BULLET AND SHOT 



possible route. We journey over the grassy plain, inter- 

 spersed with stunted trees, for six miles to the westward ; 

 this will bring us to our camping-ground beside a creek 

 rushing from the hills, where our " mokso " has often 

 camped before, in days when he had a muzzle-loader 

 and shot the wily tsine. On our way we are on the 

 qui vive for any fresh tracks of tsine which may have 

 crossed the path recently, and also keep sharp eyes to 

 either side, as, not unfrequently, tsine may be viewed, 

 although the habit of the animal is to be cautious when 

 crossing a jungle-path, and to hurry on for some distance 

 after doing so. It must not be supposed that tsine are 

 not cognisant of a path and its purpose ; they know 

 very well, and, if on the feed, when reaching a path 

 they will hurry on for some few hundred yards before 

 grazing again. Indeed, in my experience, most wild 

 animals have this habit. Should we come on fresh 

 tracks, we start off to track, intending to reach our camp 

 later on towards nightfall. The tracks are not unlike 

 those of the village cattle, but cut more finely, and, if 

 one might use the expression, more deer-like in appear- 

 ance. The tracks of a tsine and a bison may be easily 

 distinguished after a little experience, the former being 

 elongated, whereas the latter are almost circular, and, of 

 course, broader. The track of the tsine is, indeed, so 

 nearly approaching that of a sambur, that one some- 

 times has to look twice before making quite sure. 

 Following up the herd, we shall probably find evidence 

 that they have been cropping the long grass as they 

 go ; if, on the contrary, there are no such signs, it would 

 not . be worth while tracking them, for, of a certainty, 

 they have been disturbed by getting the wind of some- 

 body or something, and are making a line for another 

 part of the prairie land, which will lead us on for miles, 

 till nightfall. As the herd moves along it breaks up, 

 rejoining again and proceeding in Indian file where a 

 nullah has to be descended by a single break in the 

 bank or broken ground, to be avoided by a strip of 



