188 DEER. 



yards out in the open, and were much on the alert, as an 

 odious black monkey was hooting vigorously at me from 

 an adjacent tree. Having tried the wind, it became evident 

 that they would get it on arriving within two hundred 

 yards of the sholah ; we had therefore to intercept them 

 before they reached that point. 



The intervening ground was studded with a few large 

 stones, and sloped gently down for about four hundred 

 yards ; but if a spot some two hundred and fifty yards 

 in that direction could be reached unseen, we would 

 be within a long shot of them by the time they got 

 our wind. 



Crossing the top of the ridge which was their sky- 

 line w^hen their heads were down, I got into the " back 

 position " on the slope ; and watching my opportunities, 

 and pushing the rifle alongside foot by foot, reached the 

 first stone safely, which was half-way to my objective 

 point. The abominable monkey now became more demon- 

 strative, shaking the boughs and swearing at me,* and 

 the stags trotted forward a short distance and stopped, 

 looking hard in my direction, but soon recommenced 

 feeding and trying the red deer dodge of putting down 

 their heads as if to graze, and then raising them sharply 

 to see if anything was moving. I remained motionless 

 during these agonising moments. Proceeding in this way, 

 I at length got within two hundred yards, and as they 

 might now wind me at any moment and gallop off, giving 

 a difficult shot, I reversed my position and fired at the big 

 stag. The bullet went over his back, but he did not stir for 

 a few seconds, till the shot from the left barrel aimed 



* We subsequently found the fresh tracks of a tiger, which 

 had evidently retired into the sholah on our approach, and the 

 monkey's threats may have been intended for him. 



