NATIVE SHIKARIS. 95 



assistance is really a sine qua non in finding" and 

 tracking game through the mazes of the Indian 

 jungles. 



The experiences of Indian sportsmen are unanimous 

 upon this point the usual practice advocated by those 

 best qualified to judge is that while it may be con- 

 venient and desirable to have one or more native 

 hunters to accompany the sportsmen throughout his 

 expeditions, as gunbearers or personal attendants, the 

 services of the local shikari, in addition to these, can 

 never be dispensed with: he alone knows the habits 

 and haunts of the game animals which inhabit the 

 neighbouring jungles, and without his assistance the 

 prospects of good sport would be so slender as in 

 general to be worth but little. " No Shikari," says 

 Colonel Kinloch, " is of any use, except in the country 

 which he knows, and few have more than purely 

 local knowledge." * So in the American woods, in a 

 great forest region such as British Columbia still is, 

 unless a sportsman secures reliable guides who know 

 the lie of the country and the habits of the game, a 

 man's whole season would be wasted in making his 

 experience, and in trying to find out for himself the 

 best hunting grounds, the locality of the principal 

 lakes, and the courses of the main river channels. 



These are among the first things that a man requires 

 to know, so as to be able to hunt over a wild country 

 with any prospect of success. 



Success in forest hunting will also of necessity be 

 largely influenced by the nature of the country, the 

 climate, and the season of the year. If for instance, 



* Large Game Shooting, inThibet, the Himalayas, and Northern India, 

 by Colonel Kinloch, the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Calcutta 1885, p, 214. 



