1 1 8 Leaves from an Indian Jungle. 



So, in the hope that an account of some of the good days 

 we enjoyed there may be of interest, I will refer to my 

 shikar diary and refresh the memory. 



In these times it is worthy of note that a large amount of 

 our sport was enjoyed within a distance of from five to ten 

 miles of the little Cantonments. 



There are few localities in any country which, within 

 five miles of one's house, surrounded by all the comforts of 

 civilization, can boast an extensive deer forest, containing, 

 in addition, panthers, bears and smaller game, and, 

 deeper in, tigers. 



It is the hills that most attract the sportsman in these 

 parts, perhaps, indeed, all the world over. Sport seems 

 to most of us at its best when followed among their 

 heights. . It certainly assumes a more poetic, romantic 

 interest under such circumstances, although the plain 

 possesses many a charm of its own. 



Hill shikar entails many arduous difficulties to overcome, 

 in addition to the circumvention of the game itself, besides 

 which, in the relaxing climate of the tropics, it includes 

 enjoyment of a more bracing atmosphere and great change 

 of scene to men whose daily avocations are, for the greater 

 part, carried out mid the comparatively uninteresting 

 confines of the level low country. 



Here, in this Ultima Thule, the proximity of the hills is 

 the making of the place. How greatly they would be 

 missed may easily be realised when the low-trailing 

 monsoon cloud-banks hide them from view, and bring the 

 drear and featureless expanse of the surrounding plains into 

 unpleasant prominence. 



Most of our sport here is had by making short expedi- 

 tions into the hills, mostly of a day, or even of a few 

 hours, snatched often between working hours. The 



