THE JUNGLES OF SOUTHERN INDIA 141 



being expressed as to the possibility of the level of the 

 Cauvery falling in the hot season below the point necessary 

 for the provision of the power required. 



The realization of the necessity of maintaining under 

 forest the hilly tracts of the country, ensures the conser- 

 vation of a great tract of forest country which will afford 

 shelter to the jungle denizens, and we may hope that the 

 day will never arise when the jungles of Southern India 

 will fail to afford an asylum to the animals which render 

 them of such high interest to the shikari and naturalist. 



I have alluded to the elephant and bison as being, speak- 

 ing generally, distributed through the denser portions of 

 these jungles. With them are the tiger and leopard, the 

 deer, such as the sambhar, spotted deer, barking deer, 

 antelope, represented by the little Indian gazelle or 

 chinkara, and so forth. 



Until 1870 elephants could be shot anywhere, but since 

 then the shooting of this animal has been prohibited in all 

 areas under the Government of India, though permission 

 is still given in the Native States, such as Travancore. 



My knowledge of the sport obtainable in these southern 

 jungles was derived during three trips paid at varying 

 intervals to parts of the Mysore, Coimbatore and Anna- 

 mally jungles, to the South Kanara and Malabar Forests, 

 and to some of the scrub forests on the eastern coast. The 

 varying character of the forest visited determined the 

 nature of the large fauna to be sought for. But bison and 

 sambhar, as also elephants, though they were taboo, I 

 saw plenty of. Tiger and leopard were tried for with 

 indifferent success so far as the former animal was con- 

 cerned. But this was primarily due to the fact that I 

 never had the time to sit down and carry out a prearranged 

 plan of campaign against them — a matter of necessity where 

 success is to be made reasonably secure. A novel kind of 

 sport to me, outside th^ Himalaya, was the ibex stalking 

 in the Coimbatore Hills, but my knowledge of this was 

 confined to three well-remembered days. 



Bears are, of course, common in parts, but with bigger 

 game to encounter I never wasted much time over them 

 down here. Groves of the date palm are a common sight 

 in this part of India. The owners tap the trees by making 

 incisions in the stem, catching the sweet sap in small 

 earthen pots. This sap ferments quickly in the sun and 



