THE TRACK LOST AND FOUND. 263 



blood spots gradually getting less and less. The dogs soon 

 arrived, the two Australian kangaroo dogs and Victor, a half 

 hound half blood hound ; telling the men only to slip the 

 dogs if the stag got up, I waited the result, and my hopes 

 fell when Francis made signs that the track continued down 

 the hill towards the river. I stalked along the bank hoping 

 the stag might be in the water, but saw no signs of him, only 

 very fresh tracks of a tiger on the sand. 



Beyond the river there were two immense forests. We 

 had entirely lost the track, but after hunting for a long time 

 I found one spot of blood where the deer had entered the 

 stream in the direction of one of the woods, and although I 

 could not find any blood on the other bank to distinguish the 

 track of the wounded deer from many others, I concluded 

 he had made for the wood, but after hunting up nearly all of 

 them without, success, I went back again to the stream and 

 after infinite trouble found a footstep with one unmistakeable 

 drop of blood leading to a detached wood. My excitement 

 was great as I stole round to command the upper part, but 

 I was again to be disappointed. They found where the stag 

 had lain down and tracked him out of it in the direction 

 of another very small wood. I posted myself at the top, 

 listening for the slightest sound ; presently I heard a voice 

 and a whistle and hastened down ; the boy with the two 

 Australian dogs had started the stag which had doubled back, 

 yet the idiot had never loosed the dogs. As soon as I got 

 on the track I gave orders for the dogs to be let go, but 

 I was in utter despair, for instead of their taking up the 

 scent, they tore about in all directions in the wildest manner 

 possible. I then sent one of the men to a hill top to look out 

 while I endeavoured to take up the track ; presently the look 



