352 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



howdahs and four or five score of elephants. The party being 

 composed of men who go out but once or twice in the year, 

 and of others to whom everything is new, and every bird 

 or beast worth a shot, the firing, as may be supposed, is hot 

 and continuous almost from the point of departure till return 

 to camp ; the globe-trotter gathering up the spoil, whether a 

 pig, a python, a hind, a fawn, a buffalo, or a mongoose, with 

 equal gratification, his great object being a heavy bag to be 

 contrasted with other similarly made heavy bags. No true 

 sportsman can take pleasure in such indiscriminate battues, 

 or consent to share in them ; and the less one hears of such 

 slaughter regardless of age, sex, or season, the better. 



Those who can afford to take the field " en prince " have 

 duplicate sets of tents, furniture, and servants, so that 

 whether they shoot or only ride the stage, a complete camp 

 awaits them at its termination ; but in these days of the 

 depreciated rupee few can indulge in such a luxury, and 

 those few are the highest officials, whose travelling expenses 

 are paid by the State. 



The tents in common use are the " single-poled," the 

 " hill-tent," the " Swiss-cottage," and the " routee " with double 

 fly. The warmest in winter and the coolest in summer is the 

 first, but it is heavy and requires carriage in proportion. The 

 "cottage-tent" 14' x 14' or 16' X 16' is the prettiest and the 

 most airy, and is almost as heavy; a smaller size 12' x 12' is 

 cosy, light, and quickly pitched, but in these respects the 

 " routee," with double-fly and 5 ft. " kanats" or walls, is supe- 

 rior still, as it can be pitched in the shade of a single large 

 Mangoe or tamarind tree. Besides the above, smaller tents 

 called " pals," serve as bath-rooms, kitchens, and shelter for 

 servants and followers. A complete camp therefore for four 

 or five sportsmen, their attendants, horses, hounds, and 

 elephants, numbering about a hundred bipeds and half a 

 hundred quadrupeds, is not to be moved without a consider- 

 able amount of carriage, all of which must be taken from 

 the place of departure, or hired on the spot when the camp is 

 moved. 



