xxv THE SAMBUR 411 



Ghol,b and Dholab. They were armed with ordinary matchlocks ; 

 these were about 6 feet in length, smooth-bores, and carried a 

 cast-iron spherical ball about 1 ounce, as smooth as a boy's marble. 

 This fitted exactly. They used a large charge of about 6 drams 

 of native powder; when I gave them Curtis and Harvey No. 6 

 grain it was reduced to 4 drams nominally, but they did not them- 

 selves approve of a reduction. 



Their matchlocks were superior to those in the hands of the 

 ordinary shikaris, which are generally of so common a description 

 that accidents frequently occur; the back-sights were carefully 

 protected by a tunnel, and for a standing shot they were admirable. 

 These people were not restricted to such easy triumphs, but they 

 took the animals at any speed, and whenever a shot was fired by 

 one of these fatal brothers, the game was bagged. 



I admired them for putting the bullet always in the right place. 

 We never had to hunt up wounded animals. If I heard two shots 

 in a drive, when the beaters or shikaris came up, I inquired, 

 " Who fired 1 " If the reply was, " Gholab Singh," I only asked 

 whether it was " a stag or a female," as I knew that it was dead. 



The iron bullet generally passed completely through the body of 

 a sambur stag : always so, when Gholab used English powder. 



It may be readily imagined that such Nimrods would severely 

 punish the game throughout an extensive area. I shot last 

 winter, December 1888 and January 1889, through the same 

 ground as that of three years previous; we only killed fifteen 

 sambur where we had killed forty-three. Of these, six were stags. 

 There could not be a more deplorable proof of the disappearance of 

 game. 



A native has a better chance than a European when squatting 

 in the jungle, waiting patiently for his opportunity. His patience 

 is inexhaustible. His limbs and joints are like india-rubber, and 

 will bend to any required position. He is never stiff or uncom- 

 fortable, neither does he comprehend the meaning of the word 

 " cramped." He will sit for an hour upon pointed stones, and 

 double himself up into a space so small that it is incredible how he 

 can pack himself away to avoid discovery. 



All this is highly favourable to jungle shooting; there is 

 nothing to equal invisibility. A native watching-place is a very 

 simple affair. If a drive is to be arranged for sambur, it will 

 include all other animals that may pass the hidden guns. Such a 

 man as Gholab Singh, or his brother, would have a thorough 

 knowledge of the habits of the game, and he would select his 

 position accordingly. He would then cut a sapling half through, 



