RIFLE AXD SPEAR WITH THE RAJPOOTS. 



the sunshine like black satin. He was about seven or eight 

 hundred yards off, and by himself. It is not often possible, 

 in these flat open plains, to stalk the black buck, but here 



there seemed a chance. So, 



riding quietly along the road 



until some bushes and dhal 



a camel cart. fields hid us from view, Alan 



jumped off his horse, and, rifle in hand, turned back towards 



the buck, who was still in the same place, and evidently 



took us for ordinary wayfarers. 



The antelope about here have been much harried by 

 shooters, and are. consequently very wild. But living as 

 the\' do in cultivated, thickly populated districts, it would 

 be useless for them to fly from every passer-by; for the 

 country all around is dotted with people, either working in 

 the fields, or coming to and from their villages. Practice 

 and experience, joined to extraordinary keenness of vision, 

 have developed wonderful sagacity and discretion in these 

 animals. Native cultivators, bullock-carts, and travellers 

 along the highway, they know are harmless. A herd will 

 trot across the road close to the latter, or may be seen 

 standing unconcerned within fifty yards of a peasant 

 ploughing his field. But let a man with a gun, a white 

 lace, or in European clothing approach within half a mile, 

 and they are off at top speed. 



Our particular buck no doubt took us for a party of 



