72 SAMBH ALPUR BI SON NEPAL 



much trouble as possible. My own elephant, 

 which rejoiced in the name of " Jasmine/' was 

 a magnificent female elephant, extraordinarily 

 sagacious and marvellously staunch. The one 

 tiger we saw got within a few inches of her trunk, 

 but she merely curled it up and never stirred. 

 She was so beautifully broken that if a deer 

 or anything else got up while we were on the 

 march, she of her own accord immediately stopped, 

 so as to enable whoever was on her back to take 

 a steady shot. I fed her plentifully on biscuits and 

 by the time the trip was over we were fast friends. 



With the exception of one or two heavy rain- 

 storms and one severe hail-storm, the weather 

 throughout was magnificent, and the heat, which 

 most people would have found very trying, I 

 found delightful. It tries my eyes, but with 

 that exception, the hotter it is the better I feel. 

 I returned to Simla on May i5th and was thankful 

 to find that the bitter cold had been replaced by 

 fine summer weather. 



I am afraid my Nepal shooting trip must be set 

 down as disappointment-week number two, as the 

 only game I got was one very fine leopard measur- 

 ing 7 feet 5 inches and an unusually good cheetal. 



I shot the leopard under somewhat exceptional 

 circumstances. 



My attention was attracted to two wildly excited 

 little birds, who fluttered and chattered angrily 

 over a very small pond surrounded by reeds. 

 I thought a snake was threatening their nest and 

 got close to them. I then made out the head of 

 the leopard lapping water. I shot him through 

 the neck and killed him. 



The little birds had been mobbing him. 



