CHAPTER XXXII 



EARLY in the cold season of 189-, H , the district 



officer, and myself were on a tour of inspection through a 

 remote and lonely portion of our district, visiting the 

 villages and police posts on the frontier which were few 

 and far between, and separated from each other by large 

 tracts of dense and almost impenetrable jungle, said to be 

 infested with tigers and leopards, besides other big game. 

 The former, indeed, had given ample proof of their presence 

 in the locality by frequently raiding the adjacent villages 

 and carrying off the cattle of the villagers. Our arrival, 

 therefore, at many of these villages was hailed with con- 

 siderable delight, as we had a fairly good line of elephants 

 with us, which we were using as transport, the roads in 

 these jungle tracts being mere tracks through the forest, 

 and unsuitable for wheeled traffic. Knowing, before we 

 started from headquarters, that we were likely to find good 

 sport, we had brought our guns and rifles and a goodly 

 supply of ammunition, dispensing with many luxuries in 

 the shape of superfluous provisions and extra comforts in 

 the way of camp furniture to make room for them, for 

 when transport has to be done entirely by elephants it is 

 often necessary to sacrifice comfort and reduce one's 

 impedimenta to the smallest possible dimensions. 



During the first week and until we reached the confines 

 of the forest, we had fairly good sport in our marches from 

 one camp to another, but our daily bags consisted of 

 feather, viz. partridges, floriken, and ducks, with an 

 occasional couple of snipe or brace or two of quails, though 

 on one or two occasions we were more fortunate, and bagged 

 a few hog deer. But on nearing the forest villages we soon 

 began to hear rumours of recent " kills," though for some 

 time were unable to locate any of them definitely enough 

 to make it worth our while to halt longer than the one day. 



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