Reminiscences of Jungly pur. 133 



range so as to include our one and only snipe and duck 

 ground, which lay some 24. miles to the eastward, and in 

 the vicinity of which the buck were numerous and carried 

 somewhat better heads than was the rule nearer civiliza- 

 tion. In those parts a black buck bearing horns over 20 

 inches in length was considered good, while 22 to 23 inches 

 would be a prize. 



Now, we are well aware that antelope shooting is very apt 

 to pall, and is looked down on by some great hunters 

 as a pastime only fit for the babes and sucklings in the 

 shikari line. However, in default of nobler game, and 

 if indulged in with a due regard to its peculiarities, 

 without a burning desire to make a large bag in as short 

 a time as possible, this pursuit is capable of affording a 

 great deal of sport and much quiet enjoyment. 



Antelope shooting, to give the most pleasing results, 

 should be conducted with a complete disregard for the size 

 of the bag, and with an absence of all hurry. 



In the country of which I speak there was nothing what- 

 ever to prevent a steady shot bagging his dozen buck in a 

 day that is of course if the sport were to be judged of by 

 quantity and not merely by quality. Except where the 

 herds of antelope had been unduly harrassed by native 

 shikar it) the most successful plan was to walk boldly in 

 the direction of or past the buck, edging in quietly, and 

 only taking a shot in the standing position when within 

 easy range, the antelope being so accustomed to the pre- 

 sence of people working in the fields, or passing from 

 village to village of the plain, that the adoption of a con- 

 fidently casual manner, while showing- one's self openly 

 to their watchful gaze, was almost invariably successful 

 with an animal that judges of the harmfulness of an object 

 by the apparent quality of its guile. 



