FOUR DAYS 131 



instantly at the shot, with amazing velocity for 

 so heavy an animal, caught sight of the coolie 

 and went for him. The buffalo, as Tweedie 

 said, passed within a few inches of Dhokuri's 

 tree, but Dhokuri had the intelligence and the 

 nerve not to move, and his presence was not 

 discovered. Tweedie fired the second barrel of 

 the -450 into the buffalo as he charged; but this 

 did not distract his attention, and he dashed 

 straight at the tree behind which the tiffin coolie 

 had taken shelter, and up which he was trying to 

 climb. The gallant but stupid beast crashed 

 into the tree ; and then, instead of hunting the 

 man round the tree, drew back a little and 

 crashed into the tree again, trying to knock it 

 down. By this time Tweedie had reloaded, and 

 two more bullets from the -450 laid him low. 

 The coolie's arms were bruised, but he was not 

 seriously injured. 



The head was a better one than mine, being 

 slightly over 8 feet, and the horns were very 

 symmetrical and well marked. 



A visit to the market established the fact 

 that Ganja was freely sold there. I also, in the 

 course of another tour, ascertained that Ganja 

 was produced to a considerable extent in the 

 country inhabited by the Khonds in the Eastern 

 Ghats in the Vizagapatam district, and that 

 these primitive savages understood the necessity 

 for the extermination of the male plants. 



Special tours for the investigation of facts 

 are not encouraged in India, and I think this is a 

 mistake. A hard-worked district officer, when 

 asked to report upon a subject to which his 



