SHOOTING THE FELID.E OVER BAITS 63 



another fruitless vigil is all that finds an entry in the 

 diary. 



Baits in general fall into two classes, live and dead, 

 and either kind may be used with success, though 

 there are obvious advantages in tying up live 

 animals. Of course, an actual kill is the best of all 

 baits, but a natural kill is seldom found, and the 

 Indian practice of tying up a young buffalo and 

 sitting over the kill the second night is scarcely com- 

 mendable in a country where all large animals are 

 exceedingly expensive, and a party of lions or hyaenas 

 are likely enough to completely devour the victim in 

 the first instance. However, if live baits are not to 

 hand, or any special reason forbids their use, it is 

 well to bear in mind that all cats are just as ready 

 to devour a carcase as any vulture. In such a case 

 the bait should be securely chained or roped in a 

 well-defined track along which the quarry has the 

 habit of passing, and if possible the stomach should 

 be cut open at sunset, so that the maximum of scent 

 may be distributed. I once tried making drags up 

 to the bait. It did not succeed, but then there were 

 no tracks next morning in the vicinity. A dead bait 

 is indicated chiefly, I think, in the case of a beast 

 that is known to be so cunning as to defy temptation 

 by any living animal that may be tied up. In Assam 

 the use of dead baits was compulsory, as the Assamese 

 declined to sell buffaloes to tie up as baits for tigers. 



