16 The Gaur. 



his undertaking a long narrow neck of land, 

 skirted on three sides by the river, about a mile in 

 length and half a mile wide at its junction with the 

 mainland, which was known to be a favourite resort 

 of a herd of these animals, which were accustomed 

 to come down from the high hills at the burst of 

 the monsoon and take up their quarters there. 



Having established himself in the neighbourhood 

 with about 1500 men, he set them to work to 

 build a strong fence to inclose the whole promon- 

 tory, with the exception of the side next to the 

 mainland which was to be left open for the gaurs 

 to enter ; before the fence was half finished, how- 

 ever, the animals unexpectedly arrived, and it was 

 only by dint of excessively hard work that the 

 fence was completed and they were secured. The 

 next day a small pen about twenty yards square 

 was constructed within the inclosure, about fifty 

 yards from the river, and into this the whole herd 

 consisting of twenty-four head was with consider- 

 able difficulty, finally driven. 



The scene which ensued appears to have been a 

 most extraordinary one, and we quote the account 

 of it verbatim : "It was a magnificent sight to see 

 these great beasts congregated together, and it is 

 doubtful whether a similar spectacle has ever been 

 witnessed before by a European, or indeed by any- 

 one. Terrified by the noise of the beaters and wild 

 with fear, the great creatures appeared almost mad, 

 and rushed about attacking each other with indes- 

 cribable fury. Luckily a deep drain had been cut 



