CHAPTER III. 



THE MYSORE JUNGLES. 



BEST SEASONS FOR SPORT — MOVEMENTS OF GAME — JUNGLE-FIRES — FORESTRY — NATURAL 

 CLASSES OF JUNGLE — DISTRIBUTION OF WILD ANIMALS — LIST OF ANIMALS FOUND IN 

 MYSORE — REMAINS OF ANTIQUITY — RUINED VILLAGES IN THE FORESTS — ANCIENT 

 IRRIGATION WORKS — A DESOLATED VALLEY. 



IN the jungles the young grass commences to spring with the first 

 showers in April, and by July has attained the height of a man. This 

 is the case chiefly in hill tracts ; in the low-country jungles it is more 

 backward, as there is less rain and it is grazed down by cattle. By "grass" 

 in Indian jungles is meant the broad-bladed and long-leaved lemon-grass 

 and other coarse kinds, which grow in large tufts ; also reeds in swampy 

 ground, and small ground-creepers. This season is the time par excellence 

 for stalking and shooting large game. The animals are intent on the new 

 supply of fodder ; occasional rain makes tracking easy ; and after May the 

 sky is usually obscured by clouds and driving mist in the hills, and con- 

 siderable exertion may be undergone without discomfort. 



From July to January the grass is so high and thick that game cannot 

 be got at in it, and many places where good sport is obtainable earlier then 

 become impenetrable. Driven out by the wet and discomfort, and tormented 

 by myriads of flies, many animals leave the high and close cover at this 

 time for the lighter shelter and choicer grazing to be had amongst the young 

 and tender grass on the outskirts ; but they retreat readily to the grass 

 jungles if disturbed. 



By January the grass has all seeded and become dry, and it is then 

 fired by the jungle -people. The hitherto impenetrable jungles are now 

 reduced to clear forests of trees, interspersed with separate evergreen 

 thickets. Moving about in such forests is rendered easy, but warm, work, 

 the heat rising from the blackened earth under a tropical sun being very 



