72 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF SHIKAR 



Subrao, whom we had trained as our shikari, and he 

 became a very good one and especially keen and, 

 wonderful to say, he always spoke the truth. I had, 

 besides, Mahadeo and Ganpat, two local men. 



I was sitting writing in camp one morning, when 

 I felt small soft things falling on my helmet. I 

 thought that they were bits of leaf and stuff from 

 the big trees overhead, so took no notice for some 

 time. But the pattering on my topi continued, and 

 then I noticed that the ground all round me was 

 thickly dotted with sweet-smelling white flowers, 

 like little tassels. I looked up and saw several 

 small monkeys peeping down, pulling off the blossoms 

 of the tree and having shots at me. They ran away 

 and hid behind branches when they found I was 

 watching them, but as soon as I began to write again 

 they came back and started pelting me. They kept 

 at it for an hour or more, so that there was a continual 

 pattering on my topi and a carpet of flowers strewn 

 around me. They were delighted when they hit 

 me and chattered loudly, and it was most amusing 

 to watch them, which I could do by looking through 

 my fingers ; and they seemed to be as much amused 

 as I was. 



We went out each morning long before dawn, and 

 the men took a torch and lantern, as it was almost 

 impossible to make our way in the dark. The lights 

 were put out before we reached the clearing in the 

 forest where we were to sit and watch, and where we 

 hoped the bison would come to ieed. 



When it was light enough to see, we walked on 

 to a small and dirty pool of water to search for tracks. 



