102 SALT-LICKS. 



manner I bagged a brace of birds, and missed several others ; 

 and then, as it began to rain, we made direct for the village, 

 without attempting to hunt on our way down. 



We now commenced retracing our steps homewards. For 

 several days our route lay along the valley of the Kallee. 

 The roaring river surging along between steep forest-clad or 

 rocky acclivities made the scenery wild and grand, but one's 

 appreciation of its charms was considerably marred by the 

 concentrated heat at that season in this low-lying narrow 

 valley, and by the inclemency of the weather. A halt was 

 made at a place said to be famous for jurrow and kakur. I 

 saw many of the former deer, but all were hornless, the stags 

 having just shed their antlers ; I only shot a young male to 

 provide meat for the coolies. I also killed a kakur, which 

 was not found until the following morning, when, from the 

 nature of the tracks in its vicinity, it was evident that a 

 sounder of wild pigs had, unfortunately for us, discovered it 

 first, and had made rather a mess, in every sense of the word, 

 of its carcass. Had I then known that near this place there 

 was a famous salt-lick close to the river, I might, had I cared 

 to take advantage of it, have spared myself the trouble of 

 perspiring over the baked hillsides of these low warm regions 

 in quest of game. 



These salt-licks, or bar as they are termed by the 

 natives, which may be described as places where the ground 

 is strongly impregnated with some sort of saline or alkaline 

 matter, are here and there met with all over the mountains. 

 In such spots large cavities may often be seen where the 

 earth has been scooped out of the hillside by the animals 

 partaking of the Tear. In wild unfrequented parts where 

 game abounds, I am told that animals can at times be actually 

 slaughtered by watching these licks. An acceptable addition 

 was sometimes made to our fare by Kalleege pheasants, which 

 were plentiful along this route ; although shooting them at 

 that time of year was hardly fair. They generally, however, 



