ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 303 



'Lallu' shoots sometimes twenty-five or thirty. He has 

 got a splendid gun, and he never misses ! " 



On the last day of the expedition I got a severe attack 

 of jungle fever, and the exertion of riding thirty-two miles 

 and driving twenty-seven more, while under its thrall, 

 aggravated it and brought on a bad attack of dysentery, 

 which until lately prevented me from carrying out my in- 

 tention of disclosing this terribly destructive system of 

 collecting " sporting trophies " elaborated by " Ishnaag." 



I wrote to Ishnaag the other day asking him whether he 

 had any sporting trophies of bison, sambar, chital, tiger, 

 panther, and bear ; and, if so, what were the prices thereof, 

 " well stuffed and set up." 



His reply, just received, runs thus : 



" We have the following at present : 



Rs. 



One tiger-skin . ... 300 



One . ... 200 



One black bear . . 80 

 One panther . - >f . ;( . . .no 



One . ... 100 



One ... 98 



One . 85 



One sambar head (33 inches) . 80 



One (35 inches) . 75 



One (3oJ inches) . . 65 



One in velvet (29 inches) . . 60 " 



Ishnaag, by the way, also writes that he has " some very 

 good specimens of Boers' heads" at Rs. 40 to Rs. 50 

 which proves that war is war after all, in spite of England's 

 pacific policy in South Africa ! 



Ishnaag thus appears to make a very fair thing out of 

 his connection with the local shikaris. Perhaps it would 

 not be going too far to say that the influence of Ishnaag is 

 felt for a radius of at least fifty miles. As the game within 

 that radius diminishes and disappears, his influence will 



