THE TEAK EEGIOx\. 259 



sheet of basalt that topped the ridge, lying as we had to 

 do prone on it to escape his sight. I would have given 

 a rupee per drop for the contents of our water-sack just 

 then. At last, after what seemed an age, the tall black 

 form of the bull slowly sank over the end of the hill. He 

 was going down, then, after all, and there was nothing for 

 it but a rush. A rush we accordingly made ; but sud- 

 denly pulled up, much taken aback, as we saw the bull 

 again emerge and stand in full sight of us, though much 

 covered about the body by scrubby salei stems, on the 

 extreme point of the ridge. It was really a most 

 ticklish situation. Had he charged, and our shots 

 failed to stop him, T. might have escaped with a few 

 broken bones by roiling down on his side of the hill ; 

 but on mine there was a sheer descent of a hundred feet, 

 and the ridge itself offered not the slightest shelter. But 

 we each had a double-barrelled, breech-loading, twelve- 

 bore rifle — a battery against which few animals can 

 stand. I saw T. sighting him, and heard the bull emit a 

 low tremulous moan that sounded like mischief. His 

 vitals were protected from me by the s^ilei stems, so 

 I kept my double shot in reserve in case of accidents. 

 The ball thudded against something, as it turned out, 

 probably a salei tree ; and the bull at once disappeared 

 over the edge. We now ran to the spot, and saw him 

 below thundering down the steep hill-side at a tre- 

 mendous pace. Utterly winded by running, and half 

 dead with heat and thirst, the remaining three shots had 

 no effect ; and then we sat down, perfectly exhausted, to 

 watch the bull as he gained the valley and crossed the 

 stream-bed, halting for a few seconds under a shady 

 tree to look back ere he set himself to mount the 

 further slope, which he did in the line taken by the 



