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CHAPTEE III. 



BUCK-SHOOTING IN THE MAIRWAERA COUNTRY. 



As the tourist is whirled — not too rapidly — across the 

 great Indian peninsula in the train, the commonest 

 object of wild life which he will see from the railway- 

 carriage window is the buck. Here, there, and every- 

 where the herds may be seen, generally standing, 

 for the train is an ordinary sight, and no longer 

 causes alarm. By the term buck, the common Indian 

 antelope, or black buck, is meant, but in the heading 

 of my chapter I include the Indian gazelle, commonly 

 known as the chikara or ravine deer. The latter is as 

 common, or perhaps even commoner, than the former, 

 and is even to be seen at times in the cantonment 

 itself Perhaps I should explain that a cantonment 

 is the area on which a military station stands, with 

 the native bazaar thereunto appertaining, and may 

 be taken as equivalent to our term township. 



The Indian antelope, or black buck, is truly a 

 game - looking animal. As the name imports, the 

 adult males, or rather the oldest of them, are a 

 rich, glossy brown - black. The face is quaintly 

 marked by double markings in white, and the spiral 

 horns are long and sharp. It is useless giving any 

 exact standard for what constitutes a really good 



