ABOUT SOME DEER. 239 



have, as a rule, only six points, though I have 

 shot them with seven, and even eight points. 

 Two in my possession, which I shot in the Chanda 

 district, in the Central Provinces, have seven and 

 eight points respectively. The one with the 

 seven points has the extra tine singularly well 

 developed ; in fact, it is nearly as big as the 

 brow antler, immediately above which it projects. 

 The female, or hind cheetal, is of a much lighter 

 build than the stag. She is also lighter in colour, 

 and the white spots are not so well developed as 

 in the stag. Cheetal generally are found in herds 

 of from ten to forty or fifty, and I have seen 

 herds which must have numbered over a hundred. 

 They love shade and cover, and water is in- 

 dispensable to them. They are therefore always 

 found in the vicinity of water and in the valleys ; 

 the banks of a river being their favourite resort. 

 On the banks of the Pen Gunga and Wein Gunga, 

 rivers in Berar, I have seen very large herds, and 

 in the Doon valley they also abounded. I do not 

 think, however, that they ascend to any great 

 elevation, and are more generally found in the 

 forests at the base of mountain ranges. During 

 the heat of the day, they lie up in thick cover, 

 and sally forth at sunset to feed and drink. They 

 may generally be found up to about ten o'clock, 

 when the sun begins to assert its power, and again 



