CHAPTER III 



BEATING FOR BEAR IN CHOTA NAGPUR A STATION SHOOT 



" Mixed " shooting parties The bundobast necessary for a Station shoot 

 Beating for bear in March Ordered to prepare the machans 

 Bruin brought to book The leopard and the goat Bear country 

 Bears as plentiful as blackberries Tackling bear Crows The 

 Indian vulture and its habits Bears' partiality for the mhowa 

 flowers Incidents of the day's shoot Several bears bagged Usual 

 method of shooting bears Bear caves Beating bears out of caves 

 Bears hard to kill A day after bear A. B.C. and his laugh Success- 

 ful sport A. B.C. and the bear A perilous moment The bear's 

 discomfiture Failure to get him A. B.C. explains A good day's 

 bag. 



M 



IXED " shooting parties are not, perhaps, 

 greatly favoured by the keen shikari man. 

 In my experience such parties are commoner 

 in the cooler and less malarious climate of 

 North- Western India than in the Central and other parts 

 of the country. 



As an Assistant, however, I plead guilty to having thought 

 them great fun, the presence of some members of the fair 

 sex adding a piquancy to the proceedings not entirely due 

 to the sporting element. 



And what a business it is, a day's Station shooting picnic 

 when the ladies are included ! 



The bundobast necessary to ensure matters going smoothly 

 is terrific. It is not costly. It is not the expense of the 



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