CHAPTER XXVI. 



BUCK-SHOOTING IN CENTRAL INDIA. 



As the tourist is whirled not too rapidly across the 

 great Indian peninsula in the train, the commonest 

 object of wild life which he will see from the railway- 

 carriage window is the buck. Here, there, and every- 

 where the herds may be seen, generally standing, for 

 the train is now an accustomed sight, and no longer 

 causes alarm. By the term buck, the common Indian 

 antelope, or black-buck, is meant, but in the heading 

 of my chapter I include the Indian gazelle, commonly 

 known as the chikara, or ravine deer. The latter is 

 as common, or perhaps even commoner, than the 

 former, and is even to be seen at times in the canton- 

 ment itself. Perhaps I should explain that a canton- 

 ment is the area on which a military station stands, 

 with the native bazaar thereunto appertaining, and 

 may be taken as equivalent to our term township. 



The Indian antelope, or black-buck, is truly a 

 game - looking animal. As the name imports, the 

 adult males, or rather the oldest of them, are a rich 

 glossy brown-black. The face is quaintly marked by 

 double markings in white, and the spiral horns are 

 long and sharp. It is useless giving any exact 



