191 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



most carefully. He was about one hundred and 

 thirty yards from us with one of the most beauti- 

 ful Kondah glens between ; on his hill, and about 

 fifteen or twenty yards in his front, was a single 

 rhododendron, about the same distance on mine 

 was a small clump of three or four of those lovely 

 shrubs, then glowing in all the glory of their 

 deep red blossoms. He dropped on his belly at 

 once, and thus crept onwards to his bush, while 

 I, making myself as snake-like as possible, con- 

 trived to get forward to my clump. 



'Thus stalking each other, so to speak, we mutu- 

 ally managed to decrease the distance between us. 

 It was almost in vain, however, for the cunning 

 brute kept his rhododendron stump so pertina- 

 ciously before him that, although I had a perfect 

 view of his hind-quarters beyond it, and he was 

 facing me, I could not, though in a most favour- 

 able position to aim, get a shot at his chest. I 

 think he would have come on had not one of my 

 men tried to crawl after rne ; this caused him to 

 jump up ; as he turned I fired, breaking his hind- 

 leg, but although this stopped him so much that I 

 managed to get up to him again, and have two 

 shots one of them a very bad miss he still 

 lives to prey on Todah buffaloes. I would rather, 

 however, have seen what I did then, and have 

 missed him altogether, than have killed him with- 



