HUNTING THE MUSK-DEEE. 95 



In some districts they are hunted down 

 with dogs, but snaring is by far the most 

 common method practised for their capture. 

 A few are occasionally shot by the village 

 shikaries when in pursuit of other animals, 

 but the matchlock is seldom taken out 

 purposely to hunt musk-deer ; for a hill 

 shikarie does not carry the match hghted, 

 and the deer being generally come upon 

 face to face, almost every one would get 

 away before he could strike a light and 

 apply it to the match. In snaring, a fence 

 about three feet high, composed of bushes 

 and branches of trees, is made in the forest, 

 generally along some ridges, and often 

 upwards of a mile in length. Openings for 

 the deer to pass through are left every ten 

 or fifteen yards, and in each a strong 

 hempen snare is placed, tied to a long stick, 

 the thick end of which is firmly fixed in 

 the ground, and the smaller, to which the 

 snare is fastened bent forwards to the 

 opening ; so that the deer, when passing 

 through, treads upon some small sticks which 



