THE mAiiadeo hills. hi 



eastern part of the Central Provinces far to tlie soutli of 

 the latitude of the Narbada, and also the plateau of 

 Mandla and the Gochivari forests, directly to the south 

 of that river. In fact, the bison appears to inhabit 

 every part of India where he can find suitable conditions. 

 These appear to be, firstly, the close proximity of hills, 

 for though he is sometimes found on level ground, he is 

 essentially a lover of hills, and always retreats to them 

 when disturbed ; extensive ranges of forest little dis- 

 turbed by man or tame cattle, for, unlike the buffalo, he 

 cannot tolerate the proximity of man and his works ; a 

 plentiful supply of water and green herbage ; and 

 lastly, so far as I have observed, the presence of the 

 bamboo, on which he constantly browses. In the 

 Central Provinces of India all these conditions are 

 unfortunately still present over enormous tracts of 

 country. Thousands of square miles in the Central 

 range, much of which will one day be reclaimed to the 

 uses of the plough, are now the very perfection of a 

 preserve for the bison. 



Perhaps he is nowhere more completely at home 

 than in the Mahadeo hills. There, as a general rule, 

 he will be found to frequent at any season the highest 

 elevation at which he can then find food and water. 

 During the cold season succeeding the monsoon, they 

 remain much about the higher plateaux, at an elevation 

 of 2,000 to 3,000 feet, where they graze all night on the 

 bamboos that clothe their sides, and on the short, 

 succulent grasses fringing the springs and streams 

 usually found in the intervening hollows. They 

 generally pass the day on the tops of the plateaux, 

 lying down in secure positions under the shade of small 

 trees, where they chew the cud and sleep. Their object 



