Introduction 



seeds. Of a size of a large pigeon are these Indian 

 fowls, and with as much taste and succulence in 

 them as a piece of wash-leather ; but still they 

 appear to serve to keep life in the sahib somehow, 

 for in many parts they practically form his sole 

 meat, they and a piece of tough old goat now and 

 then, whose flesh is to murghi flesh as is wash- 

 leather to rhinoceros hide. 



My eyes move from the eager fowls to see a great 

 bundle of skins, the sahib's trophies, issue forth from 

 the carriage door, being reverently handed from 

 one orderly to the other. Here, again, the unin- 

 itiated would exclaim in horror at there being 

 anything worth looking at. The bundle resembles 

 any other bundle of old dried smelling skins one 

 has seen going to a tannery at home. Yes, to 

 the uninitiated I admit it is so, but to the 

 shikari, no. To him the bundle is worth a stroll 

 on to the platform to inspect, and a casual 

 question to one of the orderlies as to where the 

 sahibs have been to have secured such hand- 

 some trophies as the result of their straight shoot- 

 ing and their orderly's keenness. Smart to the 

 salute comes the orderly, as with a grin spreading 

 slowly across the wide broad face till it disappears 

 into the pugri, covering an ear on each side, he 

 names the jungle and descants on the skins, swelling 

 with pride. Now we note a bundle of odd horns, 

 sambhar, chitul, barasingha, and drop a word of 

 congratulation on their keen sight, for these are 



