The Prince, with Sir Edward Bradford, Mr. Sanderson, and Dr. Jones, ascended the hills to a smaller camp that had been pitched there on a small plateau some six hundred feet above the kheddah, and near some ground selected for bison-hunting.

From this place a splendid view of the surrounding country was obtained. There, far to the westward, in the forest, is Yelesaragay, the great camp, with all the tents immediately below; further off, the large village of Chamrajnugger; while all around are the forest-clad heights of the Belligherry Ranjans, drawing towards the main chain of the Neilgherries. Everywhere on these hills are lookout stations for Sanderson's trackers, and close by the bison camp, on the principal peak, is a signalling station of the heliostat men of the "Queen's Own Sappers" from Bangalore. From here any news was flashed to Chamrajnugger, and through an intermediate station to the Chamundi Hill at Mysore.

At 6 A.M. Sanderson's fog-horn assembled the Sholiga trackers; the chota hazrie was hastily swallowed, and the party set out on horseback for the head of the valley, passing beyond the head of the kheddah for some three miles. Here

three elephants were ready to convey the party to the bison shooting-grounds selected by Mr. Morris, an enterprising coffee-planter and a great shikaree, who has made these hills his solitary home. The trackers soon spread and examined all the ground with great care, and soon discovered signs of the big gaur, or Indian bison (Gavaus gaurus); but although the marks were numerous, the game itself had evidently made tracks for other pastures. They then proceeded to another part some four miles off, that Mr. Morris declared he had never known to fail; and, sure enough, a herd was soon started, but at too long a range. Of course at this high altitude the forest had ceased, and the hills were only covered with grass and bushes, although these were very dense. Suddenly a magnificent bull was sighted standing " head on " watching the elephants; this is an almost impossible position for a successful shot, but, not willing to lose him, the Prince fired at a venture and struck him, the bull losing much blood. He at once turned and made for the hills, where he was soon lost to view. His staggering gait showed that he was hard hit, but by that time it was getting too late for the hunters to track

The Prince returned part of the way with Mr. Sanderson on one of the "wooden" carts-a vehicle of the most simple construction, and used by the ryots in their husbandry work. The wheels are of solid sections of wood, as are also the axles, and they are made entirely by the foresters with the axe, and for jungle travelling are much superior to the more complicated structures of wood and iron of the civilized coach-builder.

Captain Harvey had that morning started very early on a long march to try for a "rogue" who was known to be in a particular part of the forest. He arrived on a ridge bordering a valley, where the native shikarees asserted that he would be found; and, sure enough, they soon heard him, busy at work breaking down bamboos and flapping his sides to keep off the flies. For an animal with so thick a skin, the elephant is very susceptible to the bite of flies and insects, and in the rainy season, when the elephant-fly appears, he will descend from the hills and live in the valleys, where they are not so numerous. They then carefully stalked in the direction of the "rogue," but the cover was frightfully thick and dense, and too difficult to keep in anything like a straight line. When they had got into what they thought close proximity to him, they listened eagerly for a sound, but no noise of any kind except the hum of insects and the twittering of small birds greeted their ears. Suddenly they heard him blowing some five hundred yards away; the suspicious brute had heard them moving through the bushes, and had noiselessly moved away out of their neighborhood. Again they followed him, to be once more disappointed in a similar manner. This was repeated several times, but all their endeavors to make him move out of that thick cover into the more open ridges were in vain. At last, thoroughly disgusted, they had to make a homeward move, to try again another time. They returned, weary and tired, having seen no living creature, except a good-sized snake, that suddenly shot between the legs of one of the native trackers, and made him jump with fright as it might have been a cobraand disappeared into the long grass. believe there are more of these reptiles in the state of Mysore than in any other

I

Residency in that city I killed almost daily one of them in my morning walks in the compound or gardens surrounding the house; and only once did I kill one of a different specie—a puff adder, about six feet in length, of which the natives were greatly afraid, and told me that should that snake breathe in one's face, it would rot and drop off piecemeal!

That morning I had shouldered my ball-gun, twelve-bore, and went with two native shikarees on a still-hunt, but saw no big game, although there were plenty of marks of sambur and small jungle deer. I came across a few jungle fowl, and soon the ball-cartridge was exchanged for one of shot, and I bagged some with a long shot of sixty-five yards, the shot beating with splendid penetration through their thick plumage.

This new ball-gun has proved one of the most valuable of recent inventions to sportsmen, especially for India, where in the jungle they seldom get a really long shot. My gun I have proved against varied game with shot and ball; with a steel-pointed bullet it is a most formidable weapon against tiger and such-like brutes, and with the Express bullet against deer. At a hundred yards I can place all shots in a five-inch circle, and once I shot a black buck with it at one hundred and eighty yards, and a large and fully grown panther at ninety yards, the steel-pointed bullet penetrating through both shoulders, and coming out on the other side, smashing two thick bones in its progress. This kind of gun is now superseding the Express in India, and it is to be hoped it will soon be turned out as an eight or even four bore by some of the English makers. These heavy guns now in use are very seldom rifled, and have simply smooth bores like a cylinder shot-gun; but the rifled choke in the end of the barrels of guns like the "Euoplia" gives the ball the necessary twist for rotation, and makes it as accurate up to any ordinary distances as any rifle, if not superior in many cases. The ball, being of large diameter, causes it to give a great shock to the system. As a shot-gun it shoots equal to any full choke, and I would never go again on any shooting expedition without one.

Small bores with solid bullets, like those used by sportsmen in the "Rockies," are never used, excepting the Martini rifle, the government gun, and that only by

An

those who do not possess a better. American gentleman, the author of Two Years in the Jungle, shot a tiger with a small forty-bore American rifle; but it was a lucky shot for him, the bullet entering the brain and causing instant death. But this is only one exception in a thousand, as in the case of the naval officer who once shot a big bear on the Kamtchatka coast with a small rook rifle. All Indian sportsmen prefer a gun that will kill, or, at any rate, so severely wound an animal that the loss of blood will be great enough to prevent it going far.

The other sportsmen that day were more or less unlucky, nothing at all being shot, with the exception of some quail and snipe. The cold season is, of course, the worst time in India for shikar work, the best being that just after the first showers in April, when the grass begins to grow, and until July, when it has grown to the

height of a man. By grass is meant the broad-bladed and long-leafed lemon-grass, and other kinds of a coarser texture that grow in large tufts. From July to January this becomes so thick and high that one cannot get at the game, and in many places it simply becomes impenetrable; and by the latter-mentioned month it has become very dry, and is then fired by the jungle people, who do this to gather certain fruit and jungle products, especially the gall-nut, which is greatly used for tanning-the fertilizing ashes assuring a new supply with the spring showers. The elephants, bison, and other animals do not retreat straight before the fire, but to one side or the other. This is easily managed, as the fires seldom form a long line, and are not so dangerous as is generally supposed.

The next day we assembled to prepare for our return journey.

THE