3l6 THE FORESTS OF UPPER INDIA 



They finish their meal, and dehberately, without hurry, 

 disperse, leaving some of their number dead or badly 

 wounded among the rocks. It is not wise to go too near 

 a wounded dog ; but at length we gather the spoils, two 

 good specimens, male and female. 



I am very much pleased at securing these rare animals, 

 and trust the taking off the skins to no native skinner, 

 but skin them carefully myself.* For some time all 

 game seemed to have left the Bori forest, but this was 

 the last I saw of the pack. The amount of destruction 

 wrought by a pack of fifty or a hundred sone kutte among 

 the game of the forest must be considerable, especially 

 among the deer, which seem to be their principal quarry. 

 But the Gonds declare they will hunt and pull down any 

 animal, even to the lordly tiger. I have not heard of 

 their killing cattle, but they can tackle nilghai easily, and 

 pigs are their prey, and chital. The battle of an old boar 

 for his life must be a fierce and bloody affair, as his tusks 

 are very sharp, and he can use them. As one does not 

 hear of the wild dog being often shot, it seems likely that 

 they would increase in numbers rapidly. But they re- 

 main rare animals, from which it might be argued that 

 a good many are killed by boars or tigers in deadly fights. 

 They are certainly brave in their combined attack, and 

 seem not to fear even man. 



There are several quaint old coloured prints in that 

 most fascinating book, Williamson's ' Sports of the East,' 

 published a century ago, depicting the attack of wild dogs 

 on a tiger ; showing that the Anglo-Indian sportsman of 

 those days — who is represented hunting in a top-hat — was 



* These skins were set up by Rowland Ward in a large case, which 

 was exhibited at two Indian exhibitions in London and the South 

 Kensington Museum, and is now deposited on loan at the Natural 

 History Museum in Dublin. The wild dogs are fighting over the head 

 of the sambur. 



