

CHAPTER X. 



Buffalo and Buffalo-hunting and Shooting, continued Spearing Buffa- 

 loes on Horseback Good Hunting Countries Heads and Horns A 

 Giant Bull Wounded Bull beats off a Tiger Tiger and Crocodile 

 Stalking Buffaloes in Open Country Fatal Accidents common 

 Defeated by a Crafty and Savage Old Bull A Narrow Escape A 

 Novel and Exhilarating Sensation Wild Cattle Cyclones and their 

 Effects Frightful Scenes of Death and Destruction A Bad Time 

 " Sauve qui peut " Good Sport. 



WILD buffaloes have been speared on horseback by bold 

 riders mounted on very good horses, but such instances are 

 rare, and it may be doubted whether any one has repeated 

 the adventure a second or third time. I have no experience 

 of that sport myself, having neither the heart to risk the life 

 of a valuable and favourite horse on the venture, nor the 

 purse to justify the almost certain loss of a thousand or 

 fifteen hundred rupees on the chances of a single chase. I 

 can recall to mind one instance in which the experiment 

 was made upon two bulls 011 the same day, when a noble 

 Arab was killed outright, and the rider barely escaped 

 with his life. 



Old sporting magazines, as well as more modern books 

 on Indian sports, are singularly silent regarding exploits of 

 that nature ; but as a matter of fact, none of them deal much 

 with buffalo-shooting, whether on foot or on horseback. 

 The author of " Oriental Field Sports," who discusses at 

 length the chase of every description of Indian game, tells 

 us very little of that of the buffalo; but he extols the 

 prowess and strength of that animal, and hints at the diffi- 

 culties to be encountered before he can be overcome with the 



