INDIAN SHOOTING 241 



horns adding to, rather than detracting from, its beauty ; the 

 pupil of the eye is large, and of a pale blue colour. Jerdon 

 says the eyes are small. They may be in actual measurement, 

 but they certainly do not appear so. The muzzle is large, and 

 the ears broad without being coarse. The ears of an old bull 

 are often torn to ribbons from fighting. The horns of such 

 animals are rather rugged at the base, and the points are 

 chipped and worn but they are massive, have a beautiful out- 

 ward curve, and are light coloured. The neck is short and power- 

 ful, the skin rather loose, with curious wrinkles in it that give 

 the apuearance of a small dewlap, which the beast is really des- 

 titute of. Behind the neck the beauty of the bison vanishes. 

 The high dorsal ridge towering above the insertion of the neck 

 makes the shoulders look loaded and straight, and the neck 

 itself put on too low ; the ridge running down to the centre of 

 the back and there ending abruptly gives the quarters a dwarfed 

 and drooping appearance, though this is far from being really the 

 case. The tail is rather short and fine ; the legs are particu- 

 larly fine and clean, the hoofs being marvellously small and 

 neat for so large an animal. 



The cows, less heavily built than the bulls, are of a coffee- 

 brown colour ; the dorsal ridge is not so much developed, 

 though it is still prominent ; the legs are white instead of yellow 

 the writer heard an old bull described as looking as if he was 

 wearing gaiters. The horns are thinner and more upright ; 

 young bulls are very like cows, and mistakes are frequently made 

 when stalking herds, except by really experienced men. Old 

 cows look enormous, they are often darker in colour than young 

 bulls (in certain lights they look almost black), and are not 

 unfrequently shot by mistake. Of course if there is an old bull 

 in the herd to compare with them, there is little chance of 

 error. The best bulls are those that have been driven from 

 the herds by younger and more active rivals, and henceforward 

 live alone. These solitary bulls are always the finest specimens, 

 and are consequently the chief objects of the sportsman's 

 ambition. It is a very curious fact that bison appear to be the 



II. R 



