SAMBAR AND CHETUL 



high ground and his large footmarks or tracks are often 

 found in almost inaccessible places. 



A male sambar's presence in the jungle can be easily 

 detected from a habit they have of rubbing themselves 

 against trees to get rid of the velvet that adheres to then- 

 horns up to the mating season. The old stags can generally 

 be heard bellowing at dark and early dawn. These animals 

 afford excellent sport, though naturally it i not so exciting 

 as the pursuit of dangerous game. A good head makes a 

 fine trophy, and the skin is of some value, as out of it can 

 be made excellent shooting boots and gaiters, being soft 

 and pliable yet proof against thorns. 



The swamp deer or bara-sing * comes next in point 

 of size, and is found in Central and also other parts of India. 

 It is a grand animal and much resembles the red deer of 

 Scotland in appearance, and is about the same size. Its 

 horns, though not so massive, are far handsomer than 

 those of the sambar, and carry from ten to twelve points. 

 Though I have shot a good many of these animals, I was 

 never fortunate enough to secure a really good head. 



Next comes the spotted deer, or chetul,f an animal 

 which, in my opinion, is, without exception, the most 

 beautiful and graceful of the deer tribe. The stag is a 

 little larger than a fallow buck ; its skin is of a rich dark- 

 brown colour, completely covered with white spots and 

 almost as handsome as that of a panther ; the belly and 

 inside of the thighs are pure white. Like the sambar, the 

 antlers have only six lines, and vary in length from thirty 

 to forty inches. 



Chetul are usually found in thick jungles on the banks 

 of rivers where the country is broken, and intersected by 

 deep ravines and watercourses ; they go about in large herds 

 of fifty to sixty, and are very common in the Central 

 Provinces, where I have shot a great number. 



Like all the deer tribe, they are extremely shy, and there- 

 fore difficult to approach. If alarmed, they make a peculiar 

 noise a loud, harsh bark, repeated at intervals of a minute, 

 often denoting the presence of a tiger or panther in the 

 jungles. 



When encamped on the banks of the river at Ghorisgaon, 

 * Cervus Duvancelli. f Cervus Axis. 



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