CHAPTER XIII 



Indian antelope Black buck the best known Where found Description 

 Habits, etc. Rifle recommended The Indian gazelle The gazelle 

 or chinkara Its peculiar call The four-horned antelope Flesh 

 uneatable The Nil Ghi Meaning of the name Ibex or wild goat 

 of Asia Minor A stalk described Rolling down a precipice Ibex- 

 driving in Afghanistan Posted to Sholapur No big game Pig- 

 sticking The sport described A comparison A boar described 

 Its formidable weapon How used Riding for first spear Keen 

 competition The pig-sticking spear Spears used in Bombay and 

 Madras The short spear of Bengal Blades Varieties in shape of 

 Horses best suited for the sport Cunning of the boar Its courage 

 and determination A formidable foe Some runs described The 

 secret of success Full speed a necessity A sport sui generis I 

 lose a favourite terrier from hydrophobia Two servants bitten 

 Apparently none the worse A tragic sequel Both men die of hydro- 

 phobia No clue as to how the dog was bitten The danger of owning 

 pugnacious terriers Village curs dangerous to fight with. 



OF the Indian antelope, of which I have any personal 

 knowledge, the one best known to all Indian sportsmen is 

 the black buck,* to be found practically all over India, 

 but more frequently in dry districts, where they frequent 

 large open plains more or less devoid of vegetation. 



An old buck stands about two feet nine inches high. 

 His coat is black as pitch, in strong contrast with the pure 

 white markings on the belly, face, and throat. The skin 

 darkens with age and does not attain its maximum colour 

 till the animal is about eight years old. 



The horns are spiral, generally of equal length, and vary 

 in size from nineteen to twenty-seven and a half inches. 

 The females are smaller than the male, of a light -fawn colour, 

 and carry no horns. 



The black buck is gregarious and generally found in 

 herds of twenty or thirty individuals, though on the plains 

 of Gujerat I have seen as many as two hundred in a herd. 

 Old bucks are very pugnacious and may frequently be 



* Antelope Bezoartica. 



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