410 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



one of the most active. It is a beautiful sight to watch the 

 irresistible rush of a sambur stag down the steep side of a rocky 

 forest-covered hill, when it breaks back through the line of beaters. 

 The animal, weighing nearly GOO Ibs., descends at full speed an 

 incline that it would be impossible for a horse to clamber, even 

 without a rider. 



It is the game most beloved by the native shikaris, who 

 thoroughly understand its habits. Some of these men are deadly 

 shots in their peculiar style of hunting, and it has recently become 

 necessary to enact special laws throughout the Central Provinces 

 of India, nominally to protect the wild animals ; but I much fear 

 they will favour the native shikari, who never will be captured in 

 the act, while they will irritate needlessly the European, who 

 would otherwise shoot fairly. 



A sambur stag is not fully developed until ten years old ; that 

 is, in the full growth of body and antlers. As it takes so long an 

 interval to arrive at perfection, it is necessary to protect the young 

 stags during their growth. This has never been done ; accord- 

 ingly, it is a general complaint that a dozen stags may be shot, 

 without one head that is worth preserving as a trophy. It is an 

 ordinary occurrence to hear European residents in India converse 

 upon these subjects as though they abhorred the idea of shooting 

 females and half-grown animals ; but although I have been in their 

 company upon many occasions, I have seen them fire at females 

 with as little compunction as the ordinary native shikari. I can 

 safely assert that I never do such an unsportsmanlike thing 

 myself, unless absolutely compelled through want of meat for the 

 people, which is seldom the case in India. Throughout the whole 

 of last season I did not fire at one female of any kind ; and the 

 year before, I only killed one doe, to feed the Ghond beaters, who 

 had joined me from a considerable distance. If people would 

 regulate their shooting by the rules of sport in civilised countries, 

 there would be plenty of game in India; but the Government 

 authorities are now locking the stable-door when the horse has 

 already been stolen. 



Three years ago, in a portion of the Damoh district in the 

 Central Provinces, I was shooting through a wild range of hills 

 from Kotah to Ghat Piperia, and thence to Soonbarro. I was 

 accompanied for about a month or five weeks by Bhopal Singh 

 and his two brothers, Gholab and Dliolab Singh. We killed forty- 

 three sambur, and had I chosen to take females, I could have 

 added ten or twelve to the already cruel butcher's bill. 



It is seldom that I have met such dead shots as these brothers 



