Sporting Notes in the Far East. 197 



with a calf at heel ; when suddenly, for some unknown reason (per- 

 haps it was my grotesque appearance) she got vicious ; down went 

 her head, and with a loud bellow, she came at me like a " thing 

 possessed." For one moment I meditated between the two alter- 

 natives, of giving her a dose of snipe shot in the nose, or bolting : 

 but the noisy advance of the old lady overcame my physical cour- 

 age, and I turned and skedaddled for the nearest paddy ; into 

 which the angry mother quickly blundered, flew on to her head, 

 and expended her wrath in copious mouthfuls of Pakhoi mud. 



Note. If you should at any time be desirous of avoiding a herd 

 of water-buffaloes, some of which with calves at heel, look as if they 

 might " come " : always remember that these animals, like pig, can 

 wind and " line " you, some distance dead to leeward. 



I believe if one was to go away for a day or two, inland, a few 

 hares and partridges could be shot ; but at the best it would be 

 very rough work, and hardly worth the trouble. No ! the only 

 pastime here is riding ; and if you can prevail upon one of the 

 residents to lend you his pony, there is a splendid plain outside 

 the town for a health-giving gallop. 



The country itself for miles around Pakhoi appears to be 

 peculiary arid and destitute ; and I fancy on account of this poor- 

 ness of soil, there is almost constant famine and distress amongst 

 the natives. Why I mention this, is that on every occasion that I 

 have visited this place, I have invariably come across, on the out- 



