THE MAHADEO HILLS. 135 



the size of English Eeynard, but he has an astonishing 

 turn of speed, and doubles with wonderful agility. 

 These dogs had, however, the speed of them, and the 

 run was generally much in a circle ; so that though the 

 ground was well suited for riding, I generally went on 

 foot, along with some of the workpeople who greatly 

 enjoyed the sport, and some of whom (Bharyas) eat the 

 foxes afterwards. It was capital training for bison- 

 shooting, which severely tries the wind, and in which I 

 also spent a day or two now and then. 



Stalking the bison in these hills is very severe work 

 indeed. At times they may be found pretty near at 

 hand, but more generally the Dhiipgarh hill, or the great 

 ravine, has to be crossed first, and either implies a good 

 many miles of stiff work before the sport really begins. 

 The bison, though they seem to move slowly, are often 

 really going very fast ; and, as scarcely a yard of the 

 country they live in is anything like level, what is 

 apparently nothing to them is really a very hard pull 

 for their pursuer. The bottoms of the valleys are also 

 very hot even at this time of year ; and at all times 

 exercise under an Indian sun is much more fatiguino^ 

 than in a cold climate. A wounded bison never stops 

 going while he can, short of nightfall, and must be 

 pursued while a ray of hope remains. Thus hill after 

 hill, and ravine after ravine, are put between one and 

 home in the excitement of the chase, till suddenly you 

 pull up and realise what an immense distance you have 

 come, and that you cannot possibly get back before the 

 middle of the night. If you have anything to eat, the 

 best course under such circumstances is to sleep where 

 you are. I often used to bivouac thus when out after 

 bison ; and seldom found it much of a hardship. A 



