Jungle By -Ways in India 



the case with the four sambhar does with two 

 youngsters at heel whom we come upon soon after, 

 save that they edge slightly away at an angle as 

 we approach. There is no sign of fear, however, for 

 they do not look high enough to perceive us on its 

 back. The elephant is a thing they are accustomed 

 to meet in the jungles, which is his home as well as 

 theirs, and they appear to quite easily distinguish 

 between the noise he makes in swaying and rustling 

 and breaking his way through the forest or grass, 

 loud though it may be, and the much less loud but 

 blundering noise made in the long grass or over dry 

 leaves and twigs by the civilized man of the cities. 



All the jungle denizens can ' spot ' our ap- 

 proach a couple of hundred yards or more away, 

 unless we with patience and great trouble learn to 

 follow the example of the men born and bred to the 

 jungles. Take, for instance, the aborigines in Central 

 India and the Gurkha as two examples. Either can 

 glide through the forest in almost as stealthy a 

 manner as the tiger and panther themselves. 



These latter animals, by the way, might be come 

 across on an evening stroll on the elephant. 



Some men's luck is good in this respect. My own 

 has not been, save on two occasions to be related 

 elsewhere. Should these the most interesting of 

 wild life be thus met accidentally, if you with- 

 hold your fire you will not improbably learn a 

 great deal about their ways by watching them, for 

 the chances are they will take little notice of the 



