101 



" sketch of the sambur may be, I think I have redeemed my pro- 

 " mise, in showing you how to shoot him. 



" If you consider this worthy of publication in your excellent 

 " little journal, I will try, on some future day, to give you an 

 " account of the Ibex and how to stalk him" 



HAWKEYE. 



NOTE. I have not heard that any one has as yet weighed the sambur. I see 

 in the " Field" that a large stag in the Highlands weighs from 20 to 24 stone. 

 I think we may safely calculate that the sambur stag will weigh at least 30. 

 The flesh is good eating if kept sufficiently long. In the winter it keeps good 

 for a fortnight, the head makes savoury pottage, the feet delicious jelly liver 

 is not bad and the steaks are some I can tell you and marrow pudding is not 

 to be despised, and tongue well salted is, as good as Reindeer's. H. 



After this I fear any further account by me will read with 

 terrible flatness ; but, as I am on the spot and, to some extent, in 

 all the excitement of the "poetry of sport" my friend HAWKEYE 

 describes, I am tempted to tell what happened to me late this 

 afternoon. 



I am in the " Avalanche" bungalow on the Neilgherries, a spot 

 stated by Jerdou, at page 289 of his book, to be an especial haunt 

 of the Neilgherry wild goat, or ibex of Madras sportsmen. This 

 bungalow is situated amongst the Koondas mentioned by Colonel 

 Campbell in his " Old Forest Ranger*" and " Indian Journal," and 

 is known to most of the visitors to Ootacamund. 



Late this afternoon, while I was stalking (" the poetry of sport") 

 for deer among these hills, I saw a small herd of samber, consisting 

 of a magnificent stag, a smaller one, probably the "fag" referred 

 to by my friend HAWKEYE, and a hind feeding near the foot of the 

 high ibex cliffs on the lofty hill, about three miles to the " half left" 

 as one stands facing from this bungalow : many a Madras sports- 

 man must kuow the view. 



I watched them for some time, perhaps three-quarters of an 

 hour, until they were on ground on which they could be approached, 

 and during this time saw, through my glass, a most amusing scene. 

 Some herb, or perhaps, as far as I could see, some salt or soda 

 which made them lick the spot attracted the hind who skipped up 



* This book must not be confounded with the " Old Shikarry," which is by a, 

 very different author. VAGRANT. 



