72 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



Alaskan camp-fires at midnight; and among 

 the Indians of North America he is familiarly 

 known by the nickname of Unga-Bunga, a 

 Sioiix term of endearment which may be 

 roughly translated as " Old Man Not Afraid of 

 Skunks." 



In India in the early eighties Sir Noel's in- 

 finite capacity for making other people take 

 pains, which has rightly been designated 

 " genius," caused the local Maharajahs to vie 

 wdth one another in the provision of bag- tigers 

 for his entertainment. The vast number of 

 beasts that fell to his rifle at this time may be 

 gauged from the fact that every waste-paper 

 basket and coal-scuttle at Biffin Grange (my 

 uncle's English country-seat) takes the form of 

 an elephant's hoof lined mth red plush, while 

 the coat-rack in the front-hall is constructed 

 exclusively of the horns of defunct rhinoceri. 

 The parquet floor at the threshold of each 

 reception room is thickly carpeted with the 

 skins of leopards and wolverines. These, in- 

 deed, have a playful habit of slipping away 

 beneath the feet of the unwary visitor, causing 

 him to slide into the presence of his hostess on 

 the small of his back, and thus providing his 

 fellow-guests with much food for harmless 

 merriment. One huge tiger-skin just outside 

 the drawing-room became so notoriously fatal in 

 this respect that it was eventually sold by public 



