IN THE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS 119 



On one such afternoon I remember the report was of two 

 sambhar up on the hill to our left. We accordingly moved 

 forward, and as soon as the ground became practicable 

 climbed up the steep hill-side to our right. As soon as the 

 dense tree growth had been left behind an examination was 

 made of the upper parts of the opposite slope and a stag 

 sambhar was spotted. The shikari then started calling the 

 stag, who very soon answered to the apparent hind's call 

 and began to move down the hill-side. As he did so he 

 occasionally gave forth his deep note. This was suddenly 

 answered or challenged by a stag's bell from higher up the 

 valley. The latter, however, soon ceased, probably recog- 

 nizing a formidable rival in the beast before us. I cannot say 

 that I was enamoured of this method of killing stags, 

 although in a dense jungle-covered country it was possibly 

 the surest way to attain success. But omitting the slaying 

 of the beast the actual calUng him up and the study of the 

 method of approach, especially when on a hill-side across a 

 valley, was most fascinating. The method may be in 

 existence in other parts, but I never saw it practised else- 

 where myself. 



The southern part of the Hill Tracts District, all hilly, 

 the ridges, covered with a hghter jungle, in some cases 

 running right down into the Collectorate and ultimately 

 reaching the seaboard, were, as I have shown, quite shoot- 

 able and practicable for stalking. It was in this area just 

 within the borders of the Hill Tracts country that we 

 went to search for the mithan, April and May before the 

 rains had really commenced being the best months, I had 

 not as much time to give to this sport as I should have liked, 

 the work of the district being very heavy, but owing to 

 the positions of some of my revenue stations and disputes 

 over the sunnkholas, work luckily took me through this part 

 of the country on several occasions. The year before I 

 joined the district a party of three or four rifles had made a 

 ten days' expedition and had good sport. Heat and thirst, 

 I was told, were the chief drawbacks, and admittedly the 

 damp heat of Eastern Bengal takes it out of one far more 

 than the dry though even greater heat of Chota Nagpur and 

 the Central Provinces. The party in question shaved their 

 heads before starting and kept them bald, apparently, for 

 coolness. Although satisfactory from their point of view 

 the departure was not hailed enthusiastically by the ladies 



