Sporting Notes in the Far East. 207 



rigid. Her senses were not satisfied, she had winded danger too 

 late ; turning abruptly to make tracks from whence she came, the 

 old smoothbore played the game : holding well over her head the 

 ball took her in the small of the back and down she went paralyzed. 

 When cutting her throat she reared up and struck at me with her 

 fore feet, one hoof knocked off my sun-hat, and rent my coat to the 

 hem, cutting as clean as a knife. That taught me a lesson I made 

 use of afterwards with blacktail in Vancouver Island, and red-deer 

 at home ; never to stand in front of a wounded animal to administer 

 the coup-de-grace. 



These hinds weighed 112 lb$. and 120 Ibs. respectively. In ap- 

 pearance these sambur(?) resemble the mule deer of N.W. America, 

 little darker in color perhaps, and with scarcely any white about 

 the tail. Like their Asiatic congeners, the stags only develop brow 

 antler and two on top : and the heads vary in size according to the 

 pasturage they graze over. In thickness of beam the horns differ 

 very considerably. 



At Libarran Island seven deer were killed in one day, driven out 

 and shot or speared on points of land, or after they had taken to 

 the open sea for refuge. 



Pig-sticking is of course impossible where cover is so thick, but 

 there are many methods of deriving other sport from this vigorous, 

 savage, and most cunning animal. In China old boars have been 

 killed weighing 4oolbs. when clean, and allowing 6olbs. to yolbs. 



