124 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



shade and the curious play of Hght due to the sunHght 

 filtering through, it was not easy at first to reahze that I 

 was looking at a mithan. I shifted my position so as to 

 get the bamboo clump between myself and the animal, and 

 then signifying to the shikari that he should wait I cautiously 

 advanced into the clearing. I got half across, bent double, 

 when a warning snort broke the silence. I dropped on my 

 knee and fired almost at once at the part of the indistinct 

 mass I could see, distant about thirty yards. The shot 

 was followed by bellows and crashes in all directions and 

 I fell flat on my chest. The stampede which ensued was 

 no new sound to my ears, and luckily all the animals were 

 in front of us and went away ahead. I saw none of them, and 

 the indistinct shape had disappeared. I crawled back to the 

 shikari. I found him ensconced in a bamboo clump. Re- 

 loading the empty barrel of my rifle we circled the clearing 

 to the right and cautiously approached the spot at which 

 the animal had stood. The Mahommedan said it was a 

 big old bull, and had lurched forward to the shot and then 

 bolted with the rest. We soon found blood and determined 

 to follow at once. For an hour we followed the blood trail, 

 every moment expecting to find the bison, who was evidently 

 hard hit. The going was arduous and the strain on the 

 nerves severe, and I at length came to the end of my tether, 

 sat down and took out my lunch. I held up ten fingers 

 signifying I would halt ten minutes. For another three 

 hours we followed the tracks. We had then reached the 

 side of a hill of fairly open growth, and from here looked 

 across at the face of a lower hill entirely covered with a 

 dense crop of muli bamboos. Suddenly my companion 

 halted and gazed intently at the latter. I stood and looked, 

 and after a short space distinctly saw the gleam of a bison's 

 horns. We sat down and watched. There could be no 

 doubt about it. A bison was slowly making its way through 

 the bamboos. We crawled slowly to a spot where we 

 should be out of view and then walked rapidly ahead, 

 dropped into the valley and climbed diagonally up the 

 opposite slope. It was terrific going endeavouring to force 

 one's way through the densely growing stems without 

 alarming the bison ; but fortunately the rain had come on 

 again and to some extent deadened the sound of our move- 

 ments. The shikari was moving close on my left. Suddenly 

 through the green stems I saw rise up the head and horns 



