28 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



the stag directly behind her. Suddenly she halted and 

 stood like a statue, her ears flung forward and her nose 

 held horizontally. She stamped her forefoot into the 

 ground and for some reason or other was evidently sus- 

 picious. We were hidden behind some bushes and she 

 could not have seen us. But she evidently did not feel 

 easy in her mind, and after advancing another twenty 

 paces or so, changed her direction to the left, moving 

 diagonally towards the foot of the hill. The rays of the 

 rising sun formed a sort of halo round her as she moved off, 

 suspicion in every line of her body. To my relief the 

 stag still continued to advance, but not for long. He 

 quickly noted the changed direction of his companion and 

 suddenly up went his head, he turned half-left and stood 

 stock still. 



What a sight the old fellow was ! Well over fourteen 

 hands he stood, heavy and massive, the long bristly hair on 

 his neck and the thick, widespread antlers, together with 

 the heavy dark-brown body giving him a rugged and 

 majestic appearance. A very king amongst stags is a fine 

 old sambhar. The sun's rays gave a golden edging to the 

 antlers, and the drops of moisture on the rough coat shone 

 like jewels. 



In a tense silence and with bated breath I raised the 

 rifle and sighted on the shoulder. As I did so a sharp, 

 warning cry came from the doe, and the crack of the rifle 

 synchronized with a sudden start forward on the part of 

 the stag. He stumbled to his knees, but was up again and 

 galloping off in a lumbering fashion when the second barrel 

 caught him true behind the shoulder and he dropped in 

 his tracks and never moved again. I rushed forward with 

 a shout of delight, for he was my first big stag. As I 

 did so I heard a sudden bell of a stag behind me, and, 

 looking round, saw a couple of does followed by a fair- 

 sized stag entering the jungle at the foot of the hill, 

 about three hundred yards in our rear, whilst several 

 other does were stampeding across the fields at a still 

 greater distance. 



" Sahib, we might have had another stag if you had not 

 moved," said Bishu sorrowfully. For a moment I was 

 annoyed, but only for a moment. " The big stag's 

 enough for me, Bishu," I replied, and we went and stood 

 over him, and measured every part of him. The horns 



