SPORT IN THE JUNGLES OF N. INDIA 161 



considered clean. This custom is a great nuisance as the 

 cut is often made so high up on the neck that the trophy is 

 spoilt for mounting purposes as there is no neck skin left. 

 This is the reason why one sees so many Indian trophies 

 ruined ; for even a first-class taxidermist, in the absence 

 of the neck skin, finds it is impossible to set them up 

 properly. My order as to the point at which the knife was 

 to be put in to make the meat clean was very definite and 

 I consequently secured heads which could be properly 

 mounted. 



Meanwhile I was standing over the fallen stag. He is a 

 beautiful beast, his colouring harmonizing perfectly with his 

 surroundings. But I never killed one without a feeling of 

 compunction afterwards. The head in this case was a 

 good one, nearly clean ; but not a record. The quest for 

 that record still remained. 



