CHAPTER VII 



MORE EXPERIENCES IN THE CENTRAL PROVINCES 



The hot weather in the Central Provinces — The new shooting rules — 

 The fire line — Find a pangolin or scaly ant-eater — Habits of — The 

 big bee — Precautions when shooting from elephants — Monkeys and 

 the tiger — Try for the tiger — A frightened coolie— Stalk the stags — 

 A fine head — Forest fires — Barking deer and young — Beating out 

 bear — A bear appears — The youngsters follow— The villager's 

 discomfiture — A chummery menagerie — Wound a second bear — 

 Track him up — Bag the silent bear — A glorious shikar country. 



THE broad fire line or trace separating two adjacent 

 blocks of the great green sal forest was heavily 

 wet with dew as we moved silently along it in 

 Indian file one early morning towards the latter 

 end of April. It was the hot weather in the Central 

 Provinces ; all who have shot in or visited these jungles at 

 that season know what this means as regards heat. The 

 days were scorching and the hot wind blowing over the 

 grassy glades and savannahs and into and through the 

 outer parts of the forest took away the greater part of the 

 amenity and coolness the forest would otherwise possess. 

 It may be admitted that it is cooler in the forest than 

 outside in the open country. One can spend the whole 

 day in the forest whilst the sun is at its hottest in the hot 

 weather season without the heat becoming absolutely 

 overpowering ; though most of us would be sorry to have 

 to do the same in the open country in April or May. Of 

 course one grumbles and grumbles fiercely about the heat 

 when out in it at all hours on duty bent. If it be a shikar 

 trip in question, however, the heat is not noticed or bothered 

 about to anything like the same extent. And very often 

 in both cases it is not so much the heat as the flies which 

 drive one to distraction. 



On this particular morning I left camp just as the 

 pearly light of dawn was giving place to the crimson 



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