A BUFFALO HUNT. 29 



In the following instance the cause of the disappearance 

 of the game was clear enough. In 1854, having been trans- 

 ferred to Midnapoor from a distant district, and being ignorant 

 of its capabilities in the way of sport, except in respect of 

 bears, for which it was then famous, I had to find out for 

 myself where to look for game in general, and for my fa- 

 vourite amusement of hog-hunting in particular. Accordingly, 

 having heard of the existence of buffalo and wild hog in 

 the grass lands reserved for the manufacture of salt, I found 

 myself, one February afternoon, upon the high embankment 

 which then divided the salt and rice lands at Sourabaria, 

 some six miles south-west of Tumlook. Seated upon my 

 Arab horse, I gazed with astonishment and delight over a 

 grass plain of great extent, about the centre of which were 

 two small "jheels," or marshes, around which grazed some 

 sixty or eighty buffalo, in two distinct herds; and better 

 still, I saw the dark round backs of great numbers of pigs 

 rooting and wallowing in the dank grass and rushes. Turn- 

 ing to some villagers, or salt manufacturers, I inquired 

 whether the animals I saw were tame or wild. " Wild, of 

 course," answered they ; " no tame animals are allowed to 

 trespass on the Government salt fuel lands." Jumping off 

 my little horse, I saw that his girths and bitting were all 

 right, remounted, and taking a light double-barrelled gun 

 from one of my attendants, I rode down into the plain. 

 There were spears out with me, and the horse I rode was a 

 well-known pig-sticker, but I feared that the buffaloes would 

 desert this ground if disturbed by my first hunting hog; 

 whereas, the latter would remain, whether I rode the buffalo 

 or not. I resolved promptly, therefore, upon giving the 

 latter my first attention, and reserving the others for the 

 morrow. 



As I approached the nearest " jheel," an embanked water- 

 course, fringed with bushes, had to be crossed, and from it 

 a sounder of pigs rose and trotted off towards the centre of 

 the plain. After passing the water-course I found myself 

 first on a tolerably level and sound plain, covered with a 



