18 ON. 121 



Porter, who owned a coffee plantation, and was a good and 

 experienced sportsman used to declare that he knew of 

 no better sport than bison-stalking on these hills on the 

 wide grassy plateaux near Kulhutty herds of bison, being 

 attracted by the young grass which springs up after the 

 first shower of the monsoon, leaving their fastnesses in the 

 jungles of the low country, came up to graze on these 

 swards in the early mornings, retiring to the shade and 

 streams of the sholahs when the sun got hot. Porter lived 

 at Santawerry, five miles down the ghaut, and in order to 

 be on the ground at dawn, was in the habit of coming up 

 the hill the evening before to sleep in a cave adjacent to 

 the favourite feeding grounds. These stalks in the open 

 necessitated much greater care than those in the woodlands 

 ordinarily frequented by bison, inasmuch as the sight of 

 the animals had to be considered, as well as their keen 

 sense of smell ; nor were there any trees to protect him in 

 case of a charge. My bison shooting, however, was 

 almost invariably confined to the forest, my first trip 

 being made in 1871 to the Annamullay Hills, and 

 subsequent ones to Bandipore, Mudnoor, and the 

 Chamraj-nugger jungles. The preceding three months 

 of the hot weather in that year had been devoted to the 

 pursuit of bears, panthers, and tigers, in various jungles 

 lying between Hyderabad and Chanda, and on the com- 

 mencement of the rains, I returned to Securiderabad, 

 dawked to Gulbergha (it was before the days of the 

 Hyderabad Bail way), thence to Bangalore by rail; here 

 laying in a fresh stock of provisions, ammunition, and 

 equipment, the journey was continued by rail to Coim- 

 batore, thence by road to Polachy, where everybody was 

 down with fever, and I finally reached the village of 

 Annamullay, at the foot of the hills, on the 27th June. 



