An Exciting Days Sport. 393 



belt, and in a side pocket seven (for I believe in odd 

 numbers) ball-cartridges, thinking I might put up a 

 hog-deer or two, but never anticipating such an 

 exciting day's sport as I was lucky enough to come 

 across. My shikarie also carried a lot of extra 

 cartridges in a waterproof bag. 



The bheel was an extensive one, probably half a 

 mile across and a mile and a half long. The south 

 and east faces had been cultivated near the water's 

 edge, and extending a couple of hundred yards, the 

 plain was slightly inundated and covered with rushes 

 and dhoop grass, beyond that commenced the whilom 

 paddy-fields. On the northern and western sides the 

 land ran in a ridge, that on the former face was close 

 to the bheel, but on the latter the interval consisted 

 of patches of long grass and impenetrable bushes of 

 wild roses ; just the sort of place of which wading 

 animals like the bubali and rhinoceros are fond. I 

 commenced shooting on the southern face. It was 

 rather early, for snipe lie best during the heat of the 

 day ; but they were seldom disturbed, and though they 

 got up rather wild at first, they pitched again within 

 fifty yards of where they rose. So my bag filled 

 rapidly. The walking was good ; I scarcely ever sank 

 over my ankles. It was ideal snipe ground. I had 

 beaten over the greater part of the south and east- 

 faces when a solitary snipe got up. These birds are 

 double the size of the ordinary scolopax, and are barred 

 on the breast and fly far more slowly, but in my 

 anxiety to kill I clean missed it, but marked it down 

 near a rose-bush close to the water on the north face ; 

 leaving the men behind I went alone to bag this rare 

 specimen. I was getting within shot, expecting it to 



