122 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



and shade. The difficulty was at its worst on the hill-sides 

 covered with dense muli bamboo growth. 



When we set out on our quest, though the sky was over- 

 cast and it was pitch dark the rain held off. 



The going was fair at first as we only had to follow the 

 road running through the tea garden and connecting with 

 one of the few main district roads existing in this part of the 

 world. After proceeding in silence for about an hour (there 

 was no cause for silence, but one is not in a talkative mood 

 at this hour in the morning) we quitted the road and got 

 on to a village path. We went through several small 

 villages, being greeted by the village pi-dogs with the usual 

 vociferous pandemonium ; in one instance the village chow- 

 kidar was awake and we stayed a moment to have a few 

 words with him. After quitting this village we entered the 

 outskirts of the big high tree forest, and the going soon got 

 so bad that I ordered a halt. It would be light in another 

 half-hour, and I particularly wanted to see as much of this 

 forest tract one of the greatest interest to a forester and 

 naturalist as possible. The shikari with me was of a rather 

 superior kind. He was a fairly well-educated Mahommedan, 

 occupying a post as overseer on the tea garden, and had 

 earned a great reputation as a shikari of parts, and I fancy 

 as a first-class poacher to judge from the interesting con- 

 versation we had at intervals. But he was passionately 

 fond of the jungle and of shooting, and was quite prepared 

 to stand up to a mithan if a sahib was by his side. He 

 carried my second rifle with permission to use it if necessary. 

 Altogether a novel article in shikaris in my experience. 



That day stands out vividly in my memory not only on 

 account of the bison encounter which took place. It was 

 the vast stretch of great tropical forest in which we became 

 engulfed which caught and held the imagination. Giant 

 trees of great girth and height and of many different species 

 stood up like the pillars of some vast cathedral, their 

 crowns hidden by a lower story of vegetation, smaller trees, 

 bamboos of several species, besides the little muli, cane 

 brakes, and an infinite variety of shrubs. The prevailing 

 colour was many shades of green. Progression was not 

 difficult as we kept to animal runs, but the going was very 

 heavy on the lower levels, and in these areas ten yards was 

 the range of vision. As we climbed the hills the character 

 of the forests changed, the trees thinning out, and often 



