CHASE ELEPHANTS AND GAUR 211 



back to my halting-ground was so done that I could scarcely 

 speak, and was obliged to take a tot of brandy to bring me 

 to. I do not remember ever to have been more thoroughly 

 used up. The day was one of those cloudless, furiously hot 

 ones, and if there was any wind it was not to be felt in the 

 high grass, and I was running and walking all day with a 

 heavy rifle in my hand, so it was not very wonderful that I 

 did not go out the next day. But on the following I took up 

 the trail of the hathees, and though I knew they had one 

 day's and two nights' start of me, yet followed on, and soon 

 got upon fresh tracks of bison, and, on turning a corner of the 

 kine, came upon a huge bull about 10 yards off. 



" He was more astonished than I was, gave a sort of roar, and 

 bolted before I could finger trigger. I ran forward, but he 

 had dashed down into a nullah and was away. Wonder where 

 I should have been if, instead of bolting, he had come at me ! 

 Soon saw that he had gone off with no intention of allowing 

 me to see him again that day, so took 'up the elephant track 

 again, and in about half-an-hour afterwards, in a perfectly 

 open piece of ground, and in the middle of the road that the 

 elephants had made, came upon a tiger lying down. As we 

 were upon no fresh track, I was not carrying my gun, and 

 before I could get it he was away into the jungle. I followed 

 for some little distance, but found he had gone into a dense 

 thicket, in which there was no seeing anything. I went some- 

 what further, and seeing that the elephants had never stopped 

 to eat or drink, and ascertaining that the nearest water was 

 something like six or eight miles off, I gave it up and got 

 back into the Pabay stream, and walked back without seeing 

 anything. 



" Next morning I was out after bison again. Before long 

 got on a fresh trail, but it was long before we came upon the 

 brutes themselves. They were in a burnt-up-looking bit of 

 jungle on the top of a hill. I saw the white stockings of one, 

 and ran forward as rapidly as I could till I sighted his 

 chocolate-coloured body, which, by contrast with the jungle 

 around, looked black. He was looking at me and so gave 

 me a bad shot. He was about 80 yards off. I fired, and 

 rolled him over. Running forward, I saw another standing 



