160 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



wanderings. When seeding, the bamboo is lovely ; 

 the flowers hang down in clusters, and in times of 

 scarcity the poor people, if they can only find the 

 bamboo in seed, collect it and use it in lieu of rice, 

 and I am told it is almost as nutritious. The grain 

 that falls germinates, and the bamboo forest that 

 succeeds the defunct one is ten times as dense and 

 extensive as the one which existed before. When 

 the bamboos die, the canes fall, get interlaced, and 

 render the forest inpenetrable, which is perhaps a 

 provision of Nature to allow the fallen seed to 

 spring up in safety untrodden and undevoured, for 

 all ruminants graze on it if they can obtain it in its 

 immature state. The outlying ones suffer greatly on 

 this account, although a few survive, but the main 

 crop, protected by their dead ancestors, live, and in a 

 couple of years the fallen ones have rotted away and 

 the new, now graceful successors, take their place. I 

 know of no sight more lovely than a forest of young 

 bamboos, of which there are many varieties all 

 equally beautiful. 



Owing to the dead forest, we did not hit off the 

 best of the licks, although there was a path to them, 

 for it was still dark, so we had to get to the nullah 

 by circuitous routes, and did not reach it till nine. 

 By this time it was getting unpleasantly hot, and 

 the game would be retiring to its strongholds in im- 

 penetrable jungles, so we went steadily along the 

 best way we could. We disturbed a doe sambur or 

 two, who with a bell, would rush away, but as I had 

 plenty of meat in camp I would not fire at them. 

 However, no pyoung (gaur) were visible. Marks 

 there were in plenty, but the beasts themselves were 



