242 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



look at him. Is lie not a quarry worthy of your 

 notice. See his head erect, his antlers thrown 

 back, with his white neck plainly visible, and, as, 

 sniffing the air, his tail standing out, his whole body 

 gathered together, he is ready to spring off at a 

 second's notice. The sunlight falls and flickers in fan- 

 tastic rays of light and shadow on his glossy spotted 

 hide and we are almost tempted to let him go ; 

 but no ! man's selfish animal nature asserts itself. 

 We must have those noble antlers even at the 

 sacrifice of that innocent life ; and we can scarce 

 wait longer, or he may be off, so take him steadily 

 but quickly just behind the shoulder. Bang ! 

 All right, he is down. I have missed mine clean, 

 but, as the smoke clears away, the bonnie stag 

 is kicking convulsively on the ground, and the 

 rest of the herd has vanished like magic, a dap- 

 pled hide now and again gleaming in the sunlight, 

 and glancing through the openings of the bamboo 

 and forest trees, is all that is seen. 



Take care, however, how you go up to your 

 victim to cut his throat. I once got a very nasty 

 cut from a wounded stag. I had laid hold of his 

 antlers, when he struggled up, and we had a 

 regular tussle till Juggoo came up to my assist- 

 ance. The stag had, however, in the scuffle 

 managed to strike me with one of his fore feet 

 with such violence that it cut through the thick 



