BLUE-BULL SHOOTING 47 



of masonry some two hundred yards long, and per- 

 haps seventy feet high, backed by the dark foHage 

 of a mango tope. The tank or lake which was formed 

 by this wall was extended at our feet, and ran up 

 as far as we could see to our left, where it wound 

 out of sight, thus giving the impression of a much 

 larger sheet of water than I afterwards discovered 

 it to be, for it really ended just beyond the corner. 

 The clear rays of the moon showed up the water 

 and the steep hills that enclosed it, but as they did 

 not expose the arid and sterile nature of those hills, 

 the tout ensemble suggested one of the minor lakes 

 of England. 



I had to be up early next morning, so did not 

 devote too much of the evening to the view. We 

 made for our beds, but not to sleep much, for some 

 wandering member of the local fauna, a hyaena I 

 think, disturbed us twice by entering one of the 

 bedrooms before morning". 



After despatching my morning tea, I handed my 

 12-bore rifles to my shikari and a villager he had 

 brought with him, and started. First of all we 

 crossed the embankment, and, following a little bay 

 of the lake just opposite the bungalow, we plunged 

 into the hills. Half an hour's walk took us into 

 the Forest Reserve, a jungle consisting principally 

 of thorny bushes. Here the shikari had some more 

 men waiting. A hurried consultation took place, 

 resulting in a further move across the broad vale 

 we were in. 



At last the man who had accompanied us pointed 

 to a swell of the ground just in front, and the shikari 

 w^hispered that the herd was just beyond that. I 

 crept silently to the edge and peered over. Yes, 



