xxv THE SAMBUR 427 



they will keep the deer at bay, and never give up their game till 

 nightfall ; but if they are not well supported, the best dogs would 

 probably get tired of a prolonged hunt, and return to kennel after 

 having uselessly held their stag at bay in the absence of human 

 assistance. 



My hounds seldom lost a sambur ; but if they were unlucky, 

 they never returned home until long after dark, showing that they 

 had only given up the game with failing daylight. 



There was one memorable stag that beat us upon several 

 occasions, and I shall extract the account from my old diary 

 exactly as it was written upon the day following the last hunt : 



" 1853. March 11. Stag found at the foot of the hills in the 

 Elk Plains. 



" On several occasions an elk (sambur) had been found in this 

 spot and invariably lost, as his habit was to make off to some 

 unknown line of country, which had always ended in his escape, 

 and in keeping the best dogs out till nightfall. They had then 

 returned to kennel crestfallen and tired out; evidently having 

 been beaten off. 



" On this day, sure enough, the tracks of a stag were fresh at 

 the usual place, and in a few minutes after our entrance of the 

 jungle, the entire pack opened with beautiful music, all well 

 together. 



" We immediately ran out of the jungle, and on the open patina 

 only a few notes of the tailing hounds were audible ; these were 

 at a great distance, the stag, as usual, having gone off at railway 

 pace. 



"The important question now was, 'Where was he gone 1 ?' 



"This was the old story over again, and the hunt seemed 

 likely to have its customary termination. We had hitherto 

 imagined that the stag had escaped by going off to the left at the 

 base of the hills, and by ultimately rounding the extremity of the 

 range, and by this means getting into a jungle country of 

 enormous extent. 



"Upon this supposition Jem started off towards the second 

 Elk Plains, in the expectation of hearing them as they rounded 

 the extremity of the hills. 



" On the other hand, I was of opinion that they had gone over 

 the hills, as the voices of the tailing hounds (which I distinctly 

 heard) were very high up. We had run out of the jungle so 

 quickly that I felt convinced we must have heard the leading 

 dogs, and the entire pack, had they not already topped the range. 



"Accordingly I started off, and entering the jungle, I made 



