24 8 IN THE INDIAN JUNGLE. 



bagged one of the finest solitary bison to be seen. 

 He was out by himself with only a tracker or two, 

 and came on the brute end on, and at twenty paces 

 was able to put in a right and left from a heavy 

 ten-bore, but the position was a bad one for a mortal 

 shot, the bullets hitting high on the withers. The 

 beast made off and put a mile of ground between 

 itself and its pursuers before, overcome with the 

 loss of blood, it sank down in the long grass to rest 

 awhile. When first seen, the rain was coming 

 down in torrents, so that P - was able to get 

 within twenty yards without difficulty ; but after 

 delivering his fire he was unable to get in two fresh 

 cartridges, as the wet had swollen the cases and 

 they jammed. The torrents of rain and the noise 

 of the shower prevented the bison seeing from 

 which direction the shot had come, or he might have 

 charged and done some damage ; so after sniffing 

 the air awhile he made off down hill and took 

 shelter in some heavy grass. It was some little 



time before P could reload his gun, and he then 



set off in search of the bison, which he was sure 

 could not have gone very far after being so badly 

 wounded. The tracks were plain and easily fol- 

 lowed up, and the native shikarees soon pointed out 

 the huge brute lying in a clump of grass. Two 

 more shots, which were afterwards discovered to 

 have taken effect in the region of the ribs, and the 

 brute was up and away like the wind, receiving 

 two hasty shots as he was scurrying through the 

 grass. The rain now came down in torrents so 

 that all sight of him was lost, and the tracks were 



