THE TEAK REGION. 243 



again on their beautifully bronzed hides. There were so 

 many tracks that to follow the herd was hopeless ; the Skunk 

 was nowhere to be seen ; and so we coasted round the edge 

 of the plateau, peering down among the bamboo clumps in 

 the hope of discovering the herd. After going about half 

 round I suddenly almost ran up against a cow in some long 

 grass ; and immediately T., who was a little to my right, 

 called out that the whole herd was standing down below 

 among the bamboos. My cow had bolted off in a great 

 fright, and I ran up to T. in time to see ten or twelve bison 

 scrambling up the opposite side of the ravine a long shot 

 from where we were. A bull brought up the rear, and there 

 was another covered by the clump of cows ; so we opened fire 

 on the former, and the third shot broke, his leg. He had the 

 other shots too, and, after limping on a bit, staggered and fell 

 over down the hill. Being much fatigued by the heat of a 

 very sultry April day, we waited there till the people came 

 up with our leathern water-sack to have a drink, and then 

 went over to the bull, who was still alive but unable to rise. 

 The Skunk, who had luckily been exactly in the line of the 

 herd's retreat, now came running up, and, standing afar off 

 by special request, told us whither they had gone. 



There was a mighty black bull among them, whose horns 

 we determined to have, if possible ; so, sending the ponies, 

 and with them, alas ! the water, under the guidance of the 

 Skunk, to wait us at a point in the valley beyond for 

 which we thought the herd was making, we started off on 

 their tracks. In going along the edge of a spin: T. saw three 

 or four of the bison standing under the ridge of the hill, and 

 we went round to stalk them. It was a long way and the heat 

 was really fearful, so that we were not perhaps so cautious in 

 our approach as we should have been, and the result was that 



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