HUNTING IN INDIA. 215 



winter being exceedingly beautiful. I have killed them 

 with hair five inches long about the shoulders. About 

 one in ten thousand has a " horn," that is to say the 

 frontal bone projects to such an extent that the skin 

 forms a callous projection between, and rather above, 

 the eyes. The natives attach many fabulous properties 

 to these " horns," and value them accordingly. I have 

 only seen one in my life. 



A jackal is for one reason an exasperating and a 

 difficult beast to hunt. This is that he never seems to 

 know his own mind about where he is going. Con- 

 sequently, the Indian huntsman has nothing whatever 

 to guide him in making a cast. Given a check in 

 England, unless the fox has obviously been headed, 

 the line is, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, " on." 

 In my Indian experience I only twice knew a jackal to 

 be headed, but I have frequently known one in the 

 middle of a run turn off at right angles for no reason 

 at all. In England, again, a fox makes for a certain 

 ''point," which is, or should be, known to the 

 huntsman. A jackal, unless found near rocky hills for 

 which he invariably makes has no point, and seems 

 to wander aimlessly on till he is either killed or lost. 



I now come to the hares. The Indian hare 

 (L. ruficaudatus) may be summed up in very few 

 words. It is useless for hunting, equally so for 

 coursing, and not worth eating. It is not want of 

 scent which renders it useless for hunting, for the 

 scent is strong, and foxhounds are very apt to 

 run riot on it. What renders it useless for hunting, 

 and nearly so for coursing, is its propensity for going 



