'ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 231 



the river-side 150 yards ahead of us. Shots were fired by 

 king and courtiers, but the panther held on till he came to a 

 fissure in the rocks, when he turned up into the forest, and 

 we saw him no more. So ended the grand hunting-party, in 

 which five or six hundred men had been engaged. The Eajah 

 lamented our bad luck ; we replied that the tiger had still 

 some days to live. Eemarks complimentary to ourselves and 

 derogatory to tigers were interchanged ; the bands again 

 struck up ; the nautch- women commenced to yell ; and we 

 rowed back to the town, where we parted from our host, and 

 returned to camp. Poor man ! he had done the best he could 

 for us according to his lights. 



Some of the officers of the force went out hog-hunting ; 

 but as I did not wish to risk laming horses on the line of 

 march, I abstained from this sport. However, I went after 

 deer in company with our Quartermaster-General ; and, at a 

 short distance from camp, came on three chinkara grazing in 

 some cultivated ground. Working our cart towards them I 

 dropped one with each barrel. The third trotted off a short 

 distance, and then, standing, looked about for his comrades. 

 Quickly reloading, I again fired, and we picked up the three 

 antelopes. 



As the force was to cross the Chumbul on the following 

 day, we proceeded to examine the ford, and as we descended 

 to the river I saw a large alligator basking on a mud bank. 

 He was broadside on, about sixty yards off, and lay motion- 

 less, with his jaws apart. I fired, and struck him in the 

 neck. His head dropped, and he lay quite dead. We then 

 descended and cut off his head, which we carried away as 

 a trophy. On our way to camp my companion shot a buck 

 chinkara. 



Leaving Kotah, we proceeded to Nusserabad by easy 



