234 MISCELLANEOUS. 



but in these cases the projectile mushroomed out in the 

 usual way, inflicting a severe wound. On my next trip 

 I hope to use a '577 Express for tigers, bears, panthers, 

 &c., a double-barrel 8 -bore rifle for the larger animals, and 

 nothing can beat a '450 Express for deer and antelopes, 

 while in certain favourable positions it is quite powerful 

 enough to kill a tiger. 



The rutting season with sambur begins in October 

 and November ; the stags' antlers are then at their best, 

 and as big game shooting in the plains cannot be then 

 successfully followed, owing to the vast amount of long 

 grass and other covert, the sportsman can employ his time 

 with advantage in stalking these fine animals on the 

 slopes of the Southern Indian hills. The jungles at the 

 foot of these hills being very deadly at that season, had 

 better be avoided ; nor are they suited for stalking, 

 except in the month of July, when many of the stags 

 are in velvet, and consequently unfit to be shot. The 

 sambur does not adhere to a grass diet alone ; he is very 

 partial to several kinds of jungle fruits of the plum tribe 

 (as also are bison and elephants), and in many parts of the 

 Neilgherries the orchards containing peach trees were 

 much damaged by their inroads. 



An old stag generally prefers to lie up for the day in a 

 small sholah on commanding ground, near the centre of 

 which he makes his form (like a hare's), and from which 

 position he can detect the approach of all enemies. In the 

 larger sholahs he is more at the mercy of the tiger and 

 panther, who can stalk him with ease in the dense under- 

 growth. All deer, too, are fond of the pods of many kinds of 

 trees, the babool, for instance, to eat which the antelope 

 will travel many miles. Nice stalking will be obtainable 

 in the month of March, when the pods are formed on 



