124 BISON. 



camp was situated at the foot of a rocky slope, above which 

 rose a high and wooded ridge, and magnificent forests 

 stretched away on every side. The Mulsers, in an 

 incredibly short time, rigged up a bamboo bedstead in 

 the tent, and made a capital hut for the chokra to cook in. 

 They then cut down some female bamboos and made 

 water-buckets from the joints, and constructed reservoirs 

 from the larger stems to hold our drinking and cooking 

 water. During the night I heard the croaking of spotted 

 deer, the bark of a muntjack deer, and the belling of a 

 sambur on the slope above the camp, and many other 

 jungle voices which I did not recognise. These sounds 

 always augur well for sport. Next morning we started 

 at daybreak up the slope above the camp, and, entering the 

 wooded part, followed a bison track up the hill until the 

 top was reached, a stiff pull of over a mile. Here we 

 found ourselves on a thickly wooded plateau, the surface 

 of the ground being covered with creepers and cannse. In 

 Indian file we followed an old bison path,* the tracker 

 in front and the gun carrier behind me. The tracker, 

 having the most important duty to perform, did not 

 carry a rifle, and from time to time he changed places 

 with his companion, who then took up the post of 

 honour. 



After walking in this way for some miles we struck the 

 fresh trail of a bison, but the Carders' reputation as 

 trackers was far in advance of their performance, which 

 was only moderate ; they seemed to track in a perfunctory 

 way, as if they were bored ; and on subsequent occasions I 

 often longed for Baliyah, or Pochello ; or some other of 

 the keen shikaries of the Deccan. As Carders will not even 

 touch a bison it may have had something to do with their 

 * These game-paths exist in all dense jungles. 



