186 DEER. 



My first experience of sambur shooting was at Kulhatty, 

 on the Baba Booden Hills, in April, 1870. We had a large 

 party, who were enjoying the hospitality of Colonel Hay, 

 the Deputy Commissioner of the district, and had a series 

 of picnics, in combination with sambur driving, which was 

 carried out in the sholahs, with beaters and a " bobbery " 

 pack of dogs, the guns being posted on the outskirts. In 

 the smaller sholahs we had very fair sport, but the larger 

 woods ran down the slopes to the heavy forests at the foot 

 of the hills, and the deer always beat us here. Our best 

 day resulted in five sambur, out of which there was but 

 one really good head, but at that time many stags are in 

 velvet. These hills are about 5000 feet above the sea; 

 and although the days were very hot, even with a breeze, 

 the nights were delightfully cool. Further down the hills 

 at Santawerry we also got an occasional sambur, when 

 driving the coffee plantations and adjacent jungles for 

 spotted deer and jungle sheep. 



On the Neilgherries, in May, 1881, we (a party of 

 three) made a trip from Wellington to the Orange A 7 alley 

 and Peerput Mund, commencing each day by stalking from 

 five to nine o'clock in the morning. After breakfast the 

 neighbouring sholahs were beaten for sambur, jungle 

 sheep, and pigs, the latter being in an impossible country 

 for the spear. Hinds were very numerous, but were not 

 fired at. Stags were few and far between, and seldom 

 seen when beating, although occasionally met with during 

 the early morning stalks ; Captain Croker, of my regiment, 

 a good all-round sportsman, and one of the best snipe 

 shots I ever saw, getting a fine stag his first morning. 

 We had a motley crew of camp followers and hangers-on 

 of sorts, from dog boys to bandy wallahs (bullock men), 

 who clamoured for meat, and we got a mixed bag, which 



