BULLET AND SHOT 



of time, constitute, with his afore-mentioned anti- 

 quated weapon and a few charges of powder and 

 lead, a stock-in-trade which is amply sufficient for 

 his purpose. For hours he will lie in ambush 

 watching a water-hole, at which, in the hot and 

 dry season, deer are wont to slake their thirst ; or 

 a salt-lick, whither they repair, especially in wet 

 weather, to eat the salt earth ; but let even a gravid 

 hind or a young fawn approach his hiding place 

 so close that to miss is well-nigh impossible, the 

 murderous charge is launched, and the exulting 

 poacher secures an animal whose flesh can be sold. 



The time has undoubtedly come when a check 

 should be put on this state of things by the im- 

 position of gun and game licences, priced sufficiently 

 high to prevent the majority of these poachers from 

 incurring the expense of so large an outlay. In 

 Mysore, as I have elsewhere stated, there is nothing 

 to prevent anyone from entering even the State 

 forests (except during the fire season) for the pur- 

 pose of shooting ; and the ridiculous cost of a gun 

 licence (about fourpence) and the absence of any 

 game regulations, enable the poacher to make a 

 very comfortable living at the cost of very little 

 exertion, and at an outlay in cash of almost nil. 



There are many other human poachers, par- 

 ticularly gipsy-like wandering tribes, who do not 

 use guns, but who are extremely expert in every 

 conceivable device for capturing game, both large 

 and small, and whose methods often combine great 

 simplicity in form, with consummate ingenuity in 

 design. Antelope are sometimes captured by the 



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