BISON. 151 



77f inches; it' he had been measured to the highest point 

 of the hump, which is not vertically over the shoulder, he 

 would have been some inches more. 



A few days later all the servants and shikaries were 

 down with fever, and I had to march to MyoOre. The 

 next news from those jungles was to the effect that Captain 

 Chamberlayne had fired at and wounded a bison, which 

 charged, and knocking him down, attempted to gore him on 

 the ground. Chamberlayne, however, made good use of a 

 strong pair of shooting boots, and gave the brute as much as 

 he got, and, although he returned for another bout, the result 

 was a drawn battle, both opponents, however, being consider- 

 ably the worse for wear ; in fact, Chamberlayne had to relin- 

 quish sporting operations for some time, and was lucky to 

 escape with his life. In Captain Barnett's case, the bison 

 was lying down wounded, and he fired at the shoulder, but 

 this only seemed to put fresh vigour into the brute, which 

 got up and charged him, knocking him over, and then 

 gored him, but luckily only slightly, owing to the horns 

 being very much curved ; Barnett eventually shot the 

 brute. For bison, I used a 12 -bore rine and hardened 

 spherical bullets, propelled by six drachms of powder ; but 

 I found this was insufficient to penetrate to the lungs from 

 the point of the shoulder at least, it could not always be 

 relied on to do so. I also tried a conical bullet with the 

 same charge of powder, but on the whole the spherical 

 one gave more satisfaction. In a broadside shot aim 

 behind, and a shade higher, than the elbow the hump is 

 liable to catch the eye, and as a rule bullets are placed too 

 high in consequence. Bison are very fond of salt licks, 

 and it is well to make inquiries if any exist in the neigh- 

 bouring jungles, and to visit them, for this will show at a 

 glance what different kinds of game are about, as deer are 



