144 BISON. 



On the 30th July I got a bison near the Poolakul 

 Ibex Hill, after stalking it for two hours, at the end of the 

 time getting a snap shot which went through the heart ; 

 a very large beast, with shabby horns. It rained almost 

 incessantly from the morning of the 27th to mid-day on 

 the 29th, resulting in our being cut off from our depot of 

 supply at Toonacudavoo, and, as I could not touch bison 

 flesh on account of its strong odour, recourse was had to 

 jungle fowl and black monkeys for the pot. The former 

 were scarce, in fact I only got a shot at one, of which 

 there was but little left after a 12 -bore bullet had perfo- 

 rated him ; and the latter were unpleasant things to shoot, 

 although very good when curried. I only had nerve 

 enough to shoot one ; he was dismembered and mixed up 

 with the fragments of the jungle-cock and I never 

 knew whether the food was bird or beast, it was a tasty 

 but distinctly cannibalistic repast. One evening I strolled 

 down to the river to examine some bison heads which 

 had been placed in the stream to clean, and saw several 

 good sized fish, presumably mahseer, swimming about 

 close to them. A fishing rod and tackle having been 

 improvised, some time was spent in unsuccessful attempts 

 to lure them with worms. The Periar here was about 

 forty yards broad, with a nice stream and several likely 

 looking pools, but an alligator on the opposite bank 

 represented some of its inmates, and dispelled the salmon 

 river illusion it otherwise would have given rise to. My 

 stock of hardened bullets becoming exhausted, I had to 

 melt down the handle of an old pewter mug which had 

 been my faithful servant on several shooting trips. From 

 this, five bullets were cast, which subsequently accounted 

 for three bison. Barnett had been using a Martini rifle 

 at these animals, but was not satisfied with its perform- 



