MORE NOISE THAN SPORT. 245 



place. A powerful double rifle and a *500 double " Express " 

 on my right ; a '360 " Express " and a double 12-bore gun, 

 loaded with No. 4 shot, on my left ; and lastly, a hard-hitting 

 double 12-bore rifle in hand, I felt prepared for anything 

 between an elephant and a jungle-cock, and thus I waited in 

 high hope and expectation. 



About five o'clock the din became almost unbearable, as 

 the drivers, afraid to advance among the crush of wild crea- 

 tures which they supposed to be now about the " machans," or 

 perchance of the smart fusilade which they expected to hear, 

 stood drumming, screaming, and tootling on their fifes some 

 scores of paces away from us ; but not a gun or rifle spoke in 

 answer to their meritorious howlings, neither the bellow of 

 the charging bull " gour," the murderous roar of the infu- 

 riated tiger, nor the deep guttural coughs of the panther and 

 bear rise above the uproar ; but a solitary four-horned doe, 

 ascending from the hollow in my front, passed timidly with a 

 gentle pit-a-pat among the dry leaves to my rear, and I hope 

 escaped unhurt through the ring of beaters around us. 



Thus ended one of several great circular beats in which 

 I have at different times taken a reluctant part. That so 

 many square miles of woods, hills, and deep ravines should 

 be untenanted by wild animals is more than I can believe ; 

 that the more dangerous kinds were allowed to slip back is 

 very probable ; and lastly, that deer were previously fright- 

 ened away by the noisy preparations is not unlikely. I did 

 not hear that the others on "machans" were more fortunate 

 than myself, nor did the beaters with whom I conversed 

 say that they had put up bears or any other big game. It 

 seemed as if packs of wild dogs had hunted through these 

 tracts, and driven every quadruped out of them for a season, 

 but there was no evidence of even their presence. 



The day's business over, my worthy host expressed his 

 deep regret at the utter failure of such a grand drive, attri- 

 buting it to some extraordinary combination of evil influences 

 which to my duller Western intellect were not clear. How- 

 ever, I do believe that he did his best for my entertainment, 



