494 The Hunting Grounds 



vantages, some half-dozen of which I shall enume- 

 rate. In the first place, two or three gun-bearers are 

 required to each sportsman, whose duty it is^ to pass 

 up the spare guns as fast as those in hand are dis- 

 charged : now it is a great disadvantage for a hunter, 

 when on trail or stalking, to have a number of per- 

 sons at his heels, on account of the extra noise they 

 must necessarily make in forcing their way through 

 cover, which often gives alarm to the game and pre- 

 vents him from getting a shot. Secondly, it is a 

 great drawback, when in the pursuit of some dan- 

 gerous animal, when a faux pas might be attended 

 with fatal consequences, to have any other than your- 

 self to look after. Thirdly, it is not pleasant to have 

 loaded fire-arms carried in the rear by inexperienced 

 hands, with whom an accident from carelessness is as 

 likely to occur as not. Fourthly, it is not a com- 

 fortable feeling to have to depend upon the coolness 

 and courage of your followers ; and many a sportsman 

 has found himself in an awkward position by his gun- 

 bearers having been seized with a panic, and bolted, 

 leaving him, with both barrels discharged, in the 

 presence of a wounded and infuriated animal, when 

 nothing but some lucky chance can prevent a cata- 

 strophe. Fifthly, it frequently happens, in hunting 

 in different parts of the country, that the sportsman 

 (if he does not keep in his pay a shekar-gang of his 

 own, which is expensive work) has to entrust his 



