REMINISCENCES OF JUNGLYPUR 231 



acid berries ; then he saunters out of sight into a jungly 

 hollow beyond. If we follow we shall see him "eating the 

 sunshine," as the Korkus say, basking in the early beams 

 of the sun, perhaps lying down on some open spot, and 

 rising again, once or twice, before pushing his way into 

 that dense patch of long rausa grass, under the thick 

 shade, where he will finally settle down in his " form " for 

 the day. In such a lurking-place he will lie as close as 

 any hare, his head pressed earthwards as you pass un- 

 consciously by. Here also he will sit tight until the 

 beaters are almost on him, when, with a rush and a bound, 

 he will, specially if an old and wary fellow, break back 

 through the line and be off to some other retreat. 



This morning I had intended working the northern 

 slopes of Barra Jhakra, but was met on my way thither by 

 two Korkus, who told me that a stag had been seen, and 

 marked going home, up in the spot that I have described 

 a shallow jungly depression, just below the crest of Ch6ta 

 Jhakra ; so I turned aside and took a little path leading 

 to this hill, which was about two miles off. Old Lallu, 

 Jhapu, and several Korkus from the village of Banur had 

 the stag marked down. He was somewhere in that cup- 

 shaped corrie, but they could not exactly say where. It 

 was rather a difficult affair for one rifle, since the stag 

 might take almost any course when roused. As a rule, 

 there are certain routes which game, aroused in certain 

 localities, will take when startled, and these are often 

 known to the jungle-man ; however, on this occasion a 

 mistake was made. I took up the best apparent position, 

 posted stops, and the beat began a long way off, round a 

 shoulder of the hill. 



I have heard " beating for sdmbar " criticised as a most 

 unsportsmanlike method " stalking is the only legitimate 

 means of shooting deer," etc. I am afraid these armchair 

 critics know but little of Cervus unicolor^ the real Simon 

 Pure, as found "at home." There are, of course, rare 



