THE WILD DOG. 335 



which last, with eleven stone up, must have sunk a little into 

 the sand, while the other hardly broke the crust ; but then, 

 was it unfavourable to the greyhounds ? I think it was not, 

 and that they were fairly outpaced and beaten, though rather 

 above the average in wind and stoutness. Never having seen 

 the same trial made with other men's horses and greyhounds, 

 I feel incapable of arriving at any other satisfactory con- 

 clusion than that my own and my brother's were signally 

 vanquished. 



The Brahmapootra and the Megna form the eastern limit 

 of the range of the antelope, as well as of the spotted deer, the 

 wolf, and the hyena. The first has passed eastward up to Kish- 

 naghur and the plains between the " Terai " and the northern 

 banks of the first-named river, as far as the Goalpara district, 

 the axis having been seen as far east as Durrang ; but though 

 extremely abundant up to the Megna, along the sea-board, the 

 latter has not crossed it, nor have I ever seen it or heard of it 

 east of that river. The wolf and hyena have not penetrated 

 so far to the eastward, the country beyond the Hooghly in 

 that direction appearing unsuited to their habits and tastes. 

 The black buck stalker may, if persevering and a good shot, 

 obtain a shot or two in the morning in Gya and Shahabad, 

 but his sport will appear exceedingly poor and unsatisfactory 

 if he have had previous experience in the Upper and Western 

 Provinces. 



The wild dog is by no means rare in Chota Nagpoor, and 

 is found in Assam also. Unless I am much mistaken, a 

 smaller variety than that so common in Central India has 

 been encountered by me in the Sibsagar district in Assam. A 

 pack or two range Parasnath and the adjacent hills and 

 forests, and run down the " sambur " in those parts. Natives 

 insist on the truth of the statement that a pack of these 

 wild hounds will attack, and even destroy the tiger ; and the 

 testimony of several authors of works on Indian sport sup- 

 port the assertions of the native " Shikarees." Although I 

 am unable from personal experience to maintain or contradict 

 the truth of this extraordinary assertion, it appears to me 



