110 A DRIVE AT MIRZAPUR 



ordinary picture, and as they came towards 

 me I could not for the moment imagine what 

 they were. Unfortunately, there was not time 

 to shoot. The young ones, hardly as big as a 

 young wild boar, were not worth shooting. 

 It is not often, I imagine, that one sees an 

 otter during a drive. 



On this day I had within range panther, 

 nilgai, bear, hyena, jackal, sambur, cheetal, 

 peacock, jungle-cock and an otter. Certainly 

 a motley and fine collection ! And, as I 

 have said, the jungle we drove was not 

 considered good from an Indian point of 

 view. 



A hunt of this kind with the Maharajah of 

 Kuch Behar, one of the greatest and most 

 powerful of the Indian princes, would have 

 showed a still greater variety. In such a 

 drive there would no doubt have been 

 rhinoceros and tiger, perhaps even a fine 

 bison. Anyhow, such a hunt could not have 

 been carried on from butts level with the 

 ground. The guns would be either on elephants 

 or on the high platforms, called machans. 



