34 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



buffalo. The danger from bear and the nasty " accidents " 

 which have occurred to sportsmen when attacking bear are 

 attributable to the fact that the average shikari is apt to 

 look upon the bear as an easy quarry to bring to book and 

 to take liberties with him in consequence. And then bruin 

 turns nasty. And his antics, for at all times his comical 

 appearance and actions have a strong effect on the risible 

 faculties, unsteady one at a critical moment and one of the 

 party gets mauled. Sportsmen are not so apt or inclined to 

 play the fool when a wounded tiger or leopard is in the 

 vicinity ! But I digress. 



The line of machans was posted about one hundred yards 

 below the crest of the hill, and on the side which was least 

 broken up by narrow nullahs. There were a number of 

 small caves on this side below the machans. On the other 

 side of the crest the hill was much broken up, contained 

 the chief of the large bear caves, and formed by far the 

 greater portion of the eminence. There was also a small 

 outlying spur to the right of the line of machans facing 

 down the slope. The procedure was to have three beats or 

 " hanks " as we called them locally. In the first or morn- 

 ing one the men beat the larger part of the area bringing the 

 quarry over the crest and down to the machans. The 

 animals which escaped unhit or unseen took refuge in the 

 caves below the line of machans. This area was beaten 

 back in the afternoon, and as a finale stops were placed 

 along the crest and the outlying spur was beaten on the 

 flank of the machans, the animals coming past the whole 

 line, or if extra cunning passing so far below them as to 

 almost certainly ensure their escape to any but very good 

 shots. 



I spent the day in examining each machan. In view of 

 the fact that I was well aware that my work would be 

 exposed to the criticism of all the men of the Station, older 

 and more experienced than myself, and that such criticism 

 would be made openly in the presence of the ladies, whose 

 playful raillery I was young enough to be mortally afraid of, I 

 worked extremely hard. Several of the machans were taken 

 to pieces and rebuilt. Others were given beautiful roofs of 

 green boughs to protect the fair heads they were to shelter. 



The day was spent over those machans, and as the event 

 disclosed some were made too comfortable for sportsmen 

 satiated with lunch and the society of ladies fair. 



