xxv THE SAMBUR 433 



precipice far away upon the right, I heard the whole pack at bay, 

 but not being able to descend, I was obliged to run along the top 

 of the cliff for about a mile before I could discover a way below. 

 This I at length did, and the greyhounds immediately dashed off 

 across the patina to join the bay. In a couple of minutes I arrived, 

 and found the stag standing at bay in a deep gully of a small 

 wooded ravine. 



"A shallow stream flowed through the gully, and being a 

 torrent in the rainy season, it had bored a deep gap in the high 

 bank, which formed a sudden angle in its course. 



" In this gap, with his hind-quarters half concealed by this little 

 fort, the stag now stood secure from attack, as no dog could possibly 

 get either on his side or behind him ; there was no advance except 

 direct at his face. He was a determined fighter ; making sudden 

 sorties from his position, he continually struck down the leading 

 hounds, and then quickly sprang back again to his stronghold. 



" For a few seconds I silently watched the fight. I saw that 

 the dogs had no chance, and, hoping to make the stag break his 

 bay and change to a more favourable position, I hallooed the dogs 

 on. When Bertram heard my voice it mattered little whether it 

 was elk or boar, and the young dog rushed like a lion straight at 

 the stag's head. The stag met him in his charge, and pinned the 

 brave dog with his antlers against the perpendicular bank. 

 Nevertheless the staunch hound would not loose his hold. Without 

 a second's delay Bran and Lucifer rushed to the rescue, and the 

 stag tore through the jungle with the three dogs hanging upon his 

 ears and throat. 



" Making a short cut through the patina, I came up with them 

 within 100 yards of the first position. Bran and Lucifer had 

 nailed him fast, and slipping the knife behind his shoulder, I killed 

 him immediately. 



" Poor Bertram ! I feared that was a fatal thrust when I saw 

 him pinned against the bank, and now I felt sure that he was dead, 

 as he was absent from his place. I immediately tracked the stag 

 back, and within 30 yards I found the dog lying in the last gasp, 

 with a horn wound in the centre of the chest, completely through 

 his lungs. He had evidently kept his hold until he dropped in the 

 pangs of death. I poured water in hopeless sorrow over his face, 

 striving to relieve him as he convulsively gasped for breath. 



" At length his limbs stretched and stiffened. My good dog 

 was gone." 



No one knows the loss of a dog of this kind unless he is 

 constantly engaged in these wild sports. If Bertram had lived, he 



2 F 



