to taking to the open during the 
 heat of the day, but prefer either the thick cover, or 
 the mudpools in which they delight to wallow. As 
 my comrades are taking their siesta I will describe 
 briefly the plains of Umsuldavy. 
 
 To the east is the sea, the lighthouse at False 
 Point Davey being about three or four miles off; to 
 the west, a vast plain, covered either by wild indigo, 
 longish grass, or bare paddy fields, which, in a few 
 months after the setting in of the monsoon, will be 
 
Hog- h M ntmg. 197 
 
 ploughed up and yield a golden harvest. At present 
 these are as hard as brick-bats, and are divided into 
 various sized squares by tiny dams, which retain the 
 water during the time of cultivation. To the north 
 and south the country is much the same, except that 
 topes of trees occur, with more or less of under- 
 growth, in which occasionally a sounder of pigs is 
 found. The country, although flat, is not easy to 
 ride over, for it is intersected by arms of the sea, 
 which are either full or empty according to the state 
 of the tides. Many of these are too wide to jump, 
 and impossible to scramble through, owing to the 
 ooze in their bottoms. Thus wherever practicable, 
 turf bridges or dams are built across them as a 
 temporary measure, for these will be swept away 
 by the first heavy flood. White flags denoted the 
 sites of these most necessary "rights of way." The 
 pigs cared nothing for the armlets of the sea, as they 
 can wade, half swimming, through liquid mud, in 
 which a heavier body would sink out of sight. But 
 there are other creeks always full of water, too broad 
 to bridge, and if once a pig plunges into one 
 of them, he is safe for that day, as there is no 
 following him. The indigo, too, is high and matted, 
 and very apt to bring a horse down. There are also 
 marshes, almost quagmires, through which no horse 
 can go. So, though to the eye the vast maidan 
 looks easy to gallop over, all is not plain sailing, as 
 I have shown above ; but it is easy compared to 
 ground in Central India, where the abominable cot- 
 ton soil is so prevalent. This is a kind of friable 
 black earth, with innumerable deep cracks covering its 
 surface, over which the hog-hunter has to gallop at full 
 
j 98 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 speed. Frightful accidents are therefore frequently 
 met with. Even the best fox-hunters, fresh from 
 home, are at first incredulous that any horse can 
 traverse such land ; but use is second nature, and 
 after a while a man will go over it as fast as his 
 gallant mount can lay legs to the ground. Let a 
 dozen men start together, say, on the best Arabs, 
 which are the surest-footed of all the nags I know, 
 and ride hard for first spear, at least one-third will 
 come to grief before they have gone a mile. There 
 is seldom jumping, as at home, but many of our 
 blind nullahs are not to be despised, and require a 
 hunter which can clear from fifteen to eighteen feet. 
 For pig-sticking your mount should be not only 
 speedy but tractable ; the former without the latter 
 is entirely unsuited. A hog will turn or double 
 like a hare, so a headstrong animal is useless after 
 them. At times cactus hedges and scind-bunds 
 (date palms planted closely together) are met with, 
 and have to be cleared. Then you require a clean 
 jumper. Take it all in all, and I have tried every 
 kind of sport in the world, nothing approaches this 
 princely pleasure, for in it there is good fellowship, 
 emulation for first spear, a dangerous foe to contend 
 with, and, every variety of ground to ride over, and 
 as the old song before alluded to says : 
 
 Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire, 
 
 A firm hand and eagle eye, doth he require 
 
 Who would aspire to see the wild boar die. 
 
 But to return to our fascinating subject. About 
 3 P.M., the bugle sounds, and every man rouses him- 
 self. Horses are saddled, girths tightened, spears 
 
Hog- hunting. 199 
 
 seen to, and we are soon away in search of our game. 
 This time we go towards the lighthouse and separate 
 into four parties, A. and I together, E. with B., C. 
 with F., and D. with G. Our syces follow with 
 extra spears. I was on my country-bred, and A. on 
 a clever Mahratta pony. The others were variously 
 mounted, D.'s horses being the best, if I may except 
 my gray, which was out and out the star at this 
 meet. We advanced in skirmishing order, riding two 
 and two at intervals of about half a mile, our nags 
 plunging through the indigo, which was very thick 
 and high. Two sounders broke almost simultaneously, 
 one on the extreme right, and one in front of A. and 
 myself. Ours consisted of a fat old boar, almost 
 gray with age, a three-parts grown hog, and some 
 half-a-dozen sows with a few squeakers. The boar 
 turned to the left, and my comrade and I followed 
 him. The remainder took towards E. and B., who 
 laid into them, whilst C. and F. and D. and G. 
 followed the other sounder. I knew my friend 
 would prevent him going far. Moreover, he was 
 making towards the sea. A. and I were fairly 
 matched, and we raced neck and neck. I was on 
 the spear side, A. on the other, close together, 
 craning for first blood. Fat as the boar was, he 
 managed to keep out of reach of our weapons for 
 some time, when, getting blown, he doubled on us "so 
 suddenly that, though my spear struck him in the 
 shoulder, he tripped up A.'s horse, which came down 
 a "cropper." Before the poor animal could recover 
 his legs, the boar ran in and gashed him dreadfully. 
 I told A. to jump up behind me, which he did, so 
 both rode back towards the syces for a spear. 
 
2oo Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Seizing one, and leaving my friend to find another 
 steed, I galloped back. A.'s pony lay stretched out in 
 its last sleep, and the slayer, disdaining flight, stood, 
 champing his tusks, awaiting my charge. When I 
 was within twenty yards he rushed at me with a 
 series of absurd bounds, the broken shaft of the 
 spear protruding from him like the horn of a 
 unicorn. I could not help laughing ; he looked so 
 queer. My horse swerved at these unusual tactics 
 and such an uncanny appearance, so I inflicted but a 
 slight wound ; however, the effect of it was, that the 
 brute turned round swiftly and chased me. Keeping 
 out of harm's way I made a detour and again went 
 at him. He met me so pluckily that we closed 
 with a crash. My spear went right through him, 
 entering at the back and protruding through the 
 bowels, so I was fain to let go the shaft, my horse 
 only escaping being cut by a sudden bound to the 
 left. The boar pulled up, eying me viciously. 
 Fortunately A. was remounted and galloping up, 
 followed by some syces with extra weapons. Having 
 secured one of them, we both closed with the un- 
 clean beast. Our antagonist was game to the end, 
 fighting desperately until he turned over and expired. 
 He was rolling in fat, with tusks nine and a half 
 inches round the curve. Sending for coolies to take 
 him to the camp, A. and I rode towards the others. 
 E. and B. had killed the young boar, E/s horse 
 having been slightly cut. C. and F., D. and G. had 
 killed two boars and a barren sow. The latter had 
 run up the spear and bitten G. severely in the right 
 foot, 
 
 We then adjourned to ground nearer the camp, 
 
Hog- hunting. 2 o i 
 
 and sent in some forty beaters to drive a sounder 
 out of the dry bed of a tank. This time D. and A., 
 Gr. and E., F. and I, and C. and B. were together, 
 stationed two and two on each side of the cover. At 
 first the pigs would not break, which was wise of 
 them, for all round was open paddy fields, and the 
 nearest cover a mile and a half away. The head 
 man of the beaters now came up to us, and said, 
 " Feeders of the poor, we have beaten through and 
 through several times, and though there are many 
 pigs, they will not leave." "Kattle it through the 
 other way," we replied, and off the man went ; and, 
 with tom-toms beating, cholera horns sounding, and 
 the most discordant yells, they reversed the experi- 
 ment. The pigs evidently did not know what to 
 make of it, and first one and then another took 
 towards where D. and A. and G. and E. were 
 stationed, and both were quickly accounted for. More 
 yells and unearthly noises, then another boar broke 
 near D. and A. We were nearly a mile off, but 
 could see the various chases as well as if we had 
 been engaged in them ourselves ; but to remain 
 quiescent so long, and with no prospect of any game 
 coming to us, was too trying ; so, seeing that D. 
 and A. were both pumped and riding gingerly, 
 while we were quite fresh having procured re- 
 mounts, I being on my famous gray I voted we 
 should cut in and have a try for a spear. It looked 
 almost hopeless, for D. and A. were the two best 
 riders and most experienced pig-stickers amongst us ; 
 but, "nothing venture, nothing win," so, taking our 
 steeds in hand, we cut across country diagonally. I 
 was overhauling D., who was taking matters very 
 
2O2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 coolly, when, without looking round to see who was 
 galloping up to him, he called out, " It's no use, A., 
 I have the legs of you." " It may be," I replied, 
 "but you have not the legs of me," and passed him, 
 spearing the boar three times before anyone else came 
 up. C. was soon on hand, but his Cape horse, which 
 had behaved so admirably in the morning, would 
 not approach a pig now T , and when forcibly reminded 
 by the spurs that he had a rider on his back, plunged 
 and kicked so violently that he sent his owner over 
 his head right in front of the boar, who made at him 
 immediately ; but we were all close up, and, rushing 
 in, rolled the plucky beast over, dead. As the 
 " shades of evening were falling fast," we made for 
 our camp, a good five miles off. How pleasant every- 
 thing looked. Our mess tent brilliantly lighted up 
 with numerous wax candles, a snowy cloth on the 
 table, plenty of plate, crockery-ware and glass. We 
 lost no time in taking off our hunting suits, and, 
 after a most refreshing bath were en deshabille in our 
 white sleeping garments, consisting of loose jackets 
 and drawers. Had the famous Glunter supplied our 
 refreshments, he could not have done better than the 
 mess cook and butler of the gallant- -Kegiment. 
 There were haunches of spotted deer (shot by a 
 shikarie), capon, ducks, fowls, ham, and that great 
 delicacy, a Bengal hump, besides soups, entries, curry, 
 made of fresh prawns, with tarts, puddings, &c. , for we 
 live well in India, even when under canvas. Of liquor 
 we had from champagne downwards, all deliciously 
 cooled in saltpetre. After dinner we assembled in the 
 open, to enjoy the cool air. There was a bright 
 moon ; and the only drawback to this truly Arcadian 
 

Hog- hunting. 203 
 
 scene were the mosquitoes, which provokingly took 
 advantage of our being in undress. "Early to bed 
 and early to rise " is a maxim cultivated amongst 
 sportsmen in the East, so ten o'clock found us in our 
 cots, our bearers having tucked in the mosquito 
 curtains around each sahib to ensure him having a 
 good night's rest. 
 
 It is difficult to say how the poor natives manage. 
 On such excursions they have little or no bed clothes 
 with them. Cleaning up and tidying after we retired 
 occupy them hours, yet by 4 A.M. the whole camp 
 was astir, with kettles bubbling, ham being grilled, 
 eggs boiled or poached. At half-past four we were 
 roused ; at five dressed. A hasty snack followed, 
 and half an hour after we were ready to start, 
 which in the East is just about daybreak. 
 
 To-day E. and L, F. and A., G. and C., and B. 
 and D. were told off together. We went due west, 
 crossing the bad watercourses by means of the 
 bridges I have before mentioned. E. was on rather 
 an old, but powerful hunter, I on my Mahratta 
 pony. We came across a spotted deer, and foolishly 
 chased it. We certainly had a splendid run. The 
 watercourses we encountered were not too broad to 
 jump, and we cleared them nearly together, whilst 
 the deer, some fifty yards ahead, sprang over them 
 beautifully ; our horses were in tip-top condition, 
 both of us light weights, but for an hour the deer 
 kept straight. Our mounts were now panting, 
 although going strong ; but we knew the pace was 
 too good to last long, and were therefore glad to 
 see the buck swerving from its direct course, and 
 in another quarter of an hour it was trying to 
 
2O4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 throw us out by doubling ; but we stuck to its 
 haunches, for we were determined not to be beaten. 
 Our beasts began to stumble, and to show signs 
 that they could not last many more minutes, when 
 the pursued lay suddenly down. We, too, pulled 
 up, undoing the girths and turning our horses' 
 heads towards the breeze, which was blowing steadily 
 from the sea. In fact, all were "pumped." The 
 deer, with its tongue lolling out, breathed with the 
 greatest difficulty ; its beautiful large eyes were 
 filled with tears, and so dimmed as scarcely to be 
 visible, while we, its mortal foes, stood over it spear 
 in hand. All the agonies of death over and over 
 again it must have suffered, for it could hope for no 
 mercy from those who had hunted it so hard and 
 fast, and all but broken its heart. What our in- 
 tentions were I don't know. We thought the 
 deer unable to rise again, so were waiting for our 
 syces to come up. We might then have captured 
 it alive, or we might have converted it into venison. 
 I say I do not know what its fate might have been ; 
 but, before we decided upon anything, the deer 
 sprang to its feet, and with one reproachful glance 
 at us, plunged into the arm of the sea close by, 
 leaving us, like Lord Ullin " lamenting." It was 
 done so suddenly that we had not time, even if 
 we had had the intention, of using our weapons ; 
 but I am glad now that the noble creature escaped, 
 though I must own I was very sorry at the time. 
 Such are man's inconsistencies, before and after and 
 during the ardour of the chase. No real sportsman 
 would be guilty of an act of cruelty in cold blood. 
 Yet, when his passions are aroused, he is little 
 
Hog-hunting. 205 
 
 better, if at all, than the wild beast to which he is 
 opposed. 
 
 Our steeds were utterly done up, so we sent them 
 to camp, and ordered other nags to be brought, for 
 we resolved to remain where we were. F. and A. 
 now joined us, having followed and lost a boar in a 
 jheel close by ; in consequence, it was determined 
 that he should be driven out as soon as the beaters 
 could be assembled. It was getting late when we 
 espied the coolies and horses approaching. The cover 
 was rather extensive, and the boar would not break ; 
 yet the beast had cut one of the beaters, so we 
 rode in, keeping line with the men. Presently 
 away went F. and A. through the long grass to the 
 right, and we were undecided whether we should 
 follow, when we espied a boar looking at us ; he was 
 all but hidden by the stems which had fallen down, 
 and under which he had crawled, but his long snout 
 and twinkling little vicious eyes betrayed him, so, 
 getting to his right, to cut him off from heavier 
 shelter, we laid on. I suppose our appearance was 
 not very intimidating, for he simply trotted ahead, 
 occasionally looking back at us. The cover was so 
 dense that our progress was not great, but it was fast 
 enough to keep him from dodging or giving us the 
 slip in the undergrowth, so perforce he had to take 
 across the open. The beast had been lying in some 
 mud hole, for he was plastered with a thick coating of 
 slime that shone brilliantly as he moved ahead. 
 After covering a lot of ground we got close enough 
 to spear him. I was on the country-bred, as near 
 almost as E. to the pig, when he " jinked" to the 
 right, and E. struck him over the bridle reins, but 
 
206 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 such was the impetus that the boar knocked the fore- 
 legs of the chestnut from under him, and both came 
 heavily to the ground. The horse galloped away, 
 and as the foe continued his course, I kept up the 
 chase. There was nothing unusual in the size or 
 appearance of the boar ; but he emitted a most dis- 
 agreeable odour. To this I attribute the country-bred's 
 behaviour, for he refused to close, and, when pressed, 
 kicked and reared. I lost my temper, and felled him 
 with a blow between the ears from the loaded butt- 
 end of my spear. I had no intention of flooring my 
 mount, and ought not have struck him as I did, so 
 what followed I thoroughly deserved. Seeing us on 
 the ground, the boar charged. The nag was quicker 
 on his legs than myself, but, instead of running away, 
 rushed open-mouthed at the enemy, who cleverly 
 avoided the attack, and got between the horse's legs, 
 ripping his stomach from the chest to the pelvis, the 
 whole entrails dropping to the ground. The boar eyed 
 his victim for a moment, but seeing him motionless, 
 turned his attention to me. I jumped aside, so avoid- 
 ing the rush, and gave my assailant a deep stab in the 
 side as he passed by. Badly wounded as he was, he 
 turned again, and once more rushed at me. This 
 time I held the spear firmly pointed for his chest. 
 The monster ran up the steel, bearing me down with 
 his weight, and fell on me, dead ! Faugh ! How can 
 I describe the agonies I suffered, not only from the 
 weight of the animal, for my chest and ribs felt as if 
 they were being staved in, but from the abominable 
 stench that his carcase emitted. The smell from a 
 boar when clean is bad enough, but this brute had 
 been rolling in some awful filth, and, being covered 
 
Hog- hunting. 207 
 
 with it from head to feet, I got the full benefit as he 
 lay across me. I kicked, I struggled, and I fear swore 
 frightfully, worse than the fighting chaplain in 
 Peter Simple when boarding the Eussian frigate, 
 but release myself of the load I could not. I have no 
 doubt but that I should have died of the dead weight 
 and the vile odours combined, had not E. come to 
 my help. Alone he was power! ess to relieve me ; but, 
 fortunately, more aid was at hand. A couple of syces 
 joined us ; they seized the brute by the hind legs, 
 while E. got hold of the front, and with a heave ho ! 
 they succeeded in rescuing me. I was a mass of gore 
 and filth from head to foot. As I sat up, my appear- 
 ance was so comical, to say the least of it, that E. 
 burst out laughing, and I, very unreasonably, got 
 " awfully riled," and was about to give vent to my 
 feelings when I noticed a broad grin on the counten- 
 ance of the usually sedate natives. My wrath was 
 dissipated, for I knew that I must be a rum-looking 
 object indeed, for them to so far forget their respect 
 as to laugh at a sahib logue ; so I joined in the 
 merriment, with, I fear, but a bad grace. A "tat" 
 being brought, I transferred the saddle and bridle 
 from the dead horse on to its back and galloped 
 home, and calling my " maty " boy, I quickly threw 
 off my stinking garments, which were ordered to be 
 burnt forthwith. After a good scrubbing I got 
 something to eat, and mounting my gray went off 
 to join the others, who were still out. I found that 
 they had killed three boars and two sows. One 
 horse had been severely cut in the stifle and another 
 had spiked himself badly. So pig- sticking has its 
 dangers, as well as pleasant phases. My comrades 
 
2o8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 were assembled round one of the topes, which I 
 have mentioned as having rather thick undergrowth, 
 and into this the beaters were sent. After a great 
 deal of hullabalooing, several pigs broke, and G., C., 
 B. and D. took after them. We were 011 the other 
 side of it, and did not know they had started until 
 it was too late to join them. The drivers now 
 declared that there were no more beasts in the tope, 
 and we were thinking of shifting our ground, when 
 A. espied something creeping along a hollow ditch, 
 overgrown partially by wild indigo. " What is that ! " 
 he asked, and I, turning in the direction, also saw 
 something move. 
 
 "It is not a pig. I suspect it is a wild cat. Let 
 us drive it, and have a chase," he said. No sooner 
 said than done. We galloped among the bushes 
 where the animal was last seen, and, to our amaze- 
 ment, not a cat, but a splendid leopard bounded out 
 in our front, not pleased at our intrusion, as the 
 whisking of its tail proved. The superior speed of 
 my horse gave me the advantage, and I was soon 
 alongside, and delivered my spear through its body, 
 but as I turned sharply to the left, the brute gave a 
 spring and clawed my gray, who in return gave it a 
 vigorous kick in the head and rolled it over. A. 
 came promptly up and the brute made at him ; his 
 horse shied, but the rider turned the game by a 
 dexterous thrust in the face. It then charged F., 
 who missed it as it sprang on the horse, which it 
 seized by the throat, whilst its fore legs were clasped 
 round its neck ; so the horse came down a frightful 
 cropper, sending F. flying. E. and I. sent our spears 
 through the beast. This caused the leopard to release 
 
Spearing a Leopard. 209 
 
 the horse, when it bounded at E. who received it 
 well on the spear, but as it passed through, the 
 brute got in and seized him by the arm. The horse 
 plunged and kicked so that I could not get near, still 
 I could hear the bones in my comrade's arm give. At 
 last the nag reared right over, and all rolled on the 
 ground, a confused mass. My mount, too, became 
 restive, so jumping off, I went to the rescue. The 
 feline lay under the horse, and I had no difficulty in 
 despatching it. E. was frightfully mauled, and 
 eventually lost his arm. The horse broke its back, 
 and had to be shot, but F. was not seriously hurt. 
 We bound up E.'s arm, made a stretcher as well as 
 we could, and sent him off post haste to Bunda. 
 
 G., C., B., and D. killed two more pigs, but as all 
 our nags were done up, with the exception of my grey 
 and one of D.'s, and owing to the sad accident to our 
 comrade, we determined to break up the meet. 
 Accordingly, early next morning the tents were 
 struck. The kit had been packed up over night, and 
 by 10 A.M. we were seated at breakfast in the mess 
 house of the hospitable Native Infantry. Having 
 ten days' more leave, I purchased D.'s horse, and 
 daked up to Eajahmundry, had some capital pig- stick- 
 ing with that prince of Collectors, Tom Prendergast. 
 What I have attempted to describe will give the 
 reader, I hope, a faint idea of this glorious sport, but 
 no description can ever come up to the reality. 
 
 A SPURT AFTER PIG IN THE BURHAMPOOTER CHURS. 
 
 W., the Deputy-Commissioner of the Garrow Hills, 
 and I had been shooting for a few days in the churs 
 
 p 
 
2io Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 below Doobree, and as pigs were very numerous, my 
 friend proposed that we should try a little hog-hunt- 
 ing. Neither of us was well equipped for such a 
 sport. I had a couple of Burma ponies, but no spears. 
 W. had a country-bred mare and a pair of hog-spears 
 such as are used in Bengal ; these are barely six feet 
 long, heavily weighted at the butt end, and are used 
 for "jobbing," whilst those in vogue in Bombay and 
 Madras are much longer and are for "prodding." 
 The Commissioner had had a little pig-sticking with 
 some friends of his in Tirhoot, and it was years since 
 I had ridden a boar, and, alas ! I had put on flesh, and 
 the largest of my nags was only 13 '2, but strong and 
 plucky; the other, a gray, was about 13, speedy 
 but violent. Neither were up to my weight for 
 hunting, still the temptation to follow a boar was too 
 great to be resisted, so we determined first to try the 
 mainland on the right bank, where we had disturbed 
 many a thundering big fellow lying out almost in the 
 open. The country was the very thing for riding, 
 being nearly flat, pretty open, and full of not only 
 pig, but there were tigers about ; also rhinoceros and 
 marsh-deer. Hedges or ditches there were none, 
 but occasionally a dry watercourse, with sloping 
 banks, down and up which it was easy going, was 
 encountered. 
 
 The jemadar of the mahouts was directed where to 
 take the elephants (we had ten with us) at daybreak 
 next morning, and to beat in a certain direction. 
 We were hunting under difficulties, for we had no 
 spare spears, and were inadequately mounted ; but 
 there is a charm in hog-hunting which is impossible 
 to resist, if you have once been " entered " to it. W. 
 
Hog- hunt ing. 2 1 1 
 
 was an out-and-out sportsman, plucky to a degree, a 
 splendid shot, a good rider, and considerably under 
 thirty, while I was over forty. He weighed about 
 ten stone, I twelve. His mare was close on fifteen 
 hands, and he had ridden her after pig. Mine had 
 had no such experience, and was a hand and a half 
 lower, so the handicapping was all against me. In a 
 straight run I should have been nowhere, but in hog- 
 hunting even the slowest of horses has now and then 
 a chance, particularly when the pig is a "jinker." 
 Moreover, I was tired of eternally being on the back 
 of an elephant, and welcomed the chance of a gallop, 
 even should I not be able to draw first blood. To be 
 early at work, we crossed over from the right to the 
 left bank of the river over night, sleeping in an 
 unused cattle-shed, so we were up and away by the 
 dawn. The jemadar, on a small elephant, was wait- 
 ing for us, and so receiving his orders off he went, 
 and in about half an hour we could see the line of 
 beaters advancing towards us. W. was ensconced be- 
 hind a patch of long grass on the right, I was simi- 
 larly concealed a little to the left, with an interval of 
 about fifty feet between us, having previously arranged 
 that we were only to follow boars, and to let them 
 pass us and get well ahead before we " laid in," so as 
 to prevent their breaking back. The terrain, though 
 not quite a plain, was ridable for fully three miles ; 
 but these pigs carry an immense quantity of flesh, as 
 their feeding-grounds are close by, so they were not 
 likely to run far. The mahouts were instructed to 
 shout only when a boar broke, otherwise to advance 
 silently. In less than a quarter of an hour there was 
 a hubbub all along the line, the mahouts shouting and 
 
 p 2 
 
2 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 prodding their elephants, they trying to break back, 
 and showing every sign of being in a stew. We at 
 first thought they had been attacked by a tiger, so 
 were watching the beaters, when there occurred a 
 slight rustle, and some fifteen or sixteen pigs ap- 
 peared. We let them go fully a couple of hundred 
 yards, when W. shouted " Ride ! " I was just about 
 to ram in the spurs, when I looked backwards once 
 more, and there, trotting along quietly, yet champing 
 his tusks, was a gray old boar. Half the fun of hog- 
 hunting is the rivalry for first spear ; but as I said 
 before, I had little chance with W. in a straight run. 
 The pigs that had gone away were fair of their kind, 
 with two large boars, but the one that brought up the 
 rear was a veritable Goliath. Thus I restrained my 
 impatient steed, who, generally placid enough, had 
 lots of pluck in him, but excited by W.'s cry, and see- 
 ing his mare go off at best speed, naturally wanted to 
 be also in the fun. 
 
 By the time the veteran passed me, W. was half a 
 mile away, so I allowed the quarry a hundred yards' 
 law, and then started in pursuit. " Pekoe " was very 
 fresh and spurted along, pulling double. Hearing a 
 clatter behind him, the game looked round, and 
 seemed half inclined to meet me, then changed his 
 mind and increased his pace. The boar was very fat, 
 and with his bristles on end looked nearly as big as 
 my mount ; nor did he seem to hurry himself, but it 
 is wonderful how a beast of his kind can get over the 
 ground. I raced after him for nearly a quarter of a 
 mile ; gaining a little, it is true, yet he was still fifty 
 yards ahead. There was a patch of grass in front, 
 into which he bounded, and I was in it also in a 
 
Hog-hunting. 213 
 
 second or two after, but carrying a jobbing spear 
 rather bothered me. I had seen Dansey, of our 
 30th, use one, so following the lesson that he taught 
 me, fortunately I was ready for action, although I 
 did not expect to come upon the pig for another 
 couple of hundred yards or so ; but no sooner was 
 I in the grass than a gray mass almost sprang at 
 me. Mechanically I jobbed, and drove in the spurs ; 
 the spear just missed the spine, but went well into 
 the neck behind the immense head, and luckily as 
 I bounded forward the spear came away ; thus the 
 boar just missed a vicious prod he made at my 
 pony's quarter, but nothing daunted, the gallant 
 old beast with a " whoof, whoof," chased us. I 
 went easy until we got to an open space, then put 
 on the steam, wheeled round, and went at my adver- 
 sary again. He had been bleeding " like a pig," 
 as the saying goes, so I fancy some small artery 
 must have been severed, and this had weakened 
 him, for though he met me in the most plucky 
 manner, there was less and less impulse in his charges. 
 Ultimately, with a downward job, I drove the spear 
 deep into his withers, yet with an upward jerk he 
 cut the sole of my boot right through, his enormous 
 head catching us amidship. The pony and I were, 
 as a result, sent spinning, but the boar was hors de 
 combat, and neither of us were more than shaken. 
 (I found afterwards that his tusk, after penetrating 
 the thick leather, had cut my sock and just grazed 
 the skin of my foot.) Picking up the pieces and 
 withdrawing the good blade, I remounted, in time 
 to see W. coming towards me in full chase, so I 
 hastened to meet him. He had apparently a large 
 
214 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 boar before him ; it was evidently wounded, so I 
 reined up until the two were alongside, and then 
 joined in the race. "Why, W.," I sung out, "this 
 is not a boar." u But look at the tusks," retorted my 
 comrade. " Yes, I see them ; it is a barren sow." 
 " I have killed a boar and have wounded her, so we 
 must put her out of pain, but I thought most cer- 
 tainly that she was a boar too, or I would not have 
 followed her." Just then she "jinked." My comrade's 
 mare, rather hard-mouthed, did not turn as quickly 
 as she ought to have done, so allowed me to cut in. 
 " Pekoe " was not a bit alarmed, notwithstanding his 
 upset, and took me up nicely, so I gave her a good 
 dig in the ribs, but could not withdraw my weapon 
 so had to let it go. W. was alongside of me in a 
 moment or two, but it was no easy matter for either 
 of us to get near the brute to administer the coup de 
 grdce, for the heavily-leaded shaft kept upright, 
 swaying about, and with a "job spear" you have to 
 get to close quarters before you can use your weapon. 
 W. tried to cut in several times, but once he got a 
 blow across the shins from the shaft of my weapon 
 which made him sing out, and I much doubt that we 
 should have secured her, had she not rushed through 
 a bush and got rid of the spear, when W. went up 
 alongside and finished the melee. Fortunately my 
 spear was not broken, the handle or shaft of a Bengal 
 weapon being so much shorter, thicker, and tougher 
 than those of the longer weapons. 
 
 I forgot to mention that we had sent on our guns 
 and rifles, as there was no knowing what game might 
 be started. So telling the bearers to keep pretty 
 close to us, we rode on to meet the elephants. The 
 
Hog-hunting. 2 1 5 
 
 jemadar told us that the confusion at the commence- 
 ment was caused by a large boar, almost white, 
 which had charged the line and had cut one of the 
 elephants. I had no difficulty in recognising my 
 veteran friend as the culprit. 
 
 We then shifted our position, and I mounted the 
 gray called " Elgin," then proceeded towards the 
 Garrow Hills. The ground was not nearly so 
 favourable for our sport, as there was a quantity of 
 long grass standing. A few pig broke back through 
 the line of beating elephants, when there was a great 
 deal of trumpeting on their part, and a huddling of 
 them together, a signal unmistakable to the initiated. 
 " It is a tiger," cried my friend, and dismounting we 
 seized our rifles, and each advanced towards a couple 
 of rising knolls on which we took our stand. I saw 
 W. turn round to his left and fire a roar then 
 another shot. I ran forward, just in time to see as 
 wicked a head as it is possible to conceive not above 
 a yard from my comrade, who was ramming in a 
 couple of cartridges, the man with his extra weapon 
 having " vamoosed." I got a clear shot at her chest ; 
 the conical, a solid one, went right through her, but 
 she required another shot from me and one from W. 
 before she gave up the ghost. We expected no more 
 game to appear, but the men pointed towards the river, 
 calling out, " Soor ! soor ! " (Pig, pig). So, mount- 
 ing, off we galloped, spears in hand. I have before 
 said there was a good deal of unburnt grass about. 
 " Elgin " was always headstrong, and seeing the 
 country-bred ahead, he tore along, and I found I had 
 no control over him, but that did not much signify, 
 for I thought it was all plain sailing. It was a clear 
 
2 1 6 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 mile or more to the chur, and I let Master " Elgin " 
 go. Galloping through a patch of long grass " Elgin " 
 went heels over head ; I was sent spinning and I 
 heard no end of grunting and squealing. The pony 
 had struck his fore feet against a sow in her lair 
 surrounded by her young, and had come a cropper ; 
 no harm was done. I was up again, but W. had no 
 end of a start. I was glad to see the sounder had 
 taken a turn to the right ; so by cutting across I might 
 almost head them. Wild pig sows in particular- 
 form a sort of covered-in nest ; they bite the grass all 
 round, pile it up, and then crawl under, and by lifting 
 it up in the centre, they have a fair roof overhead ; 
 in this they litter and remain during the heat of 
 the day. It was over one of these that I had come to 
 grief. I got up to the sounder ; there was only one 
 boar, and W. was too close to him to enable me to 
 cut in ; although his mare was somewhat blown, whilst 
 " Elgin," notwithstanding his tumble, was very fresh. 
 There is no certainty in hog-hunting; hog when 
 pressed often " jink," and I hoped this one would too, 
 and in my favour, so I kept about ten paces to the 
 right, " Elgin" holding his own in speed. W. crept 
 up, lifted his arm to drop the spear down, when over 
 he went. A creeper had caught his mare across the 
 legs and the two went a " buster " ; but no time was to 
 be lost. A sloping bank leading down to a navigable 
 part of the river was close at hand, and however 
 much domestic pigs may object to swimming, wild 
 ones are adepts at it, and take to water freely. The 
 best place to take a pig with a jobbing spear is the 
 centre of the withers, but I could not get alongside 
 to deliver that stroke. We were descending the bank, 
 

Hog-hunting. 217 
 
 so I did the best I could, and dropped my heavily- 
 weighted weapon 011 to the croup, between the hip 
 bones, which I could just reach. Over the pig went. 
 I turned my pony sharp round ; he sprang over the 
 prostrate body which was rolling down the incline, 
 and I just avoided taking a header into the river, on 
 the opposite bank of which was an enormous 
 crocodile ! The pig's back was broken, and he was all 
 but drowned. We endeavoured to drag him to shore, 
 but our joint strength was not sufficient, as we had 
 no firm foothold, and letting the body go, we ran up 
 the bank to call for assistance from our gun-bearers. 
 We heard a snort, and turning round had the pleasure 
 of seeing a knob at the end of a snout project, seize 
 the still struggling boar, and carry him off to the 
 slimy depths below ! It was the alligator (these are 
 so called in India, but they are veritable crocodiles, 
 same as those found on the Nile). We stood there, 
 rifle in hand, hoping the beast would rise, but where 
 he went to I don't know, for we never saw him or his 
 prey again. It was now getting hot and we saw no 
 prospect of any more sport. W. rode on and I went 
 back towards the elephants, the gun-bearers, with 
 mine and W.'s guns, accompanying me. I had not 
 ridden half way, when there was a shout of " Geddha ! " 
 (rhinoceros). I was off my nag and seized the first 
 gun I could get hold of it was a double 8 bore 
 of W.'s when a cow rhinoceros accompanied by a 
 three-parts-grown youngster came up. As she passed 
 me, not fifteen yards off, I saluted her with the 
 contents of both the barrels. Just then " Elgin " 
 broke loose, the wounded pachyderm got a sight of 
 him, and off she went in chase of the pony, and I 
 
2 1 8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 after her. I had changed the 8 bore for my own 
 *577. The youngster galloped on straight ahead. It 
 took me over half an hour to come up with the 
 rhinoceros and to kill her. I then had to walk home, 
 for " Elgin " was not recovered till late in the after- 
 noon. When I reached camp I found W. had speared 
 the juvenile ! Seeing the animal coming past 
 him and having no gun handy, for a mere spree he 
 laid in. His horse at first objected to the uncouth 
 beast, especially to its squealing, but W. was a 
 determined rider and getting alongside drove the 
 spear in behind the shoulder not jobbing, but 
 prodding and he was astonished at the ease with 
 which the blade penetrated. Just then the rhinoceros 
 uttered such diabolical noises that caused the mare to 
 rear and become unmanageable. W. had to let go the 
 spear and so become a helpless spectator. The antics 
 of the stricken rhinoceros he declared were most 
 grotesque ; he capered, he shook himself, he sprang 
 from side to side, roaring blue murder the whole 
 while ; the shaft of the spear swaying about like the 
 arms of a windmill, and W. was thinking of riding 
 back for a rifle to put the poor beast out of pain, 
 when the pachyderm went an awful crusher on to its 
 wounded side and drove the spear home till it pro- 
 truded out of the chest ; a few more squeals and gasps, 
 then its spirit fled. It had been tripped up by a 
 creeper, and W. could say, what I believe no other 
 man could boast, that he had fairly ridden down and 
 speared a rhinoceros. When the spear was extracted 
 we found the shaft, though not broken, splintered 
 and useless, so we had to give up all idea of hog-hunt- 
 ing for the present. Before the next season came round 
 
Hog-hunting. 219 
 
 I was en route to India. Poor " Pekoe " had been 
 killed by a tiger. W. was transferred from the hills 
 to a better post, which he did not live to fill long. 
 His death was most painful and inexplicable. He 
 was the most rising man in the Assam Commission, 
 and peace be to his ashes, for a better fellow never 
 lived. The old boar was I think, the largest, 
 certainly the most massive, I ever saw\ W. and I 
 differed as to its height. It is no easy task to 
 measure accurately a dead beast ; I made him out 
 38|- inches, but W. declared he was nearer 40 than 
 39. The one he speared was all but 37. The sow was 
 36 ; the other boar taken by the crocodile was never 
 measured of course, and thus ended my hog-hunting 
 in the Burhampooter Churs. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BEARS (ASIATIC). 
 
 IN Burma, we have two varieties of bear, the Ursus 
 Euryspilus, or sun bear, and the V. Malayanus. In 
 Assam the U. Tibietanus. In India the U. Labiatus 
 and in the Himalaya, Cashmere, &c., the 
 U. Isabellinus. The pitiful howls a wounded bear 
 makes are sufficient to shake the nerve of even an 
 experienced sportsman, to say nothing of the novice, 
 but if a man only keeps cool and waits patiently, 
 the attack of a bear, formidable brute as he is, is 
 not greatly to be dreaded, for before closing, the 
 beast always exposes the horseshoe on his breast, 
 and a shot there at once proves fatal. Why, I do 
 not know, but the objective point of attack is almost 
 invariably a man's face. To get at it the bear has to 
 stand up, and then there should be no difficulty in 
 accounting for him. 1 do not use shells usually, but 
 for bear shooting they are very effective. In Assam 
 more people are killed by bears than by tigers. I 
 have seen some poor fellows completely scalped, the 
 skin hanging down over their faces. In the East, the 
 bears are generally shot on foot, but in Assam, I 
 have come upon them and slain them, when on 
 
Bears (Asiatic] . 
 
 22 I 
 
 " hattees" who disliked them more than I think they 
 did tigers. Although in Burma bears of the two 
 varieties named are very plentiful they are seldom 
 seen and therefore but seldom shot. They have 
 glossy skins with short smooth hair, muzzle blackish, 
 but face, mouth, and lower jaw a dirty white ; throat, 
 black ; and large heart-shaped white mark in the 
 U. Malayanus, and a chestnut one in the smaller 
 species. The head is flattened and very short ; ears 
 very small, smooth and round. It is very powerful, 
 but somewhat less than the Indian variety. They 
 have immense claws for their size. 
 
 When a youngster I obtained a month's leave, and 
 had been shooting with various success, but as luck 
 would have it, one day I lost my way by attempting 
 to take a short cut, got benighted and slept in the 
 ruins of a village which had been deserted on account 
 of man-eating tigers, and not without great difficulty 
 at last reached Mulkapore, where cholera was raging 
 at the time. My servants urged me to go on, but I 
 was tired and refused to budge. In fact, cholera is 
 so prevalent in India, one gets used to it, and as long- 
 as you are not afraid of it, and don't think about it, 
 you run little or no danger of infection. I engaged 
 the best shikarie, and he promised to show me a 
 famous locality for bears. At the time there was 
 a full moon, and I was up and away by 3 A.M., 
 it being necessary to take up our position close to 
 the bears' dens before daylight, as these beasts feed 
 all night and return to their homes at dawn. We 
 had a long distance to go, but at last, about 5 A.M., 
 when it began to drizzle with rain, we got to the 
 caves and crept almost into them, to keep ourselves 
 
222 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 and guns dry. As soon as objects could be seen a 
 scout who was perched on a high conical rock 
 descended and gave the welcome news that three of 
 the ursce were coming straight up the hill. I had a 
 double rifle and gun. To avoid a miss-fire, I ascer- 
 tained that the powder was well up the nipples, put 
 on fresh caps, and got behind a rock at the edge of 
 a platform, and awaited events. Very soon three 
 black balls, as it were, came at a shamble, and funny 
 objects they looked, moving along with a rolling 
 gait, every now and then pouncing upon a beetle 
 and halting to gobble it up. This was my introduction 
 to this genus in its wild state. My shikarie carried 
 my spare gun, I the rifle. Having waited until the 
 leader was within twenty paces, I let fly. Such a 
 hubbub as ensued then is indescribable. The first 
 bear fell upon the second, and the two upon the third, 
 and they all set to work to maul one another in the 
 most approved style. I fired my second barrel at the 
 struggling mass, and the shikarie fired both barrels and 
 took to his heels. The bears left off fighting and came 
 for me, but I was young and active, and more 
 than an average runner, so I had no difficulty in 
 distancing and dodging them amongst the rocks. 
 Before I could reload, they had got into their dens. 
 I lost little time in getting hold of the shikarie and 
 gave him a good drubbing for having fired off my 
 spare gun. To smoke out the beasts I tried, but did 
 not succeed, so lost them for the time being. But 
 two days afterwards one was found dead, and about 
 a week later on, another was mobbed by some 
 Bringarees and also killed. I then shot a couple at 
 Narkapilly, and occasionally at considerable intervals, 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 223 
 
 I shot one here and there In Assam I killed several. 
 In the Cossyah and Jyntiah hills I also killed a few. 
 I was charged once or twice by bears, but was 
 neither mauled myself nor were any of my followers 
 hurt. But my own adventures with these beasts are 
 very tame compared to the following adventure of a 
 friend. 
 
 Towards the end of April, 1849, Colonel, then Lieu- 
 tenant, Nightingale, of the Nizam's Irregular Cavalry, 
 one of the best sportsmen that ever lived, started 
 for the Neermal jungles, and Douglas Scott, of my 
 regiment, accompanied him. He was the only man 
 I ever heard of who made " bear-spearing " a regular 
 pursuit. Bears have doubtlessly been occasionally 
 speared by others, but only in isolated and rare cases. 
 In the first place, they are seldom met with in 
 ridable ground, and in the second, not one horse out 
 of fifty will face them. I will continue the narra- 
 tive in Nightingale's own words. 
 
 " Scott could not get leave just then, but followed 
 a few days after me. On April 25th I reached 
 Polumpilly, a small village near which good shoot- 
 ting is to be had. I went out to the hills, a mile 
 distant, to look for a tigress said to live there, but 
 after a long walk, having found nothing more than 
 fresh prints in the sand, I gave it up, and commenced 
 to throw crackers into various dens without success. 
 Suddenly, however, when we were sitting down to 
 rest, out rushed two bears from a hiding-place and 
 made off with such swiftness that they escaped 
 unscathed. 
 
 "28th. Eeached Hurroolah to-day. There is a 
 rocky range half way between this and the last stage, 
 
224 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 in which a villager said lots of bears were to be 
 found. In the evening I went to the hill east of the 
 camp, posted the men on all the heights, and waited 
 patiently till dusk. Just as I was returning to the 
 tents, I heard Meer Saib, my orderly, whistle. On 
 running up, two bears were shown me. I cut them off 
 from their dens, and shot the female dead with a two- 
 ounce ball through the head. A good-sized cub that 
 was with her was also secured after a great deal of 
 roaring and a free fight, in the course of which two 
 of my men got rather severely bitten, owing to their 
 own stupidity. Eeturned to camp, as it was now 
 dark. It appears that five bears were afoot at once, 
 but the other three, hearing the uproar, made off. 
 
 "29th. Out this morning, long before dawn, but 
 got nothing. In the afternoon I rode over to Torla- 
 koonta, as my shikaries informed me that bears were 
 plentiful in a small rocky hill near which the village 
 was built. Posted my markers, and towards dusk a 
 large bear that lived under one of the bastions came 
 out. I ran after him with my rifle, but as he took to 
 the open I preferred spearing him. Mounting ' Dicky' 1 
 I was after him in a minute, but the knowing brute, 
 when he saw that I was overtaking him, made back 
 for the hill ; however, I met him at full speed and sent 
 my spear through his body. He tried to lay hold 
 of the horse, but I pushed him over, the weapon 
 unluckily being broken in the struggle. Bruin now 
 got upon the rocks, but my dogs being let loose, 
 brought him to bay, when, dismounting, I clambered 
 
 1 Dicky was a galloway, barely fourteen hands high. He was 
 rather head-strong, but out of all the horses Nightingale possessed, 
 he was the only one he could depend upon to take him up to a 
 bear. 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 225 
 
 up close to him and sent a two-ounce ball through, 
 him. He rushed on and was met by Meer Saib, who 
 fired and missed. This turned the beast back towards 
 me, when I greeted him with another bullet. Not- 
 withstanding this severe punishment he reached his 
 den, where he afterwards gave up the ghost. 
 
 " 30th. Went out early this morning, and posted 
 the markers as usual on the rocks. A couple of 
 hyaenas were seen, and as it was then broad day- 
 light, thinking there was no chance of any nobler 
 game, I gave chase to one of them. Suddenly, 
 however, hearing a cry from my shikaries, I returned 
 and found three bears running towards the rocks. 
 This proved to be a well-known family, that had been 
 here for the last five years and together had de- 
 stroyed two men (at least so the villagers said) 
 during that interval. I cut them off from the rocks, 
 on which they made for some hills about half a mile 
 distant. The ground here was most ( break-neck/ 
 there being large sloping slabs of stone, with loose 
 rocks upon them. However, I managed to drive 
 them over this, but at one place they turned and 
 roared at me, as if about to attack. In another half 
 mile or so, I caught them up in tolerably open 
 ground, and riding in upon them gave the rearmost 
 one a severe wound. The whole three then charged 
 me, but the handiness of my horse ' Dicky ' saved 
 me, and giving the wounded beast a spear through 
 the lungs which proved mortal very soon, I made 
 off, pursued by all three, roaring furiously. The 
 wounded animal soon lagged behind, and my shikaries 
 kept throwing stones and mobbing him, until he fell 
 over and expired from loss of blood. On coming to 
 
 Q 
 
226 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 a favourable bit of ground, I turned on my foes, and 
 wounded one badly. They still kept together, and 
 made one or two determined rushes at me, when 
 having both received severe hurts, one of them made 
 off as hard as he could. I stuck to the other, and 
 after a hard fight, and spearing him some half-a-dozen 
 times, I at last sent the steel right through his heart 
 and rolled him over dead. There was but one 
 antagonist now left, which proved to be the largest 
 of the three and very fierce. He rushed at me most 
 furiously every time I approached him, and in so 
 doing he received twelve or more severe wounds. At 
 last, although quite exhausted from the length of the 
 conflict, seeing that bruin had very little further to 
 run to reach his den, I rode in front of him, charged, 
 and planted my spear well in him. The bear, how- 
 ever, proved too strong for me, tired as I was, and 
 making good his charge, threw himself on the horse's 
 crupper, seizing me by the inside of the thigh with 
 his claws, and took my leg in his mouth ! I stuck 
 firmly to the horse, knowing it was my only chance, 
 and hoping bruin would soon be shaken off. ' Dicky ' 
 behaved splendidly, kicking with considerable effect. 
 At last, however, the infuriated brute, by sheer weight 
 and strength, dragged me off on to the ground. The 
 bear even then did not let me go, but got hold of my 
 foot. As I expected him every instant to seize me 
 by the back, I made a vigorous struggle to escape, 
 and to my delight and surprise, my long sambur- 
 skin boot came off my leg and remained with the 
 bear, who took no further notice of me, but ran off 
 towards his den worrying the boot as he went. My 
 " dander was riz " at this mauling, so picking up my 
 
Bears {Asiatic). 227 
 
 spear, I ran after bruin and drove it through and 
 through him. He seized it in his mouth and turned 
 on me, but just then most opportunely another spear 
 was thrust into my hand, and I ran it several times 
 into his chest and at last made an end of my savage 
 foe ! My escape was most providential, I having got 
 off with only three slight wounds, two on the instep 
 and a deep scratch on the thigh ; this soon became 
 very painful, so I imagine the claws are somewhat 
 venomous. My three troopers, with most of my 
 shikaries and lots of villagers, were close at hand 
 while I was being mauled, and afforded me no assist- 
 ance, owing probably to their surprise. The former 
 said that they could not get their horses up to the 
 bear. This would appear to be the case, as through- 
 out the whole trip not one of the horsemen with me 
 drew blood from a bear, and most of these men were 
 plucky enough. One of the under tusks of this 
 formidable brute was buried in the heel of my boot, 
 and the other caught the stirrup. The upper tusks 
 went through the boot and some little way into my 
 instep in a slanting direction, so I got off better than 
 could be expected, and was only lame for ten or fifteen 
 days. Though very sore from my bites, the next day 
 I could not remain idle in the tents, so early in the 
 morning I went up to the rocks. A bear was seen 
 sleeping on the top of them, but heard us, and escaped 
 into a cave. We had just thrown in a cracker, when 
 another bear was seen quietly going past us. I fired 
 my heavy rifle (which I christened ' Wapping Poll ') 
 and the animal ran into a clump of rocks about 
 seventy yards off. He presently put his head out of 
 his den and looked at me in a most idiotic way ! I 
 
 ' 
 
228 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 sent a ball from my other gun into the centre of his 
 forehead, followed up by another from a smaller rifle. 
 These were more than sufficient for bruin, who died 
 incontinently. In the afternoon I went to a small 
 village called Letchmapooram. Here there was a nice 
 banyan tree under which I pitched my tent. A little 
 way off there was an extensive range of rocks full 
 of caves. 
 
 " Wednesday. I was out early this morning. At 
 daybreak two bears came past my tent, and made for 
 the hills. Hearing the preconcerted signal I mounted 
 ' Punch,' took the two-ouncer, and galloped after them. 
 I saw a bear climbing up the rocks after I had gone 
 some way through thorny jungle, so dismounted, and 
 hobbled up to the foot of the hill. Bruin was just 
 entering a den when I got a snap shot at him and 
 rolled him over dead with a single bullet. This was 
 a large male. In the evening I went to the small 
 hill, west of the conical one. I was climbing up the 
 rocks (the markers had not even been posted), when 
 I saw two bears emerge from a den. I followed them 
 up and soon came upon them, almost within five paces, 
 and gave the larger the contents of ' Wapping Poll/ 
 which smashed his shoulder. Down he rolled and I 
 put another ball into him, after which the coolies 
 and dogs finished him. The other bear received a 
 two-ounce ball as he rushed past me. I then knocked 
 him over with another shot as I thought dead. 
 Then I descended the hill; but the second brute 
 managed to crawl into a den, and I lost him. My 
 bull-terrier behaved very pluckily to-day, rushing at 
 this bear and pinning him by the throat, but he was 
 knocked off at once, and had a very narrow escape. 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 229 
 
 " This night I was roused by the cries of ' Reench' 
 so mounted ' Dicky ' and rode about in the moonlight, 
 without, however, viewing bruin ; the yells had 
 doubtless driven him off. 
 
 " May 3rd. Went out this morning to the Litch- 
 mapooram Hill after daybreak. A signal shot was 
 fired by a marker, and a bear pointed out. As she was 
 on tolerably ridable ground and had a good-sized 
 cub with her, I determined to kill her mounted, 
 although I rode 'butcher fashion,' i.e., with only 
 one spur, my injured foot being encased in a slipper. 
 I soon caught her up and speared her through the 
 shoulders. She then pulled up, looking very sick. 
 I rode at her again, and received two vigorous 
 charges. The second time we met, I broke her spine 
 with a thrust, and she gave up the ghost. The cub 
 rushed at my shikarie, but after some trouble, with 
 the help of the small dogs, was secured. Tried the 
 small hill in the evening, but found nothing. The 
 next day I rode over to Torlakoonta early and 
 waited near the hill ; only hyaenas were seen. In the 
 evening, a she-bear and two cubs were viewed, but 
 she was too knowing and would not descend the 
 hill. 
 
 " The next morning I posted the markers as usual. 
 One of them, Murza, gave a false alarm, and drew me 
 away from the right spot, just as two bears were 
 approaching the hill from the Sind-bund. I, however, 
 got back just in time to cut them off from the rocks, 
 .and rode them through the bund. I caught one up 
 in a bit of open ground and speared him. Unluckily 
 the spear-blade broke in a bone and I had no second 
 weapon left. I therefore galloped to the hill, seized 
 
230 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 my gun, intercepted bruin en route to his den, and 
 sent a heavy ball through him, and eventually finished 
 him. The other bear escaped ; the troopers pressed 
 him too hard, so he doubled back and got to his den 
 before I could reach him. I might have bagged both 
 animals had I not been drawn away by the false 
 alarm, for they broke cover exactly where I had 
 taken my stand. 
 
 ' On May 6th I moved to Purkeer, and pitched 
 camp in the mango tope. Went to the Black Hill, 
 which lies east of the village, and soon after arriving 
 there, saw a bear walking about. I followed him up- 
 hill towards his den, and when about half way up,, 
 there sat bruin, about eighty yards off, looking at 
 me ! Fired my two-ouncer at him, and the ball, 
 entering his right eye, shattered his head to pieces. 
 He fell dead, without a groan even, at the very 
 entrance of his den. He proved to be a large male. 
 After this I sent Akbur Ali to the top of the hill, 
 where he saw six or seven bears in the bushes. I 
 came upon two more of these animals while walking- 
 round the place, but could not get a shot. I remained 
 on the watch, trying to circumvent them in the moon- 
 light, but I did not succeed, owing to the rocks which 
 shadowed the ground on every side, although I heard 
 the objects of my search growling, so must have been 
 close to them. I got back to the huts at 9 P.M. 
 
 " The next day I went to the hills west of Purkeer. 
 Towards daylight, I rode quietly on to Trooper's Hill 
 (as I have called this clump of rocks), and had just 
 reached it, when a large bear was seen by the markers. 
 I gave chase and soon speared him. He fought 
 gallantly, but after a furious combat and several fine 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 231 
 
 charges, lie fell. At this moment, one of the clogs 
 came up, and going too close to the dying bear was 
 seized by the head. He had an extraordinary escape, 
 but was much mauled. After driving my spear again 
 and again into the bear, the disabled beast let the dog- 
 go. This was an enormous animal. As soon as the 
 fight with this grand old brute was over, a cry of 
 ' Bears ! bears ! ' arose from the markers, so taking a 
 fresh spear I rushed after the view. A male and 
 female appeared making for the rocks. I went for 
 the latter, one being the bigger of the two, and as 
 she kept on charging me I must have killed her, had 
 not my horse become unaccountably violent and un- 
 manageable, so that I could not turn him when 
 necessary. The consequence was that the bear, 
 though desperately wounded, reached her den, where 
 we afterwards heard her crying as if in her death 
 agony. Much disgusted at the turn affairs had taken 
 I faced round and engaged the other brute, who was 
 fighting the dogs and chasing them about. Several 
 deadly thrusts terminated the struggle. 
 
 61 Kode to the Black Hill this morning. A couple 
 of bears appeared, but retreated to their dens as soon 
 as they saw us. We waited patiently till dusk ; but 
 though several more were viewed, none would leave 
 the rocks until just as we were going away, when the 
 two that had tantalised us so last night, descended. 
 I went for them. Though they must have seen me r 
 they quietly pursued ' the even tenor of their way/ 
 permitting me to approach within ten yards. I hit the 
 male with a ball from my heavy rifle, on which a 
 fight ensued between the two. However, just as I 
 had charged my gun, they perceived me, and roaring 
 
232 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 furiously, made a most determined charge. On the 
 foremost bear coming up, I shot him through the 
 chest, on which they both turned off. The dogs were 
 let loose, and brought the wounded beast to bay, 
 which gave me time to run up to within three paces 
 and to put a ball through the maimed brute's head. 
 I also wounded the second one grievously, but in the 
 dusk, she got into a den and escaped. 
 
 "May 7th. Went at dawn to Trooper's Eock. 
 A large bear was seen coming across the plain towards 
 the hill. After a sharp run of half a mile on ' Dicky,' 
 I came up with him and sent the spear with so good 
 an aim through the heart that he fell dead. A very 
 fine male was then seen, a long way off, and I went 
 to meet him ; but ' Dicky ' began his pranks and was 
 so violent that he ran away with me, and I broke my 
 pet spear over his head before bringing him to sub- 
 jection. Taking another spear I soon overtook 
 bruin, whom I wounded and by whom I was charged 
 * instanter.' After wounding him again, as he turned 
 to make a fresh charge, I drove the blade clean 
 through his heart ; he staggered a pace or two and 
 then fell dead. This splendid bear would probably 
 have escaped, had I not had my shikaries posted 
 on the rocks, for their shouts and the barking 
 of the dogs kept him from his sanctuary until I 
 was able to get ' Dicky ' into a proper frame of 
 mind. 
 
 " Went to Black Hill in the morning, saw no bears, 
 but speared a couple of hyaenas. 
 
 " Tuesday. Out early to the Black Hill. Came on 
 a bear while riding along, but the orderly with the 
 rifle was so ' taken aback ' at the sight that he failed 
 
- 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 233 
 
 to hand me the weapon, and the game got off. Meer 
 Saib saw three others. In the evening I went to the 
 same hill. At dusk, a large grey bear came down, 
 and on our pursuing, stood at bay between two rocks, 
 so that to reach him I had to ride up this narrow 
 passage where there was no room to turn. The dogs 
 were barking at him, but no sooner did I approach 
 him, than he charged with such fury as to break my 
 spear (a portion of which remained in him) and knock 
 over my horse 'Punch.' How both escaped, I know 
 not, as the bear, after flooring us, was actually close 
 enough to be touched. Darkness terminated the 
 fracas with the loss of our quarry. Douglas Scott 
 joined to-day. 
 
 " Wednesday. Out early to Trooper's Eock. Scott 
 on * Punch.' Hardly had we arrived when a bear was 
 viewed ; we gave chase and after a short run I speared 
 the unfortunate beast through the heart, but she still 
 went on, so I gave another thrust, when she subsided. 
 In the evening we saw two bears, but did not get 
 either a shot, or a chase. 
 
 " 10th. Out early to Trooper's Eock. On arrival a 
 bear was shown us. She (for it was a female with a 
 cub) charged me when I came near her, and was 
 speared through behind the shoulder ; but my spear 
 bent and became useless, so I had to get another, and 
 after two more gallant charges, I slew her. The cub 
 was also secured. Soon after, another bear was 
 signalled, but got off before we could come up with 
 him. In the afternoon we went to Armoor, distant 
 two miles. Here there are plenty of bears in the 
 immense range of rocks, but it is difficult to get at 
 them. We tried a hill with two toddy trees on it, 
 
234 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 which we christened Palmyra Hill. We here heard 
 of a large brown bear, said to be very fierce, but we 
 could not find him, and saw no game, though the 
 markers on the rocks did. The ground is ridable 
 round this hill. 
 
 "llth. Armoor. Tried Palmyra Hill, but saw 
 nothing. In the evening went to Purkeer Black Hill. 
 Scott saw a ' sounder ' of hog, which* he lost after 
 a long run. I also saw another but failed to get on 
 terms with them. 
 
 " 12th. Tried Trooper's Hill this morning. No 
 bears ; but we saw a hyaena and killed it after much 
 dodging and a severe run. 
 
 " 13th. Moved camp to Balconda, seven miles. 
 
 " 14th. Out very early ; but the game was earlier, 
 and had got to its den. Sent a shikarie to look at a 
 large hill. He reports it blank. 
 
 " Moved to Doodgam, ten miles. 
 
 " Pitched camp on the river bank and passed a 
 cool quiet night. 
 
 " 16th. To Neermul, ten miles. Road good. 
 Bivouacked in a tope about two miles beyond 
 where it is said all kinds of wild beasts come. 
 Went in the evening to some rocks near at hand. 
 Saw indications of panthers and bears. The former 
 are dreadful scourges to the people, and in this very 
 place this night a man was dragged out of his hut by 
 one of those beasts and eaten close to his own thres- 
 hold. This appears to be a common event here. 1 
 
 " At night a tiger got past the fires, syces, sentries 
 and horses, and not far from our beds and servants, 
 
 1 It was near here I had niy adventure with man-eating 
 panthers, a year afterwards, as related further on. 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 235 
 
 into camp, when one of my dogs barked, and all 
 the people, without knowing why, set up a most 
 demoniacal yell. This, fortunately, so alarmed the 
 intruder that in a couple of bounds he was off. I 
 failed to get a shot. We found by his footsteps that 
 lie must have been prowling about us half the night. 
 
 " 17th. Did not go out to-day. Picketed sheep, 
 dressed up as men, in the hopes of enticing a man- 
 eater a very artful dodge suggested by the Cotwal 
 only it did not answer, and indeed appeared to keep 
 the tigers away from our camp, for we were not 
 disturbed. 
 
 " 18th. To Burgaon, six miles. Road bad, water 
 bad, camping ground bad, no shelter, small village. 
 Looked for hog but saw none. Heard of the fight 
 with Rohillas. Poor Bosworth killed and a lot of 
 men. 
 
 "19th. To Apparowpett, ten miles. Road fair, 
 but there are some bad nullahs to cross, running 
 through dense jungle much infested by tigers. The 
 bullocks attached to Scott's hackery were driven to 
 frenzy at the sight of one ; while those carrying packs, 
 threw off their loads, and bolted into the jungle, so 
 my friend's impedimenta was strewn in every direction. 
 My bullocks and horses were also much alarmed at 
 another place, and no sooner had the camp been 
 pitched than a panther was found in the middle of it. 
 On being fired at by a Daffadar, it made off. This 
 is a good sized village, but so haunted by tigers that 
 no one will stir out except in broad daylight. Four 
 bullocks had been killed by them a few days before 
 our arrival near where our camp is. We moved 
 to Seonee, seven and a half miles. 
 
236 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 " Moved camp again in the afternoon to a deserted 
 village. We took the left of the road, via the tank, 
 and I saw an antelope, which I missed. Scott got 
 three shots at Neilghie and floored a fine bull, but he 
 got up and I finished him off with a spear, which 
 broke in the scuffle. I saw a bear, but did not kill. 
 Just as it was getting dark, the guide announced that 
 he did not know where we were ! This was nice, con- 
 sidering the jungle was full of man-eaters, and that we 
 were not aware which way to turn ! I at last took a 
 northerly course and finding a " massaul " tree, we tore 
 off a large part of its bark of which we made torches, 
 and by their light pushed our way through thorns, 
 grass, bushes and jungle, with not a drop of water to be 
 had. We were all done up, so made up our minds 
 to bivouac for the night, when, to my delight and 
 surprise, I hit on the road near Dounra, a deserted 
 village, and only two miles from our camp. Scott, 
 who had taken a line of his own, lost his horse. He 
 saw lots of game, and got to camp soon after we did. 
 There is a nullah with good water near Seonee, but 
 supplies have to be brought from long distances. 
 
 " 20th. Moved to Burra Koompty, five miles. 
 
 " 21st. To Wurhona. twelve miles. 
 
 " From the 22nd of May to 2nd June we wandered 
 over the country, had shots at gaur, near Singie, but 
 got none. On the 2nd we returned to Neermul again. 
 
 "3rd June. To Ghur-Chunda, eighteen miles. 
 Road pretty good at first, but very rough towards 
 the end ; supplies good ; small watercourse. Bears 
 lived, we were told, in the bastion of a ruined fort 
 close to the village, and from never being molested, 
 roamed about in broad daylight ! We went to look 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 237 
 
 at the place in the evening, and soon saw a couple 
 
 near their den ; we waited behind the rocks to let 
 
 them come well out. While doing so, a large bear 
 
 was seen quietly walking about among the low thin 
 
 jungle beyond the village. I ran down the hill, 
 
 quietly mounted ' Dicky ' and gave chase. Bruin stood 
 
 looking at me in amazement till I got close, and then 
 
 he legged it into the jungle. I came up and speared 
 
 him behind the shoulder. My compliment was 
 
 returned by his charging furiously, and very nearly 
 
 getting hold of my nag. Soon afterwards he sat 
 
 down among some rocks. As I rode up, he charged 
 
 viciously, which I stopped by driving my spear right 
 
 through his body. He now took refuge on the top of 
 
 a small rocky hill, and as he would not leave it, and 
 
 my horse could not go near him, I dismounted, 
 
 walked up to him and drove my spear through his 
 
 heart. Still the game foe charged with great fury, 
 
 and drove followers and self dow T n the rock. He, 
 
 however, fell dead in this his last effort. I rode back 
 
 towards the hill where Scott was waiting to get a shot 
 
 at the bears. But being told that another beast was 
 
 in the maidan (plain), I turned off and went for him. 
 
 It being now moonlight I only saw the bear when I 
 
 was close upon him, and as I pursued him he rushed 
 
 for ' Dicky ' and very nearly caught him. Luckily 
 
 my spear took the assailant in the back, and rolled 
 
 him over, under my nag's feet, who was thus compelled 
 
 to jump over the quarry. My weapon was broken by 
 
 the shock, but the bladed portion remained in the 
 
 bear; nevertheless he made at me open-mouthed. 
 
 Before I could get another spear ' Dicky ' became so 
 
 violent that the plucky brute, though very severely 
 
238 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 wounded, ultimately escaped. Another bear was 
 spied by a coolie, but I failed to see him. 
 
 " 4th June. Grhur-Chunda. Went out very early 
 but saw nothing. Followed yesterday's bear by the 
 blood, but failed to recover the game. About 1 1 A.M., 
 while sitting in the tents, Meer Saib reported that 
 there were four bears coming across the maidan to 
 the hill, but though we got on our horses as fast 
 as we could, we were too late to prevent them 
 reaching their stronghold. In the evening we sat 
 over the dens. After dusk, one came out and took 
 up a position under a tree. Scott fired and hit 
 him, and as he attempted to run, I sent a ball through 
 his body, but although we then lost him, owing to 
 the darkness, his body was found a little way off. 
 In the night we were roused by a cry of " Bears ! " and 
 now occurred rather an uncommon adventure. 
 Taking our guns, we ran out as we were, in our 
 f pyjamas/ and slippers, and after pursuing the 
 animal for some distance without getting a sight of 
 him, I got disgusted, and was returning to the tents 
 when the horses were brought up. The moon at 
 this hour was very bright, so I mounted, and after 
 cantering a short way saw an enormous male bear. 
 As soon as I came within some thirty yards, he turned 
 and charged with a loud roar. I rode at him and the 
 spear entering his neck, broke by the force of the 
 collision. I soon got another weapon and continued 
 the ' run.' Scott in the meanwhile rode after him, 
 but on bruin charging, his horse, a very high-caste 
 Arab, shied off, which was not to be wondered at, as 
 we were riding without spurs, almost bare-footed. 
 The bear chased him for some distance, but on my 
 
Bears (Asiatic]. 239 
 
 coming up, rushed at me with great ferocity, but 
 though I stopped him by driving my spear more 
 than a foot deep into his head, yet such was the 
 force of his charge that it broke to shivers. Thus 
 were my two pet spears, with one of which I had 
 previously slain eight bears, hors de combat. As 
 Scott could not get his horse to close, he gave me 
 his weapon, and though bruin had got into fearfully 
 holey cotton ground, I managed to wound him several 
 times. On the last occasion, the bear was so nearly 
 seizing my horse, that he had raised himself on his 
 hind ]egs to do it, but I just managed to get out of 
 his reach, leaving my spear in him. One of my 
 servants now came up, and gave me a hog spear, and 
 drove my large bear spear into bruin's hindquarters'! 
 The bear seized the shaft and broke it to pieces, but 
 while he was thus engaged I rolled him over dead 
 with a thrust through the heart. Thus ended my 
 first encounter with a bear by moonlight, and con- 
 sidering that we were in our night costume, and that 
 the brute w T as of great size and ferocity, it may be 
 pronounced a very satisfactory bit of ' shikar.' 
 
 " 5th June. Out early this morning but saw 
 nothing. In the evening went to the old 'boorj/ 
 and made ourselves comfortable with carpets, lemon- 
 ade and books till just about dark, when Ramdeen, a 
 sepoy, whistled. I went down to him and he showed 
 me a bear a little way off ; as soon as he moved I 
 knocked him over with ' Poll ' and then both Scott 
 and I hit him again. He managed to get down 
 nearly to the foot of the hill, though again wounded 
 by me. I then went up and speared him, but 
 finding he had a good deal of strength remaining, I 
 
240 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 left my spear in him, and finished him off with a 
 ball through the head. 
 
 " 6th June. About 10 last night, we were again 
 roused, and told a bear was near the tents. We 
 mounted our horses and went for him, but to our 
 disgust found him returning up the hill. I tried to 
 get a shot among the rocks, but could not. We 
 returned to our beds to sleep, but in about another 
 hour we were again woke up and told that Mr. Bruin 
 was at hand. At first, thinking it was useless to 
 attempt to ride, I tried to get a shot, but finding I 
 could not, I got on ' Dicky,' and followed Scott, already 
 mounted. Scott rode near bruin, but could not get up 
 to him owing to his horse refusing to close, so I passed 
 him and speared the bear, who ran in among some 
 rocks, where I had to follow him no pleasant thing 
 ' by the light of the moon ' and being merely en 
 deshabille both Scott and I suffered considerably 
 from the thorns ; bruin now passed through the jungle y 
 beyond the rocks, and took across the maidan. On 
 my nearing him, he charged and received my spear 
 through his heart. He had strength enough left, 
 however, to make one more furious rush, which 
 smashed a spear. This was the brave beast's last 
 effort. 
 
 " In the morning we walked to the hill and stood 
 on the 'boorj,' meaning to put some crackers into a 
 neighbouring den. Before we could do so, two bears 
 suddenly rushed forth, one of whom I instantly 
 knocked over with ' Poll ' and another gun. Scott 
 fired, but missed the second bear, which took across 
 the plain. I ran down, mounted, and after a long 
 run delivered my spear in a charge. Immediately 
 
Bears (Asiatic). 241 
 
 after this animal retreated into thickish jungle, so that 
 I could not easily get at him. At last I gave him a 
 desperate wound behind the shoulder, but he still ran 
 on, and the jungle became so dense that I could not 
 retain my view of him, more especially as ' Bull ' 
 suddenly became mute. I can't imagine how the 
 bear got away, but escape he did. I returned to the 
 hill, and found that Scott had finished my bear with 
 three more shots. While doing this, three bears rushed 
 out close to him, but luckily did not charge, so that he 
 was able to wound them all, having the greater part of 
 my battery at hand. The big female went into a den, 
 streaming with blood from various wounds, one of 
 them inflicted by ' Poll.' Scott also knocked a cub 
 off her back with a bullet, and the third bear also got 
 into the den. When I arrived, I found the female 
 crawling out of one of the dens, so shot her dead. 
 Having put lighted straw into the caves, out rushed 
 a bear. Both Scott and I wounded him, in fact he was 
 in chase of one of my coolies when I stopped him by 
 a two-ounce ball. The coolie in his fright fell with 
 his head against a rock, and remained senseless for an 
 hour or more. Bruin now ran round the rocks, and 
 Meer Saib hit him in the head, after which he got a 
 salvo from us. This rough treatment caused him to 
 make for a cave, down to the bottom of which I sent 
 him with ' Poll.' Upon the dead bear that was lying 
 in the cave he now turned his wrath, so I had to go 
 down into it with lighted straw to dispense the 
 coup de grace. This was objected to from a rifle, 
 so finally I had to crawl into the den, and finish him 
 off with my spear. On the coolies going to remove 
 the bodies, the remaining cub charged them, but was 
 
242 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 soon knocked on the head. So much for Ghur- 
 Chunda. On arrival we were told that twelve bears 
 lived there. We bagged ten and mortally wounded 
 the other two. With the exception of the cubs, all 
 had been the terror of the natives, several of whom 
 they had killed, and mauled and disfigured many 
 others ; in fact their ferocious characters made it 
 doubtful whether they or the residents were masters 
 of the situation. 
 
 " On the 7th and 8th of June, two bears were 
 wounded, but lost. On the 9th there were no less 
 than twelve bears on foot, but we did not bag one. 
 On the 10th, llth, and 12th we wounded several 
 bears, but only secured one. There our hunting trip 
 may be said to have ended, but we did not return to 
 cantonments until the 20th." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SAMBUE. 
 
 Cervus Aristotdis. 
 
 I AM convinced that there are two varieties of this 
 deer, one which inhabits the mountain districts of 
 the far east, and the other frequents its vast plains, 
 principally those of Burma. The former is a prize worth 
 obtaining ; the latter, although nearly its equal in size, 
 yet has insignificant horns, and is all but devoid of 
 the mane which is so conspicuous in the first 
 mentioned. Another peculiarity of the sambur of 
 the plains, is, that almost every one, in the hot 
 season, at all events, has a sore or abrasion of the skin 
 underneath the neck, about the size of a shilling? 
 caused, the Burmese assert, by its rubbing against 
 fallen timber to get rid of parasites. In Burma, the 
 " rusas " begin to shed their horns in June or July. 
 The marsh deer in Assam do not lose theirs until 
 October and November. All these deer are possessed 
 of immense vitality, and will go away with wounds that 
 would stop the progress of any other game. " The 
 Old Forest Hanger " mentions a case of a sambur stag- 
 going off with thirteen well-placed bullets, and I have 
 myself put eight belted balls (No. 10 bore) in a moderate- 
 
 R 2 
 
244 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 sized male before he fell. I have known another shot 
 through the heart run for two hundred yards before 
 dropping. Steaks of the sambur, cooked like beef 
 are scarcely to be distinguished from the real article. 
 The marrow bones and tongue are unexceptional, but 
 the greater portion of the carcase is coarse, and as it 
 cannot be hung is very tough, so is seldom used in 
 cuisine if other flesh is procurable. The " bell " of a 
 rusa can be heard a long way off and when disturbed 
 by the approach of a tiger or some other dangerous 
 animal, they make the surrounding country resound 
 with this alarm. As they are essentially gregarious, 
 a stag is generally accompanied by several hinds. 
 The very old and therefore those worthy of the greater 
 attention of the sportsman are often, however, 
 " solitaire," like males of the bo vines, elephants, &c. 
 Although generally a timid animal, I have had a doe 
 stand and look steadily at me whilst I have, off 
 an elephant's back, fired three or four shots at her 
 head, the only part visible, the bullets striking the 
 trunks of the saplings amongst which she was stand- 
 ing without causing her to move a muscle ! I have shot 
 this animal in many parts of India, Assam and Burma, 
 and I once witnessed a fight between two stags which 
 is worth relating. 
 
 I was on Bison Hill had in fact just arrived when 
 the shikarie sent with me by Linga Eeddy, said, if I 
 liked he could show me some deer not far off. So 
 taking my rifle, and giving an extra one to him, we 
 went along a spur of the lull leading towards the 
 gorge of the Godavery Eiver. We had to pass 
 through several patches of long grass, clumps of 
 bamboos, and at last, when about a mile from camp, 
 
Sambur. 245 
 
 we came upon a most park-like scene. Right in front 
 of us, extending fully three-quarters of a mile, 
 there lay a broad expanse of country, relieved from 
 monotony by undulations, and with clumps of trees so 
 arranged, as to look as if artificially planted by some 
 landscape gardener. I have never seen a more 
 picturesque spot in my life, the further extremity 
 ending on almost a precipice, beneath which the deep 
 waters of the Godavery flowed along peacefully with- 
 out a ripple, exemplifying the old saying that " still 
 waters run deep," for just there the river is supposed to 
 be unfathomable. Steep as is the declivity, here and 
 there, narrow paths sloped downwards to the heavily 
 wooded country, in which the mighty stags repose 
 during the day. The formation of this succession of 
 hills is most peculiar. They are composed almost 
 entirely of laterite, and anything moving fast over 
 it, causes a reverberation which can be heard a long 
 way off. 'Moreover the sides are perpendicular, often 
 forty, fifty and more feet, over which nothing can 
 pass except at far apart places where there are 
 narrow shoulders sloping down to the valleys which 
 separate these tablelands, and along which various 
 animals travel. The general height of these hills is 
 about 2,300 to 2,500 feet. Where we were, the grass 
 was only about thirty-six inches high, over which we 
 made for the shelter of a clump of bamboos. When 
 peeping beyond them, I saw three or four hinds feed- 
 ing a little way off. Within thirty yards of them 
 was a huge prostrate tree, and creeping on hands and 
 knees we got under the shelter of its trunk not that 
 I intended to do the does any harm but to lie in 
 wait for a stag, which it was more than probable would 
 
246 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 turn up. We were now within fifty paces of the edge 
 of the tableland. On one side, to our right, even 
 almost with the surface of the country, was the crown 
 of a tall tree, a wild mango, the roots being in the 
 ground fully 120 feet below. The laterite " cropped " 
 over, forming a ledge, a good deal hollowed out under- 
 neath. So a lead line dropped from the edge would 
 have touched a natural terrace, on which a few trees, 
 including the tall mango, grew, below which again 
 there was a sheer fall of about twenty feet, and then a 
 slope which ended in a narrow but dry watercourse 
 which divided that hill from the next. These 
 particulars are requisite to explain what followed. I 
 had lain perdu perhaps a quarter of an hour, when 
 first one doe and then another pricked up their ears 
 and looked to our right. We gazed in that direction 
 too, and saw presently the tips of a splendid pair of 
 antlers. The warrior who carried them seemed in no 
 hurry. It was not the rutting season, or probably he- 
 would have been a little quicker. While looking in 
 the direction of the advancing beauty, the shikari e 
 touched me on the shoulder and pointed to an 
 altogether opposite course, and there, equally slowly 
 marching along, was another stag, for all the world 
 the duplicate of the one on the right. I anticipated 
 some fun as I w r as sure these gay Lotharios would 
 not agree, for although the hinds would not then 
 accept their attentions, I have no doubt the object in 
 view was to ingratiate themselves with the does and 
 walk off with them, for more ardent advances at 
 a future date. I fancy the one on the right was the 
 lawful owner of the harem, the one on the left an 
 intruder, as he advanced quicker and immediately 
 
Sainbur. 247 
 
 began to caress the hinds. When number one looked 
 up and saw as it were a, twin stag taking liberties 
 with his wives, he drew himself up to his full height, 
 gave a snort, and trotted towards his rival, who, in no 
 way embarrassed, devoted his attentions first to one 
 and then to another of the ladies. But though 
 apparently ignoring the advent of No. 1 stag, No. 2 
 had his eyes open, and when the other was within a 
 yard of him, he faced round and charged at his foe. 
 The two met, as we read knights did of old. Great 
 was the crash, neither gave away an inch. It was a 
 case of "push devil, push baker." The hinds col- 
 lected in a cluster and came nearer us, and looked on 
 as interested spectators of a grand combat. They were 
 splendidly matched the suborbital glands were 
 extended to the utmost ; fury glared out of their eyes 
 as they determinedly opposed each other. The fight 
 lasted about ten minutes. No. 2 stag must have been 
 in better wind and perhaps a little stronger, so forced 
 his rival backwards foot by foot. After a few vicious 
 prods, which inflicted wounds, they both retreated 
 backwards a few paces, then bounded forward and 
 again met in conflict ; this time No. 2 stumbled, 
 and his antagonist gave him a severe prod in the 
 side, which rolled him over. He then retreated a 
 yard or two, preparatory to a final effort to extinguish 
 his opponent, but it was evident that the latter was 
 not a novice, for he was on his feet instantly, jumped 
 aside, evaded the thrust, and in turn rolled over his 
 adversary and knelt on him. They were both pretty 
 well exhausted, but not much damage had been done 
 in the rough and tumble scramble. Finally both got 
 on their feet together, but their antlers were inter- 
 
248 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 locked, and, in endeavouring to extricate themselves, 
 they approached the edge of the tableland and, before 
 I could raise my gun to fire, toppled over. We 
 rushed to the edge and there, 120 feet below us, 
 jammed between the mango tree and the edge of the 
 precipice, lay these two warriors dead ! The hinds 
 went off about a hundred yards when they saw us, 
 then turned round and stared at us, but we did not 
 molest them. There was no means of descending to 
 where the stags were lying, so I went back to camp, 
 where I arrived about dark, and sent a party out with 
 torches to bring in the trophies. They even could 
 not disunite the two heads, so cut them off and 
 transported them home as they were. I should 
 have liked to have sent them to a taxidermist, but as 
 none was within three thousand miles, I skinned the 
 heads and retained the skulls with the horns interlaced. 
 Then, foolishly, I sent them with other trophies 
 Collected during fifteen years to a friend, but he 
 became insane. Thinking that my treasures were all 
 hung in his hall in Suffolk, I did not move in the 
 matter for some time ; but on visiting his home I saw 
 only a few specimens, so after inquiries I discovered 
 that, after lying in the Customs warehouses for years 
 in Liverpool, the collection I had been at the trouble 
 and expense of securing, had been sold by auction to 
 defray expenses. Who got them or what became of 
 them, I could never find out. 
 
 In 1863, when on " leave" to the Neilgherry Hills, 
 I made the acquaintance of the late General Douglas 
 Hamilton, and he very kindly placed his hut and his 
 shikarie at my disposal. His bungalow at Ooty was 
 a curiosity, the walls were covered with innumerable 
 
Sambur. 249 
 
 horns and heads of gaur, sambur, spotted deer, bark- 
 ing deer, also tiger and leopard heads and skins. I 
 admired the sambur horns in particular, but I am 
 afraid I riled the worthy sportsman by saying that the 
 cow gaur in Burma could show better horns than the 
 largest bull's head which he possessed ; and as in this 
 trip I also came across the so-called Neilgherry ibex, 1 
 I will describe the beast here as I have only shot a 
 few specimens. Francis, the shikarie, went on two 
 clays ahead of me. We encamped on the Ooty side 
 of the great valley. Starting at daylight next morn- 
 ing, and looking down a natural slope, I was amazed to 
 see almost every crag occupied by an ibex. There must 
 have been over a hundred visible, nor did the herds 
 seem alarmed, but were somewhat cuddled together as 
 if for warmth, for at 5 A.M. on the top of the range, 
 the thermometer does not stand many degrees above 
 freezing point. I took out my binoculars, but even 
 with its aid I could only see one " saddle back," and 
 he was on an eminence, beyond his flock. I could 
 have killed a doe or perhaps two, but I had not come 
 all this way for that purpose. What I required was 
 a good head or two to add to my collection. How 
 to get within range of the old ram was the puzzle. 
 There was a nullah to my right rear, and, by following 
 it, I might reach a point whence I could get a shot. 
 I crawled along the side of the ravine, and when I 
 thought I was within about thirty yards of Master 
 Billy, I looked over the side, but the large male had 
 disappeared, and only kids and females were in view. 
 Francis now touched me and moved away, I following. 
 
 1 Hemitragus Hylocrius, closely allied to the Himalayan tahir. 
 They are wild goats not ibex. 
 
250 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 We went along the hollow, which was more of a 
 crevice than a nullah, following its upward course. 
 Very soon the walking became very bad and we had 
 to pick our way carefully among the various debris 
 which lay scattered about, for if we made the slightest 
 noise we knew the chances of a shot would be remote. 
 For fully half an hour we steadily ascended and, 
 rounding a point, on our right was a high conical 
 peak. I carefully scanned every crag, but could not 
 see a single ibex ; we still went on, the nullah winding 
 until we got very nearly to its source : here we left 
 it and, going through a belt of undersized trees, 
 again emerged on to open ground. To the left, 
 scattered in groups of five and six, there must have 
 been fifty ibex, but not an old one among them ! 
 Nearest to me, about a hundred yards off, stood a fair- 
 sized buck. I took a careful sight and fired ; the 
 animal dropped, but something lay struggling on the 
 ground beyond, the whole flock, were now off at 
 full gallop. I again fired at my victim, but before 
 the bullet could have left the barrel, the goat ceased 
 its efforts ; it was dead. Francis promptly pushed the 
 second rifle, an express '577, into my hand and 
 pointed eagerly to the left, and there, going at his best 
 pace and fully 200 yards away, was a huge black goat, 
 with the unmistakable white saddle back. My first 
 shot struck in a good line, but a little too far forward, 
 but it was near enough to cause the animal to partially 
 pause and then bound forward. Just at that moment I 
 again fired ; the result was a stumble, but the beast 
 picked himself up and ran on three legs, for the off fore- 
 arm was broken. We marked the direction that he 
 took, as Francis said he would not go far, but lie up in 
 
Ncilgherry Ibex and Sainbnr. 251 
 
 a small " shola " in our front. On approaching the 
 first buck we found an ewe also dead ; the bullet after 
 passing through the ram had struck her in the neck. 
 Now commenced one of the hardest fags I have ever 
 undergone, but I was determined to have that " saddle 
 back," even if I had to sleep on his trail all night. 
 His track we soon found, and a fair quantity of blood 
 along it. Sure enough he was in the shola, but on 
 the further side. We had to track him carefully as 
 the undergrowth was somewhat thick, and all the 
 satisfaction we got was hearing him rush out, without 
 even getting a sight of him. I ran forward, but came 
 an awful cropper, my foot catching in a trailing vine. 
 After I picked myself up, I saw a glimpse of the 
 tail of the animal as he wound round a rocky peak. 
 He was going strong, but did not face the steep 
 ascent, selecting for his course the side of the valley. 
 I fancy he did not like irregular ground, with only 
 three legs to trust to. We were at fault once or 
 twice, for the ground became rocky and there was but 
 very little blood ; but making way for Francis, that 
 experienced shikarie took up the trail like a well- 
 trained hound, and though our progress was slow it 
 was sure. While my attendant was looking down 
 examining the ground, I happened to cast my eyes 
 to the left and just saw the tips of a fine pair of 
 antlers. The owner was going away with lowered head, 
 but he had not caught our eyes (a beast will often 
 gaze upon a man until the eyes meet and then he will 
 bound off) ; so the buck was not unduly alarmed, 
 thus he stopped for a moment to take a backward 
 glance. I fired and heard the " thud " of the bullet. 
 Francis turned round, thinking it was the old ram I 
 
252 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 had shot at, and catching sight of the big stag said it 
 was one Hamilton had been in chase of for the last two 
 or three years, as he had a white mark down the 
 rump, where he had been clawed by a leopard. 
 Marking the spot up to which we had followed the 
 goat, we took up the trail of the stag. I fired 
 altogether eleven shots at him of which we found 
 nine had taken effect before we secured our quarry, 
 and a noble beast it was too, with splendid antlers, 
 each over thirty-seven inches from the burr to the 
 tip. By the time we had secured the game we were 
 fully three miles or more away from where we had 
 first seen it, so we had tiffin and rested a little. 
 Instead of retracing our steps, Francis took a bee line 
 straight up a steep hill, saying the ram would be in 
 the " shola " on the other side. Climbing that hill was 
 a " buster," but it saved us several miles. When we 
 reached the top, I found we had to descend fully five 
 hundred feet, the hill top itself being as bare as a 
 bone. On our downward course we put up several ewes 
 and kids, but let them alone, although I was sorely 
 tempted to shoot one of the latter for the pot. It was 
 now past two ; and Francis said the buck would be stiff, 
 so lie close. I ready to pull the triggers at the least 
 sound, entered the " shola." Immediately there 
 was a rustle. I fired more at the noise than at any- 
 thing I saw, and as I did so up got the ram. I caught 
 him with the left barrel, but he went on ; but, strange 
 to say, I found that with my first shot I had killed a 
 wild dog, which I have no doubt had been after the 
 wounded quarry. As the skin was a very good one, 
 Francis placed the dead animal among a group of 
 rocks, saying he would have it brought in when he 
 
Neilgherry Ibex and Sambur. 253 
 
 sent for the stag. Resuming our tracking we soon 
 found that the old " saddle back " was not only hard 
 hit, but was a knowing old brute ; for though we 
 started him two or three times, I did not get another 
 shot at him till close on 4 P.M. Fortunately he was 
 unable to go over bad ground, so picked his way along 
 the most level country he could find. Finally with a 
 snap shot I killed him, not a mile from the camp. He 
 had a good head, horns close on fourteen inches. I 
 hunted for three more days, but only got one other 
 " saddle back," and that not nearly the equal of the 
 first I obtained. During this trip I saw several 
 sambur, but none as large as the stag that I had 
 killed, so was content with having slain the monarch 
 of the glen. 
 
 Sambur shooting in Burma is so mixed up with 
 general shooting that I propose having a few words to- 
 say about it hereafter. 
 
 Marsh- deer (Rucervus Davaucellii). This deer is 
 widely distributed. It is found in various parts of 
 India and I have shot it near the Godavery, but no- 
 wiiere is it more plentiful than in Assam. Its habitat 
 does not extend to Burma. Very few deer in the 
 wild state in the East carry much fat, but the marsh 
 or swamp deer is an exception, for I have shot them 
 in such condition that lumps of fat, nearly the size 
 of my fist, have come through the bullet holes. Many 
 of the stags carry very fine heads and it is not un- 
 common to find them possess eighteen points, although 
 twelve to fourteen is more usual. I once saw a head, 
 not a large one by any means, which had no less than 
 twenty-seven tines, but they were mostly stunted. 
 Of course the head was valuable as a curiosity. 
 
254 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 On one occasion I was near Loqua-Ghat and want- 
 ing meat for my people I went out to get any- 
 thing I could obtain for the pot. I tried first ground 
 that was considerably higher than that surrounding 
 it. The new grass was a nice height, and ere long I 
 saw several herds of doe swamp deer, but I preferred a 
 stag if I could find one. Although there were several 
 brockets in sight I had to hunt about in unburnt 
 patches before I came across a mature buck. The 
 first I killed had its horns still covered with velvet- 
 yet the greater part of the antlers had formed, although 
 the tips were still soft. Thinking all the stags would 
 be in the same state, I killed two hinds, then rolled 
 over another, which kept turning head over heels, 
 apparently being unable to get up. In its gyrations 
 it fell into a nullah, the banks of which were so rotten 
 and steep that I had to make a detour to get to where 
 the doe had lain, to all appearance in the last gasp. 
 When I got to where she should have been, she was 
 non est ! what became of her I cannot tell. I can 
 only imagine that a tiger must have carried her off. 
 I then came across a large rhinoceros, hit it, and 
 whilst going full pelt in pursuit, my elephant almost 
 kicked up a marsh stag. As I fired, the poor brute 
 sprang up into the air, and then kept bounding on 
 its hind legs and falling down ; at last it lay on its 
 side breathing heavily. I got down to give it the 
 -coup de grace , and to examine the head to see whether 
 the horns had formed. Two does had already been 
 hal-laled, thus there was plenty of meat for all ; so I 
 suppose I must have approached the moribund beast 
 incautiously, for it instantly sprang up and made a 
 vicious prod at me. I jumped aside and as I did so 
 
Ibex and Sambur. 255 
 
 fell, and the stag still had enough life left to con- 
 tinue its assault ; however I caught it a blow on the 
 nose with the full force of my right foot armed with 
 a shooting boot, and in a moment after I seized it 
 by the antlers, when there was a brief struggle, for 
 the poor wretch was dying fast, being shot through 
 the lungs, so I had no great difficulty in throwing it 
 on its side and cutting its throat. This was a lesson 
 not to be forgotten, so I never again approached a 
 stag in so careless a manner. The horns, though still 
 in velvet, were perfectly formed, and when their 
 envelope peeled off, very handsome. In the dooars, 
 at the foot of the Himalya or Bhootan range, these deer 
 are literally in thousands. After the stag has shed his 
 horns, which takes place in October and November, 
 he retires to some remote locality and keeps in hiding 
 till they are fully matured. Their growth is very 
 rapid, for they will have acquired their full size in 
 three or four months, but the velvet is not shed till 
 towards the end of May or early in June. Gracefully 
 formed, they are smaller than the sambur, but larger 
 than the thamine or brow-antlered deer. Marshy 
 localities are their haunts that is, they feed on aquatic 
 plants, standing often in water up to their bellies, 
 but always retire to perfectly dry land to rest. In 
 the rutting season, combats between the stags are 
 frequent, and occasionally one or both antagonists 
 are killed or die of their wounds. As well as sambur 
 they are affected by disease or murrain, and I have 
 seen not only these deer, but buffaloes, lying dead by 
 the dozen. When that occurs tigers and vultures, as 
 well as jackals, " have a high old time " and feed to 
 repletion. 
 
256 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Thamin (Cervus frontalis). Hog-deer (Cervus 
 porcinus). There are two varieties of the thamin 
 one that inhabits Burma and Siam, and the other 
 Manipur. The basal antler of the latter is longer and 
 a continuation of the main horn, slightly bent upwards 
 and forward, and often there are no terminal branches 
 even in a full-grown stag, whilst with the former there 
 are always terminal branches, the basal and main horn 
 forming more of an angle and less of a curve. In size 
 they are larger than a spotted deer, but less than the 
 marsh deer. In proportion to their height they have 
 large and graceful antlers. I have shot them with six 
 tines on each beam, but often there are excrescences 
 which might almost be counted as points. They are 
 gregarious, live in open " quins " or plains surrounded 
 by forest, and a herd of from twenty to thirty members 
 is not unusual. As a rule they are very wary and 
 difficult to get near, but after the first rains have fallen 
 the graceful creatures are so tormented by gad flies, 
 that their whole attention is taken up in knocking off 
 those pests, so provided the wind be favourable, a wary 
 hunter should have no difficulty in getting within 
 shot. Hog-deer abound everywhere in Assam and 
 Burma, but are not plentiful in India, being found 
 in only a few localities far apart. They run like 
 hares and are anything but easy to shoot with ball, 
 although they lie very close ; so if you want meat 
 for the camp, use shot, when you can bowl them 
 over as easily as rabbits, but at the same time they 
 possess great vitality and I have seen one run before 
 it fell a hundred yards and more with the entrails 
 trailing. In the monsoon they are more or less 
 spotted, the young invariably so. They can be easily 
 
Marsh Deer. 257 
 
 tamed when caught young, and make pretty pets, 
 but are very destructive, eating cloth, paper, etc. 
 The males lie up in high grass and creep along in front 
 of an elephant for all the world like a feline, and many a 
 time, with my heart in my mouth I have been on the 
 qui vive for a view of Master Stripes, when at last 
 only a wretched little deer lias bounded forth. They, 
 as well as the barking and " four-horned " deer, are 
 excellent eating. 
 
 I was out with Lloyd in one of the early sixties. 
 We sent on our camp to Banlong and followed a few 
 days afterwards in boats. By starting at 4 P.M. we 
 usually arrived at our destination about 6 A.M. next 
 day. I had a house built at Myet-quin, about ten 
 miles inland. Game of nearly every variety abounded, 
 for there were no villages to speak of, only a few Karen 
 huts scattered about, so the wild animals were seldom 
 disturbed. Near my shooting-box there was an 
 extensive bheel or jheel, with an ample supply of 
 water, but further inland there was only one pool, 
 which was composed more of liquid mud than any- 
 thing else, but which sufficed for the wants of the 
 denizens of that vast tract. Salt-licks also were 
 numerous, an unfailing attraction to all bovines and 
 deer, and, it is even said, of felines. This pool, 
 called by the Burmese Gna-Eein, in the dry season 
 was full of fish resembling the Indian murrul, and our 
 mahouts used frequently to wade in and by groping 
 about catch many weighing from one to three pounds. 
 As long as there was water in this pool, game, especially 
 big game, abounded. We tried hunting its locality at 
 various seasons, but found May to be the best month, 
 for earlier the annual fires take place, causing the wild 
 
 s 
 
258 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 beasts to keep on the move ; later on the rains have 
 set in, whilst in the cold season, November, December 
 and January, the grass becomes twenty feet high. 
 
 May 4th. i was the first to reach our destina- 
 tion, my boat being faster than Lloyd's ; so I ordered 
 all the elephants, which had arrived the evening 
 before, to be got ready and packed for an immediate 
 march inland, then sent for the three shikaries, 
 Shoay-jah, Monwine and Shoayoo. Because en route 
 thamine and hog deer abounded I did not send the 
 camp ahead. Lloyd arrived about 7 A.M. There was 
 no delay, so mounting our ponies and followed by 
 the shikaries we went on. In the first two miles our 
 route lay across paddy fields then dry, of course- 
 afterwards we entered a forest of various trees which 
 extended for three miles. On emerging from it, in front 
 of us the country consisted of patches of open ground, 
 long grass, and belts of forest. The shikaries now 
 went ahead, while the syces were told to be near to 
 hold our steeds in case of any game turning up. 
 Before long we saw several doe thamine, but would 
 not fire at them, as they were numerous close to our 
 hut in the " quin." We also disturbed a few hog- 
 deer. We had gone half way through the first plain, 
 when in a small tope we saw standing, somewhat 
 apart, a couple of stags. Dismounting, we attempted 
 to stalk them, but they had heard us and went off 
 long before we got within shot. This country we 
 both knew, having hunted over it many times, so 
 separated, Lloyd with Shoay-jah going one way, 
 I with the other two men went another. I made 
 straight for the " quin," sending my pony on by the 
 path, as he could not scramble through such ground 
 
Deer. 259 
 
 as I had to walk over. In many places the surface 
 would be quite smooth and covered with short grass, 
 in others (very marshy in the rains), there would be 
 a series of hummocks made, it is said, by worms- 
 covered with creepers and vines, most difficult and 
 fatiguing to traverse ; then grass from three to four 
 and more feet high, just the place for a lurking tiger ; 
 would occur. It is no joke crossing this description of 
 country on foot, but we did not often do it, preferring 
 to be on elephants, but this day something induced 
 us to try " shanks's mare," and I for one was heartily 
 sorry, long before I got to our destination, being dead 
 beat and in fear that I should have a sun-stroke. The 
 only thing I saw was a rock snake, in a dormant state, 
 about fifteen feet long. It had evidently swallowed 
 a hog-deer, for the projections made by the small 
 horns were visible within it. I never spare a snake, 
 so although in a good hunting country, I put a ball 
 through its head. Thank goodness, at last I got 
 into a forest free of jungle, fair to walk in, and with 
 shade overhead most grateful. I heard Lloyd fire 
 three or four times. He was an excellent shot, good 
 rider and cricketer, in fact good all round, but 
 rather excitable and somewhat jealous out shoot- 
 ing. Myet-quin was now in sight. How I longed 
 to get there and pour water over my heated brain, for 
 my head felt as if on fire. The exertion and sun com- 
 bined had unquestionably been too much for me. 
 We were moving noiselessly along when the tips of a 
 pair of antlers to our left caught my eye, but the 
 animal itself was invisible, so signing to the shikaries 
 to stand still, I crept forward, and got within fifty 
 yards of a fine stag, lying down, busily engaged in 
 
 S 2 
 
260 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 shaking and knocking off flies, but in the position he 
 lay I could only fire at the back of his head or into his 
 rump. I was so unsteady and shaky that I was afraid 
 I should miss, but resting my rifle up against the 
 trunk of a sapling, holding my breath, and steadying 
 myself as much as I could, I drew a bead on to the 
 back of the skull, and on pulling the trigger was 
 delighted to see the animal's head fall forward, the 
 body stretch out, a few convulsive quivers of the legs 
 and feet, when all was still, with the exception of my 
 own head, that ached and racked as if it would burst. 
 Leaving the shikaries to bring in the deer, I hurried 
 to the hut, and put up many hog-deer on the way, 
 but let them severely alone. The servants had arrived, 
 so I was soon in the bath-room, and a dozen chatties 
 of water over my head somewhat relieved my pains. 
 Putting on my " pyjamas " and nightshirt, I lay down 
 and kept quiet for the rest of the day. Lloyd turned 
 up about an hour after I did. He had shot a doe 
 thamine and a young sambur stag, and had been in 
 chase of a herd of " t'sine " or wild cattle. 
 
 In the evening he went out again and brought in 
 two "da la el " (hog-deer) and a peacock. The latter 
 was converted into mulligatawny soup, and the small 
 deer afforded excellent chops and joints, while the 
 sambur and the thamine were handed over to the 
 camp followers. 
 
 My two shikaries went off to some Karen huts 
 about two miles further in the jungle and returned with 
 one of the inhabitants, who reported having seen 
 tracks upon tracks of game of all sorts. The only 
 drawback, he said, was that the jungles had not been 
 thoroughly burnt, as a good deal of rain had fallen in 
 
Mixed Sport. 261 
 
 March and April and put a stop to the process, but 
 it is an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and 
 though the rains had spoi]t the burning, they had 
 filled the Gna-Eein, and other pools in the jungles, 
 near which we should be sure to get good sport. 
 Early next morning we were on our elephants, Lloyd 
 on a tusker belonging to the commissariat and I on 
 my own "hattie." We had eight more as beaters 
 and for carrying game. I may here say, that there 
 are no professional shikaries like those in India to be 
 found in Burma, yet every village of any importance 
 has a man or two who kills game and sells it to the 
 people, but for a long time we could not induce them 
 to accompany us. In the first place, they did not 
 want their own preserves, or what they considered as 
 such, to be encroached upon, as it would have deprived 
 them of their profits, and, secondly, they had an idea 
 that if any European came to grief, they would be 
 blamed and perhaps hanged ! Of the niceties of 
 sport they knew nothing, were not good trackers, but 
 they were acquainted with the country and could take 
 you with precision from one place to another. Every 
 Burman knows sufficient of the stars to guide himself 
 by them at night. Moreover very few Europeans at 
 that time had acquired their language. But Eaikes 
 of the Artillery and Charlie Hill of the 69th both 
 learned to speak Burmese fluently, and they were the 
 first men on the Sittang side, with the exception of 
 Berdmore and O'Riley, who induced the Burmese to 
 show them game. I followed in their footsteps and 
 moreover had had four years' experience of the country 
 and people in other parts of Burma, and so I knew 
 that if kindly treated, given all game not required as 
 
262 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 food for the camp, a lot of grog and a little tobacco now 
 
 and then, a Burman will do anything for you. Lloyd 
 
 too, besides being the Deputy Commissioner of the 
 
 district, talked the language well, but in that respect 
 
 his wife was far his superior, for in a year or two she 
 
 picked up the language so thoroughly, that the Burmese 
 
 themselves wondered how she had acquired such a 
 
 perfect knowledge of it. Moreover neither of us were 
 
 stingy, and paid the men well, and they found that in 
 
 one trip, what with the money they got as pay, the 
 
 government rewards, and by the sale of dried meat, 
 
 they made more than they would do in a couple of 
 
 years by the beasts they had been in the habit of 
 
 killing by torchlight. I had hunted with these men 
 
 in 1856-58 and again in 1859 and 1860, and for three 
 
 years afterwards, and had no difficulty in getting 
 
 them to take us to the best places. But to return 
 
 to our trip. 
 
 May 6th. The shikaries took us away from the 
 Grna-Eein into grass too high to see anything in, 
 and though w r e heard dozens of animals bolting, we 
 saw nothing for the best part of the day, so lost our 
 time and I fear our tempers. But towards the after- 
 noon we got into better ground. Here the country is 
 covered with trees pretty far apart. One is the 
 pemah, which has a lilac flower ; the other is very 
 like the laburnum, 1 but if possible finer. Between 
 these trees there is what the Burmese term kine 
 grass, growing from three to six feet high. Here 
 we formed line and soon put up sambur after sambur. 
 We were both reluctant to shoot hinds, but if we did 
 not provide the shikaries with plenty of meat, which 
 
 1 Cassia Fistula. 
 
Mixed Sport. 263 
 
 they jerk and form into a kind of biltong, they might 
 have struck work, or pretended illness and have left 
 us. So every now and then we let fly not always 
 anxious to kill but Lloyd bowled over two and I 
 one. I then saw a very large stag standing near a 
 fallen tree, with very fair antlers. He was watching 
 Lloyd and had his body turned away from me. 
 Directing the line of elephants to halt, I advanced 
 alone and got within fifty yards and fired. The deer 
 spun round and went off full score, and but for the 
 " thud" I should have thought I had missed him. He 
 ran for some way, then descended a steep nullah, but 
 in attempting to ascend the other bank, fell back, 
 picked himself up again and ran along its bed. I 
 was sure of him now, so followed as fast as I could, 
 whilst Lloyd went after a large thamine, which at 
 that moment sprung up. I found my stag lying dead. 
 I never shot one greater in bulk, but his horns were 
 only twenty-four and a half inches long. We then 
 turned homewards, carrying the slain on the spare 
 elephants, when we came across a sounder of hog ; 
 several of the sows had porkers just fit for the spit, 
 so I potted two, and Lloyd wounded the boar, and 
 after a long chase secured him. He was only fit food 
 for the Burmese, but had fair tusks, eight and a half 
 inches long. It was with some difficulty we could 
 get these so-called unclean animals on the hatties, 
 as the mahouts would not touch them, and indeed 
 objected to their being placed on the guddees. We 
 got home just at sunset and when close to the bheel I 
 shot a hog-deer. I may here say, wild pigs are clean 
 feeders perforce of circumstances, for where they 
 roam, they can usually find no offal. But if they 
 
264 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 come across a "kill," however putrid the flesh maybe, 
 they will greedily devour it. Sows and the young 
 ones are capital eating, but an old boar's flesh is 
 coarse and rank. 
 
 That night we had a long confab, with the Karen 
 and our shikaries, and it was decided we were to go 
 straight to the Gna-Eein and not shoot at anything 
 but big game, or an aged stag if it came in our way. 
 What capital cooks the Indians are ! Lloyd had only 
 Burmese servants. Mine were all Madrassies, and I 
 never knew them to fail to serve up a repast that 
 would not have done honour to a feast, except on one 
 occasion. We had arrived at our halting-place very 
 late after dark and missed the huts prepared for 
 us, so slept in the open, and the cooking of course 
 was alfresco. A capital dinner was extemporised, but 
 when served up, every single dish was full of flying 
 bugs not the ordinary small green ones, which are 
 offensive enough, but monsters which, attracted by 
 the fires, had invaded all our cooking pots ; so met 
 with a deserved death but spoilt our meal. However, 
 we had always plenty of canned edibles with us, and 
 a tin of sardines, partaken of under the protection 
 of mosquito curtains, sufficed to allay our hunger. 
 
 May 7th. We were up and away before daybreak. 
 Our breakfast, under charge of my Maty boy, was 
 carried on an elephant, and sundry bottles of beer, 
 duly wrapped in wet cloths, were hung on the sides of 
 the pad to cool. We saw lots of deer of sorts, but 
 none we cared to kill. We also disturbed a few 
 jungle and peafowl. As we entered the heavy cover, 
 Lloyd came upon a herd of buffaloes. He emptied his 
 battery into them, when they all crossed the line in 
 
Mixed Sport. 265 
 
 front of me. As I pulled the trigger, the leader, a 
 fine bull, fell, but my shot went clean over him. 
 L. had hit it in the lungs, so it died of suffocation. 
 I then pushed after the largest cow that was 
 also wounded. She did not go far, waited behind a 
 clump of long grass and then charged, but as I have 
 said before, Burmese elephants don't care a rush for 
 buffaloes they are so used to them ; so my hattie, a 
 fine tusker, gave her a prod in the shoulder, which 
 knocked her down, but she was instantly up and at 
 us again ; but before she could close I struck her spine 
 and over she went. Finding that she was in full milk, 
 we searched the adjoining grass and soon found a 
 little cow calf, which was secured. As the Burmese 
 don't milk their cows, so there was no nourishment for 
 the poor thing ; it was therefore duly hal-laled and 
 ultimately eaten. About a mile further on we saw 
 several gaur, but could not get near them, the 
 firing at the buffs having alarmed them. Further 
 on we came upon a mucknah and three cow 
 elephants. They allowed us to get close up to them, 
 They were not worth the shooting, as I had practically 
 proved a couple of years before that it is impossible 
 to shoot, dead, an elephant off an elephant, so did 
 not fire at them, but my companion, more impulsive 
 than I, got close to the male, and he and Shoay-jah 
 emptied every gun they had into the poor brute, 
 who went away sorely wounded, and doubtless event- 
 ually died. When my too eager but now crestfallen 
 companion came back, we had lost more than half an 
 hour, so it was past eleven before we got to a pool of 
 water, where we dismounted and breakfasted. We 
 then went straight to the Gna-Eein, and about a 
 
266 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 quarter of a mile from, it came upon two salt-licks, 
 which were evidently favourite places of resort, as 
 there were around it numerous footmarks of deer 
 and wild cattle. Even a leopard had been there 
 whether to eat the earth or to prey upon some 
 visitor it was impossible to say. I had dismounted 
 and was examining the spoor, when under a bush I 
 saw a muntjac looking at me. I have shot very 
 few of these deer, for though plentiful one 
 seldom gets a view of them. They are generally 
 found in hilly country, and what this one was doing 
 in the plains although not far from the hills I do 
 not know. These deer when disturbed or frightened 
 bark like a dog. They have peculiar horns, long 
 canine teeth, and Eoman noses, very ugly heads, with 
 two dark lines down each cheek, and a tuft of black 
 hair above either eye. If anything, the hind is uglier 
 than the male. I ought not to have fired, but the 
 temptation was too great, for I wanted the specimen, 
 which was a good one, so a bullet at the junction 
 of the neck and breast dropped it dead where it was 
 standing, but at the report, a tiger sprang away. I 
 took a snap-shot and hit. Instantly we mounted, 
 formed line, but lost an hour or more in a vain effort 
 although there was plenty of blood. The brute 
 was not a fighting character, for though we got 
 several more glimpses of him and fired several shots, 
 he got into heavy jungle full of huge creepers, and so 
 we failed. We then went on, and about 5 P.M. we 
 saw a lovely sight in an open glade. There was a 
 herd of gaur, about thirty in number, totally uncon- 
 scious of danger. Among them was one fine bull, 
 several younger ones, cows and their calves, the 
 
Mixed Sport. 267 
 
 last such pretty, odd-looking little creatures, looking 
 all hump and dorsal ridge. We were so wrapped up 
 in admiration that we had not the heart to fire, and 
 before our mood changed and we became bloodthirsty 
 again, they winded us, and throwing up their heads 
 and tails, away they went. When they had gone 
 about fifty or sixty yards, the bull and cows pulled 
 up, turned round, snorted, and pawed the ground ; 
 but the calves continued their flight. The Burmese 
 urged us to fire, but the distance was then over 150 
 yards, thus the chances were in favour of wound- 
 ing and not killing ; so, to their great disgust, we 
 refused. The first step we took forward, the gaur 
 went off. It was now time to make for home. 
 Leaving the heavy jungle we went into kine grass, 
 and put up sambur after sambur. Lloyd shot three. 
 I declined to fire as the herd consisted of hinds only. 
 When we came in sight of the bungalow the sun had 
 just set. Lloyd and I were close together, when up 
 jumped a fine thamine stag. We both shot and down 
 it fell both bullets had struck it so we tossed for 
 the head, which was a beauty, and Lloyd won. 
 
 May 8th. We had exceptional luck to-day. We 
 were going along not expecting any game except 
 hog-deer. We were not out of sight of camp, when 
 we came to a small dry watercourse, and to our amaze- 
 ment up jumped a large tigress. Lloyd, who had in 
 hand his smooth-bore, fired a snap shot and broke her 
 back. The row that she made sent every elephant but 
 mine flying. I was within ten yards of her, but she 
 tossed her head and forequarters so about, biting 
 her leg just above the foot until she crushed the bone, 
 thus I could not get a certain shot. The noise the 
 
268 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 brute made was even heard in camp, and groups of 
 the people assembled on the adjoining ant-hills, looking 
 or trying to learn what caused the disturbance. At 
 last I got a clear aim and killed her. Waving my 
 handkerchief to the multitude, we soon had Burmese, 
 Karens, Madrassies and Bengalies running towards us 
 at their best speed, so bidding them take the tigress 
 back, and skin and peg out the pelf carefully, we con- 
 tinued our beat, but the row had disturbed this portion 
 of the jungle, so choosing the easiest paths, we made 
 for the Gna-Eein, but before we got there the bellow- 
 ing of a gaur was heard. Shoay-jah was up a tree in a 
 second and down again as rapidly. He said that there 
 was a grand old bull about three hundred yards away, 
 close to one of the salt-licks. We determined to 
 stalk him on* foot, so dismounted, and taking advantage 
 of every bit of cover en route, we got within about 
 seventy yards of the game. We had tossed for first 
 shot and for a wonder I had won, so resting my heavy 
 two -groove rifle against a tree I fired at the point of 
 the shoulder. Down the brute went. Lloyd's rifle 
 went " snick," " snick "- the man had forgotten to cap 
 the nipples the bull recovered his legs, the forearm 
 broken, and as he spun round to make off I fired 
 again and hit him close to the hip- joint. At this 
 juncture of affairs the shikaries were nowhere to be 
 seen, and Lloyd had no caps. I gave him a couple of 
 mine, but they were too small for his gun, so I loaded 
 as fast as I could, at the same time taking ground to 
 my front, while Lloyd went back to the elephants. 
 A loud wailing from Shoay-jah broke the usual forest 
 stillness and proclaimed that his master was walking 
 into him after the most approved fashion ! How the 
 
Mixed Sport. 269 
 
 gaur moved on at all I don't know for practically he 
 had two broken legs but go he did, and hid behind a 
 patch of long grass, intending doubtless to charge, 
 but a seven-footer cannot hide like a mouse. So his 
 huge carcase, looming like a rock, caught my eye ; the 
 dorsal ridge being fully exposed, I fired at it, but the 
 shot did not move the beast. As there was no tree close 
 and I did not care to encounter a charge at close quarters 
 with only one barrel loaded, I aimed for the neck and 
 pulled trigger, expecting that this time he would 
 inevitably come for me. No, not he, so I reloaded. 
 When I looked up again there the bull stood in exactly 
 the same position. Lloyd came up, and separating, 
 we advanced upon either flank, but no fresh shots were 
 required, for the grand old beast gracefully knelt 
 down, toppled over and expired. This w r as the finest 
 gaur I ever saw. We left a man and an elephant 
 to flay the " pyoung," and to take his head and as 
 much of the meat as was wanted, with the marrow 
 bones, to camp, and continued our hunt. Again the 
 jungles had been disturbed and we saw nothing worth 
 shooting until close to the foot of the Yomahs. That 
 meant ten or twe]ve miles from camp, when we came 
 upon more gaur, from which Lloyd secured a cow. On 
 our route homewards we knocked over a sambur stag, 
 two does, and a fine hog deer. 
 
 On the 15th we went to a vast plain where large game 
 was said to abound. It was miles away from any 
 village that we knew of. The days had been intensely 
 hot, for not a drop of rain had fallen for many weeks, 
 and the grass was on the greater part of the plain 
 nearly twenty feet high, and as combustible as tinder. 
 It was hard work pushing one's way through it, for the 
 
270 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 elephants had to use their whole weight to crush it 
 down and make a path for themselves. Through all 
 these obstacles we had to go to get to a place where 
 we were informed that wild cattle were abundant. We 
 had got perhaps half-way across our hateful course 
 when we saw smoke rising in the far distance, but as 
 the wind was blowing from us we did not heed it. In 
 a quarter of an hour, the fire had spread considerably 
 but still we did not think it menaced us, so went on in 
 single file, a large mucknah leading the way and stamp- 
 ing down the reeds which were of the consistency of 
 small bamboos. In another quarter of an hour there was 
 a great blaze, and the flames spread rapidly along to our 
 right. Beginning to think things did not look quite 
 so pleasant, we hurried on our animals, still not- 
 surmising that we were in danger ; but one thing we 
 owned looked threatening, and that was that the 
 wind showed indications of veering round, blowing 
 one moment from the north, then from the south, 
 and never remaining consistent for five minutes. 
 As the flame increased so did the wind, ending at last 
 in a gale. These prairie fires destroy some game, but 
 not as much as might be expected, for every animal 
 has his own run, and at the first signs of smoke they 
 clear off into forests devoid of undergrowth. But 
 to return to this occasion. The fire had heretofore been 
 receding from us, but suddenly it spread to our right 
 front, then a fresh blaze broke out to the left. The 
 greater part of a " maidan," some ten miles long by 
 almost as many in width, was now ablaze. Our 
 elephants became alarmed and would not go straight, 
 but kept turning round and hesitating, so the mahouts 
 had to use the driving-hooks freely to make them 
 
Mixed Sport. 271 
 
 advance. Kites and the small king crows were darting 
 about, pouncing on grasshoppers and other insects 
 which were disturbed by the conflagration, and how 
 these birds could live in such a fiery furnace was a 
 marvel, but they seemed impervious to its effects, 
 swooping down on the insects until the flames seemed 
 to envelop them. While the reeds were bursting 
 with reports like pistol shots, huge flakes of lighted 
 matted matter were flying about, causing the fire in 
 our rear to break out afresh, and was overtaking us 
 at railway speed. It now became a question of almost 
 minutes as to whether we were to be overwhelmed 
 or not. Shoay-jah said that a short distance ahead 
 was a brake, where there was generally a pool of 
 water, and the ground was bare of grass. The wind 
 now became a tornado, so we had to crouch on our 
 animals, who at last realising their danger, were 
 ambling along as fast as the nature of the ground 
 would permit, but what is the speed of a racehorse 
 even to that of the devouring element ? If the tem- 
 pest had blown either from behind or from either side 
 of us for five minutes consecutively, we must have been 
 enveloped in its fiery embraces and been destroyed ; 
 but the very eccentricity of the wind saved us. Still 
 the fiery element was fast overtaking us, and the heat 
 was awful ; the flames licked round our heads, when 
 a " guddie " became lighted, scorching the elephants 
 as well as ourselves. Then there was a momentary 
 stoppage, followed by an awful crash, as the leading 
 elephant with his weight, bore down the creepers 
 which lay between us and salvation. In a moment 
 after we were beyond the reach of the destructive 
 element. No one could have lived over a few 
 
272 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 minutes in the atmosphere we had just escaped from. 
 Jumping off the elephants and lying prone upon the 
 earth was the action of a moment, for heated air 
 ascends, so the surface of the ground is the coolest. 
 The fire in the " guddie " was extinguished. A few 
 minutes after, we were able to get on our hands and 
 feet and crawl to the pool of so-called water. It was 
 partly gruelly-looking mud, diluted with a large pro- 
 portion of buffalo urine ; but such as it was, we 
 threw ourselves into it, drank it greedily, and thought 
 it almost nectar. When sufficiently recovered to 
 look around, it was difficult to recognise individuals 
 for the whites were burnt black and the natives had 
 become almost fair. Looking at Lloyd I burst out 
 laughing ; he did the same when he looked at me. 
 Now Lloyd was a good-looking fellow, somewhere 
 about twenty-six or so, and prided himself greatly on 
 a luxuriant moustache and a pair of " Piccadilly 
 weepers." And where were they ? for now he had 
 neither, not even eyebrows or eyelashes, and the 
 hair on the side of his head, up to the cap was 
 frizzled off. I was a few years older, sported a pair 
 of black whiskers, etc., but devil a hair had I left 
 on my " phiz," while my hands and face were peeled. 
 My skin, never very fair, was now a sickly white 
 colour like that of a beastly albino. Nor had our 
 attendants fared better, for the Burmese had lost 
 their top-knots, and large blisters dominated over the 
 naked portions of their bodies. As for the mahouts, 
 their own mothers would not have acknowledged 
 them : they were transformed into some race utterly 
 unknown to science. The state of the elephants was 
 even worse : the soles of their feet were so scorched 
 
Mixed Sport. 273 
 
 that they could scarcely stand, and the end hairs of 
 their tails had disappeared. To get back to Myet-chin 
 was hopeless. Shoay-jah said about two miles off there 
 was a village where we had better remain for the 
 night, so we made for it, the beasts of burden limping 
 along, and we in no better plight. At last we got 
 there, taking four hours to traverse two miles. 
 Fortunately, the food in our baskets was all right, 
 but the beer on the pads had burst. Still, we had 
 some claret under shelter, and although it is a tipple 
 I care very little for, yet that night we thought it 
 delicious. But where was the village we sought ? 
 Utterly destroyed. The fire had demolished every 
 house, and the people were searching in the ashes for 
 their valuables, picking up here and there sticks which 
 would serve again in the reconstruction of their frail 
 edifices. Our lodge, a Zyat, situated under a peepul 
 tree, fortunately escaped. We were thinking of 
 adjourning there for the night, but the first rain of 
 the season burst upon us. It was a deluge. While the 
 lightning beat the best displays of fireworks that I 
 ever saw, the thunder reverberated again and again 
 and almost deafened us with its unequalled artillery. 
 There was no help for it. We put the women and 
 children under temporary shelter, and contented our- 
 selves with such protection from the elements as could 
 be found. Thankful enough were we all when day 
 broke. 
 
 The Burmese are a strange people, easily depressed 
 and as easily elated. Over night they were despond- 
 ent; as the sun rose they were jubilant almost, 
 singing, and moving about as cheerfully as if nothing- 
 had happened, and no one could realise that they were 
 
 T 
 
274 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 homeless and almost destitute of food, for their 
 granaries even had been burnt. The river was not 
 far off, so, sending word for a boat to be provided, 
 we left the elephants to recover, and walked to the 
 place of embarkation, so reached Myet-quin that night, 
 for we found that by following narrow creeks, we 
 could get within a mile of my bungalow, so there 
 was no need to go round by Banlong. We had still 
 two weeks' leave, but what avail were they without 
 elephants ; so mounting our ponies and taking but a 
 few things with us, going round via Nouksedouk, we 
 reached Tongho on the third day. Our wives would 
 scarcely acknowledge us. Deprived of all hirsute 
 ornaments, blear of eye, burnt to a cinder, we might 
 have been anybody except the " Simon Pures." The 
 more they looked at us in amazement the more we 
 laughed, for Mrs. L. was staying with my wife, and 
 we found them together when we turned up. The 
 elephants did not arrive for fully twenty days, and a 
 pretty bill we had to pay the commissariat. The 
 next time I wanted to take the " boy " with me, he 
 gave me warning, saying, " He not take service to be 
 burnt to death," but a clout on the head brought him 
 to, and I am thankful to say that he did not again 
 have such a narrow shave. Ultimately, he forgot 
 that fearful reminiscence, and remained with me for 
 years, and rose to be my head servant. Our bag 
 that trip was sixty-four head of game and a burning. I 
 will not inflict the whole diary on the reader, for one 
 day's shooting off elephants in Burma is very like 
 another; sometimes of course, we get more sport 
 than on others, but there is always sufficient to re- 
 ward one, although it is rather expensive work. 
 
Mixed Sport. 275 
 
 Besides the deer described, there are others such 
 as the Mouse Deer (Memimna indica), a diminutive 
 creature found in the Tenasserim Provinces, but I 
 never saw it in Pegu proper. The Serow (Nemor- 
 hcedus rutrida) is found also in the hill ranges. One 
 was shot near the Duke of York's Nose, a mountain 
 up the Salween, and one was caught swimming the 
 Sittang river near Shoay-ghein. This beast, or a very 
 closely-allied species, is also found in the hill ranges, 
 not very far from Gowhatty. Wild pigs are plentiful 
 in Burma, but no one has succeeded in spearing them 
 in the lower province, but near Pagan Myo, where 
 the ruins of thousands of pagodas are, I have seen 
 them in ridable ground. In Assam, below Doobree, 
 they lie out in the open, and I have put up a tiger 
 within fifty paces of a sounder. In the " churs," 
 capital pig-sticking can be had as described elsewhere, 
 but whilst chasing a boar you run a chance of being 
 chased by a tiger. In fact a few years ago, a party 
 of hunters thus met a tiger face to face and had to 
 beat a retreat. Wild dogs are plentiful in both 
 Burma and Assam, but they are very inferior in 
 appearance to the noble wild dog of the Neilgherry 
 range. Jackals do not exist in Lower Burma, but I 
 have heard them near the frontier, and the late Capt. 
 Bosworth shot one near Meaday. Once or twice I 
 think I saw them near Namyan. In Assam they 
 are simply in thousands. At times the jackal utters a 
 peculiar cry, called the pheeal, which is only a cry of 
 fear given utterance to, when disturbed by a tiger or 
 a leopard. In Assam we have the " hispid " hare, 
 the pigmy hog a fine specimen of which I shot near 
 
 T 2 
 
276 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the Monass and a curious beast in the Mishmee 
 hills, called the takin. 
 
 The Spotted Deer (Axis maculatus). This beau- 
 tiful deer is plentiful in many parts of India, but 
 is only found in two localities in Assam on both 
 banks of the Monass, and again in the Durung dis- 
 trict. McMaster, whom I knew well, thus speaks 
 of this deer : " I don't know why it is or how it is, 
 but so it is, that somehow there is a greater charm in 
 the pursuit of spotted deer than of any other of the 
 denizens of the bonnie brown forest or tangled jungle 
 where it loves to dwell. I am not alone in this 
 feeling. Many sportsmen, and some of them who 
 have slain the mighty behemoth, taurus the bull, and 
 even the feline king of the forest, recall with 
 pleasure the sport they have enjoyed after this less 
 noble and timid creature." Its general colour is 
 yellow or rufus fawn, with numerous white spots, 
 and a dark dorsal streak from the nape to the tail ; 
 head brownish, and the muzzle dark ; chin, throat, and 
 neck in front white ; lower parts and thighs internally 
 whitish ; ears brown externally, white within ; tail 
 longish, white beneath. The basal line is directed 
 forwards, and in old individuals has often one or two 
 points near the base. Whereever this deer is found 
 it is invariably gregarious. Early in the day it feeds 
 out in the open, but retires to the forest during the 
 heat of the noon. The antelope exists in very many 
 places in India, but in Assam only near the Monass, 
 principally in the south, but occasionally a few are 
 found in the north. I have been present at two or 
 three hunts with " chitas," or hunting leopards, but 
 
Mixed Game. 277 
 
 can't say I see much sport in it. The animal is 
 hooded and taken in a cart to a plain where antelope 
 abound. When the cart has approached as near as it 
 can to the game without alarming them, the hood is 
 taken off. The beast slips off the cart directly he 
 views his quarry, and crouching along on his belly 
 gets as near as he can, which is seldom closer than 
 100 yards, when he makes his rush. His speed is 
 almost incredible ; fast as is an antelope, he is far 
 faster for a short distance, so generally overtakes the 
 buck within 150 yards. If he misses that chance, he 
 desists ; if he kills, his keeper approaches him 
 stealthily, slips the hood over his eyes, gives him a 
 cup of blood to lap, and then reseats him in the 
 cart. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PANTHERS AND LEOPARDS (Asiatic). 
 
 SPORTSMEN and naturalists have not agreed whether 
 there is only one species of " pard " or two, or even 
 more, but I have no doubt in my own mind that 
 although there is but one species in India, there are 
 two distinctly marked varieties of the same beast. 
 The larger is generally known as the panther. 
 
 Blyth, a first-rate authority, states " that the 
 larger is paler, with the spots more disposed in groups 
 or rosettes, with not unfrequeiitly one and sometimes 
 even two small specks within these rings, and that the 
 lesser, or leopard, is of a deeper coloured ground, with 
 the groups or imperfect rings of spots smaller, less 
 subdivided, and thicker as regards the quantity of 
 black they contain." Shaw says the leopard is dis- 
 tinguished from the panther by its pale yelloiv colour 
 and is considerably the smaller of the two. This 
 coincides with my own view. 
 
 Besides these two varieties, there is the snow 
 leopard, found in the Himalaya, and occasionally 
 melanoid specimens are met with. The latter are 
 only a lusus natures, and are found only in well- 
 wooded countries, where the forests are extremely 
 sombre in hue, where they feed principally on 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic}. 279 
 
 monkeys, and climb trees in pursuit of them, so that 
 nature has doubtless adapted their coat to suit the 
 shades in which they reside, or otherwise they would 
 be too conspicuous and so fail in obtaining food. In 
 Malaya, where the climate is very damp and the forests 
 luxuriant they are more frequently met. But isolated 
 cases crop up here and there. It is curious that 
 whilst black leopards are met with, no one has ever 
 heard of a black tiger ; l and again while there are 
 occasional white tigers, I never encountered a white 
 leopard south of the Himalaya. The size of the two 
 varieties depends of course on the quantity of food 
 obtainable. The leopard is generally found in the 
 remoter hills. The panther lives more in ravines in 
 the plains and preys upon cattle. A tiger invariably 
 commences to break up his prey at the hindquarters, 
 the panther or leopard always at the forequarters 
 or chest. The reason for this peculiarity has not 
 yet been solved. 
 
 At Shillong, when we first went there, leopards were 
 very numerous and no one could keep a dog. Major 
 Montagu, in twelve months, caught in a trap not far 
 from his house, twelve leopards and one tiger. When 
 wounded I consider a panther or leopard more 
 dangerous than a tiger, for it is as ferocious, its body 
 much smaller to aim at, while its activity is far 
 greater. The Assamese villages are many of them 
 straggling places, and have at times either a swamp 
 
 1 Since writing the above I have read of a melanoid tiger 
 having been killed near Chittagong, and was seen by Mr. C. T. 
 Buckland. I have seen the skins of three albino tigers, the 
 finest at Edwin Ward's, when he lived in Yere Street, and the 
 other two were obtained in the Cossyah hills. 
 
280 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 or a cane-brake in their midst or adjacent, and 
 nothing is more common than for a leopard to take 
 up its abode in one of these places and to prey upon 
 their dogs and cattle. I have killed many of these 
 animals, having shot them on foot, off elephants and 
 out of "marts" or machans, and on one occasion I 
 was instrumental in ridding a locality of two families 
 of man-eating panthers as described hereafter. I never 
 shot but one " chita," the only one I ever came across 
 in the wild state. Judging from the numbers of skins 
 brought in to me whilst in East Africa, I should say 
 the chita, or hunting leopard, is far more plentiful 
 there than in India. The first panther I shot was at 
 Condapilly, while almost a griff. They were then very 
 plentiful there, and scarcely a day passed without a 
 " kill " of some sort taking place. The large Hooniman 
 monkey was a frequent prey, and we used to find 
 portions of the victims very frequently. The panther 
 I killed was a well-known one. For five or six years 
 everybody who had been in command there had 
 endeavoured to rid the place of this beast, but with- 
 out avail. I had sat up for him a dozen times. 
 Mogul Beg, the shikarie, had been after him for 
 years, and although he had shot many others, he had 
 never got a crack at the " chor " or thief, as the 
 animal was christened. Sitting up for this notorious 
 animal over a " kill " was useless, for he never returned 
 to his victim ; but by the merest chance I discovered 
 that he generally followed a narrow footpath leading 
 up the hillside, where he had his den, and down 
 which he came nightly in search of prey. I have 
 said elsewhere that the old Mahrattas had fortified 
 this country for miles around, the walls connecting 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic]. 281 
 
 the bastions extending a great distance. One of 
 these I noticed was close to the path in use by the 
 panther ; I got a pariah dog, tied him tip within easy 
 shot, and ensconed myself behind the wall, having 
 removed a stone or two to enable me to fire through. 
 Sure enough he appeared and got shot. He measured 
 seven feet six inches. 
 
 MAN-EATING PANTHERS (iNDIA). 
 
 Of all the scourges afflicting a locality it is gene- 
 rally supposed that a man-eating tiger is the worst, 
 but when leopards or panthers take to the same prac- 
 tices they are infinitely more to be dreaded. I will 
 here relate one instance in connection with the last 
 named animals. 
 
 I had obtained two months' privilege leave, and 
 having sent on my " kit " ahead, and laid a " dak " of 
 ponies and horses, I rode out to my camp, distant 
 about seventy miles from Secunderabad on the Nirmul 
 road. I was going to join " Verderer," an old friend 
 of my father and a noted sportsman. Starting about 
 4 A.M., and halting only half-an-hour en route for 
 refreshments, I reached my destination about dusk, 
 and found all in a state of confusion, my impedi- 
 menta still in the hackeries or carts, the bullocks put 
 to, and all ready for a move. " Why, how is this ? " 
 I asked my boy very angrily. ' ' " Why is not the tent 
 pitched and dinner ready ? " " Gurreeb purwah," he 
 replied, " we cannot remain here, there is a " shitan," 
 who kills people every night, and fearful of your 
 honour's life we have everything ready to go on to 
 the next village, which is but five coss off, and where 
 
282 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 we shall be safe." " You infernal fool," I replied, 
 " unpack at once. Do you think, after a seventy mile 
 ride, I am going ten miles further, just to allay your 
 fears. Much you care for master ; it is for yourselves 
 that you are afraid. If the ' shitan ' does come, I hope 
 he'll take you for your cheek in not having obeyed 
 orders. Quick ! " I cried, raising my whip in a 
 threatening attitude ; "if everything is not ready in 
 an hour, I'll know the reason why." " Orderly," I 
 called out to my pattern man, "what is the meaning 
 of this ? " " Sahib, we got here last night, too late 
 to pitch the tent, so we put up in a village hut, 
 placed at our disposal by the Cotwal. He told us 
 to bolt the doors and windows, and to have no light, 
 for there was a ' shitan ' who prowled about killing 
 people, and that in the last ten days he had lost ten 
 people, and could find no traces of them. Sahib, we 
 heard fearful noises all night, and were in fear of our 
 lives. An hour before daybreak something lifted the 
 thatch of the roof, and a couple of eyes, each of them 
 the size of a full moon, looked down upon us, and our 
 livers became like sieves, and in my fear I fired off 
 master's shot gun, and the apparition disappeared. 
 But, Sahib, do not remain here ; two people were 
 killed and taken away last night, and it may be our 
 turn to-night." " What sheer nonsense," I replied; 
 " send for the Cotwal. But, boy, have the tent 
 pitched at once, and if I don't get my dinner in an 
 hour, look out for squalls." I took off my clothes, 
 got my syce to bring a lot of chatties of water, which 
 I poured over me. I then put on clean night-clothes, 
 and getting into a comfortable easy- chair, waited for 
 the arrival of the native official, and superintended 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic). 283 
 
 the pitching of the tent. The Cotwal appeared, 
 accompanied by a posse of armed men, and salaamed 
 before squatting down. It was now quite dark, but 
 numerous torches illuminated the darkness. u What 
 is this, Cotwal?" I asked. " Sahib," he replied, " I 
 cannot say, but some devil has taken to devastating 
 the country ; only three days ago I lost my only son. 
 He was brave to distraction. He would have it that 
 it was not a demon, but some animal, and he sat up 
 with Peermal, our shikarie, and said he would shoot 
 it ; but we heard no report during the night, and in 
 the morning my son had disappeared, and his com- 
 panion was found in the topmost branches of the tree, 
 unable to give any account of what had taken place, 
 and he has been ever since a drivelling idiot. Sahib, 
 we cannot remain here much longer, unless indeed, 
 your honour, by your magic, will relieve us of our 
 enemy. Not a night passes without some one dis- 
 appearing, and the whole village is in mourning." " I 
 agree with your son," I said ; " it is some animal who 
 is killing the people. Where are your shikaries ? Bring 
 them here." "Sahib," he replied, "we have only 
 three left ; two have been killed or spirited away, but 
 they shall be at your honour's feet in a few minutes." 
 My "boy" then announced dinner, and I told the 
 Cotwal to have the men ready in half-an-hour. Whilst 
 partaking of my frugal meal, which consisted of Oxford 
 sausages as they were then made not the apologies 
 they have since become and an egg currie and rice, 
 washed down by a bottle of Bass' beer cooled in 
 saltpetre, I asked my servants all about the sup- 
 posed devil. No two accounts agreed, beyond the 
 fact that a person or two disappeared in the most 
 
284 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 mysterious way daily, either out of the village at 
 night, or from the fields when they went to work. 
 Of course, in accordance with native customs, every 
 trifling act was exaggerated, and it was impossible 
 to arrive at the exact truth ; but one fact was un- 
 deniable : for some time past villagers had disappeared 
 and no traces had been found of them. 
 
 When the shikaries appeared, I again asked them 
 all about it, and offered a reward of Es. 20 if they 
 would sit up and account for the "devil." The 
 amount offered was a small fortune to them, yet they 
 hesitated a good deal before accepting it, but they 
 finally agreed. I was too tired to sit up myself. 
 Although in good training, a seventy mile ride in 
 May is no joke, and every bone in my body ached, so 
 devil or no devil, I determined to rest that night ; 
 but before going to bed, I walked round the village. 
 The country was open on three sides, and had been 
 well cultivated, but on the fourth there was a belt of 
 jungle, which led, I was told, into the heart of the 
 noted Nirmul Forest. I obtained two sheep, which 
 cost in those days from eight annas to ten annas each, 
 and had them picketed some distance apart. We 
 chose two tall trees, had a native charpoy or bed 
 slung in each, on which the two natives took post, 
 and then retired. I took the precaution of lighting 
 several large bonfires round my own camp, and once 
 in bed and tucked up inside the mosquito curtains I 
 was fast asleep in a few moments afterwards, and 
 did not awake till close on daybreak. My boy had 
 the matutinal cup of coffee ready, and swallowing it, I 
 sallied forth accompanied by my orderly. We went 
 to where the men had been placed. The sheep were 
 
Pantkers and Leopards (Asiatic], 285 
 
 there untouched ; the men nowhere ! I examined 
 the ground and the trunks of the trees, but could 
 discern nothing. I began to suspect it was a plant 
 that the Cotwal and villagers wanted to get rid of 
 me, and had got up this tale to frighten me but yet 
 again why should they do that ? There was not 
 much game in the neighbourhood, I should only re- 
 main a few days until I heard from " Verderer," and 
 in the meantime I should be a source of profit and 
 not a loss to them. Why then try and get rid of me ? 
 Mysterious and unaccountable as were the disappear- 
 ances, I made up my mind to see it through. Three 
 of my relays arrived during the day. I had them 
 picketed in camp to give them rest, intending 
 to send them the next day further on, so as to be 
 able to get over the ground more quickly in getting 
 to my destination. I put the remaining shikarie 
 and the orderly, both well armed, on the tree from 
 which the watchers the night before had disappeared, 
 and took up my position in the other. There was 
 no moon, or a very young one, and I heard not the 
 slightest noise. Fagged and tired, bitten with mos- 
 quitoes, I was off my perch at the dawn of day, 
 and going to the other tree, found the orderly and the 
 shikarie all right. I made sure it was all nonsense, 
 and went to the tent and sent for the Cotwal. He 
 was nowhere to be found. There was a hole in the 
 roof of his house, and though asleep with two wives in 
 the same room, neither of whom had been disturbed, 
 their lord and master was non est ! Then there was a 
 hullabaloo and no mistake. The villagers packed up 
 their goods and said they would remain there no 
 longer. Nothing I could say would deter them. 
 
286 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 My own camp-followers were almost in open mutiny, 
 frightened out of their wits. If the people left, there 
 was no use in my remaining. I had come for sport, 
 not to exorcise evil spirits, but somehow I was most 
 anxious to ascertain the cause of these disappearances. 
 I asked if there were tigers about, and was told a few, 
 but not man-eaters ; besides, they did not climb trees. 
 Were there panthers ? None, as far as they knew. 
 There were no rocks or hills near. About a mile from 
 the small stream which ran past the village, the 
 Nirmul jungle commenced, but in it there were only 
 sambur, neilghye, a few tigers, spotted deer, and 
 further on, gaur. It was not the kind of country to 
 which the smaller felines were partial. I sent off a 
 note to " Verderer " by my orderly, mounting him on 
 a pony of mine, explaining that I was anxious to 
 ascertain the cause of the disappearance of the people, 
 and asking him to wait for me one week or ten days, 
 and packing up my goods too, I accompanied the 
 villagers to their new home, which was about ten 
 miles off. It was a straggling place inhabited by 
 wood-cutters, who gladly welcomed the newcomers, 
 and whilst I pitched my tent at the entrance of the 
 village, the people erected temporary huts for them- 
 selves some little way beyond. In this new village 
 there was an intelligent shikarie. I had a private con- 
 fab with him, and asked him if he could account for 
 the disappearance of the people from the village we 
 had left that morning. He said, from my description, 
 it could only be caused by devils or panthers. " If the 
 latter, depend upon it, Sahib, they will follow the 
 people here, and we had better erect ' marts ' about 
 half a mile off, on the path you followed this morning, 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic]. 287 
 
 and lie in waiting for them." I agreed, and he went off 
 with a couple of men to get them ready. A " mart" 
 may be either in a tree off the ground (then usually 
 styled a machan), or hollowed out of the ground, a 
 shallow circular pit being dug and the earth raised a 
 little all round, with a few clods left here and 
 there, to prevent the person sitting up being too con- 
 spicuous. Each has its advantages. Raised off the 
 ground one is safer, but when beasts approach a kill 
 they are very apt to look up and gaze around. Per- 
 haps they have been fired at before from such a coign 
 of vantage, and if they see the slightest suspicious dis- 
 arrangement of the foliage, they quickly disappear, 
 but they seldom look around on the ground, trusting 
 probably to their acute sense of smell to detect a 
 hidden foe. We sat up that and the following night 
 without being disturbed, and the people were getting 
 reassured and I was thinking of going on, when the 
 wife of one of the peons disappeared. So that night 
 the shikarie and I took up our position extra early. 
 We were almost a quarter of a mile from the village. 
 On the right side going from it, there was a small 
 clearance where we were, and the little moon there 
 was, shone upon us for about three hours. The jungle 
 adjoining was pretty dense, consisting of thorny bushes 
 about six or seven feet high. I am sorry to say the 
 man with me was not as brave as he had been. The 
 stories he had heard, coupled with the disappearance 
 of the woman, told upon his nerves, and he had 
 got that tantalising sort of half- cough half- expectora- 
 tion, which one so often notices in a native who is half 
 afraid at a critical moment, and which generally ruins 
 all sport, as it gives warning to any wild beast who 
 
288 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 may be approaching your cdache. Whilst we had the 
 moonlight he was not so bad, but about ten his cough 
 became so incessant that I gave him a pretty stiff go 
 of whisky to instil some pluck into him, and then bade 
 him lie down and go to sleep, whilst I took the first 
 watch. Wrapped up in his cumbley he was soon fast 
 asleep, whilst I kept my weary vigils. Every now and 
 then a prowling hysena or a jackal's pit-a-pat on the 
 dried or decaying leaves would set my heart beating 
 a little faster, and with cocked rifle I would lie on the 
 qui vive, expecting to see something worth powder 
 and ball, only to be disgusted and to inwardly mutter 
 a few curses, deep but not loud, on their accursed heads. 
 About three I awoke my assistant, bidding him keep 
 a sharp look-out, which I thought his fears would 
 compel him to do. I in my turn lay down with my 
 rifle, a 14 double, cocked by my side, and enveloped 
 in my black blanket I was soon fast asleep, and had 
 been asleep probably for an hour, when I suddenly 
 awoke with a feeling of danger upon me. I was 
 trembling all over, but I had my wits about me. I 
 carefully moved the blanket off my face, and peered 
 about. The shikarie had fallen forward fast asleep ; 
 for a second or more I saw nothing further, then over 
 the mound of earth which had been piled up round us, 
 I saw indistinctly the devilish head and then the 
 glaring eyeballs of some black beast taking count of 
 us. The shikarie gave a slight snore and moved ; the 
 eyeballs were diverted in that direction and taken off 
 me. Without sitting up, but lying full length on my 
 back, I moved the rifle, pointing it at the object in 
 front, and just as he brought back his form to bear 
 upon me, I pulled the triggers both together. A lurch 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic]. 289 
 
 forward and a heavy mass fell upon me, throwing up 
 the same moment a mass of half-digested beastliness, 
 and rendering me in my turn as sick as the vomiter. 
 My sable companion, thoroughly awakened at the 
 double report so close to his ears, jumped up with a 
 yell, and seeing a black mass on me thought I was 
 seized by the devil, so took to his heels and ran for his 
 life. It took me some time to release myself from the 
 incubus and to get rid of the filth as far as I could. 
 I then found that my antagonist was a black panther 
 of the largest size ; throwing my cumbley aside with 
 its abominable contents, I dragged the panther into 
 the obscurity of the jungle, and as it still wanted an 
 hour and a half to daylight, reloading the rifle as 
 quickly as I could, I remained where I was. In half an 
 hour the village was astir, and I concluded the people 
 were coming in search of me, and almost wished them 
 to the devil, for I felt certain there were other 
 panthers about, and hoped to get another shot, but 
 despaired when I heard the noise. I was just on the 
 point of half-cocking my rifle and going to meet the 
 villagers, when I saw two shadowy forms gliding past, 
 which I took to be a pair of panthers and I gave them 
 both a right and left. There was no response, but 
 the first villagers pulled up, afraid to advance, thinking 
 there might be a wounded beast to pounce upon them, 
 and then, hearing my voice to hurry up, they ran up 
 in a body, and with the aid of their torches, I ascer- 
 tained that I had wounded one of the panthers badly. 
 Telling the people to pick up the one dead, I hurried 
 to the tent, threw off my soiled raiment and linen, 
 and after a good scrubbing down felt a bit sweeter, 
 and donning fresh clothes, I partook of my ' ' chota 
 
 u 
 
 
290 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 hazaree," or early breakfast. I asked the shikarie 
 what the deuce he meant by bolting away and leaving 
 me in the lurch, and the poor fellow, all in a tremble, 
 for he expected a thrashing first, for having gone to 
 sleep during his watch, and, secondly, for deserting 
 me said he had been thoroughly demoralised by all 
 the stories he had heard, and so hearing the report of 
 my rifle and seeing me as he thought in the clutches 
 of the devil, he had run a.way and was coming back 
 with the villagers to my rescue. When they heard 
 me fire they were glad to find me safe, and hoped I 
 would forgive him. I told him to run away, get 
 something to eat, and to collect as many coolies as 
 he could, and I would follow up the other brute as 
 soon as there was sufficient daylight for that purpose. 
 The villagers on collecting found a man missing, and 
 before I could get them to act with me, they insisted 
 on searching the jungle close to the village. In half 
 an hour the remains of the poor fellow were found. 
 He had been taken out of his house and dragged 
 some way off and partially eaten, and buib for my first 
 two shots, would no doubt have been entirely de- 
 molished and the bones scattered, but the man-eaters 
 had been disturbed and were doubtless en route to 
 their lair when I fired the second shots. Leaving 
 his sorrowing widow and children and two of the 
 people to cremate his remains for he was a Hindoo 
 I went off to take up the trail. Judging from the 
 blood marks which were scattered on both sides of 
 the narrow path along which he had crawled, I came 
 to the conclusion that the beast had been shot through 
 the abdomen, and expected to come upon him every 
 moment, but the vitality of these animals is marvel- 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic]. 291 
 
 lous, and I followed mile upon mile for I should say 
 four or five miles almost in a straight line. The trail 
 then turned into the densest jungle, through which 
 it was impossible to go upright, so I had to crawl 
 upon all fours and every now and then came upon 
 the half-digested remains of the native which the 
 brute had thrown up. The stench along this path 
 was awful, covered with their excreta, bones and 
 human remains. I knew, therefore, we were not far 
 from their lair and stronghold. This tangled brake 
 only extended about three-quarters of a mile, and 
 then we entered a glade which was covered by an 
 immense banyan tree and its offshoots. I should 
 say that it and its belongings covered ten or twelve 
 acres. It was impossible to distinguish the parent 
 stem from those which had grown from it ; many, 
 probably the oldest, had decayed away, but sufficient 
 remained to show that this extraordinary growth had 
 its origin in one tree, which throwing out feelers from 
 the pendant branches had taken root, became in their 
 turn the trunk, and so went on multiplying until this 
 huge space was entirely under shade of one tree and 
 its satellites, as there was very little undergrowth. 
 The path made during many years by these blood- 
 thirsty felines was clear enough, leading to two old 
 hollow trunks into which the wounded panther and 
 his companion had crawled. Man-eaters are generally 
 cowards. How many there were I did not know, 
 but I determined to burn them out. So bidding the 
 people collect all the dry brushwood they could, I 
 mounted guard over the one which, by the drops of 
 blood which had fallen, I guessed held the wounded 
 beast. 
 
 U 2 
 
 
292 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 In a couple of hours we had a fine pile of old de- 
 cayed wood and dry brambles collected round each 
 trunk and had them soon alight. The outside of the 
 trunks themselves was old and rotten and blazed 
 away right merrily. Soon we could hear growls and 
 groans and smothered cries ; an attempt too was made 
 by one of the beasts to break through the fire, but 
 the heat drove it back. One got through on to a 
 branch, but a shot brought it down and it fell into 
 the bonfire and was consumed in a few moments. 
 The smoke became dense, the noises in the interior 
 became less and less, and as the fire began to die out, 
 which it did as soon as it reached the solid green 
 portion of the tree, we knew that the horde of man- 
 eaters were no more. We dragged away the debris 
 and found in one tree the remains of two full-grown 
 panthers and three young ones, besides the charred 
 bones of the one that had fallen off the branch. In 
 the other there were, as far as we could judge, four 
 full-grown and four young ones. So we had rid that 
 locality of no less than fifteen panthers, every one of 
 which was either a man-eater or would grow up to 
 become one. The remains of human beings were 
 numerous, for we counted no less than twenty-seven 
 skulls. These we collected and burnt, and then re- 
 turned to the village. Suffice to say that I remained 
 there a week, during which no one was missing. So 
 the people who had migrated, returned to their 
 deserted homes, and I went on to Hingolie, met 
 "Verderer," and had six weeks' sport of a varied 
 kind. 
 
Spearing Game out of Boats. 293 
 
 SPEARING ANIMALS OUT OF BOATS DURING INUNDATIONS. 
 
 This is a sport, I should say, peculiar to Assam and 
 portions of tropical Africa. The Assamese, although a 
 debased and cowardly race, yet join in this method 
 of netting game. The Cacharies, when they take to 
 these modes of sport, far excel the Assamese, from 
 their superior physique and pluck, and there was a 
 fine old fellow at Burpettah who was credited with 
 having killed over 100 tigers. Eeceiving a letter 
 from Campbell, at Burpettah, saying that the country 
 was completely under water, and that he was going 
 to have a hunt on a certain day, I got into my boat 
 and was with him the evening before the appointed 
 date. The next morning there were assembled fully 
 fifty boats, these holding according to their size from 
 six to ten persons. Each man was armed with a 
 dhaw, something like the two-handed swords of the 
 Burmese. The head man stood at the front, spear in 
 hand, and several more spare ones were laid in the 
 bottom of the craft ; an experienced man held the 
 tiller. C. went in one boat, I in another, and at a. 
 given signal away we went racing over the submerged 
 plain, which resembled a vast lake, with small islands 
 (telahs or prominences) dotted about. The noise the 
 people made was deafening. I took an old breech- 
 loader with me. C. was used to the sport, and was ac- 
 coutred like the Assamese even to a sparcity of clothing. 
 I too had on very little raiment, for going at the rate we 
 did, the water splashed over and rapidly soaked us. 
 A few cartridges in a waterproof bag I carried, and 
 though assured I should not require to use the gun, 
 
294 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 I thought it just as well to be armed in case of need. 
 Soon the fleet was scattered, every boat making for an 
 islet. I had the old tiger- slayer with me. He was 
 a brawny old fellow, about sixty, but still hale and 
 hearty 3 and his muscular arms, deep broad chest, and 
 well-developed thighs and legs denoted no small 
 amount of strength. He laughed at my carrying a 
 gun, as he said it would not be required, and if we 
 were upset I should probably lose it ; but it was of 
 no great value, for it had seen its best days. We 
 went on for fully three miles, and approached a large 
 mound, fully 150 yards long by 50 broad, and covered 
 with long grass ; the noise we made evidently startled 
 some animals, for we could see the grass waving 
 about ; the shouts were redoubled, and the poor 
 beasts, thinking, no doubt, that the very devil himself 
 was let loose, took to the water. They proved to be 
 five marsh-deer four hinds and a brocket. Away 
 they swam at a great pace, but were overtaken and 
 slain by the old man. A tender, which accompanied 
 us, took the carcases on board. The sport, if it could 
 be so called, was as yet very tame. I did not admire 
 seeing hinds and immature stags pierced to death 
 when helpless and swimming for their lives ; but I 
 was merely a spectator and could not we]l interfere. 
 We then went towards other islets. Some were unin- 
 habited, but out of others a few hog-deer were started 
 and duly accounted for. Of course there was not a 
 universal depth of water ; it varied in accordance with 
 the undulations of the country. One moment we would 
 be in deep water going six or seven miles an hour, 
 then we would be suddenly aground and all but thrown 
 out of the boat by the unexpected shock. Thus a couple 
 
Spearing Game out of Boats. 295 
 
 of hours passed, and Burpettah was left a long way 
 astern. Ultimately we got into a creek, went up it 
 for about two miles and then emerged into another 
 inland sea. Out of one islet a very large stag, with 
 good horns, and two does took to the water, and we 
 after them. We were warned of the approach to a 
 shallow by seeing the deer galloping along and splash- 
 ing the water so as almost to conceal them ; but 
 beyond that there was deep water again, and they 
 also were killed. The next game that we slew were 
 a whole sounder of hog, whose flesh the Cacharies are 
 very fond of, so they also were added to the bag. 
 The tender by this time was almost gunwale under 
 water, so it was sent back, and another boat im- 
 pressed to take its place. We could see other boats 
 returning, so knew that they also were pretty well 
 laden. By this time we were in what in Burma 
 would be termed a " quin," a vast plain surrounded 
 by forest, but submerged. I saw the old man change 
 his spear, which was somewhat blunted, and after 
 inspecting several and feeling their points, choose a 
 sharp one. He told me we should now probably see 
 buffaloes. After the usual diabolical noises, out 
 rushed, open-mouthed, two rhinoceros ; if they could 
 have got at us I have no doubt we should have felt 
 the effects of their sharp tusks, but seeing a boat full 
 of men all yelling together, they changed their tactics 
 and swam for their lives. I proposed to shoot them, 
 but the old man would not listen to it. We were 
 soon alongside of the pursued, the keen razor-like 
 blade was repeatedly thrust by the stalwart arm, 
 blood poured forth and dyed the water around us. 
 The pachyderm opened his jaws, but was helpless, 
 
296 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 That cruel blade was thrust again and again, and in 
 five minutes he turned over dead, and would doubt- 
 less have sunk, but a rope was quickly attached to one 
 leg and he was towed into shallow water and there left, 
 while we made up leeway by energetic paddling as if for 
 dear life. We rapidly came up with the second animal, 
 who was then within 100 yards of dry land, which 
 reached, it would have escaped ; but it had no chance ; 
 it was helpless, so was soon defunct. Having secured 
 the rhinoceros, a fresh spear was now chosen, and we 
 continued our course. Several more deer were now 
 killed. The horns of some of the stags were particu- 
 larly good, the velvet having only lately peeled off. 
 Soon after we got into a series of shallows, and our 
 boat got aground every few minutes, when the only 
 real danger occurs, for no animal, however vast its 
 strength or ferocious its nature, has a chance of doing 
 mischief when in deep water, but in shallows it often 
 turns to bay, and natives not infrequently have then 
 been killed. We had gone as far into the Terai as 
 the inundations allowed, and were returning by a 
 circuitous route, still skirting every islet we could 
 see, when at last a tiger was started. I full- cocked 
 my rifle, for if wounded and we went aground, the 
 animal I knew would charge. The old man speared 
 it, the tiger gave a roar and felt ground at the same 
 moment ; in an instant he turned upon us ; fortu- 
 nately it was still pretty deep, so our boat was 
 quickly backed. The veteran now made a vicious 
 thrust, broke his spear and went overboard head over 
 heels, but dived under the boat, and coming up on 
 the other side scrambled in, and was back in his place 
 in a minute with his " dhaw" in his hand. I was on 
 
Spearing Game out of Boats. 297 
 
 the point of firing, but the old fellow begged me not to. 
 By this time the tiger had seized the prow of the boat 
 and was attempting to scramble into it, but just as 
 luck would have it he got out of his depth. The 
 old Cacharie, raising himself to his full height, brought 
 down the powerful weapon with all his might, and 
 fairly brained the beast, the dhaw sticking in the 
 gaping wound. The victim gave a few gasps and sank, 
 but was quickly recovered, was dragged to a sand- 
 bank, and as the " tender " had by this time arrived, 
 the carcase was deposited in it by the joint exertions 
 of some dozen men. It was a magnificent specimen, 
 and I had the skull with the dhaw imbedded in it for 
 some years. After this, we got a hog-deer or two, 
 when we were within a couple of miles of Bur- 
 pettah, a herd of buffaloes were started. For some 
 way the water was shallow, so the quarry soon got 
 far ahead, but the people knew the nature of the 
 country and what they were about, so using their 
 utmost strength and keeping well away from the 
 shallows, they were alongside the game almost as soon 
 as the animals had commenced to swim. The spears 
 were not as sharp as they ought to have been in 
 truth we had met with more game than had been 
 anticipated so the most valuable weapons had become 
 blunted and the others were of inferior quality. Thus 
 the o]d man was not as successful as usual and rather 
 bungled his work ; so it took considerable time to 
 kill three cows. These matrons dispatched, we made 
 for the bull ; with him were about a dozen more. 
 Having called for the assistance of other boats, the 
 chase was renewed ; the bull had been prodded twice 
 when we ran on to a very bad mudbank and stuck 
 
298 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 fast, and the bull also scrambled up on to the ground 
 over which he had foothold ; then he turned round 
 and came at us ; our men tried to back into deep water, 
 and then sprang over the further side of the boat 
 into the flood, and I fired a hurried shot, but the 
 next instant the old man, the boat and I were lifted 
 bodily up and tossed into the air. Nevertheless I stuck 
 to my gun, but the cartridge-bag had disappeared. 
 The bull took no notice of us, but vented his spleen on 
 the craft, attacking it furiously and turning it over 
 and over. Of course, I and the men thought dis- 
 cretion the better part of valour, so swam off into 
 greater depth ; not so the old man. He swam until he 
 got behind the bull, then crept up and with one blow of 
 his " dhaw " hamstrung the animal and it fell. Then 
 the veteran hunter gave a yell which savoured more 
 of a demon's than of a man's voice. 
 
 Campbell's party had met with greater success 
 than even we, as far as the number killed went, 
 but they had not seen a tiger or any rhinoceros. I 
 joined in two other hunts of this nature in con- 
 secutive years, but am happy to say was not tossed 
 
 again. 
 
 NETTING GAME IN ASSAM. 
 
 This mode of sport is also in vogue in Southern 
 India, and when the " Old Forest Kanger," Captain 
 Campbell of Skipness, first described it, it was openly 
 disbelieved, although every word that distinguished 
 sportsman and soldier wrote is the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth. In Assam it is of 
 common occurrence ; every village possesses nets and 
 
Netting Game in Assam. 299 
 
 entraps not only deer, but leopards, bears, tigers and 
 even ponderous buffaloes. I had read the " Old Forest 
 Ranger " as a boy, but never thought that I should 
 see the sport he so graphically described, yet in my 
 very first year in Assam I met a party going to hunt 
 with nets, and joined them. For many days before 
 the hunt commences, the natives mark down the game 
 they want deer, &c., for meat, but they also like to 
 capture young buffalo heifers, which they tame and 
 put along with their so-called tame herds, but which 
 are in reality more than half- wild. I promised them 
 Es. 20 if they showed me good sport. On this 
 they held a consultation, and said that day they could 
 only catch deer, as there was no other game in the 
 plain where their operations were to take place, but 
 if I would wait a few days, they would surround a 
 herd of buffaloes and perhaps a tiger or two, and show 
 me how they managed their work. I did not care 
 to see helpless deer cut, mangled, and speared, so 
 went after florikan and black partridge, and amused 
 myself by hunting over the adjoining country with 
 various success. On the third day after, a villager 
 informed me that they had surrounded a herd of 
 buffaloes and also some tigers, and proposed to 
 have the drive on the morrow. I was willing, so my 
 traps were soon on the elephants and I got into the 
 howdah and by 2 P.M. I was in a Nam-ghur, 1 
 close to a village some fifteen miles distant from my 
 former camp. Before daylight I was up, but the 
 villagers were even earlier, for over a hundred men 
 carrying nets had gone on ahead, while fully fifty 
 more followed with other nets, made of jute cord, the 
 1 These contain idols, but are also used as rest houses. 
 
300 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 size of my little finger ; the former formed as it were 
 the first parallel, the latter the second. The first 
 would entangle anything from a hog- deer to a tiger, 
 but the second were placed only for such heavy 
 animals as buffaloes, etc., about fifty feet beyond the 
 first. These nets are never more than eight feet high ; 
 they are pitched, supported by bamboos, and pegged 
 down at the bottom, so when they receive a blow, 
 they fall forward and entangle everything within their 
 compass. Men, and boys even, are placed in ambush 
 close by, whose business it is to rush forward and to 
 administer to entangled beasts the coup de grace. If 
 this network is broken through, the watchers rush to 
 the second line and crawl under it until they are 
 on the right side. It is seldom that anybody is 
 hurt. The nets enclosed a vast space, and when I 
 was posted they had built a machan for my accom- 
 modation, which I declined to use the usual tom- 
 toming and cholera-horn blowing took place. As the 
 game was driven forward, so the nets in the rear were 
 pushed on, curtailing the circle gradually. The 
 watchers were armed with spears and dhaws, and lay 
 prone on the ground under any shelter they could 
 find sufficient to conceal their bodies. In half an hour 
 our circle had diminished considerably, a few deer 
 showed, were entangled and slain, the nets being 
 immediately afterwards rehoisted. Feints for a dash 
 were made, but the beasts lost heart perhaps they 
 scented blood, or the natives in front they were 
 odoriferous enough, I am sure, for the Assamese and 
 Cacharies are not a clean people like the Burmese 
 and broke back, but finding more men in the rear than 
 in the front, they ultimately made a determined move 
 
Netting Game in Assam. 301 
 
 forward. Down went the nets ; more than a dozen 
 animals, and amongst them a bear, were entangled. 
 These dispatched, the nets were hastily re-erected, 
 when a commotion of no common order proved that 
 there were some animals which had not yet put in 
 an appearance. A tigress at one point, and a three- 
 parts-grown cub at another, now made a rush ; the 
 latter was easily killed by two men, but the former 
 had only two lads opposed to her ; still they did their 
 devoirs right well, and gave the foe "many a stab, but 
 had not strength enough to drive the blades home. 
 I hurried up, armed with a breechloader. Of course 
 I thought a rifle more effective than any spear, but 
 the lads wanted no assistance. The tigress tore, bit, 
 and struggled until she had got her head and one 
 forearm through the netting, when I thought it quite 
 time to interfere, and going up to her I put a ball 
 through her head. While this was going on at one 
 point, many buffaloes had stampeded over the first 
 line and were entangled in the second, which they 
 carried a considerable way with them in their impetus. 
 Finding I was no longer required at the inner circle, 
 I hastened to the outer, where I found at least fifty 
 natives stabbing bulls and full-grown cows, whilst 
 others were passing nooses over the legs of the calves 
 and heifers. One bull was very powerful, the meshes 
 of the net burst before him ; a native approached the 
 brute incautiously, and in consequence got tossed ; 
 only the forehead had struck him, but he was pitched 
 a good twenty yards, and in alighting he fell against 
 the stump of a tree which fractured his thigh. With 
 two balls I killed the enraged beast. Had he got 
 loose I have no doubt he would have killed 
 
302 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 several people, for lie was in a desperately frenzied 
 state. I then went back into the inner enclosure ; in 
 it we found a bear cub, and of all the beasts least- 
 expected two porcupines. These are repulsive 
 animals to look at, but very clean feeders, and if 
 properly cooked are not to be despised as an article 
 of diet. It was fully twelve before this beat was 
 over, after which we had two more essays, but with 
 the exception of deer we got nothing. Very often 
 when a tiger is surrounded, word is sent to the petty 
 rajahs, for whom tall machans are built ; into these 
 they climb, the victim's death often being delayed 
 for a day or two. Though a tiger could spring over 
 the nets easily, he never attempts to do so. In my 
 own tea-garden I entrapped two leopards and again 
 a tigress by means of nets, and killed them without 
 difficulty. The sport looks supremely dangerous, 
 but in reality it is not so. 
 
 A REMINISCENCE OF EAST AFRICA. 
 
 Thanks to the courtesy of an Arab proprietor, whose 
 acquaintance I had made in Mombasa, I obtained 
 a number of his slaves to accompany me on a fifteen 
 days' trip into the interior. 
 
 Crossing over from the island, I pitched my camp 
 about a mile inland. I had tinned provisions with 
 me, but wishing to economise them as far as possible, 
 I took my gun, and having about two hours' daylight 
 took a stroll to the southward. There are small 
 villages about, but very little cultivation ; still there is 
 some, and a little grain I found standing. Traversing 
 the dry bed of a watercourse, I followed a native path 
 
Sport in East Africa. 303 
 
 for about half a mile, and then turned to the left 
 towards some enclosures of " dhurra." I had scarcely 
 entered the first when a florikan got up ; I only winged 
 it, and as it could not fly, it ran across the fields and 
 an adjoining plain. Keloading, I ran after it, going 
 at a good pace, when up got about twenty guinea 
 fowls in a covey. They were so close, that to miss 
 them seemed impossible, so I fired rapidly at the 
 largest cluster, expecting that five or six w r ould drop 
 at least, but did not bring down either a bird, or even a 
 feather. My second barrel however was more effective, 
 and one toppled over, but it was only winged, and 
 when I went to pick it up, it had disappeared. 
 
 To lose a florikan, then to miss a lot of guinea 
 fowl, then to fail to find a bird knocked over, were 
 enough to " rile " a saint, and I felt about as amiable 
 as a bear with a sore head. I commenced to search 
 about in every direction, using two of the natives 
 with me as beaters. Presently we started the lesser 
 bustard, which had been hiding in a small clump of 
 long grass, and it ran for its life, so closely pursued by 
 the native that I could not fire, but gave chase too, 
 thinking it might turn and give me a shot ; but it 
 went straight on and disappeared, and the African 
 got a header into a blind nullah. Seeing him dis- 
 appear head over heels, I pulled up just in time to 
 avoid a similar fate. Turning sharply off to the right, 
 I ran along the banks of the nullah looking out for 
 some declivity by which I could descend to its bed, 
 but I had to go some little way before I could find 
 the means of crossing. I then saw a tiny path made 
 probably by some of the small antelope so common 
 in this part of Africa ; it ended at the bottom, at 
 
304 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the brink of a deep pool of water, and not wishing 
 to get wet, I was looking for a means of going round 
 it, when my attention was attracted by a slight 
 movement in the bush, not more than twenty yards 
 off. I had a charge of No. 4 shot in both barrels, 
 and after intently examining the spot for a moment 
 or two, I saw a dusky form and a pair of eyes looking 
 at me. No sooner had our eyes met, than it saw 
 that it was discovered, rushed out of the bush and 
 bounded up the bank, exposing its flank. The right 
 barrel caught it fairly enough ; but these little deer 
 have wonderful vitality, and it was not until it had 
 reached the top of the bank and got the contents of 
 my left barrel, that it toppled over and lay in the 
 agonies of death almost on the very spot whence it 
 had started. As I could see no way of getting round 
 the pool, I was about to wade across, when my native 
 appeared on the opposite side, some way down, waving 
 the florikan which he had secured. Bidding him keep 
 on till opposite to me, I pointed out the deer, and 
 pretending that it was still alive he cut its throat, 
 otherwise the meat would not have been lawful for 
 a Mussulman to eat. He then shouldered it and 
 plunged into the pool and waded across ; as he was 
 considerably taller than I, and the water reached to 
 his arm-pits, I thanked my stars that I had remained 
 on my own side. 
 
 The native was not overburdened with clothes, he 
 soon wrung out his waist-cloth, and, taking up the 
 slain, we were retracing our way to the camp, when 
 coming to the spot where the guinea fowl had fallen 
 I took a cast round, and put it up it ran like a race- 
 horse, but a snap shot brought it down. As I fired 
 
Sport in East Africa. 305 
 
 up got three more ; this time I held the gun straighter 
 and dropped one dead. Going through the long 
 grass to pick it up, I heard a hiss : stepping back- 
 wards, I just avoided a puff adder's strike, it was not 
 three feet off, and as I never spare a snake, I did not 
 hesitate to blow its head to pieces, I then picked up 
 my bird and reached the tent just at dark. 
 
 Finding so much small game about, I determined 
 to halt here for a day. I had brought some cooked 
 viands with me, amongst them some currie puffs, and 
 washing them down with a bottle of Beck's lager 
 beer, I was soon tucked up in one of Edgington's 
 swing cots, and slept the sleep of the weary up to 
 4 a.m. ; then seeing the morning star high up, I 
 called the people, and after a wash and a cup of 
 coffee, I was ready to sally forth again. This time I 
 went towards the east, and found I had taken the 
 worst possible direction, for there was little or no 
 game to be found there. I got a hare, it is true, 
 but it had little flesh on its bones ; and though I 
 trudged along, first east and then south, not far from 
 the sea, I only saw a few quail and a partridge or 
 two, and those out of shot. As it was getting hot 
 and I saw no prospect of sport, I turned homewards, 
 going across some old cultivated fields. In this, 
 putting up a few quail, I loaded with small shot and 
 soon had half-a-dozen brace. I then came to a belt 
 of jungle. I had scarcely entered it when up got 
 eight francolins, fine large birds. I bowled over a 
 couple, and they were added to the bag. By beating 
 amongst bushes in the long grass, I put up, singly or 
 in pairs, several brown partridges, and got four. They 
 are easy enough to hit but require a deal of killing. 
 
 x 
 
306 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 One bird I thought I had missed ; it flew across a 
 nullah and over an open space, apparently unhurt, 
 when it gave a lurch and rolled over dead, fortunately 
 close to a solitary " toddy tree," otherwise we should 
 probably have lost it. 
 
 I got to camp about eleven, had breakfast, a 
 snooze, and then ordered the tent to be struck and 
 all hands to be ready to move about five, as I 
 wished to go a short distance off and incamp in a 
 garden belonging to the Arab who had lent me my 
 followers. I only took one man with me, and started 
 about 3 P.M. I went across a plain covered with 
 long grass and bushes towards a patch of mimosa 
 trees, but for a long time I saw no game. After a 
 while I did see several antelope well out in the open, 
 but on searching my pockets I could find neither ball 
 nor slug cartridges. I had put on the wrong coat. I 
 had two exactly alike. In one I had cartridges for 
 small game shooting, in the other for larger beasts, 
 such as deer, &c. To fire at them except at close 
 quarters with shot is wanton cruelty ; so, disgusted at 
 my own carelessness, I had to leave them alone, and 
 tried for small game. I saw at least three if not 
 four varieties of antelope, but all were out of shot. 
 I then got into bush jungle, and there too, the deer 
 I call them so, but they are antelope of course, 
 there being no deer in this part of Africa were 
 plentiful, but the knowing wretches would bolt on the 
 right side if I were on the left and vice versa, so for 
 a long time I got nothing. We had wandered further 
 than I thought, and I was about to retrace my steps, 
 when far in the distance to the right I saw my 
 people moving along in single file, making for a 
 
Sport in East Africa. 307 
 
 cocoanut grove about a couple of miles off. The 
 men, anxious to get drink, were hurrying off to 
 collect toddy, which is always procurable in such 
 " shambas," and had moved camp earlier than 
 ordered, and if I had not fortunately seen them I 
 should have gone back to camp for nothing, and they 
 would have been hopelessly drunk by the time I 
 overtook them. I had by this time got to a sort 
 of bund or dam which forms a kind of breakwater 
 to a hollow, which in the rains is a " jheel." Using 
 my binoculars, and scanning the country, I noticed a 
 narrow path which apparently led to the same des- 
 tination or thereabouts, to which my camp was 
 bound, so I hurried along in order to get there, if I 
 could, as soon as or very soon after my people. 
 But the way was not so smooth as it looked ; 
 there were ravines to cross and much broken 
 ground. Fortunately the man with me had been 
 employed in that very shamba, and, anxious to get 
 his share of drink with the others, as I thought, he 
 went merrily along, but I fear his object was more to 
 delay me than to accelerate my arrival, so as to give 
 his confreres time to secure the toddy before I got 
 in. Be that as it may, he took me a roundabout 
 way after all, for close as the grove appeared to be, 
 it was fully eight o'clock before I got to the hut, 
 which had been arranged for my accommodation. On 
 asking my servant, a low caste Madrassie, a good- 
 enough boy when sober, why he had not waited for 
 me to return to camp before moving, he audaciously 
 asserted I had ordered him to go on as the things were 
 packed, and the Africans being in the plot, swore so 
 too. As this was their first offence I let them off with 
 
 x 2 
 
308 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 a "jobation." I knew the liquor had been secured 
 and that an orgie would follow, so told them if I was 
 disturbed during the night by any quarrelling or 
 fighting or other noises, I would flog them all round. 
 No sooner had I turned in, than every living soul went 
 to a tope about half a mile off, and there, I have 
 no doubt, kept it up all night. In the morning 
 none of them were fit for work, all complaining of 
 fever, and sitting wrapped up in their blankets, 
 shivering in the sun. So I went out alone, telling 
 them I should move camp at two and, if they were 
 not fit to march then, I should return to Mombasa 
 and hand them over to their master. 
 
 I had gone about a mile, when I heard a guinea fowl 
 calling, and secured a brace out of the first lot, and 
 three out of the second. I then turned off to an open 
 space, thinking to pick up some quail, but at its very 
 edge up got a lovely francolin, as large as a pheasant, 
 which I was lucky enough to secure. On examining 
 my prize I found it a very handsome bird, with the 
 neck and body feathers pencilled. I picked up a few 
 quail further on, and as they got up by twos the 
 shooting was pretty. Having as much game as I 
 cared for, I tied it to my waistbelt, and with the gun 
 over my shoulder, but at full cock, so as to be ready 
 for any chance that might arise, I made for camp. 
 
 Near a dry nullah, with a " cuk-cuk-cuk," a large 
 bird rose ; as I fired up got a lot of guinea fowl ; I killed 
 right, and left. My first bird was another description 
 of francolin, but dusky in plumage, and though not 
 as handsome as the first, fully as large. Not knowing 
 whether these birds were rare or not, I hurried on, so 
 as to preserve the skins before we moved camp. I 
 
Sport in East Africa. 309 
 
 got through the job in good time, but lost the speci- 
 mens after all, as my people left them out in the 
 heavy dew and rain, the skins rotted and were 
 useless. I never saw any like them afterwards, 
 though I have been told by a lay missionary, who is 
 also a capital sportsman, that he had shot very many 
 of them at times and in different localities in Africa. 
 I led the way, one of the men acting as guide, and 
 from two till five we went through shamba after 
 shamba (plantations) of cocoa-nuts, mangoes (which 
 are in this part of Africa, as well as Lakoja on the 
 Niger, most excellent and bear three crops a year, so 
 that a tree is never without this delicious fruit), 
 and manioc ; so as I was told there was a scarcity 
 of water ahead, we camped on the edge of the plateau. 
 Ahead of us there was a rolling and undulating plain, 
 covered here and there with thorny bushes, long grass, 
 and now and then with dwarfed mimosa, Indian bau- 
 bul, which yields the gum arabica of commerce. The 
 country was cut up by ravines, and must be very 
 difficult to cross in the rains ; even now I could 
 discern a distant pool here and there. I asked if 
 there was any game there, but was told not at that 
 season ; later on there would be herds and herds of 
 various antelope, the hideous hartebeeste predom- 
 inating. I inquired about the road to Shimba, where 
 I was going, and was told there was nothing to be 
 shot en route. Following the native path, it would 
 take us a good twelve hours' marching to get there. 
 The hills were right in front of us, could we not get 
 there direct by a short cut across country ? No ; we 
 must follow the native paths. Seeing water about, I 
 thought if we went past the pools we might find 
 
3 1 o Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 game, as there were no inhabitants, and the country 
 looked favourable for antelope. But the natives with 
 me declared it was impossible to go off the beaten 
 track. I had just finished dinner, and was taking it 
 easy, when a string of some five or six men approached, 
 armed with bows and arrows and laden with meat. 
 I at once got hold of my interpreter, and after giving 
 the strangers a tot of grog all round, questioned the 
 leader. At first he was very reticent, but another 
 glass of gin and a view of a few gorgeous handker- 
 chiefs loosened his tongue, and Andrew, my inter- 
 preter a very good lad, who had been fairly educated 
 and brought up by the missionaries informed me 
 that the game they had with them had been killed 
 that day near a pool not five miles off. I asked 
 their head man to attach himself to me for a few 
 days, but he said he must go into Mombasa to sell 
 the meat at once, or it would be tainted and be 
 unsaleable. I told him to send it in with the others, 
 who could return and meet us at any place he chose 
 to appoint, and, after a long confab, and a present of 
 three handkerchiefs to himself and a couple to each 
 of the others, and a promise of more hereafter, he 
 agreed to take me across country to the best sporting 
 localities, but that if we went with him after game 
 it would take us five days to get to Shimba, instead 
 of twelve hours by the ordinary route, for though the 
 distance in a bee line was much the shorter, the 
 country between us and the hills was very bad, and 
 we should have to ascend them by a long circuitous 
 route, and if I wanted to shoot game we must halt 
 near some of the pools and lie in wait for the deer 
 when they came to drink. I was in no hurry to get 
 
Sport in East Africa. 3 1 1 
 
 to Shimba ; and, although I detest sitting up for 
 and potting game, yet, as I wanted to get the heads, 
 horns, and hides of the African ferce naturce, and 
 these men had killed three different kinds of deer 
 and had seen, I was assured, three other kinds, I 
 agreed to his proposals. The other natives, with the 
 venison, went off soon afterwards, leaving their leader 
 behind. We were up before daybreak ; there was 
 a good deal of murmuring on the part of my men, 
 who declared they had been sent with me to go to 
 Shimba and not to wander over unknown tracts ; 
 and one lazy rascal, the leader of the gang, flatly 
 refused to take up his load, or to accompany me to 
 where I proposed going. Now, it is a disgusting 
 practice always to be thrashing your niggers ; they 
 are very like children, and can generally be ruled 
 by a judicious mixture of firmness combined with 
 kindness ; but some of these men, especially those 
 who, although slaves themselves, have accompanied 
 their masters in slave-hunting expeditions, are apt 
 to be mutinous, and even now and then, to show 
 fight. It would never do for a European to give 
 in too much, or to show the white feather ; so going 
 up to the man, with a smile on my face, I desired 
 him to take up his load. He merely spat on the 
 ground by way of answer. Still looking at him as 
 pleasantly as I could, but inwardly boiling with 
 rage, I brought down my cane with all my might 
 right across his ugly face ! He sprang up, and tried 
 to close ; I eluded his grasp, gave him first a cut 
 across the shins (the weakest and most sensitive part 
 of an African), which made him yell, I knocked him 
 down, barking my knuckles on his thick head ; putting 
 
3 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 my foot on his neck, half throttling him, and gave 
 him the most unmerciful thrashing I ever gave a 
 nigger in my life. He was purple in the face, and 
 unable to move, and I feared I had gone too far, 
 but in a short time the other Africans got hold of 
 him and poured water over him ; he recovered and 
 was a wiser and a better man. Drawing my revolver, 
 I swore I would shoot the first man who disobeyed, 
 and the others, seeing the fate of their leader and 
 my determined looks, took up their loads and followed 
 the guide across country without a word. I may 
 here say that on my return, on reporting the man's 
 conduct and my own to his master, the latter told 
 me I should have been justified, by Arab law, in 
 putting a bullet through him, and that would 
 have been his own conduct under similar circum- 
 stances ; in fact, had I not interceded, the man would 
 have been then and there tied up and half flayed 
 alive. The plantation where we were encamped was 
 on an arm of the sea, which runs inland many miles, 
 and is a continuation of the great port of Mombasa, 
 where, just before the British fleet, under Admiral the 
 Hon. Sir E. K. Fremantle, had been anchored. Leaving 
 this to the right, we plunged into a vast undulating 
 plain. A great deal of it was very stony, and covered 
 with stunted grass, a good many ravines or water- 
 courses, thorny bushes, and occasionally forests of low 
 " baubul." We went almost parallel to the foot of the 
 Shimba range in a southerly direction. After we had 
 got clear of the ravines, we came to a plain standing 
 somewhat higher than the surrounding country, and 
 covered with fine grass about 2,^ feet high. In this 
 there were many florikan : I shot several, and as I 
 
Sport in East Africa. 3 1 3 
 
 don't care for them I told the porters they might 
 have them ; so directly a bird fell he was hal-laled. 
 We also picked up a couple of their eggs : the first I 
 had ever seen. We saw the marks of deer in abund- 
 ance, but not one in person. By the evening we 
 had done perhaps twelve miles. In front of us 
 was a " tope," pretty free of undergrowth, but with 
 numerous rattan canes creeping up the trees. Half 
 a mile beyond was a pool, perhaps half a mile long, 
 nowhere over twenty yards across, and not more than 
 a couple of feet deep. In a very short time, unless 
 rain fell, it would dry up, and the game would go 
 elsewhere, so we had just hit off the right time. 
 At its further extremity there were a good many 
 trees and long grass, where I had no doubt game 
 retired to during the heat of the day. We entered 
 the first " tope," and as there was no appearance of 
 rain, I did not pitch the tent, the trestle cot answer- 
 ing all purposes of shelter from the heavy dew, as it 
 had a waterproof sunshade over it. 
 
 The guide, or shikarie as I shall call him in future, 
 took his bow and quiver of arrows, and glided off to 
 ascertain the whereabouts of game, and did not re- 
 turn till late not till I had finished my dinner, and 
 had become somewhat impatient. Across his shoulders 
 he brought the hind-quarters of a water buck, whilst 
 in his hand he carried the head, with fine horns. The 
 moon was obscured by fleeting clouds, and it was not 
 till past 10 p.m. that he and I sallied forth. I took an 
 express *577, and gave him the "Paradox" to carry; 
 in addition he had his own arms and poisoned arrows. 
 On the further side of the pool there was a sort of 
 natural " bund ; " we crawled along under its shelter 
 
3 1 4 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 until we were more than half way, and there I found 
 a circular pit which had been dug by this man and 
 his companions a short time ago. Into this we crept, 
 and with the guns handy, lay still. At all times watch- 
 ing for game by night is unpleasant, but doubly so 
 when your companion is an odoriferous African why 
 these people should all have this abominable bouquet, 
 aptly called d'Afrique, I do not know, but I think I 
 would sooner take a black draught than be in close 
 proximity to a nigger all night, but by getting to the 
 windward of him and making him sit as far away as pos- 
 sible, I managed to exist without being sick. Now and 
 then by half raising myself and looking over the pool 
 to the furthest point, I saw at times various indistinct 
 outlines of what I suppose were antelope, but it was 
 impossible to be certain what they were. We watched 
 the whole of that weary night, exposed to the heavy 
 dew just the way to catch the dreaded African fever- 
 but I had had my share and more, when up the Niger 
 and Congo, and was " salted" as it were so did not 
 fear it. At times I even dozed and just as day was 
 breaking, the shikarie touched me, and, looking in the 
 direction he pointed, I perceived several dark objects, 
 how many I could not say, coming right opposite to us 
 to drink. They boldly waded in and crowded together ; 
 two were so close that their flanks touched, one was 
 a buck and the other a doe of the hartebeest genus, 
 mule deer I call them, hideous ugly brutes, but they 
 were fair specimens, and a solid conical from the 
 Express passed through both, and they fell with a 
 splash. So unused were they to the report of a gun, 
 that the remainder of the herd, somewhat startled, 
 but not very much frightened, sprang forward in our 
 
Sport in East Africa. 315 
 
 direction and then stood still. Tha savage by my 
 side had an arrow fitted, and let fly before one could 
 say Jack Kobinson. It was not a good shot, it struck 
 the beast in the flank and away it and its companions 
 fled. I was curious to see what effect the poison 
 would have and how soon, so I timed it. 
 
 The wounded animal separated from the rest ; it 
 had hardly gone a couple of hundred yards when it 
 commenced, not exactly to stagger but to run in zig- 
 zags and presently rolled over and with a quiver or 
 two was dead. All within five minutes ! The man 
 went up to it, flayed it, cut a piece of meat all round 
 the arrow-head, which he threw away, then quartered 
 the game. It seems extraordinary to me that such a 
 virulent poison does not affect the whole of the flesh. 
 But it does not ; with the exception of the part 
 incised the rest is perfectly good and fit for human 
 food. 
 
 It was now broad day, and my porters had soon 
 dragged out the two antelope. As I intended to 
 halt where we were I allowed them to take the whole 
 of the meat, and odd to say nothing was said about 
 its not having been hal-laled. It is true they cut 
 the throats, but then the beasts had been dead fully 
 ten minutes but of course I made no allusion to it. 
 The guide hung his meat in the shade in long strips, 
 and told my men to hang it out with theirs in the 
 sun at midday. I had told him I would have no 
 more shooting by night and that he must accompany 
 me in search of game by day in the neighbouring 
 forest. We took some food with us and set out. The 
 man made a long detour until we were favourably 
 placed for the wind, and then entered the forest, 
 
3 1 6 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 through the centre of which ran a tiny watercourse, 
 with little or no water in it, and but few pebbles or 
 stones, so we moved along it almost noiselessly. The 
 deer scampering away at dawn must have disturbed 
 the forest, for we saw nothing up to twelve o'clock. 
 We then ate something, had a tot of grog, and smoked 
 placidly till past three, we then took a south-easterly 
 course, there the forest was more open, with patches 
 of long grass here and there, and every now and then 
 some deer would sneak away. Suddenly the man 
 stooped down, and with his hand bade me do like- 
 wise. Directly I saw his movement I had done so 
 too ; we remained immovable as statues for several 
 minutes, then the shikarie glided forward and I 
 followed ; every now and then the man would lie 
 down flat, and I of course did the same. In about a 
 quarter of an hour, which appeared to me an age, he 
 pointed, and looking in that direction I saw three in- 
 distinct forms about a hundred yards off. They 
 had not seen us ; they gazed at nothing, flapping the 
 flies off with their tails. Looking more intently I 
 saw that they were elands, probably a buck and either 
 two does, or a doe and a youngster half-grown. 
 They were amongst a lot of saplings, and the great 
 danger was that the bullet might be deflected by one 
 of them, for the trees were very close together. I 
 sat up, and being perfectly concealed, remained 
 examining the beasts, wondering which was the male, 
 for I could not distinguish more than a bit of the 
 head of one at a time, as they tossed them about. 
 Natives of India would have urged me to shoot, they 
 think a gun can do anything, but the African never 
 moved a muscle, and crouching down, lay perfectly 
 
Sport in East Africa. 317 
 
 still, leaving me to choose my own time. These rumi- 
 nants, which were chewing the cud in peace, 
 suddenly jumped up, sprang forward, and were almost 
 on the top of us before I could raise the rifle to my 
 shoulder. I threw myself down. The guide sprang 
 up like a jack in the box, and with a yell which might 
 have frightened a person of the most stringent nerves, 
 to say nothing of poor harmless beasts like antelope, 
 he brought them to a momentary standstill. I fired 
 at the largest, the shikarie at another, mine toppled 
 over at once and proved to be the bull. It took us 
 over an hour to find the one hit with the arrow, not 
 that it had gone any long distance or that it had sur- 
 vived many minutes, but in its death struggles it had 
 bounded here and there and had finally fallen into a 
 narrow watercourse and lay concealed amidst a 
 quantity of foliage. I sent the man back for porters, 
 and cut off the two heads, both good of their kind, 
 and had partially flayed the bull by the time the 
 bearers arrived to take back the meat to camp. 
 Wondering what could have frightened the animals, 
 I searched the surface of the surrounding ground, 
 more especially near where they were lying down 
 when first seen. The ground was hard and it was not 
 easy to trace the spoor of any footsteps, but in a 
 slightly moist bit I saw the imprint of the foot of 
 either a very large leopard or a smallish lion. 
 
 Everything was as still as death. So, sending the 
 men back to camp, I hid myself to ascertain what 
 had caused all the commotion. After waiting until 
 I was heartily sick of my cramped position, I got 
 up and went forward. I had brought a bottle of 
 strychnine with me, and cutting an incision or two 
 
3 1 8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 into what was left of the deer, and dropping some of 
 the poison in them, I went home and forbade anyone 
 going to the deer which had been shot, for fear he 
 might be poisoned too. We had disturbed these 
 jungles sufficiently, so determined to move camp, 
 but whilst passing the scene of our adventure I 
 found the remains of both the elands had been 
 dragged away, so I followed the trail and came upon 
 a lion, not a very big one dead ! So I had obtained 
 my first African feline by murder. In the meanwhile 
 the guide had followed the other trail. I saw him fix an 
 arrow and shoot ; a lioness bounded upon him. I had 
 just time to take a snap shot, and fortunately hit her 
 in the lower jaw, fracturing it completely ; but though 
 unable to bite, she clawed the man, and would have 
 doubtless injured him severely, had I not run up 
 and put a ball through her head. As I wanted the 
 skins carefully removed, I temporarily halted there. 
 
 We were ready to move again about one, and went 
 on to another pool of water, at the very extremity 
 of the Shimba range. There we pitched camp for 
 the night. Moving as we were, I was unable to peg 
 out the pelts, but I had them well rubbed over with 
 wood ashes and stretched them as well as I could on 
 a framework, and on halting we slung them and all 
 our meat to the topmost leaves of a cocoa-nut tree, 
 the only one in the place, and as it was tapped, we 
 were very glad to avail ourselves of its delicious juice, 
 which is very wholesome, and refreshing, if taken 
 fresh, but very intoxicating if allowed to ferment. 
 
 The night was made hideous by the cries of 
 hyaenas and other prowling beasts, who, smelling 
 meat and not being able to get at it, vented their 
 
Sport in East Africa. 319 
 
 wrath by swearing at us in their own discordant 
 language ! 
 
 Early next morning we commenced the ascent of 
 the range. The shikarie would not take us to the 
 part occupied by missionaries, who had a station 
 there, but crossing many miles lower down, he took 
 us to a deserted village with large pools of water, 
 where it was said hippopotami, and even giraffes 
 were at times to be found. 
 
 Hippoos require a good deal of food, and they 
 soon devour the stock of aquatic plants in a cir- 
 cumscribed sheet of water, they then migrate else- 
 where and only return when the pool has become 
 stocked again. So a visitor to a locality may on 
 certain occasions find behemoth and at others not ; 
 These hippoos bore a bad name, and were said to care 
 nothing for anybody, and now and then took the 
 initiative in attacking. This view of their character 
 was borne out by the guide, who declared his brother 
 had been killed by one of these river horses at one of 
 these very pools. He said there were no trees near 
 and but a fringe of grass round the edge of the vley. 
 
 On the plateau we saw a great many florikan and 
 deer, but got none. I shot a few partridges, as they 
 lay well and allowed one to almost walk over them 
 before rising, so afforded easy shots ; but for the 
 table they were scarcely worth powder and shot. 
 By 3 P.M. we began the descent of the range, to the 
 west, but going down was almost worse than climbing 
 up, and it was dark when we got to the plain beyond, 
 and finding a cleared spot, pitched our camp and 
 made ourselves comfortable for the night. But 
 during sunset and sunrise a lion prowled round us, 
 
320 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 uttering a peculiar cry, and the superstitious natives 
 said it was the mate of the one we had shot and 
 the father of the one I had poisoned. The brute 
 kept us awake. He might have been a man-eater for 
 all we knew. It was too dark to see him or I would 
 have sent a bullet or a charge of buckshot after 
 him. 
 
 At daybreak we resumed our journey, traced the 
 lion's feet-marks for some way, but he had gone into 
 a ravine so densely matted with thorny bushes, that 
 I could only have followed him by going on all fours, 
 along the tunnelled path which led to his lair. 
 Whilst I was examining this place the comrades of 
 our guide, who had gone on to Mombasa to dispose 
 of the venison, came up. They were carrying a water 
 buck which they had killed. After some trouble I 
 induced them to quarter it, and whilst retaining all 
 the good meat for themselves, to leave the carcase as 
 a bait close to the path leading to the lion's home. 
 Covering it over with grass and bushes to prevent the 
 vultures from seeing it. I left, determined to return 
 later on and try and get a shot at the king of beasts. 
 We reached the camping place about 11 A.M. ; 
 pitched the tent in a group of trees about a quarter 
 of a mile from the nearest water, which was but a 
 stagnant pool, not very inviting in its appearance ; 
 as it was evidently a favourite resort of buffaloes to 
 wallow in, but close by there was a small excavation 
 which yielded good clear water and which would 
 suffice for our wants. After a hasty breakfast I 
 visited all the neighbouring pools ; there were foot- 
 prints of game of all sorts round them, but the 
 hippoos resided in a large " vley " of water some way 
 
Sport in East Africa. 321 
 
 off so I deferred my visit to them till the morrow. 
 About three I walked back to where we had left the 
 remains of the water buck. Eemoving the debris we 
 had put over it, the shikarie and I hid ourselves 
 behind some boulders of rocks, which formed a very 
 respectable cache within easy shooting distance. We 
 had not been there five minutes, nor had the carcase 
 been uncovered more than ten minutes, when, with a 
 whirl, with closed wings, shot down a vulture, and then 
 another and another ! I was for driving them away, 
 but my sable companion made signs to leave them 
 alone. I thought the obscene birds would pick the 
 skeleton clean in a few minutes, but their chattering 
 and fighting and the noise made by them when darting 
 through the air, I suppose roused the lion, and he 
 must have crept up so noiselessly, that the first 
 intimation we had of his presence was the flight of 
 the birds. Looking up, over our barrier, there stood 
 a magnificent lion not fifteen paces away. A shell 
 behind the shoulder dropped him dead, I heard a rush 
 and just got sight of the tip of the tail of another 
 lion or lioness, as it ran back into cover. If I had 
 waited, I have no doubt I should have got both. 
 Thinking there was just a chance of the one who had 
 retreated coming back later on, we dragged the one 
 slain aside (it was as much as we could do jointly), 
 and covered it up. I sent the man back to camp 
 with orders to return by dark with men, and then 
 ensconced myself again, but the filthy birds returned, 
 no feline put in an appearance, and long before the 
 porters arrived there was not an ounce of flesh left on 
 the bones. The lion not having been seen, although 
 not twenty feet away, was unmolested by the 
 
 Y 
 
322 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 vultures. Leaving the men to carry home the spoil, 
 I hurried ahead, had pegs prepared, bathed and 
 dined. It took us over an hour to flay and then to 
 peg out the skin. The head I put into a large 
 earthenware pot and left it simmering on the fire 
 all night ; in the morning the flesh peeled off, and I 
 had as fine and white a skull as one could wish to 
 see. The teeth were loosened a bit, but these can 
 easily be fastened in with beeswax as a temporary 
 measure, and afterwards with plaster of Paris. After 
 drying the skull thoroughly in the sun, I wound 
 twine round the jaws to keep them together, and 
 then made one of the " boys " sew it up in a piece of 
 gunny. 
 
 Next day I determined to visit the " Hippoos' 
 Rest," and ascertain if they were at home and as 
 savage as reported. Three of the Africans accom- 
 panied me. I took my '577 loaded with six and a half 
 drams of powder and a solid hardened bullet in each 
 barrel, also a single elephant gun, 1 and lucky it was 
 that I did so. I also had the "Paradox." It took us 
 over two and a half hours' walking to get to the big 
 pool. Before we reached it the ground was a mass 
 of dents and pitfalls, as if a herd of elephants had 
 been wandering about there for a month. The " vley " 
 in the monsoon had approached the dimensions of 
 a lake, and as the waters subsided during the dry 
 season, the soil had cracked, and much resembled the 
 "cotton soil" of India. Besides the tracks of the 
 hippoos, there were marks of elephants, buffaloes, 
 giraffes, and of many kinds of antelopes, from colossal 
 
 1 Made by Messrs. Bland & Co., of the Strand, called the 
 Equatorial. 
 
Encounter with Vicious Hippopotami. 323 
 
 elands down to the tiny duiker. There were but 
 three trees, at some distance apart, and, bearing in 
 mind the evil repute of the hippoos, I made for the 
 largest. As the men refused to follow me, I slung 
 the Express over my shoulder, and carried the big- 
 bore in my hand. It is called the "Equatorial." 
 I directed the man with the Paradox to go to the 
 next tree and remain there, either at the bottom or 
 up in the branches, but ready to hand it to me if I 
 required it. The ground was execrable, but I stum- 
 bled along, reached the long grass, and with some 
 difficulty got to the tree, but found I was still some 
 way from the water. I tried to climb the tree to 
 take a view around, but found it too prickly, so 
 resting the single barrel against the trunk, I com- 
 menced to form a pathway by treading dow r n the 
 grass, so as to have a means of retreat should one 
 be necessary. The Express I kept in hand at full 
 cock, ready for any emergency. It was not far to 
 the water's edge, but it took me fully an hour to get 
 there, for the stems of the grass were like those of 
 large reeds, not easy to break or to tread down 
 quietly. Silently as I had moved, as I thought, I 
 must have made some noise, for on pushing aside 
 the last of the grass I saw, not ten paces off, just 
 emerging from the deep water, the hideous head of 
 an enormous bull hippopotamus. Our eyes met. I 
 made a step backwards, intending to get behind 
 the tree, but he rushed at me at once, opening out 
 his cavernous mouth, exposing a horrible set of 
 ivories and- bellowing with rage. Although in his 
 depth, fortunately the water was up to his middle, 
 so his progress was laboured and not very rapid. I 
 
324 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 gave him both barrels in the neck, turned round and 
 ran to the tree. Dropping the Express, I seized the 
 " Big-bore," wheeled round one side of the tree as 
 the hippoo passed it on the other. Almost touching 
 him, I gave him the contents behind the shoulder, 
 then dodging round the tree I seized the double rifle, 
 reloaded it " in the twinkling of a bed-post," fully 
 expecting the brute to be upon me every moment, 
 but the impetus with which he had made at me 
 carried him on, and, seeing the natives in the plain, 
 he blundered on after them. I again seized the single 
 rifle, thrusting in a cartridge I ran to the edge of the 
 grass, and, taking a deliberate aim, fired. This time 
 the brute stumbled, and fell on his knees, the blood 
 pouring from his nostrils ; but he seemed to bear a 
 charmed life, was up again and after the men, but at 
 a very reduced pace. Again I fired the elephant 
 gun, but apparently without effect, as he took no 
 notice of the shot. I loaded and fired again. This 
 time he was a good hundred paces off. This last 
 shot seemed to have struck some tender spot, for he 
 pulled up, and trotted back towards me, but very 
 groggily. The "Big-bore" I knew to be not only 
 very powerful, but very accurate. I did not care to 
 let the beast come too close, for he was a nasty 
 customer. So when he was about fifty paces off I 
 knelt down and fired at the junction of the neck and 
 chest. Down he fell, this time to rise no more. I 
 picked up the Express, loaded both weapons care- 
 fully, and joined the natives, who were grouped 
 round the slain. The bullets were all well placed, 
 and any one of them should have sufficed to deprive 
 him of life, and would probably have done so, but 
 
A Herd of Giraffe. 325 
 
 for the brute's determination and ferocity which alone 
 kept him alive as long as it did. 
 
 The men took out their knives, and were com- 
 mencing to cut up the slain, when we were startled by 
 hearing snorting, and, looking round, there was a full- 
 grown hippoo coming at us at a lumbering gallop ! 
 The natives spread, each running a different route. I 
 dropped close alongside of the enormous carcase by 
 me, and the pachyderm singling out the shikarie 
 went for him open-mouthed. He did not see me, 
 but passed within ten yards. I fired, first the "bone 
 smasher" and then both barrels of the Express at not 
 more than twenty yards' distance, and had the 
 satisfaction of seeing the monster roll over after 
 running a short way. Back came the natives, 
 and after a hurried consultation, two went off full 
 pelt, whilst the third commenced to cut up one of 
 the animals, swallowing at the same time great 
 pieces of raw meat and fat. There was not much 
 more than an hour or so of daylight left, when the 
 natives who had so suddenly disappeared, returned 
 accompanied by about fifty others. Whilst some 
 shouldered the meat which had already been cut, 
 and made for camp, the others remained behind to 
 complete the quartering. I did not get back to my 
 tent till 8.30 P.M., very much done up, but a cold 
 bath and a good dinner and a bottle of lager made 
 a new man of me, and it was arranged that our 
 shikarie and I were to start about 3 A.M., and the 
 rest were to follow later on, and meet us at some 
 rendezvous, agreed upon between them. By day- 
 break we were close by the place where the encounter 
 with the hippoos had yesterday taken place. We 
 
326 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 gave the place and pool a wide berth, not wishing to 
 
 encounter any more of these pugnacious beasts, and 
 
 went on to a gully in the heart of an acacia forest, 
 
 where it was said giraffes were to be found. The 
 
 walking was most difficult. In the dim daylight of 
 
 the forest I often slipped into a " crevasse " or a pit, 
 
 and got several falls, and many a shaking. But 
 
 getting on to a path made by wild beasts, we were 
 
 enabled to traverse the ground at a better pace. There 
 
 were the footmarks and the droppings of many 
 
 animals, those of giraffes predominating, as those 
 
 beasts seemed to go and return by the same way. We 
 
 disturbed several deer, but saw nothing to shoot up 
 
 to nine o'clock. I was then told to sit down and 
 
 rest, and the shikarie would look about for fresh 
 
 tracks. I was to conceal myself as much as possible, 
 
 for if giraffes were started they would be sure to 
 
 come my way. I accordingly got into a kind of 
 
 pit, which some one had dug out in search of water, 
 
 and squatted down, having my weapons loaded and 
 
 handy. I cut a few branches which I stuck into the 
 
 ground in front of me so as to form a screen, and 
 
 after eating some cold meat hippoo's, I believe and 
 
 taking a swig of whisky and water, I was half asleep, 
 
 when I heard a twig break. I was on the qui vive in 
 
 a moment, and cautiously peered about, but could 
 
 see nothing. After a considerable pause there was 
 
 another slight sound and then faint footsteps, and I 
 
 saw about eight giraffes in single file coming past 
 
 my post. How my heart did beat ! They looked so 
 
 lovely. It seemed a great shame to deprive one of 
 
 these animals of its life ! Yet how disappointed I 
 
 should have been had I failed to bag one ! Their 
 
A Vicious Buffalo. 327 
 
 heads towered over the vegetation. Their long 
 tongues would dart out, seize some succulent morsel, 
 then disappear for a second in the mouth, and then 
 the process would be repeated. When nearly oppo- 
 site me, they halted. I was afraid they had winded 
 me; but as they scattered somewhat, and recom- 
 menced to feed placidly, I knew that they did not 
 suspect the presence of their deadly foe Man. I 
 might have brought down a couple at any moment, 
 but it was such a beautiful sight, that I refrained 
 from firing. We thus remained for fully five 
 minutes ; then in the distance there was the sound 
 of hoofs, as if some heavy beasts were in a stampede. 
 The giraffes collected together with their heads 
 towards the noise, and with the exception of 
 stamping one foot at a time, they looked as if cut 
 out of so many rocks. But this barely lasted a 
 minute, and then, in a straggling line, some twenty 
 buffaloes rushed past. The leader was a huge bull 
 with an immense head and horns. In a second the 
 bovines and the cameleopards were mixed as if 
 running a race. Directly the stampede took place 
 indecision on my part ceased. I gave the buffalo 
 the contents of the "bone breaker" behind the 
 shoulder, and with the right barrel of the Express 
 laid low the bull giraffe with a ball through its 
 neck, and afterwards wounded another with the left. 
 Leaving the giraffe, I hurried on with great caution 
 after the wounded buffalo, for these animals are very 
 treacherous, and when followed often hide and pounce 
 upon their foe when least expected, and when the 
 victim is so close as to prevent the possibility of 
 his escaping. The wounded animal had turned off to 
 
328 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the left into horrible ground, so densely covered with 
 thorny jungle that it was only possible to traverse it 
 by following on the trail. As very many of the bushes 
 closed again after he had forced a passage through ; 
 it was very ticklish work, and I did not half like it, 
 but I coveted the head, so waiting until the shikarie 
 appeared, and giving him the Equatorial and making 
 signs to him to keep close, I led the way with the 
 '577 1 in hand, full cocked. Two of the Africans had 
 turned up ; telling them to flay the giraffe, and then 
 to look for the wounded one, I went on very slowly, 
 stopping every moment to peer ahead as well as I could, 
 and to listen. But I got out of the low jungle and 
 had entered another with " baubul " trees only, which 
 were about seven feet high, the lower branches inter- 
 mingled, so the leaves formed a crown above, and the 
 whole made almost a canopy overhead. Here I could 
 see a little way in front, but still did not hurry forward. 
 I had gone perhaps half a mile ; there was a dry 
 rivulet, the bed being about three feet lower than 
 the banks, which were composed of some friable black- 
 looking very dry earth. I kept as near the edge as 
 was safe and followed the trail, on which lay patches 
 of frothy blood a sure sign that he was shot through 
 the lungs. If I had had any sense, I ought to have 
 waited till next day, and then have followed, with the 
 certainty of finding him dead. That, I think, was 
 the opinion of the shikarie, for he kept lagging 
 behind as soon as he ascertained from the footmarks 
 that I was following this dangerous beast. About 
 fifty yards ahead the dry rivulet took a sharp turn 
 
 1 One of Westley Richard s's best weapons, which won the 
 Grand Prix at Paris. 
 
Death of the Vicious Buffalo. 329 
 
 to the left. I could see so far that all was plain 
 sailing, so I hurried on, having my weapon ready 
 for instant use. I was near the bend and advancing 
 more cautiously, when there was a rush, and the broad 
 head of the buffalo was within a couple of yards of 
 me. Unfortunately for him, but luckily for me, for 
 the sake of greater concealment he had left the bed 
 of the nullah and taken up a position on the further 
 bank. To get at me he had either to clear the 
 nullah or to jump in and out ; the banks were 
 crumbly, and as he sprung forward the ground gave 
 away partially under him, his foot caught in a pendent 
 vine, and he came an awful cropper, rolling right over 
 on to his back within a couple of feet of me ! So I gave 
 him both barrels, then springing up, I caught the 
 lowest branch and drew myself aloft, resting my feet 
 against the trunk of the tree, just underneath the 
 branch I was clinging to. This did not take me a second 
 and I was in a horizontal position just out of his 
 reach when he rose to his feet. Let him toss his 
 mighty head ever so high he could not get closer to 
 me than about six inches, but the position I was in 
 was not over safe, and very constrained. I could not 
 hold on very long, and the bull did not seem inclined 
 to move off; in trying to shift my hold with one 
 hand to go higher up, and to get astride of the branch 
 I was clinging to, I found my left hand impaled 
 one of the long massive thorns had gone right through 
 it. I had not, in the excitement of the moment, felt 
 the pain, but when I attempted to move it now the 
 wound caused the most intense agony. Throw a leg 
 over the branch to relieve myself of the weight was 
 impossible, as in so doing, I would be almost certain 
 
33 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 to impale that too, for the long straight thorns on 
 these trees are innumerable. As the brute, in his 
 vain attempts to get at me, kept lifting up his nos- 
 trils in throwing back his head, I watched my 
 opportunity, and as he next did so, I brought 
 down my left leg and with all my might gave him a 
 kick on the nose ; but in doing this idiotic trick, my 
 right foot also got disengaged ; my lower extremities 
 were thus at his mercy, and no doubt inwardly 
 chuckling, he made a vicious prod at my legs, but 
 beyond a graze he missed his aim. Before he could 
 repeat the blow I had drawn up my legs out of harm's 
 way again ; but it was impossible for me to bear the 
 tension on my arms much longer. Where the 
 shikarie was I did not know he knew nothing of the 
 use of firearms or he might have aided me by letting 
 drive the contents of the big bore into the mon- 
 ster, and I unjustly accused him of cowardice and 
 abandoning me ; but I was wrong, the man had done 
 his best, for as soon as he saw the buffalo he fired a 
 poisoned arrow into its chest, and not till then did 
 he slip aw r ay. I could only have been a few minutes 
 suspended in mid air holding on to the thorny branch 
 for dear life, but it seemed to me an hour. 
 
 I found I could not hold on a couple of minutes 
 longer. Just then I saw a dark mass wa^Lk away a 
 few yards and lie down ; my strength failed me, so I 
 let go to drop, although my left hand was, as it were, 
 nailed to the branch. Expecting to be tossed up high 
 amongst the thorny branches or to be impaled on the 
 horns, not of a dilemma, but of the buffalo, was not 
 a pleasant prospect, but let go I had to, the weight 
 of my body releasing my hand as the thorn broke 
 
Panthers and Leopards (Asiatic]. 331 
 
 and directly I touched earth I scrambled off on all 
 fours as fast as I could. Thank goodness the bull 
 was not in a state to wreak his vengeance for though 
 not dead, he was all but so, yet he looked as if he 
 should like to annihilate me with a glance. The 
 wounds he had received from me, combined with the 
 action of the poison from the shikarie's arrow had 
 undermined his constitution, and in a few seconds he 
 rolled over and died. This was about the narrowest 
 escape I ever had in my life. The shikarie was not 
 far off, and soon made his appearance. I pulled the 
 thorn, two and a half inches long, out of my hand, 
 which swelled up to an immense size and gave me 
 intense pain. For many days, as far as shooting was 
 concerned, I was hors de combat. We got back to 
 where the giraffe had fallen ; all the men were there, 
 they had also recovered the second beast. I should 
 have liked to start back at once, but the men 
 evidently were bent on securing all the meat they 
 could, and gormandizing. So we cleared a spot and 
 made up our minds to spend the night there. The 
 hunters cut strips of meat off the giraffe and broiled 
 it over hot embers, and it was really not to be de- 
 spised ; but then I was very hungry, and had it not 
 been for the mosquitoes and the pain in my hand I 
 should not have passed a bad night. Before separating 
 for the night the Africans collected some leaves and 
 after chewing them applied them as a poultice to my 
 hand, but though it relieved me somewhat, it did not 
 altogether alleviate the gnawing pain. I fancy some 
 tendon had been injured. By the next morning I was 
 in a high fever ; the men made a rude palankeen 
 out of my trestle cot, and carried me back, first to 
 
33 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 camp, then hearing that Dr. Baxter was not at Shimba 
 they carried me to Simba (not Shimba), a place on the 
 arm of the sea, put me into an Arab dhow and took 
 me into Mombasa, where under proper treatment I 
 soon recovered. 
 
 On another occasion I had wandered barely ten 
 miles beyond Makupa, when I came upon four 
 leopards watching a herd of hartebeestos. It was 
 a pretty sight to contemplate, but before I could 
 fire the wild cats bounded off one way whilst 
 the antelopes now thoroughly aroused went off 
 another. 
 
' ^ 
 
 ' * .^ 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A MIXED BAG IN SOUTHERN INDIA. 
 
 WHEN I was a youngster and in the fifties, 
 stationed with my regiment at Secunderabad there 
 was excellent sport to be obtained within an easy 
 distance of the station, but since privates have been 
 encouraged, and in my opinion very properly so, to 
 indulge in shooting, small game has nearly dis- 
 appeared, so to get anything like a bag one has to go 
 a long distance. But by crossing the Moosa excellent 
 sport could be had in the rumnah, a large tract 
 very carefully preserved for antelope hunting with 
 trained chitas, by the Nizam and his sirdars. I learnt 
 that no soldiers were allowed to pass the river, and that 
 it was very difficult for an officer even to get permission 
 to shoot there ; but meeting his Excellency Sir Salar 
 Jung at a party given in his honour at the Public 
 Assembly Rooms, just before Christmas, I was intro- 
 duced to him by the General Commanding the 
 Subsidiary Force, and as he was good enough to say 
 that my name was familiar to him as a successful 
 sportsman and great traveller, and that he would be 
 pleased to take me out later on tiger shooting, which 
 
334 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 offer I gratefully accepted, I was also emboldened to 
 ask if he would give me a purwannah for some 
 sporting in the rumnah. He promised to send me 
 one, and he did. I was no longer in the service, but 
 was endeavouring to secure men for a Company in 
 Africa, and as soon as I could get away I sent on a 
 syce and a dozen beaters to the ford, 1 where travellers 
 for Masulipatam via Narkapilly usually crossed, and 
 starting myself on the 5th January, and got there at 
 5.30 A.M. As I entered the preserve I was at 
 once accosted by a keeper, who asked to see my permit. 
 The minister's seal was quite sufficient, the man 
 salaamed and allowed us to go on. The aspect of the 
 country was not much changed, though it was more 
 than thirty years since I had been there. To the 
 north-east there used to be several "bheels," noted 
 places for duck, teal and snipe. I asked the head beater 
 if they still existed, and he replied, " Ho, sahib, bahoot 
 shikar hi, koe ne marta (Yes, sir, there is plenty of 
 game as no one shoots there)." About a mile from 
 the river's bank, as the country looked favourable, I 
 formed line, and with six men on either side of me 
 commenced to beat. I was armed with a light 
 breechloader, No. 16 bore, 2 and I found that when 
 loaded with 2f drams of Schultze and one ounce of No. 
 6 or 8 shot, it would perform splendidly up to fifty 
 yards, and if held with judgment, it occasionally 
 killed much further. A better and a handier weapon 
 I never possessed. We had barely gone fifty yards 
 through coarse grass, a couple of feet high, some- 
 times more than that, with small bushes scattered 
 here and there, when up got a bevy of quail. I 
 1 Oopal. 2 Made by Westley Richards. 
 
A Mixed Bag in Southern India. 335 
 
 brought down one, and was about to pull trigger on 
 another when a hare ran across about twenty yards 
 off. It did not take me a second to shift my aim, 
 and the hare rolled over, but when going up to it, 
 what was my astonishment to find a little further on 
 a cobra writhing on the ground, shot through the 
 head ! It was fully five feet long and thick in pro- 
 portion. As it was not quite dead, one of the coolies 
 soon hammered it to bits with the " lattee " he was 
 beating with, and throwing the carcase aside we went 
 on. Finding nothing but quail, I changed my 
 cartridges to those loaded with No. 10 shot, and as 
 the little beauties lay well and got up in threes and 
 fours, I had capital sport, and soon there were 
 pendant by their necks on my shikar stick eight and 
 a half couple. Of these, seven brace were corn 
 quail, three were the small button quail, which, 
 though charming to look at, are not worth much for 
 the table. Coming to the end of this rumnah, we 
 entered a piece of ground covered with prickly bushes 
 and with very many rocks scattered over half a 
 mile, with an extensive " bheel " beyond. Telling 
 the coolies to be doubly careful in beating, I 
 soon had the pleasure of starting a couple of the 
 painted rock pigeon or sand grouse, a small but lovely 
 variety, found in such places and generally only in 
 pairs. I brought one down with the right barrel, but 
 only wounded the other with the left. I knew it was 
 hard hit, but it flew along very strongly and I 
 thought I had lost it, when I saw it tower, and with 
 a splash fall into the " bheel," which was there very 
 narrow and shallow. Marking the spot as well as I 
 could, I went on with the beat. Two more pairs of 
 
336 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 these lovely birds were disturbed, but they got up 
 out of shot, and settled at the foot of a rocky 
 eminence, the only one visible. So I determined to 
 look them up towards the afternoon, when they 
 would lie like tops. Closing on to the " bheel," 1 
 wheeled the line round, and beating the thick scrub 
 close to the water's edge I put up several of the 
 common Indian red-legged partridges, and though 1 
 fired five shots I only secured a couple. Skirting 
 the "bheel" until I came to a very marshy place, which 
 looked favourable for the " long-bills," I went into it, 
 and had scarcely done so when on every side up rose 
 snipe and went off with their usual cry, " Scape, 
 scape." I secured a couple, but it was early in the 
 day when the birds are generally wild, so I deter- 
 mined to leave them alone till later on. I can never 
 resist snipe shooting to me it is the prince of sports. 
 Probably my fondness for it arises from my being 
 able to bowl them over when I can't hit anything 
 else. That snipe shooting is a knack is proved by the 
 fact that owing to long practice I can kill them 
 when I often miss such large birds as a florikan, a bust- 
 ard, goose, guinea-fowl and even pheasants. Snipe and 
 quail and such small deer are far easier to me to slay 
 than birds the size of a barn-door fowl and even 
 larger, but cJiacun d son gotit. 
 
 Leaving the marsh and getting back to terra-firma, 
 I went through a portion of the rumnah covered with 
 fine grass about three feet high, very level and free from 
 bushes. Out of this I put up several doe antelope 
 and their fawns ; their forms were numerous, but I 
 desisted from killing one, as my permit to shoot 
 did not include the slaying of them. Some years 
 
A Mixed Bag in Southern India. 337 
 
 ago, two or three officers had been maltreated, tied on 
 hurdles, and carried through the blazing sun into the 
 city, for some infringement of the rules, or for having 
 fired at or shot an antelope. I had gone about a 
 quarter through this maidan when within ten yards 
 of me up got a cock florikan. As it rose straight into 
 the air I fired too quickly, and, shameful to say, 
 missed it clean with my right barrel ; but learning 
 wisdom by misadventure, when the bird commenced 
 its horizontal flight, the left barrel, a modified choke, 
 did its duty and down it came. As it fell, up got 
 the hen, but as I was unloaded off she went, to be 
 marked down near a scinde bund. Skirting the 
 top of the " bheel " I put up one more florikan, a 
 hen bird this time, and bagged it. Then for half an 
 hour I did not fire a shot. Having reached the ex- 
 tremity of the " bheel " I commenced to beat down 
 the other side, towards where the sand grouse had 
 fallen. Seeing some teal and duck, I allowed a 
 couple of the common partridges to go away un- 
 scathed, but leaving the beaters, with the exception 
 of a couple, and sheltering myself as much as possible 
 behind the bushes, I crept up as close to the former as 
 I could get without alarming them. They were 
 on a small ridge of partially dried up mud-bank, 
 pluming and cleaning themselves and all close to- 
 gether, affording the easiest of pot shots. I put 
 a cartridge with No. 8 shot in the right barrel and 
 had a No. 4 in the left. Letting drive, before the 
 light smoke cleared away there was a whirl, a quack, 
 quack, and up rose two pin-tailed ducks from behind 
 some bushes, and flying close together went across 
 me about twenty yards off. Firing just in front of 
 
 z 
 
338 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 the leader I brought both down, one stone dead, but 
 the other was only wounded, and went off at railway 
 speed, skimming over the water and lilies, for its 
 life, followed by two coolies ! The pond was 
 apparently only a couple of feet deep, but there were 
 holes, into which first one biped and then the other 
 fell, and rolled over amidst the roars of laughter of 
 the lookers-on and the muttered curses of the fallen. 
 But these aborigines had on only a strip of cloth a few 
 inches broad, tucked in between their legs, so a duck- 
 ing did them more good than harm. Leaving them to 
 follow the wounded duck, we went to retrieve the teal 
 the dead duck had already been picked up, and re- 
 covered five, but there were two or three others 
 wounded, that had swam away some distance, whilst 
 we were watching the duck-hunt, and on being 
 followed, dived, and probably got entangled in the 
 weeds and never rose again, so we lost them. By the 
 time we had strung these birds on the stick, the two 
 coolies were seen coming back in triumph with 
 the duck as well as the sand grouse, which they 
 had stumbled upon, and just saved as a hawk swooped 
 down to carry it off in its clutches. It was now past 
 eleven. I had never known the country so full of 
 game, even thirty odd years ago, but then the rules 
 of protection were not so stringent as they were now, 
 for none are allowed into the " rumnah " without a 
 pass, whereas in former days, though it was forbidden 
 to shoot the deer, yet no restriction was put upon the 
 slaying of small game. 
 
 Finding a dry place I rested for half an hour, ate 
 some bread and Strasburg potted meat, washed 
 down by a pint of lager beer, gave the gun a wipe 
 
A Mixed Bag in Southern India. 339 
 
 out, and then went back to the snipe ground. For 
 the next three hours I tramped it backwards and 
 forwards. It was easy walking, the birds lay remark- 
 ably well and gave easy shots, and I accounted for 
 twenty- two without a miss. By 3 P.M. I had 
 twenty-seven couple of snipe, seven jack-snipe and 
 three painters. These latter are not snipe at all, though 
 called so, nor do I generally shoot them, but I knocked 
 a few over to-day to vary my bag. I then rested 
 awhile again, ate something and drank another pint 
 of Beck's lager, a refreshing and a harmless drink, very 
 different from the heady Bass and Allsopp of my 
 youth. Afterwards I made for where the sand grouse 
 had betaken themselves in the morning. En route 
 the country was very favourable for game of all sorts, 
 and I got a couple of hares, three painted partridges, 
 two of the large smoky sand grouse, one of another 
 variety, and three more of the painted kind. Several 
 of the keepers came up and admired my mixed lot, 
 but not more than I did myself, for never in my life 
 had I got such a varied bag in India as I did on that 
 day. I went towards the scinde bund, but the shades 
 of evening were falling fast, the birds got up wild, so 
 I left that portion of the " rumnah " and made for 
 the southern end of the " bheel," which as yet I had not 
 approached. The cover was good, and I could hear 
 the quacking of various kinds of duck. I sneaked up, 
 fired a shot at some on the water and again as they 
 rose, but only picked up a mallard, a widgeon and 
 two pochards, or birds which I took to be so. I 
 had just loaded when I heard the peculiar noise 
 made by the blue-winged teal, which I believe 
 naturalists declare is allied to the geese we call them 
 
 z 2 
 
340 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 cotton teal and as they passed I fired into the 
 " ruck," when two fell and two went away hit, but it 
 was not worth while going after them, especially 
 as I saw some of the peons mark them down 
 and make for them. Further on I fired at and 
 killed a whistling teal, and as its companion 
 would not leave the spot, but kept calling piteously, 
 and circling around, I added it to the bag. I was 
 just thinking it was time to shut up and go home- 
 wards, when a water pheasant ran along over the broad 
 leaves of the water lilies, and I shot it, but it gave 
 us no end of trouble to get, as the bed of the " bheel " 
 there was very boggy. Still, wanting it as a specimen, 
 I waited until it was gathered, and then, as there were 
 several rangers present and I had more than I cared 
 for, I gave them a mallard, the pochard, and the two 
 cotton and whistling teal, all of which had been " hal- 
 laled," as well as some of the other birds, by the only 
 Mussulman I had out with me. The birds I gave 
 away are not good for the table, and my game-stick 
 was crowded. Each string had two or more pendant 
 on it, and I could afford to be generous, especially as 
 I intended to visit other portions of the " rumnah " 
 again, my permit being a general one, which would 
 carry me through the shooting season. I also dis- 
 tributed a few rupees, and leaving them contented, I 
 made for the river, which was fully four miles distant. 
 Whilst I went one way the keepers went another, 
 and we soon lost sight of them. By the time I got 
 near the boundary it was getting dusky, and as 
 antelope often come down to the river to drink, I 
 loaded with a ball cartridge in the right barrel, 
 having shot in the other. I did not think we should 
 
A Mixed Bag in Southern India. 341 
 
 see anything, but it is as well to be prepared for all 
 
 chances. Leaving the coolies behind, I rode on alone. 
 
 My horse was perfectly quiet, and would allow me to 
 
 fire off his back without winking. It had formerly 
 
 belonged to an Arab, from whom I bought it. 
 
 When I got close to the water, looking over the 
 
 fringe of grass which grew on its bank, I saw about 
 
 fifty yards off, close to the margin, a buck and three 
 
 doe antelopes. The does were still drinking, but the 
 
 buck either scented danger or had satisfied his thirst. 
 
 He was broadside on, but looking in my direction. 
 
 A shot behind the shoulder rolled him over dead into 
 
 the water, and at the report up got perhaps a 
 
 hundred or more of golden plover, and with the left 
 
 barrel I cut a lane through them, killing five and 
 
 wounding several others. We got two which fell into 
 
 the water and one on the further bank, but it was 
 
 getting too dark to see what became of the rest. 
 
 The coolies had soon shouldered the buck, and 
 
 retrieved the dead plover, and in a few minutes we 
 
 were on our own side of the river, with a mixed bag, 
 
 the like of which has seldom been made. The buck 
 
 had horns 22j inches long, extraordinarily good for 
 
 this part of the world, though they are obtained 
 
 much longer towards Jubbulpore and Saugar. I was 
 
 often asked where I got them, but I always declined 
 
 to say, for the trophies were to all intents poached. 
 
 I had two more days in the " rumnah " after small 
 game, but never made such a mixed bag as on this 
 occasion. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SPORT IX SYRIA. 
 
 SOME years ago I read a book called Eight Years 
 in Syria by Consul Neild. In it he stated, that do 
 what he would, he could not spend more than 40 a 
 year, although he possessed a capital house, with a 
 bath-room, a fountain, some land, two servants, kept 
 three horses, horse-keepers, &c. His headquarters 
 were at Antioch, with a country place a little way 
 out, where he enjoyed the finest field sport, the 
 country swarming in the seasons with woodcock, 
 snipe, florikan, black and red-legged partridges, 
 occasional gazelles and wild boars. This appeared 
 to me, a poor military man, a perfect Elysium. Thus 
 when I retired from the service I went to Beyrout, 
 left my family there, then on to Alexandretta, 
 Antioch, Aleppo, the Euphrates, Damascus, Baalbec, 
 Tripoli, and Latacjuie'. I should have preferred 
 Aleppo to live in, but everybody who goes there 
 suffers from a virulent boil, named the " Aleppo 
 bouton," and which does not differ much from the 
 " Delhi boil," or the irruptions to which Europeans 
 are subject on the West Coast of Africa. The sores 
 cannot be prevented or even mitigated, but must run 
 their course generally for twelve months and leave 
 
Sport in Syria. 343 
 
 fearful scars behind. This disfigurement unfortun- 
 ately attacks the face principally. I have seen women 
 who would probably have been beautiful, almost 
 hideous from their effects. As I had a young family 
 I did not care to subject them to such a fell disease, 
 and much as I liked Aleppo I made up my mind to 
 leave it alone. 
 
 In my searchings, I found that to get a suitable 
 home for a family was almost impossible. A Greek 
 at Lataquie offered to let me the upper part of a 
 large house for 36 a year ! This rather astonished 
 me ; not much of the 40 limit assigned by the 
 Consul as an annual expenditure remained ; then, 
 and not till then, did I discover that the book was 
 forty years old. In the early forties living in Syria 
 may have been moderate enough, but in 1879 it was 
 bad, and the expense not much short of some cheap 
 locality in England, while the inconveniences were 
 much greater. 
 
 I purchased furniture, a piano, &c., and made my 
 people as comfortable as I could. I bought two 
 good horses at Aleppo for 12 a piece, a mare in 
 Lataquie for 12 more, and a couple of donkeys for 
 5 each. I brought with me from India, iron beds 
 and bedding, saddlery, &c., and a large stock of 
 eatables and drinkables. The hotel proprietor at 
 Beyrout told me to leave it to him and he would 
 clear all my baggage, free. In three days, after 
 considerable delay, I think he brought to the hotel 
 three boxes out of a hundred ! Then I told him to 
 mind his own business, secured an interpreter, and 
 knowing the value of backseesh, by doling out two 
 pounds I got the rest of my traps passed without 
 
344 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 examination, which was a desideratum, as I had 
 with me some 20 Ibs. of Schultze powder and about 
 2,000 cartridges. Powder in Syria is a contraband 
 article, and a monopoly of the Government as it is in 
 France. When my Schultze was expended I could 
 only get vile Greek black powder by smuggling ; 
 but it was better than nothing. During the season 
 1878-79 I explored more than I shot. I had 
 great difficulties to contend against, the worst being 
 my own ignorance of Arabic. Fortunately the head 
 of the Telegraph Department was a young fellow, 
 very fond of shooting, and who spoke almost equally 
 well English, French, Italian, Turkish and Greek and 
 Arabic. I induced him to chaperon me, so I bagged 
 several hundred couple of cock, a gazelle, geese, 
 hares, two kinds of partridges francolins quail, sand 
 grouse, and a few florikan. But when the season of 
 1879-80 commenced, I found game far more 
 plentiful ; but knowing the localities may have had 
 something to say to this, and besides, such a winter 
 had not been seen for eighteen or twenty years. 
 Fortunately we had purchased an American stove, or 
 I think we should have been frozen to death in 
 rooms built to exclude tropical heat, and not to 
 endure an Arctic winter. The jungle on the hill- 
 tops, the hills, their sides and valleys, were covered 
 with deep snow, so woodcock swarmed into the 
 olive groves almost in the centre of the town, and it 
 was computed that in three or four days the Arabs 
 and Greeks alone, killed upwards of 3,000 of these 
 birds. I was not idle. Thus my stock of Schultze 
 powder was exhausted; I have used it since 1870. 
 No vessels would bring it out, the secretary was not 
 
Sport in Syria. 345 
 
 over civil, and although I had deposited the money, 
 I could get no answers until I mentioned his courtesy, 
 or want thereof, in the columns of The Field. I had 
 plenty of cartridge cases, wads and shofc, but did 
 not know what to do for powder still with bribing 
 you can do anything in the Turkish dominions. 
 Also a few piastres judiciously expended, and no 
 questions asked, had their effect, and soon I got all 
 the powder I required. On several occasions I 
 bagged fifty-four, eighty-three, sixty-six, seventy-two 
 brace of cock in one day, besides other game. I 
 always took a donkey with large panniers, which were 
 generally nearly full by the time we left off our 
 labours. I have shot six hares in half an hour. It 
 was a common occurrence to kill two cock at one 
 shot, but I once killed three. 
 
 Starting one morning towards the middle of 
 January, I sent my pony and donkey across an old 
 bridge, and walked along the seashore, crossing the 
 creek near the exit of a river by a boat. It was 
 bitterly cold, and I did not care to fire at quail, the 
 only game so far that I had seen. There must have 
 been thousands of wild ducks in the sea, yet just out of 
 shot ; but in the marshes I was bound for, they were 
 also in hundreds, and far easier to get at than out in 
 the open water. Beyond the fisherman's creek there 
 was a mass of sandy hillocks extending close on to 
 Giblie some ten miles down the coast. Birds con- 
 tinued passing over head but out of shot, so I only got 
 within range of a sand grouse. It allowed me to closely 
 approach it, but I was too proud to shoot it on the 
 ground as I might have done, so allowed it to rise, 
 making sure of it on the wing ; but my fingers 
 
346 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 were so benumbed I made a clean miss ! Further on, 
 on the beach, were five flamingoes. These birds 
 were useless to me except for a few brilliant feathers, 
 but there was a taxidermist 1 in the place who collected 
 and sold birds, so getting up as close as I could I let 
 fly both barrels and killed three ; but the difficulty 
 was how to carry them until I met my attendants. 
 This I solved by hiding them in a bush, in which I 
 stuck a stick with my handkerchief attached to mark 
 the spot, and afterwards continued my course. 
 Leaving the seashore I had to go through a heavy 
 piece of scrub ; out of that three francolins (black 
 partridge) rose. I knocked down two and my spaniel 
 retrieved them. I then missed another, but bowled 
 over a hare. These I thrust into the capacious 
 pockets of my shooting coat but not caring to burden 
 myself with more game, I made for the rendezvous, 
 now not far distant, where my nags were to be in 
 waiting. I got there in half an hour. The servants 
 had not arrived, but I could see them in the distance. 
 It was too cold to sit down, so I walked about briskly, 
 and put up two more hares, shooting one and missing 
 the other. My people were soon up. Depositing the 
 game in the panniers, I sent the moke back for the 
 flamingoes, and mounting the horse rode on to some 
 " bheels " which were about a mile ahead. Long before 
 I got there I heard the quacking of numerous ducks. I 
 got a pot shot, and at the report four teal and a duck 
 lay dead ; one or two cripples went away, and the 
 
 1 A Pole who had been with Maximilian in Mexico in com- 
 mand of a battery of Artillery, and had been terribly wounded. 
 He was a refugee, and his family were detained in Russia and all 
 his property confiscated. 
 
Sport, in Syria. 347 
 
 sky became almost black from the number of 
 aquatic birds which the popping of my gun had 
 alarmed. At first, hiding under some bushes as the 
 birds flew past, I got many easy shots and bagged 
 five and a half couple, but they soon became shy 
 and kept out of range, still I had as many as I cared 
 for. I then turned my attention to the snipe, which 
 were "snicking" away right and left, but the light 
 was not good and they flew low, so I did not kill as 
 many as I should have done. In half an hour I only 
 gathered eight birds. After this woodcock began to 
 flush. I had lost interest in this game. They were so 
 plentiful, even along the roads, that they would get 
 up in threes and fours out of the cactus hedges, and 
 thus they had lost their attraction. We were sick 
 of eating them, but I thought I'd try how many 
 it was possible to kill in one day. The cover 
 that they had selected was low shrub, wet and 
 inclined to be marshy underneath, and 1 should have 
 lost many birds but for my retriever, who was one of 
 the best dogs I have ever had in my life. I com- 
 menced luckily by killing two at one shot out of five 
 that rose, and a third with the left barrel ; this went 
 on till ten o'clock. I had then forty-seven brace of 
 cock, eighteen snipe, seven teal, twelve ducks, 
 two francolins, three hares and three flamingoes. 
 After this performance I rested to have some break- 
 fast. By the time that my meal was over it was 
 just comfortably warm. I had put my gun down a 
 little way off, and was still munching some sandwiches 
 when I saw a lot of curious-looking birds flying 
 towards me, well within shot, but before I could get my 
 double barrel they had passed. Their flight was with 
 
348 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 outstretched necks, and they looked nearly as large as 
 swans. I thought they were some kind of gigantic 
 geese. I then made for a ridge of highland, on which 
 I had now and then seen red-legged partridges, which, 
 by the by, much resemble the " chickor " of India. 
 The birds lay well and got up in twos and threes, so 
 I soon <: grassed " five. They were so fat that one that 
 had towered, fell burst in two. Descending that ridge 
 I got another hare, and coming to a pond found it 
 full of teal, and on its shore some ruffs. Of teal I had 
 shot very many in my life, but had never seen any 
 of the others. I killed a male and a female in one 
 shot, but the former had not assumed the fringe from 
 which it derives its name. As the teal flew away I 
 gave them a raking shot and two fell. A little further- 
 on I got a big and a small bittern ; the former 
 resembles the bird now and then shot in England, 
 but the other was not much larger than a good -sized 
 kingfisher. I may here say that I saw even smaller 
 bitterns on the Congo near Vivi, but I never met 
 with the dwarfs in Europe, although bitterns were 
 plentiful enough in every marsh in Syria. Passing the 
 pond, and marsh attached, I saw eight geese feeding in 
 some open fields. It was hopeless to attempt to get 
 near them on foot, so I got on my horse, a very steady, 
 strong and quiet cream-coloured nag, who stood fire 
 admirably. In fact all horses in that part of the world 
 do so, as the Arabs gallop about, on feast days, blazing 
 away incessantly. The geese being unalarmed I got 
 within fifty yards. They then showed signs of fear, 
 putting up their heads and craning their necks, so I 
 galloped in and was amongst them before they were 
 well off the ground. I killed a bird, but another 
 
Sport in Syria. 349 
 
 flew nearly one hundred yards before toppling over, 
 this my dog retrieved. Another I saw separate 
 from its comrades and alight near some bushes, whilst 
 the rest continued their flight ; so I thought that it 
 had received a pellet or two, as I had fired the first 
 barrel at the birds when close together ; so getting off 
 the horse, I approached it in a roundabout way, hiding 
 amongst the bushes ; until I got to where it ought to 
 have been but it was nowhere to be seen. Hearing the 
 flapping of wings behind me, I turned round and got 
 a right and left, at long distances, and the bird 
 fell. I found that one pellet had struck it in the 
 head. I was a long way from home, so turned and 
 made for a favourite snipe ground. Passing a field of 
 beans, which looked miserable enough, having been 
 under snow some days, a lot of cock got up. I fired 
 at the leading one ; two fell. Going to pick them up, 
 
 1 saw another fluttering on the ground ; a stray shot 
 had struck it, so I actually got three cock with one 
 shot. I then got amongst cock and snipe and blazed 
 away till my head ached ; I saw five more of the big 
 birds, but they were too far off. About 4 P.M. I had 
 had enough. Counting the slain, I found that I had 
 137 brace of cock, 29 couple of snipe, 2 bitterns, 
 
 2 ruffs, 9 teals, 12 ducks, 2 francolins, 4 hares, 5 
 partridges (red legs), 3 geese, and 3 flamingoes. 
 
 The game was being shovelled into the panniers 
 again, when I saw twelve or thirteen of the same big 
 birds flying straight towards me. I crammed in two 
 No. 2 shot cartridges, and as they passed overhead, 
 fired. To my great joy, I brought two down, one 
 dead and the other winged, and I found out that 
 they were the great bustard, the first I had ever seen 
 
35 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 or shot, for though I had been in parts of India where 
 they exist, I had never come across them. I dis- 
 covered afterwards that the Ansaries in the hills, had 
 killed a lot of bustards, by knocking them on the head, 
 as owing to the intense cold, the birds were unable to 
 fly. When I went to Syria, I was told always to go 
 armed with revolvers, and to expect a man behind 
 every bush, ready to pot me. The Ansaries in 
 particular, bear a bad name, but except once when 
 marching to Aleppo, I never saw the ghost of a 
 bandit or a hostile person ; on the contrary, I met 
 with the greatest civility and kindness everywhere, 
 and I visited and lived with this people, and better 
 fellows I never wish to meet. Most of the Syrian 
 Arabs are armed with a double breechloader, 
 principally of French make, and excellent shots they 
 are too. Many of them, if they saw me out shooting, 
 would join, and once a cock gave me a difficult shot 
 as it flew round a boulder, at the edge of a steep hill. 
 I made a clean miss. The Arab on my right brought 
 it down like a man ! Some chiefs living at a place 
 called Talsarim, a good distance inland, asked me to 
 visit them. So the Greek telegraph officer, my son 
 and I, went to Giblie by boat, having sent on our 
 horses ; and then, after a long and fatiguing ride, for 
 the greater part up mountains, we arrived at their 
 stronghold. There is no love lost between these 
 people the rightful owners of the soil, and the Turks 
 and Syrian Arabs. They are a fine, stalwart, handsome 
 race, reminding me of Afghans, and I have no doubt 
 they are a remnant of one of the lost tribes mentioned 
 by ancient writers, and in Scripture. One gave us a 
 house, and treated us most civilly, refusing to accept 
 
Sport in Syria. 351 
 
 any remuneration for things supplied, but when we 
 left, by advice of my Greek friend, I gave them some 
 powder, shot, and caps, for which they were very 
 grateful. These people make no secret of it, but say 
 openly, that if they were certain other powers would 
 not interfere, they would drive the Turkish garrisons 
 into the sea. Turks seldom go into their mountains, 
 or trouble their inhabitants to pay taxes. The 
 country we were in was most peculiar, like the 
 Giant's Causeway, only ten times magnified, rocks 
 upon rocks, deep gullies and narrow passages. A 
 sanguinary fight had taken place there about ten 
 years before, when a Turkish force had been annihi- 
 lated. We had very good shooting too, principally 
 red-legged partridges. We were told that about five 
 miles inland there were the ruins of an immense city, 
 which they called " The City of the Sons of Israel.'' 
 It had only once been visited by a European, a 
 Frenchman, who had taken photographic views of 
 portions of it. We gladly consented to go, walking 
 through what I may still call the Giant's Causeway, 
 but constantly ascending. We went on for three 
 hours over the water-shed, and, after descending, 
 came to a tableland, the extremity ending in an 
 abrupt precipice. The pinnacles around, and the 
 plain, such as it was, were a mass of ruins, inferior to 
 Baalbec alone in the stupendous nature of their con- 
 struction, but far grander in the variety and the 
 ornamental work of the buildings. There was not 
 one edifice intact, but all showed with what 
 skill they had been built ; and the taste displayed 
 was marvellous. Truly there must have been giants 
 in those days. How otherwise account for the 
 
352 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 immense blocks of stone collected, and in some 
 instances raised, at Baalbec and in this city of the 
 dead ! The legend said that it was destroyed by 
 fire from heaven, and by an earthquake combined ; 
 that its inhabitants had perished ; that it had never 
 been inhabited since. The Ansaries themselves did 
 not care to visit it, but thinking we should like to see 
 it, had guided us to it. I have no doubt excavations 
 would well repay the explorer, that is, if the Ansaries 
 allowed it, which I doubt. We strolled about 
 amidst the ruins several hours, yet did not go half 
 over them, and reluctantly left. We did not find 
 .any relics. After spending five days with our hosts, 
 we returned to Giblie, shooting some florikan on the 
 way. The Ansaries are nominally Mussulmans, but in 
 reality they have a secret religion of their own. 
 What it is exactly is not known to the generality of 
 the people themselves; only their " Moolahs" know 
 its secrets, and it is handed down from father to son, 
 who are the high priests in perpetuity. A French- 
 man declared that he had discovered a portion of the 
 secret, having purloined a sheet of the written laws, 
 and that one object of veneration was the creative 
 powers of man, but more especially those of woman. 
 Giblie itself must have been a place of importance 
 under the Romans, as there is a portion of an 
 immense amphitheatre still remaining. The ancient 
 baths now form the Turkish baths, so common in all 
 towns in Syria and Egypt, and which are such a boon 
 to the traveller. To utilise them there is nothing to 
 pay. If you employ a man to shampoo you, you 
 may or may not as you think fit, make him a present. 
 Our men neither asked for or solicited a douceur, and 
 
Sport in Syria. 353 
 
 where given, it was taken with the utmost indiffer- 
 ence. I saw an assembly of the dancing dervishes and 
 nothing more absurd can be conceived. The men 
 stand in a circle, one begins to spin like a tee-to-tum 
 there is no other comparison the next follows, and 
 in a short time even the lookers-on get giddy. The 
 men are dressed in a kind of skirt, which revolves 
 round them like the dress of an opera dancer. In 
 time they drop down one by one, unable to go on 
 any longer. 
 
 A A 
 
11 
 
 asnoif) 
 
 <M CC OS 
 
 OS * 1O 
 
 S9J13H 
 
 IUH 
 
 uaa^tg 
 
 CO CO CO rH 
 
 CO T-H i- 1 rH 
 
 CO 1 
 
 CO 1 
 
 ^-l (N CO 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 MAHSEER FISHING. 
 
 When a boy I was devotedly fond of fishing, and 
 participated in it to my heart's content. In Southern 
 India, there is very little angling except for 
 " murral," but I found I was nowhere in the pastime 
 although possessed of far superior tackle and the 
 same bait, a live frog to an experienced native ; in 
 fact, such a person could give me eleven out of a 
 dozen and beat me at this sport. They had a peculiar 
 knack of working the frog on the surface of the 
 water, of which I was altogether deficient, so being 
 unsuccessful, I took very little interest in that kind 
 of sport. In Burma I had too much to do, laying 
 out roads and inspecting works, and seldom came 
 across a river where good fishing could be had, yet I 
 caught a fair lot with fly in the Shoay Ghein River. 
 The Burmese called these fish gna-mein, the Bengalies 
 bahsah. It is a superior article of food ; and grows to 
 a very large size, but those about six to eight pounds 
 are the best eating. It was not therefore until . I 
 went to Assam that I took to fishing in earnest. 
 
 I had bought some second-hand tackle from a 
 Deputy-Commissioner, so when in Bagh Dooar, en- 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 camped on the Manass, I threw in a spoon bait, and 
 at my very first cast I hooked a large mahseer, but the 
 line was very rotten, so broke, and the fish got away. 
 I then fixed on the only other spoon I had, and threw it 
 in, trolling against the stream ; it was seized at once, 
 and I succeeded in landing a fish seven pounds in 
 weight. It was then all but dark, so we went home, 
 had a moiety of it boiled and the other made into 
 currie, and very good it was cooked either way. The 
 next day I caught a fish, eight pounds ; then I 
 lost nearly the whole of my tackle in another, so 
 having no more at hand I gave fishing up for the time, 
 and wrote to a tackle maker 1 for good rods, &c. &c., 
 and glorious sport I had upon their receipt, as is 
 related further on. Of course I only give the result 
 of one or two trips, fishing like shooting sambur in 
 Burma, gets monotonous, for one day is very like 
 another. 
 
 Some years back, General B., 0. of the 44th Ghoork- 
 has, and I started on a fishing trip. We were not 
 hurried for time, so visited Nurting and Jowai. The 
 march from this stage to Jarain is beautiful, high 
 tableland, well wooded, and with three rivers passing 
 through it ; only one of these rivers was regularly 
 bridged, the others were spanned by means of huge 
 stone slabs. The country reminded me very much 
 of the Neilgherries. One plateau was particularly 
 lovely tableland at an elevation of 5,700 feet, 
 a river skirted it to the north, and another to the 
 south, and both full of moderate-sized mahseer and a 
 spotted fish like a trout. In the cold season the 
 "sholas" are full of woodcock; even when we were 
 
 1 Farlow, in the Strand. 
 
Mahseer Fishing. 357 
 
 there, we put up a few, but did not get a shot. On a 
 clear day, Chirra Poonjie, famous as a former canton- 
 ment and as a place where the rainfall is fifty feet in 
 the year, is visible. 
 
 As the distance to the Durrung, where we desired 
 to go, is fully twenty miles, we started very early, but 
 we had got but a short way, when finding the road 
 very bad, we sent our ponies back, with orders for 
 them to go to Jyntiahpore by another route. We 
 were walking the greater part of the day and could 
 not find a drop of water anywhere, and were there- 
 fore very glad to get to a village called Sankur 
 overlooking a precipice, at the foot of which flowed 
 the Durrung at three o'clock, Here we rested awhile 
 and quenched with avidity our fearful thirst. But 
 though near, we were yet far from our destination, 
 as we had to descend into the " cafion " by means of 
 steps which required the agility of a well- conditioned 
 mountain goat to negotiate ! Even by the way we 
 went we were not above half or three-quarters of a 
 mile from the river, but it took us an hour to do it. 
 We reached the Cossyah, or rather Jyntiah village at 
 last, but to our horror, we found our hut had been 
 erected in the heart of the hamlet, instead of on the 
 river bank, so we would have nothing to say to it, 
 but went some 300 yards lower down the stream, 
 and finding a pretty level place, about twenty feet 
 square, we determined to make it our headquarters 
 We soon enlisted the services of some of the natives, 
 and made them collect poles, branches, leaves of 
 trees, and erect a platform over the spot chosen, 
 as the night dews are very heavy and very un- 
 healthy. This we made our bedroom ; a little lower 
 
358 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 down, another position, where we could put up a 
 table, chairs, &c., was adopted as a kitchen. We 
 were about fifty feet above the river, which is very 
 deep, and we could see, looking down, thousands 
 of mahseer of all sizes, feeding about, a tolerably 
 reliable promise of sport. We had brought a good 
 supply of fishing-tackle with us, but the rest of our 
 traps were behind, so as soon as we could procure 
 boats, General B., I., and 0. went out. B. and I. had 
 never been here before ; 0. knew the place well. We 
 did not get a nibble, while 0. caught three fish, 
 seven pounds, four pounds, and one pound re- 
 spectively. By dark most of our traps had arrived, 
 but only two servants ; the rest had remained at 
 Sankur to get drunk, so did not appear till late next 
 day, when we gave them " toko." While my servant 
 prepared the dinner, and the other man got the table 
 and camp arranged, we submerged various bottles of 
 wine and beer into the icy waters of the river, 
 arranged our beds which owing to the confined 
 space were touching one another, then took headers 
 into the Durrung. By Jove ! how cold it was. We 
 swam about as hard as we could for a few minutes, 
 then emerged and dried ourselves and put on our 
 nightclothes. About 8 P.M. dinner was ready, and a 
 better repast I never sat down to, for my boy John 
 had excelled himself, the result being that we got a 
 meal which was all that could be desired. As we 
 were very tired from our long walk and intended to 
 rise early, we went to bed immediately after we had 
 fed, and slept the sleep of the weary. 
 
 The next day the General and I were up and 
 swimming about, just before daybreak, 0. with 
 
Mahseer Fishing. 359 
 
 many a grumble at such early rising, made tea. The 
 water is so clear and deep, that headers can be taken 
 off the rocks into twenty and more feet of water, 
 where every pebble at the bottom is visible. We 
 obtained three boats, each manned by a Cossyah. I 
 took the first that came to hand and found I had 
 secured if not the fastest boat, certainly the best 
 boatman. He had been in the habit of accompanying 
 Mr. Hind, the popular padre, and others, fishing, 
 I christened him " Wind up," from the only words of 
 English which he knew, for whenever we came to a 
 bad and shallow rapid, or struck a fish, he always 
 cried out, " Wind up ! " 
 
 This river is divided in its upper course into rapids 
 with deep pools in the various gorges, while the 
 sides of the hills, over the river, were perpendicular ; 
 in many places from 250 to 350 feet high, and 
 densely clothed with verdure from the water to the 
 tableland above. The Cossyah boats are very light, 
 broad in the beam, have a small false keel, are 
 moderately steady, perfectly safe, and are easily pro- 
 pelled. Not knowing which way to go, I left it to 
 my Cossyah ; he took me up stream, whilst B. went 
 down, and 0. preferred fishing with the fly near 
 home. I went up to the first barrier, beyond which 
 no one can proceed, unless the boat is "portayed" and 
 deposited beyond the waterfall, where there is another 
 reach of half a mile, and where heavy fish are to be 
 found. 
 
 I was trolling with a spoon bait, a most deadly 
 lure for mahseer, still did not get a run going up, but 
 coming down in the first rapid I struck one, but as 
 we were descending at such a rate, the boat could 
 
360 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 not be stopped till we got into smooth water, by 
 which time my prize was drowned. It was only two 
 pounds in weight. It was spotted, and might, by a 
 stretch of imagination, be called an Indian trout. I 
 then passed the village and our camping-place, and 
 so on over four rapids to the very extremity of the 
 furthest gorge, where there is a weir, without a single 
 strike ; but on our way back I caught two fish, one 
 three and a half pounds and the other one and a half 
 pounds, and was beginning to think the fish not 
 worth the candle ; but in the heaviest gorge, while 
 trolling very deep with my largest spoon on, I hooked 
 a big fish. At the first rush it took out about 100 
 yards of line. I did not like to unduly check it, so 
 got the boat to a sandbank and landed to play it. It 
 struggled desperately, and for half an hour I did not 
 get a sight of it. The sun was not very high, but 
 its rays poured on my face, and the perspiration ran 
 down till I was nearly blinded. I then drew the fish 
 into shallow water, and watched its every movement. 
 It did all it knew by lying down on its side and 
 rubbing its head and leathery mouth into the sand to 
 get the hooks off, but without avail. At one time, a 
 fish every bit as big as the captive approached it, but 
 was received open mouthed. General B. now joined 
 me and looked on, and eventually after threequarters 
 of an hour's struggle, 1 landed about the handsomest 
 specimen I ever saw. It weighed between twenty- 
 eight and thirty pounds. The scale I had that trip 
 was graduated only to twenty pounds, so to weigh it, 
 we had to cut it in two ; it thus lost weight. For our 
 next trip I had a scale which marked up to sixty 
 pounds, but I never caught one more than forty-four 
 
Mahseer Fisking. 361 
 
 pounds, but I have known mahseer taken up to eighty 
 pounds, and I think Mr. Sanderson mentions one 
 over 100 pounds. (N.B. A fish should be weighed 
 directly it leaves the water; it loses weight as it 
 dries.) We then returned to camp, swam, had 
 breakfast and took it quietly till the afternoon. In 
 the rapids I caught two, a four and a half, and a 
 half pounder, all on the same huge spoon bait ; I then 
 dragged my boat over the weir, and in the pool beyond 
 hooked a monster, but it gave very little play, and 
 soon succumbed ; it weighed forty pounds. 
 
 0. had bad luck, losing several fish and bagging 
 only one with the spoon, a small two and a half 
 pounder, but with the fly he caught thirteen, weighing- 
 altogether nine pounds. B. caught two, four and 
 four- and -a- half pounds each, and found his line 
 rendered useless by a gar fish hooking itself. 
 These are very voracious ; they have a long snout, full 
 of sharp teeth, and go at the spoon greedily ; do not 
 struggle, and are so light that the angler does not 
 feel them, and is therefore unconscious that they are 
 on, but the spoon ceases to spin, and hours may be 
 wasted without the chance of attracting the nobler 
 species. 
 
 The next day I had all the luck again. I caught 
 the following in the order shown : four pounds, one- 
 and-a-half pounds, thirty- five pounds, five-and-a-half 
 pounds, three and-a-half pounds ; the largest I took in 
 the pool below the weir, very near where I caught the 
 forty pounder. I also lost a fish about eight pounds. 
 I had exhausted it, and told the steersman to spear it, 
 but he missed his blow, struck the hooks out of its 
 mouth which rebounded, and went deep into his 
 
362 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 thigh, and I had to cut them out. The next day, W. 
 of the Artillery, an old schoolfellow of mine, and L., of 
 the 44th, joined us. W. got a fish nine-and-a-half 
 pounds with the spoon, and several fish with the fly. 
 L. , using only the fly, caught some fifty small fry. B. 
 caught one (eighteen pounds) with the spoon, and a lot 
 with the fly, but they were of no size. 0. had very 
 bad luck, and caught only little ones. 
 
 The next was our last day ; I hooked a lot of fair 
 sized fish, but they all got off as the hooks either 
 broke or straightened out. I was in an immense fish 
 for over an hour, but at the last moment the hooks 
 gave way, so I only landed one (six and a half pounds). 
 W. one (two pounds), whilst B., 0., and L. got nothing. 
 
 In September, 1870, Colonel H., 0., B., and I left 
 Shillong for the hunting and fishing grounds on 
 the Sylhet side. We started early on the 13th 
 and rode to Chirra Poongie. Grot wet to the 
 skin of course, for it does nothing but rain there, but 
 as our things had been sent on some days before, we 
 had dry clothes to put on, and found a good dinner 
 and a roaring fire awaiting us. 
 
 September 14. We ordered our fishing tackle and 
 breakfast ahead, giving the people an hour's start 
 before we made a move. Our impedimenta was to 
 follow. We reached Terreah Ghat at nine, got four 
 boats with some difficulty, and after breakfast went 
 up the river. This stream used to be famous for 
 mahseer, but the Cossyahs had taken to poisoning its 
 waters with the Cocculus Indicus and strychnine, until 
 but few fish were left. Moreover the whole of the 
 bed of the stream is a mass of limestone, and the 
 action of the water has undermined many rocks, so 
 
Mahseer Fishing. 363 
 
 when a fish is struck it is necessary to keep an extra 
 taut line, because if you do not, the unfortunate will 
 get under the hollows beneath the boulders, and then 
 good-bye to your tackle, for you cannot force the 
 fish out, so you have either to cut the line or you are 
 saved the trouble of doing so by its chafing against 
 the sharp edges. The boats here are much heavier 
 than on the Darrung, and the boatmen are lazy Chitta- 
 gong or Dacca Mussulmans very ill affected to our 
 government, and thus require a stern hand to keep them 
 in order. H. got one fish, eight pounds, another three 
 pounds, 0. three pounds and two-and-a-half pounds, and 
 a lot of small ones with the fly. I got one three pounds. 
 In the afternoon B. caught a three, two, and five 
 pounder; 0. a three and two pounder, and some small 
 ones with the fly. I got three twenty, nine, and two 
 pounders. We moved camp to-day, trying a short cut 
 to Lakat ; had great difficulty in getting there, as our 
 boatmen kept running away. At length we reached 
 a sand-bank at dark, and encamped there. We 
 heard fish splashing about all night, but did not think 
 they were mahseer. 
 
 September 16th. As we started early this morning 
 I was the only one who threw out a line, and I almost 
 immediately hooked a heavy fish. My comrades were 
 close by and all pulled up to witness the tussle. Some 
 asserted that I had the line too loose, others that I 
 had it too tight, and so on ; but without heeding them 
 in the least, I kept steadily playing the fish in my 
 own way, and at last reduced the captive to its 
 last gasp. It had already turned belly uppermost 
 several times, and we all admired its grand proportions, 
 for the fish was undoubtedly an immense and well-made 
 
364 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 one when with a last expiring effort it turned over 
 and every hook broke. Thus I lost about as fine a 
 fish as I ever struck. After this everybody began to 
 fish. 0. was in the same boat with me, using my 
 tackle, but I got all the luck. About 10 A.M. it began 
 to rain. B. was leading, and as our boat was approach- 
 ing a rapid, we saw him coming towards us, fast to a 
 large fish, and with the whole of his line out, so he 
 had perforce to follow it down stream ; as he passed 
 I hooked a large fish, and had also to follow mine. 
 I got a thirty-two pounder, but B. lost his. I had 
 no sooner thrown out the spoon again, than I struck 
 another fish, and landed one of twenty-two pounds. 
 About eleven we arrived at a hut which had been 
 built for us. It was near the weir where last trip I 
 caught my heaviest fish. Col. H. had nine fish 
 weighing, forty-three pounds, the largest thirteen 
 pounds ; B., six fish, weighing twenty-seven pounds, 
 the largest weighing eleven pounds ; 0. had one, a 
 six pounder ; I had five weighing sixty-six pounds, 
 the largest being thirty-two pounds. In the evening 
 we went up the stream through the gorge, and the 
 result was, H. caught one, six pounds, two, four pounds 
 each. I caught five nine, five, two, one-and-a-half, 
 and threequarter pounds respectively, all on the 
 same spoon which I ,had been using all day. B. 
 caught two, ten and four pounds ; 0. seven fish, 
 weighing forty-seven pounds, largest twenty-six 
 pounds. Our bag to day was 255 pounds of 
 fish. 
 
 September 17. I went back towards the sand- 
 bank below the weir and I caught seven fish forty- 
 one, twelve, nine-and-a-half, four, four, three, four 
 
Mahseer Fishing. 365 
 
 pounds each. H. caught three, four, half, seven 
 pounds each ; B. one, eight pounds ; 0. one, eight 
 pounds. We all lost several fish. 
 
 September 18. To-day, in a rapid, 0. caught two 
 fish thirty and twenty pounds each ; H. two, one 
 pound each ; I got two seven and five pounds. In 
 the afternoon, 0. caught three, seventeen, seventeen, 
 and six pounds ; H. two ten, three-and-a-half. I got 
 four twenty-six, fourteen, three-and-a-half, six 
 pounds. B. six, fourteen, eleven, four, three-and-a- 
 half, two, and two-and-a-quarter pounds. The fish 
 caught in the afternoon were all taken off the sand- 
 bank where we had slept on our way up. No sooner 
 was the spoon in the water than a fish rushed at it. 
 A small rivulet fell into the main stream and the best 
 place was the junction; it was about the best half hour's 
 work I ever saw. B. lost me a good fish, about four- 
 teen pounds in weight, by insisting on gaffing it behind 
 the shoulder in what he termed a scientific manner. 
 Now the scales of a mahseer are very big, lying closely 
 one upon the other, and as tough as tin plates, so 
 after failing in his scientific stroke twice, in the third 
 attempt he knocked the hooks out of the fish's mouth. 
 As the mahseer was close to the boat, all he had to do 
 was to insert the gaff into the gill to have lifted it into 
 the boat. After these futile attempts, no wonder 
 that I look upon the gaff as useless for mahseer ; a 
 two pronged spear is infinitely better. H. and B. re- 
 turned to Terreah Ghat, whilst 0. and I slept on the 
 sandbank. 
 
 September 19. I fished for a long time without a 
 run, whilst no sooner was O.'s spoon in the water 
 
366 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 than there was a fish on it. I did at last what I 
 should have done at first examined my tackle, and 
 found the spinning gear out of order. I put it to 
 rights and then caught three fish fourteen, four and 
 six pounds each. 0. caught five, one twenty-six 
 pounds, followed by four, twenty-two, twenty, fourteen 
 and four pounds each. We bagged 736 pounds of 
 fish, of which I got 276 pounds, 0. 258|- pounds, 
 H. 105|- pounds, B 96 pounds. In October I 
 again visited this river, McW., Deputy-Commissioner, 
 going a part of the way with me. I had capital 
 sport catching the following two fish, each three 
 pounds ; these were the bassah or gna mein of the 
 Burmese : capital eating, but afford no sport. The 
 following weight of mahseer I also secured : 537 pounds, 
 and eight more bassah weighing thirty-five pounds. In 
 September of the following year, in four days I 
 caught 376 pounds of fish ; three largest forty-four, 
 forty, thirty- six pounds, and the rest from twenty-eight 
 to four pounds ; besides of course losing many other 
 fish hooked but not landed. In September, 1872, V., 
 of the llth Hussars, and I had capital sport. I got 
 277 pounds of mahseer; V. fell out of the boat and 
 hooked his man twice, and I had to cut the hooks out. 
 In the Manass I caught a lot of fish, but the largest 
 was under thirty pounds, and since that some officers 
 have caught in that river, fish up to sixty pounds. Where 
 I had trolled 1 over and over again without getting a 
 a run, a Lascar, with a lump of sodden rice, caught a 
 mahseer eighty pounds. 1 Col. C., one of the best shots 
 and fishermen in Assam, and who was in the com- 
 
 1 In the Brahmapootra off Gouhatty. 
 
Mahseer Fishing. 367 
 
 mission for years, has caught them up to sixty pounds. 
 Col. Nightingale hooked a sixty-pound mahseer in 
 the gorge of the Godavery, close to Bison Hill, and 
 it took him twelve hours to land it, but judging by 
 my own experience, heavy fish don't give much play, 
 they often sulk ; those best worth catching are 
 between twenty and thirty pounds. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IN THE AZORES. 
 
 WHERE to settle and what to do with one's self in 
 Europe on a limited income, after a life of freedom 
 spent in India, with a certain amount of luxury, I 
 did not know. I liked Syria, but my belongings did 
 not, and after trying various parts of France, Spain 
 and Portugal, I crossed over to the Azores, intending 
 to settle for a time in the large island of St. Michael's, 
 but I found the place so full, principally with 
 American visitors, that induced by the representa- 
 tions of a naturalised Portuguese American, I 
 crossed over to Fayal, but before doing so, I visited 
 St. Mary's, the only island where there are any 
 numbers of the French partridges left. All the 
 islands once had them, but they are now virtually 
 extinct in most. There are a few left in Pico, but so 
 few as not to count, and also an occasional one is 
 seen in St. Michael's, but in St. Mary's they are fairly 
 plentiful. I had excellent sport with quail and blue 
 rocks in the three days I spent there. This is the 
 only island of the group where no volcanic eruption 
 has taken place since their discovery. All the islands 
 are well- stocked with quail, which are not migratory, 
 and which were probably introduced ; but how to 
 
In the Azores. 369 
 
 account for the existence of numerous woodcock, also 
 non-migratory, I know not. On arrival at the island 
 we put up at Mrs. Edwards' hotel, an Irishwoman 
 married to an English-speaking Portuguese. There 
 we were fairly comfortable, and the charges were 
 moderate ; but very shortly afterwards they parted 
 with their interest in it to a native of the isles, and 
 things went to the bad. We were fortunately able 
 to secure a very good house, about a mile out of 
 Horta, the capital, belonging to a Mr. Lane, who 
 had formerly been manager of the only bank in the 
 place. It was built on Indian lines, that is, it was 
 one-storied, had verandahs on three sides, ample 
 accommodation inside the house, and plenty of out- 
 offices and garden. The difficulty of getting furniture 
 was great. There was not a decent mattress procur- 
 able in the island ; we had to manufacture them our- 
 selves, stuffing them with the husks of the Indian corn. 
 The pillows were stuffed with a kind of wild cotton. 
 
 On the island there are neither springs nor streams 
 but, during the rains, rivulets ; however, these cease 
 with the monsoon. The islands are wholly volcanic, 
 but none have been in an active state for many years 
 past. The markets are fairly supplied. Meat, fowls 
 and wine of the country good and cheap. If you live 
 like one of the inhabitants, a very small income will 
 suffice, but the Customs duties are prohibitive. I got 
 over a few hams and a side of bacon. I was not only 
 charged duty on the articles themselves, but on the 
 salt in which they were packed ! The Portuguese are 
 the same everywhere, a grasping and a dirty race. I 
 allude to the upper or governing classes in the first 
 charge, and to the lower in the second. There is an 
 
 B B 
 
37 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 immense influx and mixture of native races in their 
 blood. A pure Portuguese of European descent solely, 
 is difficult to find, for the Arabs during their occupation 
 of Spain and Portugal left scarcely a pure European 
 behind them. Not that a little trace of Arab blood is 
 detrimental to beauty on the contrary, many of the 
 most beautiful of the Spaniards have Arab blood in 
 their veins but the Portuguese have intermarried 
 with the low races from the western coast of India, 
 and with Africans from Loanda, which is certainly 
 not an improvement to the breed as it existed before, 
 nor to their manners and customs as they exist now. 
 Very many of the Fay ale se get away on the sly to 
 avoid the compulsory military service, and return as 
 naturalised Americans, and laugh at the authorities. 
 Smuggling goes on to a great extent. A former 
 American Consul, of some eighty years ago, had 
 realized a large fortune in the islands, and had spent 
 immense sums in importing tropical and other plants, 
 and they all did equally well. His heirs were the 
 princely merchants of the isle, but when I was there, 
 they appeared to be only too anxious to sell their pro- 
 perty and to return to the States. They had houses 
 and lands which they could not sell, yet like the dog 
 in the manger, they would not let them on hire, 
 and preferred letting them go to rot and ruin. They 
 were also very chary of assisting strangers, especially 
 the English, and although I applied to them for in- 
 formation about the shooting, I could get only vague 
 answers, but I soon found it out for myself, and I 
 was then a thorn in their sides, because for every bird 
 (quail) they shot, I killed a dozen. When I first 
 arrived I had broken the mainspring of my gun, so I 
 
In the Azores. 371 
 
 had to send it to England to be replaced ; then Mr. 
 Edwards very kindly got me the loan of a muzzle- 
 loader. 1 It must have been fifty years old, for the 
 nipples and locks were not reliable, but better barrels, 
 though no doubt they were fearfully honeycombed, 
 never existed, and in a day or two I got to shoot 
 with it very well indeed. I then heard that a shop- 
 keeper in the town had some breech loaders for sale. 
 I visited him. The price asked was 5 each. They 
 were of Belgian make, not bad, had top snap lever, 
 locks back action, which worked easily. I picked out 
 one, tried it, and purchased it. It was a handy 
 weapon, and it was cheap at the price. I got so used 
 to it, that when my own gun came back, I oftener 
 used this Liege weapon than my 4 2 -guinea one. I 
 then wrote to the firm at Liege, I may as well 
 mention them, for they make guns and rifles at 
 ridiculously low prices Laloux and Dresse. The 
 highest price for their hammerless, best quality gun, 
 with any action, is but seven guineas ; and the original 
 price of the gun I had bought in Fayal I found was in 
 Liege 1 6s. kd. They sell only wholesale now, but a 
 few years ago, they would supply any one retail at 
 wholesale prices. Anything connected with the gun 
 trade is exceedingly cheap in Liege. As an instance, 
 I may say that, wanting an extra pair of barrels to a 
 No. 16 bore, I found I could only have them fitted 
 for from ten to fifteen guineas in England, yet I got 
 Damascus twist barrels made in Belgium for sixty 
 francs, about 2 8s. Qd., and it is well known that 
 very many of the barrels used by slop-shop makers 
 in England come from abroad. 
 
 1 By Reilly. 
 
 B B 2 
 
37 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 Quail in Fayal abounded ; they have lost their 
 migratory instincts so breed in the islands. Blue 
 rock pigeons were in thousands ; rabbits not plentiful ; 
 no hares ; woodcocks in all the hilly and well-wooded 
 portions. What they got to eat is a puzzle, for there 
 were no marshes, and as the surface is disintegrated 
 lava, they could not force their bills through it in 
 search of their ordinary food, and even if they did I 
 don't believe there is a worm in the island, still they 
 exist and are fine plump birds. To get at them is 
 very difficult work, and beaters are hard to obtain, and 
 the bush is very heavy. The Portuguese content 
 themselves with flight shooting, when the birds are 
 pairing and out of season, and kill a good many, and 
 I am sorry to say I was told the American residents 
 followed their bad example. This scolopax is more 
 numerous in Pico than in Fayal, and I shot a few in 
 each island, but the trouble and expense were more 
 than the game was worth. The vines grow luxuri- 
 antly ; the principal grain produced is maize, and 
 directly a crop has been gathered, lupins are thrown 
 broadcast, take root, attain an immense size, but when 
 on the point of flowering are all dug up and interred 
 into the ground, so do in place of manure. Of course a 
 few fields are left here and there for seed, potatoes 
 flourish, chilies are perennial. Apricots are abundant 
 in Pico, and a basket load can be purchased for a 
 shilling. Fish is very plentiful, but not good of its 
 kind. The sea fishing is excellent. Using hand lines 
 the sea-bream and other kinds of fish up to three 
 pounds weight can be caught almost faster than the 
 extra lines can be baited. By trolling we caught a 
 fish, very like a pike, which runs to fifteen pounds, but 
 
In the Azores. 373 
 
 the largest we ever got was eight pounds. The great 
 fishing was for tunny. These monsters of the deep 
 run to over one hundred pounds in weight, but do 
 not afford much sport. Whales are caught on the 
 coast, and the Americans had a pair of shears for 
 hoisting them on shore and a regular boiling-house 
 for extracting the oil. Cray fish as large as lobsters 
 were common. Turtles were occasionally obtained, 
 and one which would delight the soul of an alderman 
 could be bought for a dollar. Sweet potatoes were 
 another staple product of the island. 
 
 The "tipparie " or Cape gooseberry, a delicious fruit, 
 grows wild all over the island. How it got there is a 
 puzzle. Tea and coffee, if looked after, do well. Oranges 
 used to be the great article of export, but the trade 
 has fallen off, and now pine apples under glass are 
 cultivated and principally exported, to England, where 
 they are sold as English hot-house produce ! I left a few 
 mango trees, both Indian and African, whether they 
 will come to anything remains to be proved. Guavas 
 were common, but not good. Plantains throve well 
 and were excellent and consisted of several varieties. 
 The climate is damp, the sea "mistral " is frequent, and 
 the spray destroys all cultivation it reaches. Thus 
 everywhere there are huge, ugly, high walls as a 
 sheltering measure which answer the purpose but 
 partially. Tomatoes if planted and protected from 
 this spray grow into a jungle. There are no snakes 
 or noxious animals. The fields are separated by walls 
 about four feet high, built of loose stones ; these are a 
 sad nuisance to the sportsman, as during a day's tramp 
 he has to climb over fifty or more and has to be care- 
 ful, for it does not take much to crumble them to 
 
374 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 pieces, and then there is a great hullabaloo. There 
 used to be no harbour, but a breakwater has been in 
 course of construction for some years past, and will no 
 doubt be finished some day. This is a favourite spot 
 for condemning ships, and a lucrative trade is carried 
 on in derelicts by the people. These vessels are heavily 
 insured of course, are sold for a song, and somebody 
 makes a good thing of it. During the struggle in 
 America, between North and South, large fortunes 
 were made in the island, and also during the time 
 when trade was carried on by India-men to the East, 
 as these islands were a place of call, but with the ex- 
 ception of St. Michael's, all the other islands are going 
 down. If they were peopled by any nation but the 
 Portuguese they might become favourite resorts, 
 especially during winter, as though snow occasionally 
 falls and frosts are not unknown, yet the climate is a 
 great improvement on our own. The peak of Pico, over 
 7,000 ft high, is always enveloped in a thin covering of 
 snow, and ice is often brought down for the use of the 
 wealthier inhabitants during the heat of summer. 
 There are no incidents to record of sport in these islands. 
 The most quail I ever got in a day were forty-eight 
 couple; generally I contented myself with about twenty 
 brace. Five woodcock in one day is my best bag. I 
 kept no record of blue rocks. I shot but few rabbits. 
 These remarks I have added because some reader 
 may wish to go there, but he had better choose either 
 St. Michael's or Fayal ; in the latter very many of the 
 common people speak English, having learnt it in 
 America. It is best to take second-hand furniture and 
 everything you require, even servants, for you will 
 then have less duty to pay than if you import them 
 
In the Azores. 
 
 375 
 
 afterwards. There is a mail once a fortnight. Steamers 
 now ply to Fayal and St. Michael's from America; there 
 were only sailing vessels in my day. Gunpowder is 
 a contraband article and has to be smuggled. I got 
 mine over from New York. But on first going there 
 you might put any quantity between your clothes in 
 your boxes, as the chances are they would not be ex- 
 amined, but anything coming afterwards by steamer 
 or sailing vessel is rigidly searched. Shot and gun caps 
 can be bought, but wads had better be taken. A 
 stove is requisite in winter; there are a few 7 to be picked 
 up in the island, but they are scarce and dear. Fuel 
 can be purchased. Every house has attached to it 
 large reservoirs for water, which is carefully collected 
 off the roofs and stored. It is the only water pro- 
 curable in the islands. It takes two hours to cross 
 from Fayal to Pico, by regular passenger boats 
 manned and pulled by Portuguese. At the landing 
 place, there is a fair inn where one can put up for a day 
 or two, but beyond a few partridges and woodcock, 
 there is not much to recommend a visit. 
 
 Servants are the plague of our lives everywhere, they 
 are a curse in Fayal. We tried Portuguese, pure 
 and mixed, and full-blooded negroes and negresses, 
 and it was a toss-up which were the worst. The laws 
 are absurdly lenient amongst themselves. A man we 
 had, who did odd jobs now and then, stole some of 
 our spoons and forks and was caught in the act. I 
 took him to the magistrate. " Are they silver or 
 electroplate ? " he enquired, alluding to the stolen 
 articles. " Only electroplate," I replied. " Fancy," said 
 he, " prosecuting a poor fellow for such a trifle as that." 
 " When will the case come on ? " I enquired. " Oh, 
 
376 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 in five or six months," lie said, " and then be carried 
 on probably for another year. In the meantime the 
 prisoner is let out on his own recognizances to appear 
 when called upon." "Under these circumstances," 
 replied I, " you may as well let the man go at once, for 
 I don't mean to stay six months more in the island, or 
 to be at the expense and trouble of a protracted trial 
 of a case which is palpable, as the property was found 
 on the person of the accused by the constable who 
 took him in charge." " We consider such an offence 
 very trivial," he said, and there was an end of it. Had 
 the offender been any nationality but Portuguese, 
 he would have been walked off to prison and kept 
 there without trial for months. The islands are priest- 
 ridden. There are people living on them over 100 years 
 of age. In the days of their prosperity the better 
 classes had built superb churches and dwelling-houses ; 
 the former are still kept up, but the latter are decay- 
 ing, as their owners have no longer the jneans of keep- 
 ing them in repair. The shops are excellent, well 
 supplied with English, American and German goods, 
 which are sold at fairly cheap rates. The shoemakers 
 and curriers are also good. Both red and white wine 
 are made, and are deemed excellent by those who par- 
 take of them. A good deal of spirit is also distilled in 
 Fayal as well as in Pico. Both German and English 
 beer, and doubtless now " lager " from America, can be 
 bought, but at fabulous prices, owing to the heavy 
 tariff imposed. There are loose women of many nation- 
 alities, except English, who live in a quarter by them- 
 selves. Their livelihood is derived principally from 
 sailors visiting or passing by the islands. They are any- 
 thing but attractive to look at, and more brazen-faced 
 
In the Azores. 377 
 
 than the same class in any part of the world. The Portu- 
 guese steamers are manned by people of the country, 
 with the exception of the engineers, who are all English. 
 I imported a pointer, but did not find her of much 
 use, as quail lie well and are easily walked up. For 
 woodcock a team of well-broken spaniels would be a 
 blessing. Tackle for sea fishing can be got in the 
 island. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 A WEST AFRICAN EPISODE. 1 
 
 HEARTILY tired of an inactive life, I volunteered 
 for service in West Africa, the deadliest hole on the 
 face of the earth. Whilst in command of an out- 
 station on the Quillo I had to visit certain outposts, 
 and finding an old friend, manager of a factory, he 
 invited me to go with him to certain localities in the 
 interior, where it was supposed petroleum was to be 
 found, and perhaps coal. He had an establishment at 
 Bonga, an island some three or four days' journey off, 
 and situated on a beautiful river, the name of which 
 is unnecessary. Just as I joined him, he received an 
 order directing him to return to Liverpool by the 
 next steamer, to consult on matters connected with 
 trade, so although he could not accompany me him- 
 self, he placed his boatmen and house on the island 
 at my disposal ; and as I was anxious to report on 
 the rumours so long current to the government I 
 was serving, I started a few days after. I had eight 
 Kruboys with me, as I was told game was plentiful, 
 but I did not take many stores. 
 
 The buffalo of this part of Africa is that described 
 1 Related by a Friend on the Congo, the late Major V. 
 
A West African Episode. 379 
 
 by Du Chaillu, and is quite distinct from its relative 
 in the south and east. I had already shot some of 
 these, as they were plentiful on the banks of the 
 river and near Lakoja on the Niger. I had a good 
 battery, a No. 8 bore double rifle burning twelve 
 drachms, which I never used except on elephants or 
 hippopotami ; and a '577, both by Westley Richards ; 
 and besides, a 12 bore "Paradox," suitable for ball 
 or shot. My head boy gloried in the name of 
 " Blue Ruin." He was a splendid specimen of 
 a man, stood at least six feet three inches, with 
 a chest of forty-four or forty-five, and would have 
 been immensely powerful if he had been in the habit 
 of exercising his muscles. These Krumen are the 
 only natives in West Africa who will work ; but are 
 generally useful only as sailors ; they will not carry 
 loads inland, for they have very little pluck about as 
 much as a grasshopper. We went up the river for a 
 week until the shallows were reached, then left the 
 boat in charge of some villagers who lived on the 
 banks. My men were lightly loaded and we took a 
 north-easterly course ; soon after I met a native chief 
 whom I had seen at Bonga, who was " interior 
 bound," and after a palaver and " a dash " he agreed 
 to take me to the elephant and gorilla country. We 
 generally started at daylight, I going on either side 
 our route, with a couple of gun-carriers, under the 
 guidance of a native of these parts, in search of game, 
 whilst the chief and his ragtag and bobtail went by 
 beaten tracks to the proposed halting-place. Occasion- 
 ally the chief accompanied me out shooting, which I 
 did not encourage. I was very successful and killed 
 a lot of game, but what astonished my sable com- 
 
380 Incidents of Foreign F^ield Sport, 
 
 pan ion and the Africans was the ease with which I 
 rolled over elephants, formidable beasts like hippo- 
 potami and rhinoceros with one or two bullets each. 
 The leader appeared very friendly, and we got on 
 very well together, so I often gave him a tot of grog. 
 We had gone a good distance inland, fully 100 miles, 
 but the Kruboys did not like penetrating so far, and 
 Blue Kuin often said to me, " Master, go no furder. 
 Country bad people bad chief very bad." But I 
 only laughed at him and told him I wanted to see the 
 hot spring, and crevasses with gas issuing therefrom, 
 which I had heard of, and which now were only a 
 few days off from where we then were ; but the poor 
 fellow shook his head and was dead against our pro- 
 ceeding. A couple of days after a successful hunt, 
 Blue Kuin again came to me and said, " Master, 
 chief very bad man hate master want big gun, and 
 will kill we and master." " Why, Blue Kuin," I 
 replied, " I promised to give the big gun to him after 
 our trip. Why should he hate me and want to kill 
 me? I givre him plenty of dash." "I no know," 
 replied my follower, " but master find out I speak 
 truth." A couple of days after this, the chief told me 
 we were then in the gorilla country, and that he would 
 take me to a forest where the man-monkey abounded, 
 but said I need not take more than one of my men, 
 as he was going with me himself and would give every 
 assistance. So accordingly, we started at daybreak 
 next morning ; Blue Ruin carried my big rifle, I the 
 '577, but my attendant was very despondent and 
 kept warning me not to trust to my ebony acquaintance 
 as he was very wicked and wanted to make " chop " 
 of me ; in other words, to kill me. But the idea seemed 
 
A West African Episode. 381 
 
 to me absurd ; the chief could gain nothing by my 
 death. The dash I had promised him he could only 
 get in Bonga ; and would certainly lose it in the event 
 of my death. Moreover, should anything sinister 
 happen to me, he would never be able to show his 
 face on the coast, and would lose his trade entirely ; 
 and would probably be killed by his subjects. 
 
 We started very early, and the chief had more men 
 with him than I approved of, but he said they would 
 leave him when we commenced our beat or hunt, and 
 go on to his village, which was only a short way 
 beyond the forest inhabited by the apes. Blue Euin 
 was now in a greater funk than ever. The main body 
 of the natives, who travelled by a beaten path, we left, 
 and went to the northward, over detestable ground. 
 Here, I certainly saw indications of petroleum, or 
 some allied mineral oils. Iron, stone, and copper I 
 also saw. At 11 a.m. we halted for breakfast. 
 
 The chief and I were seated under a tree, Blue Euin 
 had gone to a stream close by for a can of water ; 
 my guns were resting against a log close by. While 
 amicably conversing, I was seized suddenly, and before 
 I could offer any resistance, my arms were tied behind 
 me ; as soon as I was helpless my quondam friend gave 
 vent to his mirth, laughed and mocked at me saying, 
 " White man beat me I make chop of he." " But," 
 said I, in as mild a tone as I could assume, for I was 
 boiling over with rage, " I have never struck you in my 
 life or done you any injury, on the contrary, I have given 
 you many things and promised you a good dash on our 
 return to Bonga." But the brute only jeered at me ; 
 I am sure he was more than half drunk, for he kept 
 repeating the same thing, viz., that " White man beat 
 
382 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport 
 
 chief, chief make chop of he." Then I heard a great 
 hullabaloo, it was from poor Blue Kum, he had made a 
 gallant resistance, for the few clothes he wore, were in 
 tatters, but both he and I had been taken unawares, and 
 so were at the mercy of the drunken brute. Blue Euin 
 said, " What I tell Master ? We live to die, we live to 
 die ! " meaning that we should be killed. I, on the 
 other hand, thought it was a mere dodge to get a very 
 big " dash," or present, from me, and all that we should 
 have to undergo would be detention, until he got an 
 order on Bonga and had it cashed, so I did not despair, 
 as did my attendant. We were marched the whole of 
 that day till late at night, and then I was thrust into 
 one shed, and Blue Euin into another, in which he 
 cried and bewailed his fate the whole night long. 
 For food I was offered some filthy " chickwanga," a 
 decoction made from fermented manioc, a mixture 
 that I never could stomach, so I declined it, and con- 
 tented myself with a drink of water. By daylight we 
 were on the move again, and towards sunset arrived 
 at a considerable village, with a quadrangular space 
 in front, a banyan tree at one extremity, and a baobab 
 at the other. 
 
 I was again locked up alone ; and as I declined 
 the "chickwanga" again, a few half- ripe plantains 
 were given me. The whole night long hammering 
 went on ; but about 11 A.M. it ceased, and I was led 
 out. Soon a procession appeared. In front marched 
 some armed men, one with a huge sword of state, 
 others followed with most discordant instruments ; 
 but when I saw the chief himself, I almost burst out 
 laughing, his appearance was so ludicrous. He had 
 a tall bell-topper on his woolly head, a scarlet waist- 
 
A West African Episode. 383 
 
 coat, a sky-blue swallow-tailed coat, and green pan- 
 taloons, which had been made for a man half his 
 size. He assumed a most dignified air, and, scowl- 
 ing at me, said, " Ha ! ha ! white man no kill gorilla. 
 Gorilla kill he." The fool, I thought, was assuredly 
 drunk again. Then he made for a raised dais, and 
 placed himself on a block of wood, in lieu of a chair ; 
 the musicians and sword-bearer ranging themselves 
 around him. 
 
 Between the two trees I have mentioned, a strong 
 stockade had been erected. I could see my guns 
 were resting up against the mud walls of a house 
 not far off. " Oh ! if I could but get at them, I'd 
 astonish the niggers," I mentally thought, for I had 
 my pockets full of cartridges. Afterwards I heard 
 that the chief, emulous of my success in the sport- 
 ing line, had that day fired the 8 -bore, and had been 
 knocked head over heels, thus the guns were tabooed ; 
 so out of the four barrels, three were still loaded, 
 as the natives were afraid to meddle with them after 
 seeing the disaster which had befallen their king. 
 
 Three taps of a drum were now given ; there was 
 a great surging to and fro of the crowd, which opened 
 up, and some twenty men came forth dragging along 
 a huge gorilla, which they thrust into the stockade, 
 at the same time cleverly released the ropes which 
 bound him, instantly shutting the gates to. Almost 
 immediately afterwards poor Blue Euin was dragged 
 to the front. He struggled in vain, there were too 
 many for him to contend against, and it would have 
 been better had he husbanded his strength, instead of 
 uselessly expending it. " Oh ! master ! " cried the poor 
 fellow, " what I say ? We live to die, we live to die." 
 
384 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 The gate of the stockade was partially opened, and the 
 Kruboy thrust in. I could see all that went on. The 
 anthropoid was emaciated, looked sickly in face, and 
 had a large swelling under the left ribs, which, in a 
 man, would represent an enlarged spleen. He was 
 nearly six feet high, had he stood upright, he would 
 have been that fully. His vis-d-vis, Blue Euin, was 
 fully six feet three inches, and modelled like an 
 Achilles or Hercules, but his power was useless, for 
 the poor fellow was half dead with fright, and did 
 nothing but bewail his fate. The ape eyed him for a 
 few minutes, and then crouching somewhat, propelling 
 himself by his feet and fore arms, his knuckles doubled 
 up, the weight resting on them, he advanced on the 
 African. " Look out, Blue Euin ! " I cried, " hit him 
 on the lump under his ribs with all your might." 
 But I might just as well have spoken to a monument, 
 as to the poor frightened creature. The man and ape 
 closed. I shall never forget the horrid sight. In less 
 time than it takes me to tell the tale, my poor boy 
 was torn asunder by the gorilla, and the remains 
 scattered over the enclosure. No sooner was my 
 faithful follower dead than I was seized and thrown 
 into the compound. I anticipated a similar fate, 
 but I knew that a blow inflicted on an enlarged 
 spleen in man, proves instantly fatal ; so I deter- 
 mined to have a fight for dear life. My antagonist 
 was greatly blown by his exertions, and did not 
 attack me at once. This enabled me to swing about 
 my arms, and so get back circulation, which had 
 been impeded in them by having been tied so long 
 together. Now these anthropoids rend not only 
 with their fore feet or arms, but by their hind ones 
 
A West African Episode. 385 
 
 as well. The great thing for me to do would be to 
 avoid the first rush, hit out for the enlarged spleen, 
 and repeat the same tactics. The brute's rush was 
 weak. I dodged under his forearm, as he tried to 
 seize me as he had done Blue Euin, and with all 
 my might I let him have it right and left below the 
 ribs, at the same time jumping aside. The gorilla 
 staggered forward a pace or two, blood poured from 
 his mouth and nostrils, and almost instantly the 
 giant brute fell dead. 
 
 The king and people were paralysed with astonish- 
 ment, and I did not give them time to recover, 
 but thrusting aside the fastenings of the gate, rushed 
 out. The people fled like sheep, but the chief re- 
 mained rooted to his seat, so I seized a rifle, gave 
 a few bounds forward, and grasped the sword of 
 state, and with it clove the treacherous villain to 
 the chin. Into the ruck of the savages, right and 
 left, I emptied both barrels as they dispersed in one 
 direction, while I ran off in another, taking my two 
 guns with me. I was not pursued. The death of 
 the king, and the flight of his subjects, had such 
 an effect on those who had the remainder of my 
 followers in charge, that they released them, and 
 also took to their heels. In a couple of days we 
 were reunited, and I shot enough game to keep us 
 alive ; so on the ninth day got to my boat, and four 
 days afterwards to Bonga. 
 
 We did not delay in preparing a punitive expe- 
 dition, and returned in force ; but the gang had 
 fled, leaving all their goods behind them. The '. vul- 
 tures had picked the bones of the chief, the Kruboy, 
 and the ape clean, and we found the remains of 
 
 c c 
 
386 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 two other natives, probably shot by me when 1 
 fired into the ruck of them. We burnt the village, 
 buried the remains of poor Blue Euin, and collected 
 the skeleton of the anthropoid. The king's head I 
 kept as a memento of my wonderful escape. 
 
 I heard afterwards that the neighbouring tribes 
 had seized the fugitives from the village when my 
 adventure became known, and had sold them into 
 slavery. So the only thing I had to regret was 
 the death of the Kruboy ; but a good " dash " re- 
 conciled his relatives to his loss. I was shortly 
 afterwards attacked by the African fever, and had 
 to leave that part of the country, which I have no 
 ambition to revisit. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ESCAPE FROM HYDROPHOBIA. 
 
 AFTER being relieved at Rajahmundry, I was return- 
 ing to head-quarters at Vizianagram. My guns I had 
 sent on as the season for shooting was past. We halted 
 for a day at Juggumpett. The weather was sultry and 
 there were only two beds, or rather cots, available in 
 the traveller's bungalow. Dragging these into the 
 verandah, I put our mattrasses on them for my 
 wife and children, whilst I threw some razies on the 
 floor for myself. 
 
 During the day there had been some commotion in 
 camp, for a pony lent to one of our native officers by 
 the Maharajah of Vizianagram had been bitten by a 
 jackal, and several of the villagers had suffered also 
 in the same way, but I never gave the matter a serious 
 thought. It was a bright night, for the moon was at 
 the full. At that time I was as hard as nails, having 
 been constantly shooting and rowing, and had acquired 
 a habit of sleeping with one arm over my head. This 
 position stretching the muscles of the back. A very 
 large Sussex spaniel and a pointer I had with me, had 
 made their bed at the further end of the verandah. 
 About 11 P.M. I was awoke with a sensation of a red 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 hot needle being thrust into my back, near the junc- 
 tion of the neck. With a howl I jumped up and 
 found a jackal standing over me. The pillow I seized 
 and commenced to bolster the brute, in the meanwhile 
 it trying to get at my legs. My wife and children 
 seeing me fighting, as it were, air only, for the jackal 
 being on the further side of me, they could not see it, 
 thought I had gone mad and begun to yell too. This dis- 
 turbed the dogs who rushed in, rolled over the jackal, 
 and sent him flying, but passing where the servants 
 were asleep, it bit two, a horse-keeper and a grass 
 cutter. My own wound was very superficial as only 
 a drop or two of blood came from it. My dogs, I am 
 glad to say, were not injured. My night shirt and 
 the skin of my back, especially near the junction of 
 the neck, which was well stretched, had saved me, for 
 none of the virus had entered ; but it was very different 
 with the two poor natives, who, three parts naked, had 
 nothing to intervene between the poison and their 
 wounds. I at once sent for the native dresser, who 
 washed and cauterised the injuries and bound them 
 up. Early the next morning the jackal again turned up, 
 but this time it was mobbed and killed by the Sepoys. 
 On examination it turned out to be tailless. Both the 
 natives who had been bitten died a few months after- 
 wards in the civil dispensary at Waltair of hydrophobia. 
 Six months after that we were en route to Bimlipatam 
 to embark for Burma. It was a pitch dark night, 
 made darker by the shade of the huge banyan and india- 
 rubber trees lining each side of the road we were march- 
 ing over. Suddenly there was a yell, a scramble, and 
 a bandsman was knocked over, his instrument broken, 
 and the whole column brought to a standstill. I was 
 
Escape from Hydrophobia. 389 
 
 on a very valuable Arab, and the beast that had attacked 
 us was a pony of the Maharajah's, lent to a native 
 officer ; so, dismounting, I sent my charger to the rear, 
 where the head- quarter staff were grouped together. 
 Imparting the cause of disturbance to the commandant 
 and obtaining his permission to go ahead with a file 
 of men, I opened up our communications. The road 
 and the sides of the road were blocked by camp 
 followers, the relatives of the Sepoys who were accom- 
 panying the regiment to wish them good-bye ; in fact, 
 there were more followers than fighting men. We had 
 gone but a short distance when there was another rush, 
 and the pony knocked down an old woman and worried 
 her, and then retreated, so I ordered bayonets to be 
 fixed, told the people to halt and went ahead. In five 
 minutes the brute was upon us again, but the men were 
 steady, received it on their bayonets, and killed it. 
 We found that it was the identical pony bitten at 
 Juggumpett. He, too, had become mad. What became 
 of the old woman I never heard, as I ] eft the regiment 
 very shortly afterwards. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 AN EXCITING DAY'S SPORT. 
 
 THE great object of late years on the part of gun- 
 makers has been to so construct the barrels of the 
 ordinary fowling-piece that they shall throw the 
 greatest number of shots in a given space at a certain 
 distance, and for this purpose there are chokes and 
 modified chokes ; that is, the muzzle is contracted and 
 under the barrel at the breech end is engraved, " Not 
 for ball." This is all very well for sport in a country 
 where no dangerous animals exist, but it is very 
 different in the wilds of India or in Africa. Our 
 forefathers killed as much game as neatly and as far 
 as the best of modern sportsmen. To realise that, 
 one has only to read the diary of Colonel P. Hawker, 
 lately published. Why we should require chokes I 
 don't know. I have ever found that a good cylinder 
 killed quite far enough for me, and it has the further 
 advantage that it will carry ball, if required, fairly 
 true to a distance close upon one hundred yards. 
 The Paradox an invention of Colonel Fosberry, 
 manufactured by the Messrs. Holland, and also, I 
 believe, by Westley Eichards, and somewhat imitated 
 under different names by other makers and would-be 
 
An Exciting Days Sport. 391 
 
 inventors is a very useful weapon, but it is somewhat 
 heavier than an ordinary gun and as long as a true 
 cylinder fowling-piece, shoots dead up to fifty yards 
 with ball, and fairly well up to one hundred, I am 
 content. There are two top actions, pre-eminent, 
 both good I allude to Purdey's and Westley 
 Eichards', the latter for preference. When I had 
 heavy rifles constructed for shooting big game, 
 Messrs. Westley Eichards were the only makers who 
 would construct them on the top -snap action ; the 
 others refused, as they said such an action was un- 
 safe ; but as I used the rifles made by that eminent 
 firm for years, firing heavy charges of six and seven 
 drachms of black powder, and never found them fail, 
 I can only conclude that they are not only safe, but 
 by far the handiest. From the days of my griflinage 
 I have made a practice of carrying a few bullets in 
 my pocket. In the old muzzle-loading days I had 
 bullets neatly sewn up in thin cloth and well greased. 
 Now, of course I carry a few cartridges loaded with 
 ball in place of shot. In a hot climate a light, 
 serviceable weapon is a desideratum. For stalking 
 antelope and deer a man would be differently armed 
 of course, but for ordinary sport in jungly places, 
 you seldom see your game much further than fifty 
 yards, and often much closer. 
 
 Loqua Ghat, in Assam, opposite to Tezpore, is a 
 well-known place for large and small game. My 
 work, and if the truth be told inclination, often took 
 me there, and many a tough encounter have I had 
 there with rhinoceros, buffalo, and tiger. The small- 
 game shooting was also very good ; there were the 
 black and kyah partridges, Florikan peacocks, jungle- 
 
392 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 fowl, and in the season, in one locality, thousands of 
 snipe but this I kept to myself; had it become 
 known, men from Tezpore would have been shooting- 
 over it constantly, and the sport would have been 
 soon ruined. The ground consisted along the borders 
 of a bheel situated in a natural depression, about a 
 mile from my bungalow, which I occasionally visited, 
 and many a day's sport have I had there amongst 
 the long-bills. Now and then I found a solitary or 
 double snipe there, a rare bird anywhere, especially 
 in the plains. If I went very early, jungle-fowl 
 would be about searching for ants' nests in the open, 
 and amongst the trees peafowl were also to be found. 
 Some time before the adventure I am about to 
 relate occurred, there had been some cultivation, but 
 it had been abandoned as deer and other ruminants 
 took more than their fair share of it ; in fact, in one 
 year the cultivators applied for a remission of tax, as 
 they had not saved a bushel of grain out of the fifty 
 or sixty acres under plant. Being in the neighbour- 
 hood, I was asked by the Deputy Commissioner to 
 inspect the cultivated area and to report upon it. I 
 found the grain trampled down, the paddy-fields a 
 mass of pits caused by rhinoceros, elephants, buffaloes, 
 and deer. The marvel was, not that these animals 
 had helped themselves to such a, to them, unwonted 
 luxury, but that anybody should have chosen such a 
 spot for cultivation. The taxes were remitted, and 
 the experiment was given up. The land thus left 
 fallow I found swarming with snipe, and taking a 
 few men as beaters, I soon got my old Westley 
 Eichards gun, the first breech-loader I ever possessed, 
 at work. I generally carried thirty cartridges in a 
 
An Exciting Days Sport. 393 
 
 belt, and in a side pocket seven (for I believe in odd 
 numbers) ball-cartridges, thinking I might put up a 
 hog-deer or two, but never anticipating such an 
 exciting day's sport as I was lucky enough to come 
 across. My shikarie also carried a lot of extra 
 cartridges in a waterproof bag. 
 
 The bheel was an extensive one, probably half a 
 mile across and a mile and a half long. The south 
 and east faces had been cultivated near the water's 
 edge, and extending a couple of hundred yards, the 
 plain was slightly inundated and covered with rushes 
 and dhoop grass, beyond that commenced the whilom 
 paddy-fields. On the northern and western sides the 
 land ran in a ridge, that on the former face was close 
 to the bheel, but on the latter the interval consisted 
 of patches of long grass and impenetrable bushes of 
 wild roses ; just the sort of place of which wading 
 animals like the bubali and rhinoceros are fond. I 
 commenced shooting on the southern face. It was 
 rather early, for snipe lie best during the heat of the 
 day ; but they were seldom disturbed, and though they 
 got up rather wild at first, they pitched again within 
 fifty yards of where they rose. So my bag filled 
 rapidly. The walking was good ; I scarcely ever sank 
 over my ankles. It was ideal snipe ground. I had 
 beaten over the greater part of the south and east- 
 faces when a solitary snipe got up. These birds are 
 double the size of the ordinary scolopax, and are barred 
 on the breast and fly far more slowly, but in my 
 anxiety to kill I clean missed it, but marked it down 
 near a rose-bush close to the water on the north face ; 
 leaving the men behind I went alone to bag this rare 
 specimen. I was getting within shot, expecting it to 
 
394 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 rise any moment, when I heard a noise in a patch of 
 grass which attracted my attention. It was some 
 large beast ; I at once withdrew the shot and inserted 
 ball-cartridges, and advanced cautiously, with both 
 barrels at full cock and ready for any emergency. As 
 I drew near the reeds a tiger bounded out on one 
 side and was promptly met by a bull-buffalo, who 
 charged full pelt from a clump of long grass ; the 
 bovine was up to his knees almost in water, the feline 
 on comparatively dry ground. The largest of the wild 
 cats will seldom attack any of the bubali, and only if 
 very hard pressed for food. But here deer abounded ; 
 the whole plain was full of the swamp-deer, there 
 were, besides, plenty of wild hog, and Cervus porcinus 
 also were plentiful ; so no tiger need have been 
 sufficiently hungry to attempt the life of any buffalo, 
 far less that of a very large bull. But that he had 
 been stalking the bovine there was no doubt, and his 
 opponent, from the prompt way he met him. must 
 have been aware of what was coming. At the last 
 moment the tiger's heart failed him, and after bound- 
 ing forward a few yards and uttering a deep growl 
 or two, finding that he could not intimidate his 
 adversary, turned aside to avoid the collision. On 
 the impulse of the moment I let fly behind his 
 shoulder with the right barrel, with the result that 
 the tiger rolled right over. I then rapidly fired at the 
 buffalo and made a lucky fluke, for the bullet went 
 crashing into his ear and he fell dead ! But on turn- 
 ing towards where the tiger ought to have been, lo ! 
 he was gone. Eeloading, I took up the trail, but the 
 beast had taken refuge in some tall grass. It was an 
 isolated patch and there was not a tree near. It would 
 
An Exciting Days Sport. 395 
 
 have been the act of a fool or a madman to have forced 
 
 my way in, as I could not see a foot in front of me, 
 
 and it is not child's play approaching a wounded tiger 
 
 even in the open, almost certain death in heavy cover. 
 
 So I beckoned to my shikarie, sent him back to the 
 
 camp for an elephant, and told the other beaters to 
 
 get up the few trees scattered beyond, and to watch 
 
 that nothing sneaked away without being marked. 
 
 After kicking my heels about in no sweet temper for 
 
 a couple of hours, only an unreliable elephant with my 
 
 howdah on it appeared. All the rest, the mahout 
 
 said, had gone for their churah (green food), not 
 
 thinking that they would be wanted. My rifles were 
 
 ready in their racks, the ammunition in the box in 
 
 front of the howdah. So I lost no time in mounting, 
 
 and promising the driver the full reward if he kept 
 
 his animal steady and enabled me to bag the quarry, 
 
 told him to go straight into the patch of long grass 
 
 into which I had traced the feline. The mahout was 
 
 a Mussulman, and as such a fatalist ; he had seen me 
 
 kill much game ; very few of these men are cowards, 
 
 and if they have confidence in the shooting powers of 
 
 their master they are almost foolhardy. I did not 
 
 doubt the man, but the question was, How w^ould the 
 
 elephant behave ? He was a big powerful tusker ; I 
 
 had never had a howdah on him, as I prefer koonkies 
 
 to shoot off, as they are smoother in their paces and 
 
 more accustomed to wild beasts, but he had often been 
 
 out and at the death of all kinds of game. Like most 
 
 others of his peers he was very uncertain ; at times he 
 
 was bold as a lion, and at others would run from a 
 
 hare; but on this occasion he went into the long 
 
 grass willingly enough. The patch of jungle was not 
 
396 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 extensive, and we beat it through and through with- 
 out discovering any signs of our quarry. Yet he must 
 be somewhere near, for the markers declared he had 
 not moved. We had avoided two or three heavy rose- 
 bushes because they were almost impenetrable and 
 such a mass of thorns, that even the pachydermatous 
 hide of an elephant was not proof against them. So 
 bidding the mahout force his way through every 
 brake, we got through a couple, not without many 
 protestations on the part of our gee-gee. But when 
 we came to the third, and the worst of the three, he 
 steadily refused to negotiate it, and when hard pressed 
 became obstinate and commenced to shake himself, 
 and very nearly sent me, the howdah and the guns 
 flying. I was getting savage, and vented my rage on 
 the mahout, who brought his ancus down with all 
 his might on Behemoth's cranium with a whack which 
 could have been heard a quarter of a mile off, and 
 ought to have given the recipient a headache for a 
 week. Still he would not go into the bush ; but we 
 were saved all further trouble by the tiger rushing 
 out. The elephant spun round to bolt, but the feline 
 was too quick, for him and sprang on to his hind 
 quarters and commenced to clamber up rather too 
 close to the howdah to be pleasant. Our steed went 
 off at full speed how he did run to be sure ; I had no 
 idea he possessed such a nice turn of speed. I was 
 rather upset by this sudden onslaught, and the pace 
 we were going at. The tiger had his head close to 
 the back seat of the howdah and intended going for 
 me, but I am well accustomed to riding elephants, 
 whether at a sedate step or at a gallop. (It is ambling 
 of course, for no elephant can gallop, but they can go 
 
An Exciting Day s Sport. 397 
 
 at their own pace nearly as fast as an ordinary horse 
 can go his fastest.) It did not take me more than a 
 couple of seconds to turn round over the back of the 
 howdah ; with the barrel almost touching the tiger's 
 cranium, I fired, and he fell off all in a heap. 
 
 I was rid of the enemy it is true, but my steed was 
 uncontrollable, and continued his mad career through 
 jungle, bush, and long grass towards a quarter which 
 I knew from previous experience to be a mass of 
 nasty, narrow, deep ravines, masked by long grass 
 which effectually concealed all signs of them ; and 
 once there, good-bye to one's belongings in this world, 
 for nothing could save us from a broken neck. The 
 mahout did his best ; he drew back his ancus with all 
 his might, the point penetrated almost to the bone, 
 but it had not the least effect the poor frightened 
 beast was beyond being restrained even by the acute 
 pain. As a last resort he hung the driving hook on 
 to one of the rings through which the ropes pass 
 which keep the howdah in its place, and putting his 
 two hands over the elephant's eyes blindfolded him ! 
 Just then there was a fearful stumble ; I thought our 
 end had come, that we were falling either into a 
 nullah or over a prostrate giant forest tree, but the 
 most unearthly cries convinced me that we had 
 toppled over a rhinoceros, and were in the midst of a 
 lot more. The cowardly steed was transformed in a 
 moment ; he did not know which way to run, and 
 pulled up and enabled me to empty my battery of 
 four heavy rifles into as many surrounding rhino- 
 ceros, all inclined to resent our intrusion. Two I 
 dropped dead, and the others went away the worse 
 for their visitations. In fact, this immense tusker was 
 
398 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 paralysed with funk ! So. though I came out snipe- 
 shooting, I wound up by killing a tiger (for we found 
 him stone dead), a buffalo, and two rhinoceros. 
 Meat is always welcome in camp, so being mounted, 
 I made a detour and killed three marsh- or swamp- 
 deer (two does and one fine stag), all so rolling in fat 
 that when hit lumps of fat nearly as big as my fist 
 came out of the bullet holes. Going homewards I 
 thought of the solitary snipe, walked it up on the 
 elephant and bagged it. Thus ended an eventful day. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THREE YEAES WITH MURDERERS ON A SOLITARY ISLAND. 
 
 I WAS directed to undertake the construction of a 
 lighthouse in the Bay of Bengal. The site chosen 
 was Table Island, north of the great Coco. When I 
 reached Haingyie, a large island at the entrance of 
 the Bassem River, I found that the schooner which 
 should have been there to take me on had gone on 
 two days before, with a load of bricks and twenty- 
 four convicts. 
 
 Colonel A. F., the superintendent of lighthouses, 
 had asked me to meet him on Table Island by a 
 certain day, of which only two days remained. I did 
 not know what to do. These seas in the fine weather 
 are smooth enough, but the currents are very strong. 
 A lighter attached to the Alguada Reef Lighthouse, 
 was available. I asked the commander if he would 
 take me. He demurred at first, as he said he had no 
 instruments to take the latitude and longitude (and 
 I found afterwards that if he had had them, he did 
 not know how to use them). I showed him a chart, 
 and said the wind was fair. We had first the Preparis 
 shoal to guide us, and on losing sight of that the 
 Cocos would be visible, and I would take all 
 
4OO Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 responsibilities on my shoulders. After hesitating a 
 little, on my saying I would take the lighter and go 
 alone if he was afraid to accompany me, he assented, 
 though with a very bad grace. We started with a 
 good breeze and were off the shoal by daylight, but 
 there the wind failed us. We both thought we 
 should be to the west instead of to the east of the 
 Preparis, and did all we could to get westward, but 
 signally failed, as in the absence of winds the 
 currents were too strong for us ; and it was just as 
 well, as we ascertained afterwards, that we had failed 
 in our endeavour, as there was a barrier of rocks 
 beyond which we should not have been able to 
 weather, and on which we would probably have 
 been wrecked. About 10 A.M. the wind sprang again, 
 and we went on merrily. We sighted Table Island 
 just as we lost all bearings of the reef and got to 
 our destination by 9 P.M., where we found the 
 schooner at anchor. Early next morning I landed, 
 and explored my future abode. There was no fresh 
 water on it. It was very hilly and densely covered 
 with bamboo and tree jungle. Its length and 
 breadth, including Slipper Island, was all but a mile 
 each way. There was nothing to shoot there, 
 cocoa-nuts were few and far between and existed 
 only on the south-east face. It was not an inviting 
 place to live in with life convicts (all murderers, 
 who had escaped hanging by the skin of their 
 teeth) for the space of three years. But I am a 
 bit of a fatalist, and believe that sufficient for the 
 day is the evil thereof. In the afternoon the 
 steamer with the superintendent arrived. After 
 a brief interview, I was told to land all the 
 
A Desert Island. 401 
 
 bricks and to do the best I could during the six 
 weeks before the breaking out of the monsoon, and 
 then to go back to Haingyie and prepare maps, plans, 
 estimates, &c., &c., for submission to the supreme 
 government. The steamer took the lighter in tow 
 and departed before dark. I soon landed the bricks 
 and sent back the schooner for more. I was then left 
 alone with twenty-four murderers and two Madras 
 boys ; the convicts had each a dhaw, I had a gun and 
 a revolver, but no guard. I had no trouble with 
 the convicts, all Burmese and Shans of the very 
 worst character. Whilst they carried the bricks up 
 the hillside, away from the sea spray, I surveyed 
 the island, took cross sections, and fixed upon the 
 highest spot, which I found was on the south face, 
 for erecting the lighthouse. The schooner went 
 backwards and forwards twice before there were 
 indications that the rains were not far off, and on her 
 last trip, I took my people with me and returned to 
 Haingyie. I then took leave to Calcutta, submitted 
 the plans, &c. , and then went off for two months to 
 Ootacamund and the west coast. I returned, and 
 this time I made a start from Moulmein, taking 
 with me one hundred life convicts, half being 
 Burmese, Shans, and Karens, and the other half 
 Madrassies. I applied for a military guard, but it 
 was refused me, so I picked up nine men from the 
 streets of Moulmein and enlisted them as burkan- 
 dazies or policemen, and armed them with old 
 cutlasses. I also took twenty-five free labourers, as 
 bricklayers, &c., and a quantity of material for 
 building sheds for ourselves. The police I found 
 useless as a guard, as the Burmese cared nothing for 
 
 D D 
 
402 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 them, and I employed them as workmen. I had one 
 European with me, a splendid specimen of a Scotch- 
 man, a master quarryman by trade. He could barely 
 read or write, but was thoroughly master of his trade ; 
 with a few blows of his hammer he would break a 
 block of stone to the requisite size and shape, 
 whereas our native stonecutters would take twenty 
 hours to do the same. Moreover, he could carry and 
 place in position a stone which four ordinary natives 
 could not move. He was perfectly sober and to 
 be depended upon to carry out his duties. So I 
 placed him on Table Island with the convicts, and 
 took up my own abode on the north end of the Great 
 Coco Island, where there was a natural bay that 
 served as harbour for a boat, and fresh water, 
 which was wanting on the opposite Island. There 
 had formerly been a settlement on the Great Coco, 
 but it had totally failed. The Europeans and 
 Eurasians with one exception died, and the sole 
 survivor was only rescued in time. When the 
 settlers took possession of this isle, they took 
 numerous pigs, both English and Chinese ; these 
 soon ran wild and were very numerous when I was 
 there. They were then still parti-coloured, but very 
 large and very fierce, and as they lived almost 
 exclusively on the fallen cocoanuts they were 
 delicious eating, and as fat as butter. As a place 
 of residence the Great Coco is not half bad. It is 
 about seven miles long, and about two in breadth. 
 The shores to the north, east, and south are low, 
 covered densely with cocoa palms to a depth of a 
 quarter to a half mile. The west face has a ridge 
 running down from north to south, which is covered 
 
The Great Coco Island. 403 
 
 with trees, the branches of which all lean to the 
 east, showing the force of the south-west monsoon. 
 This island is a great rendezvous for the edible turtle, 
 which throng to the west face, and would be doubt- 
 less as numerous on the east and south faces were it 
 not for the iguana lizards, who dig up their nests 
 and destroy hundreds of thousands of eggs. I used 
 to turn a good many, made an artificial pond for 
 them, and sent them on to Eangoon as opportunity 
 afforded. There was no lack of fish. The Burmese 
 killed as many as we could consume by using 
 torches at night. There were large crayfish, conger 
 eels, and crabs. The islands were infested with the 
 deadly bungarus or banded snake, which was found 
 under stones and rocks on the sea beach, and adders 
 inland. There were a few curlew, thick-kneed 
 plover, a few very few snipe, plenty of teal in the 
 fresh water bheel, and thousands of imperial and 
 Nicobar pigeons. 
 
 When the last settler left there were a good many 
 fowls and ducks left behind, but not one remained ; 
 they had all been destroyed by the big lizards. 
 
 The poultry I took over also suffered greatly from 
 the ravages of these monitors. The root of every 
 mangrove had oysters adhering to it ; not the little 
 things we are accustomed to, but fellows as large as 
 an ordinary plate, and a couple of bivalves sufficed for 
 a currie for two people. Sponges were washed ashore 
 daily and real pearl oysters existed ; but nearly every 
 oyster in the Bay of Bengal has a small pear] in it. 
 I had fully a thousand, but they were all small and 
 all opaque, and I either lost them, thinking them of 
 no value, or they were stolen ; but I have since dis- 
 
 D D 2 
 
404 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 covered that all pearls when first extracted are dull 
 and require polishing before they assume the appear- 
 ance of the gem of commerce. That rare bird the 
 megapod also visited the island, crossing over, I 
 presume, from the Mcobars, where it is resident. 
 The pigs were so numerous, that by erecting a screen 
 and spreading broken cocoa-nuts for them, they came 
 in dozens, and on eight different occasions I killed two 
 at a shot. These were killed and served out as food 
 to the people. For sport I used to roam the jungles, 
 and killed a good many boars one with tushes nine 
 and three-quarter inches long and some fine fat sows 
 and sucklings, which are delicious eating. Altogether, 
 whilst I lived on that island, existence was not so bad. 
 I had to take or send breakers of water across daily, 
 and used to go over myself nearly every day, as the 
 work was then of the simplest, consisting of collecting 
 materials and cutting stone, but the tide rip was very 
 dangerous, and once I was carried down and took eight 
 hours to get to my destination, which was barely 
 three miles across in a bee-line. So I built a house in 
 a grove of cocoa-nut palms on Table Island, on the 
 south face, and leaving a tindal and a crew consisting 
 of six free Madrassies and two of the best of the 
 Burmese convicts, together with a month's rations, 
 two muskets, and some ammunition, on the Coco, I 
 crossed over and took up my abode on the lesser 
 Isle ; occasionally I used to go back to turn turtle 
 and shoot game for the larder, my only companions 
 being the convicts. I used to sleep out in the jungles 
 oil a remote beach with them without fear, and they 
 never took advantage of my defenceless position. I 
 treated them fairly ; I told them they could kill me 
 
Daily Life on Table Island. 405 
 
 any moment they choose, as they were all armed and 
 I but seldom, and then only when out shooting, but 
 that they would be no gainers, for there were many 
 who would willingly take my place and treat them 
 far worse than I did. I fed them liberally ; each 
 man's rations, including even a little tobacco, were 
 issued daily. Each man had an allotted task, not too 
 heavy and just sufficient to keep him in health, and 
 directly that was completed he had the rest of the 
 day to himself, and as there were no means of escape 
 from Table Island, they wandered where they pleased, 
 supplementing their rations by rats which they 
 caught in traps, and by fish which they caught, some- 
 times in trawl-nets (of which I had taken a couple), 
 but principally by torchlight. When the high tides 
 set in Slipper Island would be separated by a shallow 
 strait in which thousands of mullets used to come. 
 I tried to catch them by stretching a net across, but 
 the fish, as soon as they discovered what it was, used 
 to leap over it, and I took to shooting them flying ! 
 There were many varieties of fish of every kind, and 
 many of these most gorgeous. A common one, no use 
 for food, was the sea porcupine, which inflates itself 
 like a balloon ; one extraordinary fish we got, had 
 three distant hooks in its tail ! The shoots of the 
 bamboo, and a growth near the crown of a palm tree, 
 commonly called a cabbage, when cooked are not 
 only very good eating but nutritious. During my 
 first season everything went perfectly smoothly. We 
 got to know the men and the convicts became used 
 to us ; I scarcely had to strike a single man. The 
 Madrassies gave far more trouble than the other 
 races, though the latter were, to a man, in for crimes of 
 
406 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 violence, such as dacoity with manslaughter, murder, 
 and the like ; but one or two, I may say more, of the men, 
 according to their ideas, had been unjustly punished. 
 To send a man across the Kala Panie, one who is not 
 one of our subjects, to the Andamans for life because 
 he has killed a man in a tribal feud, or to confine 
 another because he has killed the paramour of his 
 young wife, which is no offence according to their 
 ideas and laws, they consider unjust. Look at the 
 case of the man who stabbed the Earl of Mayo. He 
 was an Afghan ; he had been a domestic servant of the 
 Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, had played with 
 his children and bore the best of characters ; but 
 because he had slain openly a foe, he was condemned 
 for life to penal servitude, which was to him a 
 thousand times worse than death. To escape that 
 existence he deprived the most popular Viceroy we 
 have had in India of his life, not for revenge or 
 because he owed him any grudge, but simply that he 
 himself might be killed. Another, a strongly-built 
 Burman a young man whom I trusted and who 
 was the first to rush to warn me when the convicts 
 afterwards mutinied was a lifer ; he had avenged 
 his honour by killing a man who had seduced his 
 wife. Does any one imagine that either he, or any 
 one of his race, considered that a crime ? I for one 
 think the man was perfectly justified. 
 
 We had two or three Shan chiefs who had been 
 concerned in dacoities ; awful villains no doubt, but 
 none of these races can refrain from robbery by 
 violence if they see their way to doing it ; it is done 
 as much for a lark as for filthy lucre, and they 
 consider the punishment of transportation not only 
 
Punish a Shan Chieftain. 407 
 
 excessive but cruel. As I said before, I seldom used 
 the cane, but when I had occasion to do so, I let 
 them see that I was not in play. Going up the hill- 
 side, I found one of these Shan chiefs sitting down 
 smoking instead of carrying his allotted task of bricks, 
 so I gave him a cut as I passed. He was up in a 
 moment, drew the dhaw from behind, where he had it 
 stuck, and would doubtless have cut me down in his 
 passion had I given him time to do so. I was slightly 
 above him. I hit out straight from the shoulder, 
 caught him with all my might between the eyes, and 
 sent him rolling down the hill. I did not give him 
 time to get back on his feet, but pinning him to the 
 ground by a foot on the neck, which half-throttled 
 him, I laid into his bare back and all but bare 
 posterior with all my might and gave him an un- 
 merciful thrashing. I then sent for the convict 
 blacksmith and put double irons on the Shan's legs, 
 and gave him a double task a day to do, and he 
 became as meek as a lamb, and was released in a 
 month ; but for all that, he was one of those who 
 escaped afterwards. I had brought cats to keep 
 down the rats, but they disappeared one by one, 
 until there was but one left, and she was my sole hope, 
 as she was expecting a litter ere long but a wretched 
 Madrassie, a brute as fat as a pig, killed and ate her. 
 
 I had always given out that any man caught 
 killing a cat would get three dozen, and, as the 
 culprit had been caught red-handed, I tied him up 
 and with my own hand I gave him three dozen as 
 hard as I could lay on, on his bare b t, and put 
 him on half rations. We had no medicines, except 
 such as I had myself procured, and no medical sub- 
 
408 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 ordinate or appliances, so to my numerous avocations 
 were added the doctoring and treating of some 
 one hundred and fifty men. A few died each working- 
 season. One was a very painful case. The man 
 suffered from inflammation of the bladder and stop- 
 page of urine ; had I had a bougie I might have saved 
 him, but hot fomentations and even blistering failed 
 to relieve him, and he died a lingering death. One 
 season I allowed a middle-aged woman and her 
 daughter to accompany us to set up a shop for the 
 sale of petty articles to the convicts (who, in addition 
 to their rations, were allowed a couple of annas a 
 day), and for some time all went well. One day the 
 two women fell out, and the mother immediately 
 swallowed a large piece of opium and died. This is 
 not an unusual occurrence amongst Burmese. They 
 often thus commit suicide on the slightest squabble. 
 As the schooner was going to Moulmein, I sent the 
 girl back in her, as I did not think it right to keep 
 her when alone amongst so many men. 
 
 We had been expecting the plates for the iron 
 tower. They were doomed to misfortune. Some 
 had been lost in the Hooghly, the others were sent 
 me in a Government vessel, commanded by D., a 
 Scotchman, whom I knew well when he commanded 
 a steamer on the Irrawadie. In those days he had 
 a fat wife, as Scotch as himself and very jealous of 
 her husband, who was not an Adonis to look at. 
 
 She, poor woman, had been dead about a year 
 when D. arrived with his cargo, and he had on 
 board as passengers K. and his wife and the 
 latter's sister. Poor D. was dreadfully smitten, 
 and could do nothing but follow the spinster about. 
 
Difficulties in Landing the Plates. 409 
 
 I had fathomed all the sea round and had erected 
 a pair of shears, and showed D. the exact spot 
 where his boats could come, but only at high 
 water. I warned him that if he attempted to land 
 the heavy plates, some of them over a ton in weight, 
 his boats would be wrecked. But his inamorata did 
 not like the Cocos ; she hated the island, and the vessel 
 worse, and D., to oblige her to get away, would work 
 his boats at all hours. The consequence was that in 
 three days he had not a boat left. He then tried to 
 land the plates on a raft, but that turned a turtle and 
 went adrift ; but I saved it, and some twenty plates 
 which had sunk, at the neap tides ; and off D. went to 
 Port Blair and reported that the site chosen by me 
 was useless for landing purposes he got boats there, 
 but even then he managed to sink several. I had to 
 send my schooner, and she brought all that had been 
 landed. The skipper also fished up those in the sea, 
 and we landed all without losing a single boat. When 
 on shore, these plates had to be dragged up a sheer 
 cliff 110 feet high, but we got them all up without 
 breaking one. Had any fallen, they would have 
 been splintered to pieces, as they were only of 
 cast-iron. In her last voyage, to my great annoy- 
 ance, McG., the commander of the schooner, brought 
 over from Port Blair a European woman. I knew 
 her by character ver}^ well ; there had already been a 
 good deal of scandal about her. She was a woman 
 under thirty, but, with the exception of being white, 
 I could see no other attractions. She walked quietly 
 into my apartments and told me she had come to 
 spend a month with me. I was very angry ; I am 
 afraid I told her to go to the devil. I sent for the 
 
4io Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 commander and walked into him handsomely, and 
 told him, as he had brought her, he might keep her 
 until the arrival of the mail steamer, as I would have 
 none of her. She found her tongue, treated me to a 
 good deal of Billingsgate, and said I could not ap- 
 preciate a white woman when I got the chance. I 
 cut her short, handed her over to the quarryman and 
 a writer I then had, and saw no more of her, but 
 sent her back to the Andamans. I afterwards got 
 several letters from her husband, accusing me of 
 having been intimate with her, and wanting black- 
 mail ; but I had taken good care not to be left alone 
 with her for a minute, and I told him to go to 
 a very hot place. She, in collusion with her husband, 
 had played these tricks before in Port Blair, and had 
 caused great mischief there ; but although not then 
 thirty, I was an old bird, not to be caught with chaff, 
 and I knew all about her long before she had the 
 cheek to pay me a visit. 
 
 It was my third season. The men had been left at 
 the Andamans during each monsoon and were always 
 (apparently) glad to get back to the Cocos, for they 
 were very differently treated by me there to what 
 they had been by the warders at the convict establish- 
 ment. I had dug numerous wells on Table Island, 
 but the water was not drinkable ; so I got across 
 daily twenty-five breakers of water. To fetch these up 
 the hill, Keid used to march down a party of twenty- 
 five Burmese and Shans and twenty-five Madrassies, 
 varying the party each day, and only telling them 
 off at the last moment. One day the boat was later 
 than usual. We had to unload her the minute she 
 arrived and to put in the empties, to enable her to 
 
Escape of Convicts. 4 1 1 
 
 return to the Great Coco without delay. Eeid told 
 off the men, directed them to go on, and he would 
 follow in a moment. The Burmese took the bamboos 
 and ran down the hill. The Madrassies were follow- 
 ing with the empties, and Keid leisurely bringing up 
 the rear, never suspecting an emeute. I was bathing 
 in my own hut. The Shans and Burmese, directly they 
 got near, gave a haroosh and rushed at the Lascars, 
 whp, instead of pushing off into deep water, jumped 
 overboard ! The two Burmese who remained tried no 
 doubt to push off, but one man got a bad cut over the 
 head ; the other, seeing his comrade's fate, cast his lot 
 in with the mutineers. They seized the boat, jumped 
 into her, and calling out that they were going round 
 to kill me, off they went. The wounded Burman 
 ran over to me, warning me to arm, which I very 
 quickly did. I had four double rifles, a smooth-bore, and 
 a revolver. So giving some of these to the burkan- 
 dazies, to carry, and armed with one, I ran down to the 
 beach, hoping to see the runaways, for I never 
 believed they would have the temerity to attack me ; 
 but they crossed over direct, seized the month's 
 rations which had been sent there but the day before, 
 and taking the two muskets and cartridges, gallantly 
 put to sea and steered for the Tenasserim coast. I was 
 in a precious predicament. The schooner was away. 
 I had no other boat. There was no water fit to drink 
 on Table Island. Now the distance to the main- 
 land was considerable and the boat was not over 
 large, and besides twenty-five breakers of water it 
 had a month's rations for seven men and twenty-six 
 adults. Now Englishmen under similar circum- 
 stances would have been useless ; they could not have 
 
4 1 2 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport, 
 
 steered their course ; but every Burman knows enough 
 of the stars to guide himself by them at night, and 
 these men made the coast in seven days, and scat- 
 tered. The schooner arrived four days after the 
 escape of the convicts. I sent her off, after procuring 
 sufficient water to last me for a week, to Rangoon, 
 and at the same time I wrote off to Calcutta for a 
 condensing machine. I reported what I had done to 
 0. , the chief engineer about the most sensible fellow 
 I ever served under, and who never wrote a letter or 
 gave the least trouble as long as he saw a man was 
 not only capable of doing his work but did it. The 
 amount was beyond my own sanctioning, but after 
 our late experience he agreed with me that it would 
 not do to trust to a boat to get water from the larger 
 island. Most of these escaped convicts were captured 
 and sent back to me. But three of the Shan and 
 Karen chiefs got away for a time, and two were never 
 accounted for. I believe they got back to their own 
 states. The man I particularly allude to was a 
 Karen. For his apprehension a reward of Es. 200 
 was offered, dead or alive. Sundry peelers had tried 
 to seize him, for he went about pretty openly, but he 
 had invariably proved too much for them, had cut 
 them down and escaped ; but for some reason or 
 another he would not leave that locality, though he 
 might have got back to Karennee easily. 
 
 But one day two Christian Karens out hunting 
 with some twenty savage dogs came across him, and, 
 solicitous of gaining the reward, called upon him to 
 surrender. He laughed at them and retreated to a 
 bamboo clump, cut down a male reed, pointed one 
 end, and then holding his dalweel or fighting sword 
 
The Death of a Valiant Rascal. 413 
 
 in his right hand and the spear in the other, cried 
 out, " Try and take me." The two men, knowing the 
 convict's desperate character, consulted together. One 
 ran off to the village for help, whilst the other 
 watched the man and surrounded him with the 
 hounds. If he attempted to move the dogs flew at 
 him ; and they are a cross between gray and ordinary 
 hounds, they are very powerful and fed on raw meat, 
 are also very savage. So the poor wretch could 
 neither attack nor retreat. The second man soon re- 
 turned with several villagers, one armed with a flint 
 musket and the other with a cross-bow. The former, 
 calling upon the dacoit to give himself up, cocked 
 his gun, but that individual only laughed, and 
 exposing his chest and arms, and calling their atten- 
 tion to various wart-like excrescences, under which 
 bits of gold and silver had been inserted and the skin 
 allowed to heal over, called out, " Look at me ; don't 
 you see that I am invulnerable ? " The man with the 
 musket essayed three times to fire, and each time the 
 weapon missed fire. The outlaw was exultant, saying, 
 " Did I not tell you so ? " The cross-bowman then 
 fitted an arrow, and saying, " You may be invulner- 
 able as far as a gun is concerned, but I'll see what I 
 can do," let fly. The arrow sped true, and pene- 
 trated the man's broad chest, but with a smile he 
 plucked it out, and showing it said, "Why it has 
 only gone in a span ! Do you think that will 
 hurt me ? " But inward bleeding had set in, for in 
 a few seconds he fell down, and the assailants 
 rushed on and secured him, but he expired 
 before they got to the village. Thus died a valiant 
 villain. 
 
414 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport, 
 
 We were generally taken off the island by the 24th 
 May at the latest, for during the monsoon it is almost 
 impossible either to land on these islets or to get off 
 them. I had imported 400 gallon zinc and iron tanks, 
 in which I stored all our grain, and was as careful 
 with it as possible, but during my last season there 
 we were nearly starving. We had grain to last us till 
 the 30th May. We should have been relieved not 
 later than Her Majesty's natal day, but it came and 
 went and not a vestige of the steamer. The schooner 
 was laid up in Eangoon, and though I knew the 
 steamer had gone to Calcutta, I fully expected her 
 back, especially as there were every indications of the 
 rains setting in early. So getting anxious, I put the 
 men on half-rations. I don't think the Burmese and 
 their cognate races minded much, for they redoubled 
 their exertions, caught plenty of fish, &c., dug up wild 
 yams, and were in no way downcast ; but the Madras- 
 sies cried all day, and swore they had been sent there 
 to starve. Vessels passed us daily. I had Marryat's 
 universal code and all the requisite flags. I hung up 
 " We are starving," and also fired guns and rockets 
 and burnt blue lights ; but the ships, although they 
 passed quite closely, and we could see the people on 
 board examining our signals through telescopes, and 
 knew that we were building a lighthouse for the use 
 of all the navies of the world, took no notice of us or 
 our petition, but went on their way. Most of these 
 ships were American, sailing under the German or 
 Hamburg flag, for the Alabama had cleared the seas 
 of northern vessels. Neither did they help us, nor 
 did they report our signals on arrival at Eangoon and 
 Bassein, and there we were left to our fate. At last, 
 
On the Verge of Starvation. 415 
 
 when I had but three days' half-rations left, a country 
 vessel laden with rice did pull up. I had fortunately 
 enough money, and bought sufficient provisions to last 
 us a month. Towards the end of June the steamer 
 did arrive. She had to lie fully three or four miles 
 off on the east face ; we were on the south-west. So 
 I had to transport all the convicts, free workmen, a 
 lot of sick, all appliances, extra stores, &c. , round to 
 the only place where the boats could come. This was 
 no easy task, for the beach was a mass of rocks and 
 the sea beating over it, and there was not a vestige of 
 a road anywhere. There were only two boats, and 
 they could only make two trips during the day, and 
 then were dangerously crowded. It poured from day- 
 light to dark. We were soaking wet. We lit huge 
 fires and took off and dried our garments one by one, 
 but they were soon saturated again. We had nothing 
 to eat ; all the things were packed away ; but about 
 3 P.M., being famished, I broke open two or three 
 boxes and managed to find one of Crosse and Black- 
 well's plum -puddings and some pints of beer ; and on 
 this Reid, the third mate of the vessel, and I made our 
 first meal. Just at dark I got the last of the people 
 and stores on a boat, most inconveniently crowded, 
 considering the heavy seas we had to encounter to get 
 to the steamer, which was pitching and rolling about, 
 threatening to part with her cable every moment. We 
 were all drenched of course, but for that we did not 
 care much, but what I regretted most was that some 
 half a dozen of the rats of the island, which I had in 
 cages, intending to send them to Mr. Blyth, the 
 curator of the Calcutta Museum, were all drowned. 
 I let loose on the Great Coco, for the use of future 
 
416 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 visitors, a nannie-goat, a he-goat, and a couple of kids. 
 I visited the Little Coco on one occasion. It was a 
 miniature Great Coco. I shot a couple of pigs there and 
 some Nicobar pigeons, and saw several puff adders. 
 
 At times I sent over twenty thousand young- 
 sprouting cocoa-nut trees to the Andamans to be 
 planted, and they throve for awhile, but some years 
 afterwards a fearful storm destroyed the greater part 
 of them. When I left the Island in June, 1866, the 
 whole of the works, with the exception of hoisting 
 the lantern, had been completed, and I was to return 
 in November to finish it, and in the meanwhile I 
 applied to Sir A. Phayre for two months' privilege 
 leave, and three months' general in anticipation. So 
 I got on to a P. and 0. steamer and revisited England 
 after eighteen years' absence. In the meanwhile the 
 rules had been altered and no general leave could be 
 taken in extension of privilege, so when my two 
 months were up, the Government telegraphed all 
 over India for me, to go to Assam. The climate 
 there was so bad and the discomforts so great that 
 they could not get any of the numerous executive 
 officers sent there to carry on public works to remain, 
 so as I had served willingly for over thirteen years in 
 Burma, and three in the Bay of Bengal, they trans- 
 ferred me to that tea-growing province. On my 
 return I just missed the direct steamer from Madras 
 to Eangoon, so had to go on to Calcutta. There I 
 called upon T., the garrison engineer, who had been 
 a chum of mine in Burma, and the first thing he said 
 was, " Why you are the very man we want ! Here is 
 a telegram from W., the under secretary to Govern- 
 ment < Can you tell us where that fellow P. is ? We 
 
Removed to Assam. 417 
 
 want him for Assam and cannot hear of him any- 
 where.' J So I reported myself, and was directed to 
 proceed to Gowhatty and take charge of the Lower 
 Assam division. I protested at being removed from 
 Burma, and both the chief commissioner and chief 
 engineer also wrote, saying that I was the oldest execu- 
 tive officer in the province, and my services were re- 
 quired to complete the lighthouse on the construction 
 of which I had been so long employed. The reply, 
 to my amazement, was that I had volunteered for 
 service in that remote country, and I wrote back 
 indignantly denying having done so, and requesting 
 permission to return to my legitimate work. But I 
 was told I was wanted more in Assam, than on the 
 lighthouse, which required very little doing to com- 
 plete it, and reminding me that ten years before, 
 during a temporary visit to Calcutta, I had said to 
 Sir K. S., the secretary to Government in the D. P. W., 
 " If ever you want an officer for Assam, remember 
 me." Applicants for service there must have been 
 very few and far between for a memo, of my wishes 
 to be made and entered in the books of that depart- 
 ment, and made use of long after I had forgotten the 
 event. I must own, fond of sport as I am and was, 
 I regretted leaving Burma, where I had spent the 
 best years of my life. Game I knew was abundant 
 in the province I had been transferred to, but the 
 people and country were new and unknown; the 
 language was also quite new, being a mixture of 
 Bengali and Assamese. Everything I possessed 
 guns, rifles, servants were all in Kangoon, and 
 when I reached Gowhatty there was not a house to 
 go into, and I should have fared badly had not the 
 
 E E 
 
4 1 8 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 personal assistant to the commissioner placed half 
 his at my disposal. 
 
 De B. , the chief engineer, I liked very much. He 
 took a sensible view of things, and agreed with me 
 that nothing could be done to open out the country 
 without elephants. But just then there was scarcely 
 one of these useful animals to be got. The Bhootan 
 war had expended not only all the greater part of the 
 Government animals, but most of those requisitioned 
 from the zemindars had died. 
 
 The commissariat promised us four elephants. 
 When they came, De B. was absent. I saw at once 
 that the beasts were useless, dying in fact. 
 
 Two were in an advanced state of zurbad, and the 
 other two showed incipient signs of it. It is a very 
 catching disease, a form of dropsy. Once an elephant 
 has had it, even if he recovers, he is valueless, as he is 
 sure to be attacked with it again and die. So I took 
 it upon myself to send the two first back at once and 
 reported the state of the others. Now De B., a very 
 clever engineer, knew no more about elephants than 
 he knew of the inhabitants of Jupiter. I had had 
 them under me for thirteen years, and was fairly up 
 in all their ailments. Knowing how essential these 
 animals were to us, and how difficult they were to 
 obtain, he begged me not to return the other two, 
 but I urged that our department would only be 
 debited with their cost, as I did not think they could 
 survive a fortnight, and would not be fit for work, if 
 they recovered, for months. He said he must take 
 time to consider. He then left for Tezpore, and 
 wrote to me thence that, trusting to my knowledge 
 of the creatures, if I was still of opinion that they 
 
Difficulty of Procuring Elephants. 419 
 
 were useless, I could return them, but before I got his 
 letter both had succumbed. 
 
 He wrote to the secretary to the Government of 
 Bengal, for permission to buy four for my division and 
 two for each of the others ; but the sum sanctioned 
 was altogether inadequate. A few years back, a good 
 howdah elephant could be purchased for Ks. 400. 
 Small baggage ones were of very little value, and 
 were often given away by the rich zemindars. But 
 the Bhootan war had changed all that ; the road from 
 opposite Gowhatty to Rungeah and beyond to the 
 foot of Dewangiri was almost impassable, owing to 
 the dreadful effluvia from the dead beasts, principally 
 elephants, lying about. The price had risen enor- 
 mously. As De B. could do nothing with the 
 Government, I asked permission to try, and what 
 with letters and telegrams I worried the chief 
 engineer, Bengal, to such an extent, that he at last 
 telegraphed back, " Purchase what you want at the 
 prices quoted," which was an upset of Rs. 2,000 
 each. I lost no time in acting, for fear the per- 
 mission might be withdrawn. I bought from B., 
 a tea-planter, a splendid koonkie for Rs. 2,500, 
 paying the excess myself. I bought two others from 
 T., a tea-planter, for Rs. 4,000, giving Rs. 2,500 for 
 one and Rs. 1,500 for the other, which had been cut 
 by a rhinoceros, and though good for baggage was 
 useless for sport. I picked up another for Rs. 1,700. 
 She was very good also for baggage, but a great 
 coward, so I lent her to the survey department in 
 exchange for Luchmie, a very fast staunch koonkie. 
 Being thus well set up, I soon explored the whole 
 country, and as the jungles swarmed with game, I 
 
420 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 
 
 combined work and sport. I may here say that I 
 worked these four elephants and two of my own for 
 seven years and did not lose one. My successor, no 
 sportsman, fearing the displeasure of the acting com- 
 missioner, who, having quarreled with me, had tried 
 to prevent my using these beasts as heretofore, laid 
 them up, using them only now and then. The 
 country had then been thoroughly opened out, and 
 there was not then the same need for those useful 
 beasts as in former days. They soon sickened, and 
 all were dead within a year or fifteen months after 
 my departure. Although I worked these animals 
 well, I saw to their welfare. I had had them fed 
 before me daily, and took care to have the best of 
 mahouts. 
 
 As I divided all Government rewards between 
 them, they were very contented. After my departure, 
 finding this portion of their income cease, they left 
 the Government service and took employment with 
 planters and others, who were fond of sport and 
 treated them liberally. The elephants were handed 
 over to inefficient men, no care was taken of them, 
 and they all died as stated. 
 
 The "Dangers and Incidents of Foreign Sport" 
 herein detailed have been taken from diaries care- 
 fully kept for many years past. Although written 
 in the first person singular, a few of the tales are 
 not the author's, but were related by men in whose 
 veracity every reliance could be placed. Imperfect 
 as they may be indeed as they must be, \vhen the 
 narrator is not a practised writer it is hoped they 
 will help to pass a few leisure hours. " Sporting 
 
The End. 42 1 
 
 trophies are of no value save to the winner. 
 Who can paint the feelings that he enjoys, how- 
 ever, as he sits and contemplates a faded skin, 
 or a pair of branching antlers, or the head of one 
 of the fercB naturae, which have been won after 
 much toil and discomfort and considerable danger ? 
 The true sportsman's memory has drunk so deeply of 
 the details, stirring to itself, but valueless to others, 
 that the mere look of the prize suffices to recall the 
 scene." Thus, kind reader, an old shikarrie ponders 
 over the past, and loves to recall the scenes in which 
 he once took a part, and endeavours to portray them 
 for the benefit of others. May they be favourably 
 received ! 
 
INDEX. 
 
 AFRICA, East, 302 ; West, 378 
 
 Aleppo, 342 
 
 Ammunition runs short, 26 
 
 Ansaries in Syria, the, 
 
 Antelope, 276, 306 
 
 Antioch, 342 
 
 Apparowpett, 235 
 
 Apricots in Pico, 372 
 
 Arab hospitality, 350 
 
 Armoor, 233 
 
 Arnachillum of Salem, spear maker, 
 191 
 
 Assam, tiger shooting in, 41-46 ; rhin- 
 oceros, 65-81 ; the natives, 81 ; 
 buffalo, 125 ; gaur and gayal, 140 ; 
 bears, 221 ; marsh deer, 253 ; pig 
 sticking, 275 ; spearing animals out 
 of boats, 293 ; netting game, 298 ; 
 fishing, 391 ; Loqua Ghat, 391 
 
 Axle tree, a broken, 17 
 
 Azores, the, 368-377 
 
 BALCONDA, 234 
 
 Baldwin, Capt., attacked by a buffalo, 
 
 125 
 
 Bamboo in flower, 159 
 Banlong, 257 
 
 Banyan tree, a monster, 291 
 Bareback elephant riding, 112 
 Earth, Dr., 173 
 Bathing, girls attacked by tiger while, 
 
 56 
 
 Baths, Turkish, 352 
 Bears, charges by, 28 ; species of, 68 ; 
 
 in Burma, 220 ; spearing, 223, 237, 
 
 238 ; in a ruined fort, 236 
 Beaters, Burmese, 153 
 
 Bed, a jungle, 91 
 
 Beg, Mogul, the shikarie, 4 
 
 Belgian guns, 371 
 
 Bida, 167 ; stringent laws, 170 
 
 Biles seized by tiger, 18 
 
 " Bison Hill," 141 
 
 Bison, Indian, sec Gaur 
 
 Bitterns, 348 
 
 Black leopards, 279, 289 
 
 "Blue Ruin," 379 et seq. 
 
 Blyth, the late Mr., 140 
 
 Bornu, 174 
 
 Bouquet d'Afrique, the, 314 
 
 Breeding elephants, 123 
 
 Budrodeen, 174-178 
 
 Buffalo ; fight with rhinoceros, 75 
 Indian, 125 ; hate Europeans, 126 
 immense horns, 127 ; charging, 128 
 pursues an elephant, 129 ; "a rogue,' 
 130 ; spearing, 133, 297 ; African, 
 164-178 ; Burmese, 265 ; netting, 
 301 ; wounded, 327 ; West African, 
 378 
 
 Bukh, Peer, 2 
 
 Bullets for pachyderms, 64 
 
 Bunbury, Major, 67 
 
 Burgaon, 235 
 
 Burhampooter Churs, pigsticking in 
 the, 209-219 
 
 Burma, sport in, 29 et seq., 62-63 
 rhinoceros, 65 ; elephant, 89-100 ; 
 elephant Keddahs, 123 ; buffalo, 125 ; 
 gaur, 137, 140; tsine, 145; sport, 
 149-164 ; beaters, 153 ; bears, 221 ; 
 sambur, 243 ; thamin, 256 ; mixed 
 sport, 257-274 ; shikaries, 261 ; a 
 fire, 270-273 ; pigsticking, 275 
 
 Burmese girls attacked by tiger, 56 
 
 Burnt, escape being, 272 
 
 Burpettah, 293 
 
 Burrakoompty, 236 
 
 Bustard, the lesser, 303; the great, 
 349 
 
 Buttress trees, 92 
 
424 
 
 Index. 
 
 CACHARIES, the, 81-83 
 
 Camp life in India, 202 
 
 Cannibals, 170, 171 
 
 Cannon, a small, 93 
 
 Carriers, African, 166 
 
 Cats as food, 407 
 
 Cattle disease in Assam, 140 
 
 Chalmers, Dr., tossed by a buffalo, 
 
 133 
 
 " Chiokwaoga," 882 
 China Poonjie, 357, 362 
 Chitas as hunting leopards, 276, 280 
 Choke bores, 390 
 Cobra, 335 
 Cock, Major, 67, 70 
 Coco Island, 400 
 Condapilly, 2 ; pigsticking, 186 
 Congo, the, 164 et seq. 
 Convicts, Burmese, 401-412 
 Cookson, Col., 74 
 Corumbirs, the, 47 
 Cossyah, 34 ; boats, 359 
 Cotton soil, 197 
 Crocodiles on the Congo, 166 ; snaps up 
 
 a boar, 217 
 Crowther, Bishop, 172 
 
 DANCING dervishes, 353 
 Dancing girls, 82, 188 
 Deer, spotted, 203, 276 
 Dervishes, dancing, 353 
 Diseases of elephants, 102, 418 
 Doodgam, 234 
 Ducks, pintailed, 337 
 Durrung river, the, 357 
 
 E 
 
 EBRAMPATAM, 10 
 
 Elands, 316 
 
 Elephants, tiger shooting off, 39-46 ; 
 rhinoceros shooting off, 65, 72, 73 ; 
 habits of, 87, 103 ; height, 89 ; 
 shooting in Burma, 90-100 ; must, 
 98, 124 ; care of, 101 ; purchase of, 
 102 ; food and howdahs, 104 ; 
 varieties, 108 ; mucknahs, 109 ; 
 vulnerable spots, 110 ; elephant 
 shooting off, 111 ; noosing, 111-120 ; 
 Keddahs, 120-129 ; pitfalls, 122 
 
 Escapes, narrow, 272, 331, 387 
 
 FATIGUE of noosing elephants, 111, 117 
 
 Fayal, 369 et seq. 
 
 Fever, 170 
 
 Fight between two tigers, 20 ; between 
 python and tiger, 50 ; between a 
 rhinoceros and a buffalo, 75 ; between 
 two sambur, 246-248 ; between 
 gorilla and man, 384 
 
 Fire, a inaidau on, 270 
 
 Fish, shooting, 405 
 
 Fishing, Mahseer, 355-367 
 
 Flamingo, 346 
 
 Florikan, 337 
 
 Foot, tiger shooting on, 34-39 
 
 Fox hunting compared with pig stick- 
 ing, 178 
 
 Francolins, 305, 308 
 
 G 
 
 G ARROW HILLS, the, 120 
 
 Gaur, or Indian Bison, 135, 136 ; 
 Burmese variety, 137 ; apt to stray, 
 138 ; tit bits, 139 ; up the Godavery, 
 141 ; a solitary bull, 142 ; kills the 
 woodcutter, 143 ; in Burma, 159- 
 163, 266-269 
 
 Gayal, 144 ; hybrids, 145 
 
 Ghoorkhas, 34-39 
 
 Ghur-Chunda, bear spearing at, 236- 
 242 
 
 Giants, traces of, 351 
 
 Giraffe, 326 
 
 Girl carried off by tiger, 30 
 
 Girls of Lakoja, the, 173 
 
 Girls, dancing, 82 
 
 Girls, Burmese, 56 
 
 Gnapee, or Burmese stinking fish, 151 
 
 Godavery Hills, 141, 166, 175, 245 
 
 Golden Plover, 341 
 
 Gooseberry, Cape, 36 
 
 Gorilla and man, fight between, 384 
 
 Gowhatty, 417 
 
 Guinea fowl, 175 
 
 Gunpowder in Syria, 344 ; in the 
 Azores, 375 
 
 HAIR blanched by fright, 24 
 Hamilton, General Douglas, 41, 
 
 248 
 
 Hare, the "hispid," 275 
 Hartebeest, 314 
 Hazoo, the women of, 83 
 
Index. 
 
 425 
 
 Hill, Chas., 261 
 
 Hippopotamus, 318, 323-326 
 
 Hog, the pigmy, 275 
 
 Hogdeer, 256 
 
 Hog hunting, see pig sticking 
 
 Hood, Captain, 69 
 
 Horns, rhinoceros, 65 ; prized by the 
 
 natives, 67, 70 ; an injured base, 80 ; 
 
 buffalo, 126-128 
 Houssas, recruiting, 169-171 
 Howdahs, 104-107 
 Hurroolah, 223 
 Hydrophobia, an escape from, 387 
 
 IGUANA lizards, 403 
 
 Inundations, tiger shooting during, 1, 
 
 83 
 " Israel, The city of the Sons of," 351 
 
 JACKALS, 275 
 
 Jackson, Captain, 43rd regiment, 73 
 
 Jamrach, 70 
 
 Jarain, 356 
 
 Jerdon the naturalist, 68 
 
 Johnson, Archdeacon, 172 
 
 Jowai, 356 
 
 Juggumpett, 387 
 
 Jung, Sir Salar, 333 
 
 Lost in the jungle, 236 
 Lovell, Dr., 21 
 Luck in shooting, 69 
 
 M 
 
 MACHANS, tiger shooting off, 1-4. 
 
 19, 49 
 
 McMaster, quot., 87 
 Madrassies as servants, 264 
 Mahouts, 108 
 Mahseer fishing, 355-367 
 Manass, fishing on the, 356, 366 
 Maneaters, 32, 48-52, 60, 61, 281 
 Marketing in Africa, 168 
 Marsh deer, 253, 294 
 Mayo, the murderer of Lord, 406 
 Medical board, a, 85 
 Mendoon, 89 
 Milk, rhinoceros, 80 
 Mixed bag in S. India, a, 333-341 
 Mong-Oo, Burmese shikari, 29 et seq. 
 Moonlight encounter, a, 238 
 Moosa river, the, 333 
 Mosquitoes, 54, 103, 167, 203 
 Mouse deer, 275 
 Mucknahs, 109 
 Mulkapore, 221 
 Mullet shooting, 405 
 Muntjac, 266 
 Murral fishing, 355 
 Must elephants, 98, 124 
 Mutinous nigger, a, 311 
 Myetchin, 29 
 Myetquin, 257 
 
 KAMYKIAH, dancing girls at, 82 
 Karens, the, 30 
 Keddahs, elephant, 120 
 Koonkies, 101 ; equipment of, 112 
 Koorie, the, 37 
 Kruboys, 378 
 
 LAK.OJA on the Niger, 172 
 
 Laloux and Dresse, gunmakers, 371 
 
 Lutaquie, 343 
 
 Laws of Bida, the, 170 
 
 Leopard spearing, 208 
 
 Lepangyoung, 150 
 
 Letchmapooram, 228 
 
 Liege, guns made in, 371 
 
 Lions, 318-320 
 
 Loqua-Ghat, 254 391 
 
 N 
 
 NASTY place, a, 36 
 Nautch, see dancing girls 
 Neermul, 234, 236 
 Neild's book on Syria, 342 
 Neilgherry ibex, the, 249 
 Netting game, 298 
 Nigger, a mutinous, 311 
 Nightingale, Colonel, 133, 223, 367 
 Nirmul Forest, the, 281-292 
 Nungied Rajah, the, 186 
 Nurting, 356 
 Nuttull, Mr., 120 
 
 " OLD FOREST E ANGER," the, 298 
 Oysters, 403 
 
 F F 
 
426 
 
 Index. 
 
 PALMYKAHlLL, 234 
 
 Panthers, 234, 278-292 
 
 Paradox gum, 390 
 
 Pearls, 403 
 
 Peecheemootoo steals my first tiger, 8 
 
 Pheasant, the water, 340 
 
 Pico, the peak of, 374 
 
 Pig, wild, 263, 402, 404 
 
 Pigsticking, 179 ; first experience, 180 ; 
 Rajahmundry, 181 ; a big boar, 182 ; 
 by the river, 183 ; in the river, 184 ; 
 four boars, 185 ; a nasty cropper, 
 185 ; hog shooting, 186 ; a good day, 
 188 ; the chaser chased, 189 ; hog 
 spears, 191 ; a party, 192 ; too fresh 
 a horse, 193 ; through the heart, 
 194 ; a monster porcupine, 195 ; a 
 welcome siesta, 196 ; the best sport 
 in the world, 198 ; a horse killed, 
 199, 206 ; game to the end, 200 ; 
 camp life, 202 ; a disagreeable boar, 
 206 ; a sorry plight, 207 ; in the 
 Burhampooter Churs, 209-219 ; a 
 sow in her lair, 216 ; boar seized by 
 crocodile, 217 ; in Burma, 275 
 
 Pitfalls, catching elephants in, 122 
 
 Poisoned arrows, 315, 330 
 
 Poiumpilly, 223 
 
 Porcupine, 302 ; sea, 405 
 
 Prendergast, Tom, 13, 180, 186, 209 
 
 Purkeer, 230, 234 
 
 Pyoung, see Gaur 
 
 Python, 50 ; tiger killed by, 51 ; fine 
 specimen, 52 
 
 Rock snake, 50, 257, see python 
 Rogue buffalo, a, 130 
 Rutfs, 348 
 
 S 
 
 SAMBUK, 54, 243 ; a fight between two, 
 
 246 
 
 Samulcottah, 13 
 Sand grouse, 335, 339 
 Sanderson, Mr., 120, 140 
 Sappers and Miners, the, 86 
 Scott, Douglas, 223 
 Scrow deer, 275 
 Sea fishing in the Azores, 372 
 Sea porcupine, 405 
 Secunderabad, 333 
 Seonee, 235 
 Shan dacoits, 406, 407 
 Sheep dressed as men, 235 
 Shikaries, Burmese, 150-164, 261 
 Shillong, 279 
 
 Shoay-Boh, Burmese shikari, 150-164 
 Shoaydeik, 54 
 
 Siam, elephant breeding in, 122 
 Simson, Mr., 133 
 Singie. 236 
 
 Snipe shooting, 336, 339, 347, 393 
 South India, 333-341 ; fishing, 355 
 Spearing bears, 223, 237-240 
 Spearing animals out of boats, 293 
 Spears for pigsticking, 191, 210 
 Spotted deer, 276 
 Syria, sport in, 342-354 
 
 QUAIL, 335 
 
 Q 
 
 R 
 
 RAGAPORE, rendezvous at, 13 
 
 Rajahmundry, 13 ; pigsticking at, 180, 
 181 
 
 Ramasawmy, 16; gets scared, 18 ; dis- 
 appears, 21 ; comes to life again, 22 ; 
 his wife, 23 ; hair blanched by fright, 
 24 
 
 Reid, Gen. Sir Chas., 68-70 
 
 Rhinoceros, 64-67 ; two-horned, 69 ; 
 calf, 70, 81; Burpettah, 71-73; 
 fight with a buffalo, 75 ; asleep, 76 ; 
 pandemonium, 78 ; milk, 80 ; spear- 
 ing, 218, 295 ; shooting, 397 
 
 Rifle, a monster, 93 
 
 TABLE ISLAND LIGHT-HOUSE, 399 
 
 Takin, 275 
 
 Teal, 339, 340 
 
 Teelahs, 91 
 
 Terai, rhinoceros in the/ 65 
 
 Thamin (cervasfrontalis), 256 
 
 Thayetmys, 89 
 
 Theft, punishment for, 170 
 
 Thorn, impaled by a, 329 
 
 Tiger shooting, 1 ; my first tiger, 5 ; 
 stolen, 9 ; a fine tiger, 13 ; a fight, 20 ; 
 an accident, 21 ; Burma, 32 et seq. ; 
 up a tree, 27 ; girl seized by tiger, 
 30 ; shooting on foot, 34-39 ; a nasty 
 place, 36 ; cub killed by Goorkas, 
 39 ; shooting off elephants, 39-46 ; a 
 tiger's larder, 41 ; amaneater, 48-51; 
 girls attacked while bathing, 56-60 ; 
 tracking a wounded tiger, 155 ; pig- 
 sticking stopped by a tiger, 215 ; in 
 
Index. 
 
 427 
 
 camp, 234, 235 ; a tigress, 26; 
 
 spearing, 296 ; netting 301 
 Tongho, 53, 149, 274 
 Tortakoonta, 224, 229 
 Tracking a wounded tiger, 155 
 Tree, up a, 176 
 Trooper's Rock, 232 
 Trophies lost, 248 
 Tseben, 150, 151 
 Tsine shooting, 145-149 
 Tuctoo in Assam, 68 
 Tunny fishing, 373 
 Turtles in the Azores, 373 
 on Great Coco Island, 403 
 
 UMSULDOVY, the plains of, 196 
 Unicorn, the, 174 
 
 VALIANT VILLAIN, a, 413 
 "Verderer," 281 
 
 Vizianagram, 387 
 Vultures, 321 
 
 W 
 
 WATER-PHEASANT, 340 
 West Africa, 378 
 Women at Huzoo, the, 83 
 Woodcock, 344, 347, 372 
 Woodcutters killed by wild animals. 
 
 48, 143 
 Wounded stag, 254 ; tiger, 279, 395 ; 
 
 panther, 279 ; lion, 318 ; buffalo, 
 
 Wurhona, 236' 
 Wynaud Forest, the, 47 
 
 YONZALEEN, maneaters in, 52 
 Yomahs, surveying in the, 29 ; ele- 
 phant shooting, 98 ; tsine shooting, 
 146 
 
 THE END 
 
 RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED. LONDON AND BfNGAV. 
 
, HENRIETTA STREET, COISENT GARDEN, W.C. 
 
 APRIL, 1894. 
 
 Catalogue of 
 
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 A CHRISTMAS CAROL IN PROSE. 
 
 THE CHIMES : A Goblin Story. 
 
 THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH : A Fairy Tale of Home. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF LIFE. A Love Story. 
 
 THE HAUNTED MAN AND THE GHOST'S STORY. 
 
 SIXPENNY REPRINTS of DICKENS'S WORKS. 
 
 OLIVER TWIST. With 28 Illustrations by J. MAHONEY. 
 
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 READINGS FROM THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS. 
 
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 A CHRISTMAS CAROL, AND THE HAUNTED MAN. 
 
 Illustrated. 
 THE CHIMES: A GOBLIN STORY, AND THE CRICKET 
 
 ON THE HEARTH. Illustrated. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF LIFE: A LOVE STORY, HUNTED 
 DOWN, AND A HOLIDAY ROMANCE. Illustrated. 
 
CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED. 35 
 
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