ELK HUNTING 



nightly wandering in search of food. Without ceremony he 

 moves them all roughly from their lairs, and often driving 

 one or two in front of him, he makes for some well-known 

 path that leaves the jungle to cross a valley of patna. 



Here, at the very verge of the forest, he will turn and 

 double back almost on his own line, whilst the victim of 

 his cunning gallops out into the open patna. 



Hounds come along merrily in full cry on a burning 

 scent, and the leading hound flashes out on to the patna, 

 the whole pack following suit. A grand burst of music 

 follows, and before any one has had time to reach the open 

 a hind has crossed into the opposite jungle or over some 

 low ridge of patna. She has been found late, and is game 

 for a long gallop, whilst the clever old stag, very nearly 

 run out and done to a turn, is sneaking back towards the 

 jungle whence he came, or lying in some thicket safe for 

 to-day at any rate* 



The whole pack, except possibly a laggard or two, have 

 raced over the dewy grass of the patna in a flash. No one 

 has seen the hind owing to some mistake of the dog boys 

 with the seizers, and so far as we know we are running a 

 very fine stag. The run continues for an hour or more 

 through forest and swampy patna, but scent is good, and 

 hounds are not to be denied. We had caught a momentary 

 glimpse of the stag shortly after the find, and a dog boy 

 had described him as having at least a thirty-six inch 

 head. This had made the whole field specially keen as 

 we all pressed on as near to the pack as we could keep. 

 Across a deep valley, with precipitous sides, we catch 

 sight of a couple of tail hounds just topping the opposite 

 ridge. Down we race and tumble, dashing across the 

 cold stream at the bottom, up to our necks if need be, but 

 across we must go. 



199 



