IN THE SAL FORESTS 369 



travelling from one line of river to another, often over 

 considerably elevated intervening country. The herds of 

 cows and calves, sometimes accompanied by young bulls, 

 are found as a rule in certain fixed localities, according to 

 the season of the year ; but they, too, are apt to disappear 

 completely and rapidly if alarmed or otherwise set travel- 

 ling ; and, although they prefer an easy line of country 

 devoid of hills, will climb considerable heights to gain 

 their objective beyond. The hunter, therefore, must be 

 prepared for astonishingly lengthy days of tracking ; and 

 he should avoid going on any but the freshest of tracks, 

 and those at or near dawn, or he may find himself in for 

 journeys of a duration quite outside ordinary calculation. 



One of the greatest charms of buffalo shikar, in the 

 grass and sal jungles of the part of India now referred to, 

 is the tracking ; which is often so easy as to offer no 

 insuperable difficulties to the average sportsman. Al- 

 though he cannot hope to rival the wonderful perceptions 

 of the wild man, who lives all his life in the closest inti- 

 macy with nature, it is astonishing how proficient he may 

 become with a little practice. Of course the climate is 

 against us to start with, and that is no doubt why so 

 many are content to moon along in the wake of their 

 trackers, coming to the front only when the game has 

 been found. 



The best time of year for a trip after the buffalo of 

 these parts is undoubtedly at the mirrig, or earliest rains, 

 although there are certain grave disadvantages which often 

 preclude one from taking advantage of this time of year, 

 such as, to take but one of them, the difficulty of returning 

 to civilisation once the flood-gates of the monsoon are 

 fully opened and rivers brimming full. When the first 

 showers fall, sending the released tiger, bear, deer, and 

 other wild animals wandering far and wide without 

 anxiety as to water and shade, the buffalo ceases his pere- 

 grinations of the open season, and, sometimes reunited in 

 2 B 



