314 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



of games is usually good ; but to find men bound ex- 

 clusively to the cramping limits of, say, a racquet-court's 

 four walls, when there is easy access to an almost limitless 

 expanse of free open country around, affording almost 

 every opportunity for the use of the horse, gun, rifle, or 

 spear, seems to imply a lack of versatility. 



There may be numerous reasonable causes of this ten- 

 dency to exercise one's self after the manner of the squirrel 

 in its cage ; but sometimes it is not difficult to trace its 

 results especially in the case of the soldier-officer. 



Considerations such as these cannot fail to advance the 

 plea for the preservation of Indian game. 



To pass to other shikar subjects, there is a topic of con- 

 siderable interest of which the writer was reminded the 

 other day on meeting a friend who had lately returned 

 from an expedition to certain jungles not unknown to fame 

 as the resort of big game. 



Although good shots and keen shikaris, he and his 

 equally youthful companion had succeeded in securing 

 only one tiger, whereas their bag of bears, leopards, and 

 deer was quite a good one. 



In the course of conversation my friend discussed, with 

 some pardonable heat, the suspicions he had formed with 

 regard to the reasons of failure with the tigers, and having 

 a vivid recollection of similar experiences ourselves, we 

 found ourselves able, not only to confirm his suspicions, 

 but to suggest other causes, which, as it subsequently 

 transpired, fitted his case with remarkable accuracy. 



These young men had long and eagerly planned this 

 particular trip, and having, as they thought, arranged pre- 

 liminaries satisfactorily, after much trouble, they had set 

 out with not ill-founded anticipations of a roseate hue. 

 Reaching their shooting-ground at a very considerable 

 expenditure of their slender means, and not a little patience 

 by the way, they had, although not entirely novices in 



