THE HIGHER NAEBADA. 343 



bock, many other savage races, besides those of India, have 

 entertained it ; and it will be seen further on that it forms the 

 ground of a singular ceremony among the wild Byg&s of the 

 Mandla" district. 



The panther of course never came to the carcass of the 

 pony. I never saw an animal do so yet ; but I have, I confess, 

 only tried it a few times. Some sportsmen have been very 

 successful in this machan-shooting by night ; but it would be 

 poor fun even if one killed a tiger every night. 



Sambar were extremely numerous at that time on the hills 

 on both sides of the valley, but particularly on the north side. 

 Shots at them could be procured by driving almost any of the 

 hills with beaters, and I killed a number of them both this 

 way and by stalking. Although it was near the end of the 

 month of April, when, according to theory, both sambar and 

 spotted deer should have cast their horns \ yet, out of the im- 

 mense number of both species that I saw in this trip, only one 

 sambar, and two or three spotted bucks, were without horns. 

 Some of the most interesting sport I have had in this valley 

 has been in coursing the sambar with dogs. During this trip 

 I fell in with a gang of G6nd woodcutters, who possessed a 

 number of fine large red-coloured dogs, with the aid of which 

 they were able to run down and spear many deer and wild 

 pigs. 



This red breed of pariahs is certainly the indigenous one of 

 these parts, whether or not, as I suspect, descended from the 

 wild species which frequents these jungles. The large parti- 

 coloured animals, seen about Hindu villages in the open val- 

 ley, were probably imported along with their masters. The 

 wild dogs live in packs of fifteen or twenty, and prey exclu- 

 sively on game, running down all sorts of deer like a pack of 

 hounds. Where a pack has been hunting for any time, most 



