Introduction 



newly dropped horns picked up in the jungle by 

 the orderlies or native guides when on their shikar 

 outings. 



The value of these shed horns, which are 

 annually collected by the natives and disposed of 

 for a few annas in the bazaars, is probably con- 

 siderable, though I have never heard of any 

 figures having been drawn up to show it. As we 

 shall see, the various deer shed their horns in the 

 hot-weather months. It is, however, unusual to 

 find more than a stray horn in the jungle in areas 

 where deer are numerous, and this absence of 

 shed horns can but point to the careful search and 

 systematical collection made of them by the neigh- 

 bouring inhabitants of the tracts inhabited by the 

 beasts, or by the jungle races of the country who 

 live in and roam over the forests year in and year 

 out. 



At last the carriage has disgorged its eye- 

 startling contents, and the horns and skins and 

 rifle and gun-cases are piled on to one of those 

 gharis variously called ticca gharis, or plague 

 boxes, which form our hansom in the East. The 

 gharry itself is in the last stage of dilapidation, 

 though it proudly bears a ' I ' on it and calls itself 

 first-class ; the ponies or tats are of the smallest 

 dimensions and of the sorriest description, and the 

 harness is a collection of rotten leather straps 

 kept together by still rottener string. However, 

 the youngsters climb in and drive off to rejoin 



xviii 



