HATHA CIRCUMVENTS A RIND. 227 



known to him, where, if the animal chanced to take upward, 

 it would most likely, from the precipitous nature of the 

 ground, pass pretty close to us. 



Patiently we lay there for nearly an hour, anxiously watch- 

 ing the bit of cover, until I began to think that Hatha must 

 have mistaken the spot. At last the rind quitted the wood 

 without any apparent cause, until we saw Hatha, who had 

 cleverly managed to circumvent the place without being seen, 

 emerge from it shortly after. The rind continued to gallop 

 across the steep hillside until he was lost to our sight among 

 the crags far below. I gave a glance of mute disappointment 

 towards Gamoo, who replied to it only by a sign to lie still. 

 Presently there was a rattle of loose stones, detached directly 

 below us, and almost immediately after I had the satisfaction of 

 seeing our quarry, which now showed no signs of being wound- 

 ed, springing nimbly up from rock to rock as he approached 

 our place of concealment. Waiting until he was almost on 

 a level with and about 50 yards from where we lay, I let 

 drive, sending a bullet through his shoulders as he cantered 

 past. After a wild spring and a vain tottering effort to gain 

 the crest of a ridge close above him, beyond which he would 

 have been safe, the poor struggling beast fell back and rolled 

 down the steep declivity, disappearing from our sight in the 

 abyss below. The next I saw of him was his skin and head, 

 and as much of the meat as Hatha could conveniently carry, 

 with which, after a considerable time, he made his appear- 

 ance. 



Although this animal was of little value save for food, 

 securing it was so far satisfactory that it gave me confidence ; 

 for I have a firm belief, absurd as it may seem, in the 

 luck that follows killing the first beast I fire at on a shooting- 

 trip. At any rate, it gives the shikarees an idea that the 

 trouble they may take to find game will not be fruitless, for 

 first impressions always go a great way. 



As it was getting late in the day, and the camping-place 



