THE INDIAN BISON 



perhaps most extraordinary proceeding upon his 

 part, was his leaving C. (although he was in such 

 a vindictive temper) while that officer was pommel- 

 ling him for I cannot believe that C.'s efforts could 

 have really inconvenienced him. 



One of my favourite jungle-men a little Kurraba 

 was an eye-witness of the encounter, since he 

 was jumping about behind a bamboo clump, be- 

 wailing C.'s fate, but never thinking of firing off 

 the spare rifle which he carried ! This little 

 Kurraba's idea was that the bull left C. because 

 the latter beat him so severely, but I find it 

 impossible to imagine that so huge a beast could 

 be hurt by kicks and by blows from a man's feet 

 and fists. 



Quite recently Mr. R. M., a planter on the 

 Billiga-Rungun hills in Mysore, had the narrowest 

 possible escape, being so fearfully injured by a bison 

 that his recovery was little short of miraculous. 

 Mr. M. had been out shooting, and had bagged a 

 bull. He was walking back, accompanied by one 

 native, when all of a sudden a bison rushed at him 

 from behind and horned him through the back, the 

 horn making a huge wound, and penetrating the 

 lung. But for the kindness of one of the Army 

 Medical Staff in Bangalore, who went and stayed 

 with him, and the unremitting care of his charming 

 and plucky wife, Mr. M. could not have recovered, 

 and in fact, with every advantage in their favour, 

 very few men could have survived such a wound. 

 It is quite unknown what induced the bison to 

 attack Mr. M. ; whether the animal was one which 



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