FOX-HUNTING. 47 



enjoyment of which the vast open plains, intermixed with 

 rocky ground and ravines, in the immediate vicinity of Jaul- 

 nah, presented excellent opportunities, was that of fox-hunt- 

 ing; not, indeed, that noble recreation upon which so many 

 thousands are spent, and so much emulation exists in our 

 native land, but the pursuit of a beautiful little animal, not 

 much more than half the size of the British fox, with silvery 

 far and black bushy tail, that is found at early dawn, and 

 descried by the practised eye of the hunter creeping silently 

 and singly over the plain, or skulking amongst the rocks, 

 and which often affords an excellent run, trying the speed of 

 a brace of greyhounds, and the pace of an Arab horse, before 

 they are either killed or earthed. 



The same description of ground on which these animals 

 are found presents a curious and interesting field of observa- 

 tion to the Indian officer who delights to rise on the first 

 break of morn, and, summoning his " syce," or horsekeeper, 

 mounts his trusty Arab, and taking with him his gun or 

 rifle, dogs, and spear, repairs to the barren plains and hills 

 of the Deccan. 



Troops of jackals retiring from their nightly " razzias," 

 here and there some wolves, or a solitary dummel gundy or 

 hyena making his way, in a deliberate and ungraceful 

 canter, from, the glare of the sun and the haunts of men to 

 some hole or cave, are the first objects that strike his view. 



Flocks of antelopes are seen in the distance, and bound 

 away upon his approach; and if these all vanish without 

 affording a chance for either rifle or spear, he consoles him- 

 self with a careful scrutiny for the miniature Reynard, which 

 is to afford him an opportunity for an exciting and invigo- 

 rating gallop, before the sun's rays render such an amuse- 

 ment unpleasant, if not impracticable, and returns with a 

 brush or two to the discussion of an Indian breakfast, with 

 an appetite which the souvenirs of the previous evening's 



