266 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



quarter of a mile from, it came upon two salt-licks, 

 which were evidently favourite places of resort, as 

 there were around it numerous footmarks of deer 

 and wild cattle. Even a leopard had been there 

 whether to eat the earth or to prey upon some 

 visitor it was impossible to say. I had dismounted 

 and was examining the spoor, when under a bush I 

 saw a muntjac looking at me. I have shot very 

 few of these deer, for though plentiful one 

 seldom gets a view of them. They are generally 

 found in hilly country, and what this one was doing 

 in the plains although not far from the hills I do 

 not know. These deer when disturbed or frightened 

 bark like a dog. They have peculiar horns, long 

 canine teeth, and Eoman noses, very ugly heads, with 

 two dark lines down each cheek, and a tuft of black 

 hair above either eye. If anything, the hind is uglier 

 than the male. I ought not to have fired, but the 

 temptation was too great, for I wanted the specimen, 

 which was a good one, so a bullet at the junction 

 of the neck and breast dropped it dead where it was 

 standing, but at the report, a tiger sprang away. I 

 took a snap-shot and hit. Instantly we mounted, 

 formed line, but lost an hour or more in a vain effort 

 although there was plenty of blood. The brute 

 was not a fighting character, for though we got 

 several more glimpses of him and fired several shots, 

 he got into heavy jungle full of huge creepers, and so 

 we failed. We then went on, and about 5 P.M. we 

 saw a lovely sight in an open glade. There was a 

 herd of gaur, about thirty in number, totally uncon- 

 scious of danger. Among them was one fine bull, 

 several younger ones, cows and their calves, the 



