An Exciting Days Sport. 391 



inventors is a very useful weapon, but it is somewhat 

 heavier than an ordinary gun and as long as a true 

 cylinder fowling-piece, shoots dead up to fifty yards 

 with ball, and fairly well up to one hundred, I am 

 content. There are two top actions, pre-eminent, 

 both good I allude to Purdey's and Westley 

 Eichards', the latter for preference. When I had 

 heavy rifles constructed for shooting big game, 

 Messrs. Westley Eichards were the only makers who 

 would construct them on the top -snap action ; the 

 others refused, as they said such an action was un- 

 safe ; but as I used the rifles made by that eminent 

 firm for years, firing heavy charges of six and seven 

 drachms of black powder, and never found them fail, 

 I can only conclude that they are not only safe, but 

 by far the handiest. From the days of my griflinage 

 I have made a practice of carrying a few bullets in 

 my pocket. In the old muzzle-loading days I had 

 bullets neatly sewn up in thin cloth and well greased. 

 Now, of course I carry a few cartridges loaded with 

 ball in place of shot. In a hot climate a light, 

 serviceable weapon is a desideratum. For stalking 

 antelope and deer a man would be differently armed 

 of course, but for ordinary sport in jungly places, 

 you seldom see your game much further than fifty 

 yards, and often much closer. 



Loqua Ghat, in Assam, opposite to Tezpore, is a 

 well-known place for large and small game. My 

 work, and if the truth be told inclination, often took 

 me there, and many a tough encounter have I had 

 there with rhinoceros, buffalo, and tiger. The small- 

 game shooting was also very good ; there were the 

 black and kyah partridges, Florikan peacocks, jungle- 



