Gaur Shooting. 141 



one day. I saw on that occasion about a dozen. 

 Every succeeding year Lloyd and myself killed many. 

 On one trip it was a hot sultry day, and I had not 

 had much luck up to 11 A.M. I came to the edge 

 of a dry nullah. On the opposite bank stood a bull 

 gaur facing me, looking as if much amazed. We were 

 only about ten paces apart : I took a careful aim for 

 the centre of the forehead and fired, but the beast 

 turned round, and as he ran past I gave him the second 

 barrel behind the shoulder, and killed. On examining 

 the slain, we could only find one shot, the fatal one, 

 and the shikarie declared my first was a miss. I 

 could not credit it. What ! Miss the broad forehead 

 at ten paces ? Yet where was the wound ? Ap- 

 parently nowhere. When the man opened the 

 mouth to extract the tongue, we discovered that the 

 ball had entered one nostril the head was thrown up 

 as I pulled the trigger and cut the palate all along, 

 and had imbedded itself in the immense muscles of 

 the neck. Many years after I was again on " Bison 

 Hill," up the Godavery. All these hills have a peculiar 

 formation, being flat on the top, abut on the river, 

 and then go inland fifteen or twenty miles. (Hills 

 very similar in formation and appearance exist on 

 the Niger ; also in South Africa.) These are separated 

 by well-wooded declivities that slope down to a water- 

 course, from whence they ascend and join the next 

 range. These are full of game of all sorts, gaur 

 especially being very plentiful. In 1851, Cotton of 

 the Civil Service, Dansey of our 30th, and I ascended 

 the range and christened it " Bison Hill," bison 

 being a misnomer in common use amongst Indian 

 sportsmen for this grand beast. Generally on these 



