ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 11 



It will be remembered that the best season for shooting is 

 in the hottest months of the year, and during that time the 

 work of following and hunting beasts, when their exact 

 locality has been ascertained by the shikarees, will be found 

 sufficient exertion. This does not refer to bison, sambur, and 

 chetul shooting, as they are generally shot when stalking in 

 the early mornings or evenings. But with tigers, bears, and 

 panthers, the best plan is to have the game marked down by 

 the shikarees ; and if good men are employed, they will, 

 except in very difficult countries, always succeed in following 

 a beast to the spot where it lies up for the day. 



Various methods are adopted, but I have found, for tigers 

 and panthers, that baiting the country brings more game 

 to the bag than any other plan. This is done by the shikarees, 

 who, on arriving on fresh ground, proceed to hunt up the 

 country far and wide for tracks, and by careful examination 

 of the ground, and assiduously " pumping" the cowherds, toler- 

 ably accurate estimates of the prospect of sport can generally 

 be formed. 



The presence of a tiger in the country having been ascer- 

 tained, young buffaloes must be procured, and these can be 

 bought at from three to six rupees each, according to their size 

 and the rapacity of their owners. They are tied up in the after- 

 noons at the meetings of paths or ravines, and near pools 

 which the tigers frequent, being attracted both by the water 

 and the herds of deer and pigs which co-me down to slake their 

 thirst. They should be tied by a stout cord to some stump or 

 root, so that if possible they may not get the rope into a com- 

 plication. They should, moreover, be tied in an open space, 

 so that they may be seen from a distance. Sometimes, on the 

 approach of a tiger, they will lie down, and by keeping still 

 escape observation. 



